We love fantasy for memorable villains, courageous heroes, and ambiguous, morally gray characters. But what do those people look like in real life?
I will never forget in middle school, I had a creative writing class that I both looked forward to and procrastinated terribly on. Ask me to write a short story about Pokemon, about traveling to space with a crush of mine (thankfully, this no longer exists), or of dolphins leaving Earth (strangely, this happened before I even knew what Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was), and I could write a full story in two days. Yet ask me to write a creative story about what would happen if everyone in class had to live for a day in 1750, and my eyes glossed over. In retrospect, it was the dilemma almost every creative who is not full-time in their dream gig must live with--the stories we want to tell come almost too fast, while the stories we have to tell are like extracting water from granite.
As was to be expected, when the final week of class came, I procrastinated on whatever the final assignment was. I could pretend to remember what it was, but the fact that I've forgotten it probably proves the point of the last paragraph. In any case, I procrastinated so much that I ended up turning in the assignment a day late. The next morning, my creative writing teacher was waiting to supervise dropoff, saw me, and asked me to come over.
"This is why you won't be a writer."
***
I can picture this teacher now, even if I can't remember her name (I could look it up in my yearbooks, but calling her out now feels needlessly callous). I don't hate her, but I can't say I've ever forgotten her. She is, for all intents and purposes, an "old enemy," someone embedded in my psyche that I have to constantly ward off. I've often wondered if she thought her words were meant to spark a light in me, the way a tough love coach might grill one of his players to get the best out of them; or, conversely, if she was just a bitter person in general. She certainly had a sardonic personality before it was cool, and she could be rough on the edges, but I never recalled her being cruel for the sake of cruel.
The concept of "old enemies" became a personal interest of mine going through therapy starting in 2019, especially when I realized that a lot of our worst "old enemies" are ourselves. I can't say that my "old shadow," to use a slightly different phrase, ever thought my writing would suck, though I'm always nervous about putting work out there. It pops up most often with body image issues (see my prior post on doing a 24 hour race) or when it comes to financial success (largely tied to going to a university where a lot of graduates go into banking, law, medicine, etc.).
The natural outlet for channeling this is, of course, my writing. I've leaned heavily into it with the development of Noel Chryss in The Sword of Fire, and, I cannot lie, it's both cathartic and draining. It's cathartic to put a character through having to overcome their past failures, their "old enemies" even their "old shadow," but at the same time, it's not particularly pleasant to recall when you were so broke, you needed someone to lend you money for a Subway sandwich. It's not enjoyable to be in your late twenties, feel stalled out, and watch as your friends advance in their careers.
But it's not all bad.
Because for every shadow, there is light; for every old enemy, there is an old champion.
***
Mrs. Baker had a notorious reputation at my high school as the hardest, toughest teacher across all subjects. It only took one class for me to realize two distinct truths--she was very friendly and fair, and she had boundaries and expectations that were sky high. She'd laugh and smile at you and, without missing a beat, give you detention for chewing gum in class. She was one of my two favorite teachers in my high school and someone I emulate a lot in my coaching--she set the expectations explicitly, never wavered from them, and was very affable and friendly in between.
I went from a raw writer to an extremely detailed, analytical, careful writer under her two-year tutelage. But what makes her a champion isn't what she said to me--it's what she said to my parents.
At Parent-Teacher Conferences my junior year, my parents sat across from Mrs. Baker. I was nervous what she would say; I had all A's... except for her AP English class, where I had a B+. I was meeting some of her expectations, but not all of them. But when my parents came home, they said Mrs. Baker opened with a line I will never forget.
"That boy can write!"
When you hear praise from someone like your mom or a neighbor, it's nice, even sincere, but it's expected. When it comes from someone like Mrs. Baker, who would be perfectly happy failing an entire class if that was what was necessary, it meant the entire world.
And so it is with Noel Chryss. His champion, however, is not a teacher or even someone older. His champion is not even a typical champion.
His champion(s) are his sister and his Bonded.
***
The book will show you exactly what I mean.
But as you read whatever you pick up next, think about who each character's old enemy and old champion are.
Think about who your old enemies and old champions are.
And make sure that for whoever you're talking to, especially if it's someone younger, they remember you as a champion, not an enemy.