Top Ten Story Components

For a while I've been pondering the idea of a Top Ten blog. I tried to do weapons but didn't have enough material; I thought of horses, but I doubt my readers like them as much as I do; herbs are kind of boring.

No they're not--

Flametail, kindly keep your mouth shut.

As I was saying, I couldn't decide what topic to do. So I decided to do a free-for-all Top Ten blog. These are my Top Ten Favorite Animals/Herbs/Weapons/Planets/Characters/Character Traits/Rocks/Minerals/Colors.

10. Yarrow
Ah, yarrow. That wonderful vomit-inducing herb.
Yes, I'm kidding.
Yarrow, according to my trusty herbal remedies book, can be used for hemorrhages and/or bleeding from the lungs. (Please don't take my word for it; look up uses for yarrow before you attempt to use it yourself.) In the Warriors books, the cats use it to induce vomiting. It is often used when a cat has ingested poison of some type.
I promise you, I am going to use this as a name for a character. Someday.
Related Topics:
N/A

9. Foxes
Fascinating animals, really. Known to be sly and cunning, these red-furred woodland-dwelling animals are, unsurprisingly, related to dogs. However, they generally do not live in packs.
In the Redwall series, foxes are mostly portrayed as bad guys--sometimes the BBT (Big Boss Troublemaker--I got that term from Kristen Lamb), sometimes a secondary villain, and, occasionally, (though they're generally too sly for this) a minion. Some evil foxes in Redwall include (but are not limited to) Slagar the Cruel, the Marlfox family, and Bane.
Related Topics:
Foxface /The Hunger Games/
Foxes in Redwall /Redwall/

8. Battle-axes
Wonderful weapons, these. I personally find them very interesting. Heavier than swords, with wider heads than spears, they can be single-, double-, or even triple-bladed.
These are fairly good weapons for a fantasy novel, so I'm using them as the weapons of choice for a few minor characters. Since I like to mess with weapons layout, I'm thinking of designing an axe with a blade at each side of the shaft, or a reverse-handled axe.
Related Topics:
Gimli /The Lord of the Rings/
Nimbalo the Slayer /Redwall/
Vibro-axes /Star Wars/

7. Cloves
The first thing I think of when I hear about these: Wassail. I love the stuff.
The second thing I think of: Clove.
You Hunger Games fans know who I'm talking about.
For those who don't: Clove is the female tribute from District 2. She has a somewhat sadistic nature and severely dislikes hates Katniss.
Related Topics:
Clove (duh) /The Hunger Games/
Clove (cat) /The Nine Lives series/

6. Tiger's Eyes
These little-known stones are generally a dark amber color with streaks of lighter amber. I don't know why they're called tiger's eyes, but I'd guess it's because of their likeness to a cat's eye. They're beautiful, and I like them mainly because of their mention in the Owl City song Dreams Don't Turn to Dust.
Related Topics:
Owl City
Tiger Lilies
Tigerstar /Warriors/

5. Villains
Before you start bashing me in the comments section, let me say this: Villains do have a few things going for them.
First of all, without the villain, there is no story. Consider. If there was no Sauron and no Ring, Frodo probably wouldn't have left the Shire. If there was no Emperor and no Darth Vader, Luke wouldn't exist would have lived out a long, happy, boring life on Tatooine.
Secondly, oftentimes, villains are some of the most interesting characters. Tigerstar, the uber-mega-super villain of the Warriors series, is quite a fascinating character. For one thing, he has four children: Brambleclaw, Hawkfrost, Tawnypelt, and Mothwing. It's quite fascinating to see how that family interacts, because
Brambleclaw has worked his whole life to prove he's a good guy, unlike his father.
Hawkfrost has embraced the villain-ness in his blood and followed in his father's pawsteps.
Tawnypelt, despite her initial choices, has actively refused her father's offers of power.
Mothwing is a pacifist (and atheistic) medicine cat.
Few villains have as large families as Tigerstar's, but they can still be interesting.
The exception is Sauron, the main villain of Lord of the Rings. It's hard for a giant disembodied eye to be interesting, even when it's made of fire. Also, the villains in the Redwall books are generally fairly two-dimensional.
Related Topics:
Tigerstar /Warriors/
Sauron /The Lord of the Rings/
Emperor Palpatine /Star Wars/
President Snow /The Hunger Games/
Cluny the Scourge /Redwall/

4. Action Scenes
I've actually done a different post on this that goes into more detail, so if you'd like to read more on this, it's here. But suffice it to say, if done correctly, action scenes are great. I personally like them a lot. Movies can be even better than books.
Related Topics:
The Lord of the Rings
Warriors
The Hunger Games
Star Wars

3. Cats
You may blame this on the Warriors series. If you do, you're probably right. But that likely won't change my opinion.
Probably my favorite thing about cats are their looks. In fact, I'm planning (and beginning to write) a sci-fi book that involves cat/human hybrids. The planning page is here.
Anyway, first off: fur colors. Cats can be:

White

Black

Gray

Brown

Silver

Blue-gray



Tortoiseshell

 

Tortoiseshell-and-white (also known as calico)

Gray (or silver) with black patterning

Black-and-white

Gray-and-white

Brown-and-white

Speckled

Mottled in any color

Cream

Dark cream

Rose cream

Tabby

Tabby in any other color

Ginger

White with black paws

White with brown paws

Gray with darker paws

and more that I've probably forgotten.

Cats' eyes can be green, blue, yellow, amber, brown, dark blue, regular blue, light blue, or orange.
So a cat could be a combination of any of those pelt colors and any of those eyes colors.
Related Topics:
Warriors
Squire Julian Gingivere /Redwall/
Tsarmina Greeneyes /Redwall/
Muffin /The Kane Chronicles/
Buttercup /The Hunger Games/

 

2. Green

Yes, I do mean the color green. The color of grass, leaves, certain types of coneflowers...

 

This also one of the afore-mentioned eye colors for cats, and the rarest eye color for humans. Which may be why I admire it so much...

Related Topics:

The Color Green /by Rich Mullins/

The Hatchling /Guardians of Ga'Hoole, Book 7/

 

1. Characters

This took 1st Place because at the end of the day, characters are the heart and soul of a story. And they can be so complex! There are a thousand--no, a million--no, fifteen hundred million different ways a character can be. They can look different, act different, and feel different than any other character on the face of the earth. Depending on what genre you're writing/reading, they can even be non-human.

Both antagonists (villains) and protagonists ('good guys') drive a story. We sympathize with them. Sometimes we even cry when they die/live happily ever after/sail away across the sea and leave their best friend behind to live in the Shire.

No, I am not talking about Lord of the Rings. And no, I did not cry when Feathertail/Ferncloud/Hollyleaf/Mousefur/Spottedleaf/Firestar died!

Okay, I'll stop. But characters are, hands down, the #1 best story component EVER.

Related Topics:

Katniss /The Hunger Games/

Soren /Guardians of Ga'Hoole/

Firestar /Warriors/

Brambleclaw /Warriors: The New Prophecy/

Jayfeather /Warriors: Power of Three & Omen of the Stars/

Matthias /Redwall/

Billy /Dragons in Our Midst/

Janner /The Wingfeather Saga/

Henry /The 100 Cupboards/

 

 

The End