I want to expand a little on a subject I discussed earlier: sticking to the cool stuff.
I tend to write 'realistically'. That is, I try to create internally-consistent worlds that hew as close to what is real as possible. I think that's vital, especially in sci-fi and fantasy where the setting and circumstances seem impossible
I try to create realistic characters who speak like real people would, who make decisions like real people would in their given circumstances and who have real emotions. I try to make my antagonist's real and not James Bond villains.
But there's a reason James Bond stories and movies are popular: they please their audience.
Lets look at the typical James Bond movie, one of the middle-of-the-road entries. Bond is assigned to investigate something. Encounters villain. They play cat and mouse. Villain captures Bond and reveals that he know who Bond is and who he works for. Now the proper thing for a real supervillain to do (since Bond's captors are rarely other governments) is, saw it with me, just shoot him. Shoot Bond in the back of the neck and enough times to make sure. Then dig a hole, put him in it, burn the corpse, fill it in. This is what happens in Mexico if you go sniffing around the Cartels. That is what real bad guys do.
But who'd read a story like that? Who'd read anything from that author again? Even sadist, downer authors (see earlier posts) don't kill their main character off like that. (For one thing, that's too clean)
We don't relate stories about the real world. We want to entertain people. Sometimes that means being unrealistic. Not, hopefully, to James Bond villain levels. It means not showing the audience page after page of the grinding monotony of sitting in a stakeout. It means cutting out most of the calls to nature. It means keeping things interesting.
If there's no logical way for your character to solve a problem, re-think the problem. Or add another character who can provide the missing pieces. If he can't outfight the dragon, have him sneak around it. Let your bad guy make mistakes. Keep the plot moving, don't get bogged down in what 'should' happen. You can do all this without resorting to deus ex machina, Mary Sue-ism or just bad writing.
Now, I can't and won't change the way I am. I like realism. I worship competence. But I hope I can create real characters and real circumstances and tell stories with the boring parts cut out.
I tend to write 'realistically'. That is, I try to create internally-consistent worlds that hew as close to what is real as possible. I think that's vital, especially in sci-fi and fantasy where the setting and circumstances seem impossible
I try to create realistic characters who speak like real people would, who make decisions like real people would in their given circumstances and who have real emotions. I try to make my antagonist's real and not James Bond villains.
But there's a reason James Bond stories and movies are popular: they please their audience.
Lets look at the typical James Bond movie, one of the middle-of-the-road entries. Bond is assigned to investigate something. Encounters villain. They play cat and mouse. Villain captures Bond and reveals that he know who Bond is and who he works for. Now the proper thing for a real supervillain to do (since Bond's captors are rarely other governments) is, saw it with me, just shoot him. Shoot Bond in the back of the neck and enough times to make sure. Then dig a hole, put him in it, burn the corpse, fill it in. This is what happens in Mexico if you go sniffing around the Cartels. That is what real bad guys do.
But who'd read a story like that? Who'd read anything from that author again? Even sadist, downer authors (see earlier posts) don't kill their main character off like that. (For one thing, that's too clean)
We don't relate stories about the real world. We want to entertain people. Sometimes that means being unrealistic. Not, hopefully, to James Bond villain levels. It means not showing the audience page after page of the grinding monotony of sitting in a stakeout. It means cutting out most of the calls to nature. It means keeping things interesting.
If there's no logical way for your character to solve a problem, re-think the problem. Or add another character who can provide the missing pieces. If he can't outfight the dragon, have him sneak around it. Let your bad guy make mistakes. Keep the plot moving, don't get bogged down in what 'should' happen. You can do all this without resorting to deus ex machina, Mary Sue-ism or just bad writing.
Now, I can't and won't change the way I am. I like realism. I worship competence. But I hope I can create real characters and real circumstances and tell stories with the boring parts cut out.
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