ScrollsOfTamriel
New Member
So I've been reading a lot of fic lately and I keep noticing that even when writers say their OC is supposed to be inexperienced or weak, they never actually lose a fight in a way that changes the story. Like, the character gets knocked down, dusts themselves off, and wins anyway. Or they escape. But they never actually take an L that sticks with them.
I'm working on a character right now - a nord woman from Morthal who's decent with a sword but not exceptional - and I'm trying to figure out how to write a genuine defeat without it feeling like I'm just being mean to her or padding the wordcount. Like, what does it actually feel like to lose? Not just mechanically, but in terms of how it shapes what happens next.
Does anyone have experience writing that? Not a near-death experience where the character survives through luck, but an actual "I got my ass handed to me and I'm dealing with the consequences now" moment? I feel like that's way more interesting than another bandit cave where everything goes right, but I'm second-guessing whether it lands or just reads as the character being incompetent.
Curious if anyone's done this without it derailing their whole fic.
I'm working on a character right now - a nord woman from Morthal who's decent with a sword but not exceptional - and I'm trying to figure out how to write a genuine defeat without it feeling like I'm just being mean to her or padding the wordcount. Like, what does it actually feel like to lose? Not just mechanically, but in terms of how it shapes what happens next.
Does anyone have experience writing that? Not a near-death experience where the character survives through luck, but an actual "I got my ass handed to me and I'm dealing with the consequences now" moment? I feel like that's way more interesting than another bandit cave where everything goes right, but I'm second-guessing whether it lands or just reads as the character being incompetent.
Curious if anyone's done this without it derailing their whole fic.