Chosen one

“Some are born great. Some are made great. And some have greatness thrust upon them.”

I know that’s from somewhere. Or someone. But I can’t think of it at the moment. Sorry.

But these are words that I think most everyone has heard in someway or another at one point in their lives. If you read many books or play a lot of games, watch a lot of movies, you’re probably more than well aware of the trop of a chosen one. A person, seemingly of no consequence, who discovers that perhaps they are the last descendant of a far off land in one way or another. Imbued with some kind of gift that marks them apart from the people around them. Gives them a purpose they were otherwise lacking.

But to a reader, a viewer, a gamer (especially a gamer, though that’s another story), this may be incredibly obvious. And it’s probably obvious to everyone around this chosen person, but no one ever wants to say anything for fear that they might bring about ruin, whether it be of this person’s preconceived notions and understandings, or of the lives of those around them whom they love and care for. Whatever it is that sets them apart, it is so vastly different from the people around them that a reader can’t help but be waiting impatiently for this glaringly obvious fact to come to the chosen one in a blinding flash of revelation.

This character’s life is turned on its head in the blink of an eye. Shattered beyond recognition, with all kinds of pieces missing, and new unfamiliar ones to take their place. Perhaps their life is smaller than it has ever been. And perhaps it is larger than they could have ever imagined. Regardless, they are likely to think that this is the end of the life, but the truth is that it is merely the beginning.

Does that not sound exciting? Interesting? Enticing? Why is it, then, that this makes for such a boring, predictable, poorly structured story?

Because we know exactly what’s going to happen from the beginning. We know that they are different. Nine times out of ten, it could not possibly be more obvious. The fact that they can’t see this just makes them look stupid.

This, as many things, could be handled much better. There’s nothing inherently wrong with having a chosen one as a main character. But the fact that they are chosen should be as much a surprise to the reader as it is to them. Make their differences subtle. That, or do not start the story with them learning of their difference. Start with it already established. But perhaps they don’t have a full grasp of their role, or how to accomplish it.

You may disagree, but it is my opinion that the reader should never be ahead of the characters. The two should be strung along together, never quite sure of what’s going to come next, never jumping the gun of one another, always piecing the story together in tandem.

That’s not easy, of course. It never is. But that’s the goal. And you should want to get as close to that as possible.

At least. That’s how I feel.