Tough vs too manipulative plotting decisions
I don't get out the sock puppets or anything and act out scenes as I write them - but I do get to know and cherish all my characters, not just the leads but all the secondary characters.
I know what they would find amusing. The way they would talk and dress. Their fears. Their hopes.
And I can only imagine that this happens to other authors - so how do they make the tough decisions?
How do they resolve the love triangle? Are they swayed by the fans? Or has the author known from day one who the ultimate choice will be?
I've read series where book after book the sexual tension creeps higher and higher. And if the author is very good and presented me with three likeable and relatable characters - and two equally hot potential hooks ups - then I have probably changed who I wish to end up together several times.
But a tease can only go on for so long. Though the resolution of a love triangle can make or break some series.
For some readers, if their preferred match-up doesn't occur then they are done. Or worse, the series then loses all its momentum, and all the readers become dissatisfied.
For me, I'm generally not fussed how a love triangle is resolved, unless the author chose the cop out resolution method. Whereby they killed off one of the suitors. Grrr.
Which brings us to another 'tough' plotting decision. Killing off characters.
There are some characters who from the moment you read about them scream plot device. You know, the young just out of the academy ensign with the crush. Or the loyal non-magical partner who insists upon going up against the monsters.
For me the most shocking - as in hard to read but wow, totally blew my mind - deaths, are the vital characters. The ones you read about and think... no, this must be a mistake. The hero/heroine will find a way to bring them back - but they don't.
And then there are the 'easy/too manipulative' plotting devices authors should avoid.
- Equating tears to making a heroine sympathetic.
- Thinking alpha male equates to stoic and mono-syllabic
- Bitchy women. Come on, make the female characters more multi-dimensional than that.
- Mating is being attracted to each other on a basic level. It does not necessarily mean love. So please work a little harder to make me believe in a couple when 'mating' is involved.
- Resolving a bad guy situation in a sentence or a paragraph following a lot of hype (sometimes across several books - yes, I'm thinking about you, Maria Snyder).
- Including a new/rookie character and then proceeding to dump a load of information on them in huge chunks, all but drowning the reader in facts and details.
- Making it so that every male character inexplicably falls in love with the heroine, no matter how bitchy, merely pretty or a train-wreck she is.
- A perfect hero... so boring.
- A whiney, ill-informed, TSTL heroine... so annoying
- Insta-love.
Okay, now I'm starting to rant.
But you know what I'm on about. The best books, your favourites... the worlds are effortlessly and easily imagined. The characters are flawed but fabulous. Relatable, funny, sympathetic, noble, petty, sexy, grumpy.
And the plots have twists and turns, unexpected dips and new takes on old standards. The journey to the HEA is fraught with laughs, obstacles, bad guys, inner demons, highs and lows. And no matter how good the read, as you flick the final page... you're a little bit sad that the ride is over so soon.
I know what they would find amusing. The way they would talk and dress. Their fears. Their hopes.
And I can only imagine that this happens to other authors - so how do they make the tough decisions?
How do they resolve the love triangle? Are they swayed by the fans? Or has the author known from day one who the ultimate choice will be?
I've read series where book after book the sexual tension creeps higher and higher. And if the author is very good and presented me with three likeable and relatable characters - and two equally hot potential hooks ups - then I have probably changed who I wish to end up together several times.
But a tease can only go on for so long. Though the resolution of a love triangle can make or break some series.
For some readers, if their preferred match-up doesn't occur then they are done. Or worse, the series then loses all its momentum, and all the readers become dissatisfied.
For me, I'm generally not fussed how a love triangle is resolved, unless the author chose the cop out resolution method. Whereby they killed off one of the suitors. Grrr.
Which brings us to another 'tough' plotting decision. Killing off characters.
There are some characters who from the moment you read about them scream plot device. You know, the young just out of the academy ensign with the crush. Or the loyal non-magical partner who insists upon going up against the monsters.
For me the most shocking - as in hard to read but wow, totally blew my mind - deaths, are the vital characters. The ones you read about and think... no, this must be a mistake. The hero/heroine will find a way to bring them back - but they don't.
And then there are the 'easy/too manipulative' plotting devices authors should avoid.
- Equating tears to making a heroine sympathetic.
- Thinking alpha male equates to stoic and mono-syllabic
- Bitchy women. Come on, make the female characters more multi-dimensional than that.
- Mating is being attracted to each other on a basic level. It does not necessarily mean love. So please work a little harder to make me believe in a couple when 'mating' is involved.
- Resolving a bad guy situation in a sentence or a paragraph following a lot of hype (sometimes across several books - yes, I'm thinking about you, Maria Snyder).
- Including a new/rookie character and then proceeding to dump a load of information on them in huge chunks, all but drowning the reader in facts and details.
- Making it so that every male character inexplicably falls in love with the heroine, no matter how bitchy, merely pretty or a train-wreck she is.
- A perfect hero... so boring.
- A whiney, ill-informed, TSTL heroine... so annoying
- Insta-love.
Okay, now I'm starting to rant.
But you know what I'm on about. The best books, your favourites... the worlds are effortlessly and easily imagined. The characters are flawed but fabulous. Relatable, funny, sympathetic, noble, petty, sexy, grumpy.
And the plots have twists and turns, unexpected dips and new takes on old standards. The journey to the HEA is fraught with laughs, obstacles, bad guys, inner demons, highs and lows. And no matter how good the read, as you flick the final page... you're a little bit sad that the ride is over so soon.
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