D is for Disaster...
Today is going to be short and sweet and is brought to you by the letter D!
D is for Disaster. Otherwise known as CONFLICT. You cannot have any kind of story without conflict. Here's how it goes: Main character wants something. Main character spends entire book trying to get what they want. End of book is getting what they want, or deciding they want something else.
Take the story of Cinderella. Okay, so we have this girl whose life sucks. She wants to not have to clean up after those mean sisters and get her house back. Solution to her problem? Going to the ball and marrying the handsome prince. Obstacle? Her evil stepmother. Without the evil stepmother, you wouldn't have a story. The evil stepmother throws disaster in the way of Cinderella. Locking her in the room, ruining her dress, etc. So Cinderella has to modify her plan. Then, when things seem totally hopeless, fairy godmother shows up. But still, Cinderella does not get her happy ending. Enter Ultimate Disaster. Getting locked in her room and not being able to prove she was the mystery girl the prince danced with. But then the mice come and save the day and all is well.
I went with the Disney version of the story, if you couldn't tell :)
The Queen of putting her characters in the Disaster Zone is Suzanne Collins in The Hunger Games. Hands down. She puts her characters through hell. Because that's what makes a good story.
I put Ava, from Nocturnal through a lot in the first book. She finds out her mother has terminal cancer and then she has to deal with a pesky immortal that she can't stay away from. The deeper she gets involved with him, the more disaster. Because what Ava wants (even though she's not aware of it) is an escape. She doesn't want to deal with the fact that her mother is going to die, so she seeks out another life. Albeit a dangerous one, but she doesn't care.
In Nightmare (book 2), she deals with a hell of a lot more. I'm not going to spoil it for you, but I'll just say that she has to deal with a whole new set of problems. Minus the fairy godmother.
I swear, I don't like to torture my characters. But I get a sick pleasure out of putting them in a box and then watching them find their way out of it. Does that make me a control freak? Or someone with a God complex?
What are some of your favorite books filled with Disaster?
D is for Disaster. Otherwise known as CONFLICT. You cannot have any kind of story without conflict. Here's how it goes: Main character wants something. Main character spends entire book trying to get what they want. End of book is getting what they want, or deciding they want something else.
Take the story of Cinderella. Okay, so we have this girl whose life sucks. She wants to not have to clean up after those mean sisters and get her house back. Solution to her problem? Going to the ball and marrying the handsome prince. Obstacle? Her evil stepmother. Without the evil stepmother, you wouldn't have a story. The evil stepmother throws disaster in the way of Cinderella. Locking her in the room, ruining her dress, etc. So Cinderella has to modify her plan. Then, when things seem totally hopeless, fairy godmother shows up. But still, Cinderella does not get her happy ending. Enter Ultimate Disaster. Getting locked in her room and not being able to prove she was the mystery girl the prince danced with. But then the mice come and save the day and all is well.
I went with the Disney version of the story, if you couldn't tell :)
The Queen of putting her characters in the Disaster Zone is Suzanne Collins in The Hunger Games. Hands down. She puts her characters through hell. Because that's what makes a good story.
I put Ava, from Nocturnal through a lot in the first book. She finds out her mother has terminal cancer and then she has to deal with a pesky immortal that she can't stay away from. The deeper she gets involved with him, the more disaster. Because what Ava wants (even though she's not aware of it) is an escape. She doesn't want to deal with the fact that her mother is going to die, so she seeks out another life. Albeit a dangerous one, but she doesn't care.
In Nightmare (book 2), she deals with a hell of a lot more. I'm not going to spoil it for you, but I'll just say that she has to deal with a whole new set of problems. Minus the fairy godmother.
I swear, I don't like to torture my characters. But I get a sick pleasure out of putting them in a box and then watching them find their way out of it. Does that make me a control freak? Or someone with a God complex?
What are some of your favorite books filled with Disaster?
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