Lessons Learned, Part 2

Last time, I mentioned a book I’d read that left me disappointed. The villain was a caricature who talked a bigger fight than he delivered. Today I’m thinking about issues with the main characters.

First of all, there were too many of them. There were about four groups of characters in the same locations, but nine points of view. It was hard for me to keep track of which were working together and where they were. I could have looked for maps or a family tree, but honestly? If you have to stop and read the footnotes, the author is not expressing relationships clearly.

In addition, several characters were only the POV when they died or were otherwise taken out of the story. My lesson here is that the author could have chosen one POV for each of the four groups (including the villains) and the story would have been more consistent over all.

My second issue was with the power levels of the main cast. In this setting, all witches and wizards drew their power from channeling a divine source. But some of them had a much stronger connection, so that they basically mopped the floor with every opponent. The author would build up to a battle, and try to make you worry, but then it fell flat because the MCs were so much stronger than their opponents.

This isn’t so much a lesson for me, since I usually focus on the humble characters, but your MC cannot be too godlike. The essence of a great story is how characters overcome obstacles. Even the most powerful characters have to be challenged.

In other words, when you have Superman in your story, don’t forget to pack the Kryptonite.

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