We’ve seen movies and read books. We know the protagonist when we see her. However, as I mentor and edit authors, I’ve had more and more writers ask me the big question: “Can you have multiple main characters in a story?”
Yes, you can. But should you?
Genre matters, and by understanding how genre works, you not only can find more things you want to read, you can also better understand what the writer (or publisher) is trying to do.
Halloween is right around the corner and I know a lot of you will be writing some spine-chilling stories to celebrate. What’s the best part of a creepy story? A monster.
When writing monsters, you could rely on the tried-and-true vampires, zombies, and giant, man-killing spiders. There’s nothing wrong with adding to the monster canon, but it does get a little boring after a while. It’s often better to make up your own monster. But how?
Decades have been spent honing the standard wants and abilities of vampires and zombies. How can you make a monster just as good in a much shorter time frame?
A heinous murder. A jilted lover. An angry hero determined to get justice. Revenge stories are a vital part of the human experience. Let’s take a look at how to write one of your own.
If you’ve ever run a marathon, or a 10K, or even a 5K race, you know that pacing is important. If you pour it on at full speed right off the starting line and keep that up without variation, you’ll run out of steam and be unable to finish.
You do the same thing to your reader if you don’t vary the pace. Fast or slow, if you don’t provide some variety for your reader, they won’t finish either. So let’s take a closer look at pacing and how it can help you create a better experience for your readers.
Why are games of Hide and Seek or Tag so appealing? I think it’s because they play with our emotions and instincts as hunters and hunted. They stir the elemental embers of our flight response. As an adult, you may not indulge in actual games of tag, but I’ll bet you still love to participate by proxy in the pages of a thrilling book or on the screen.
As a writer, learning to use a chase story, also known as the pursuit plot, will strengthen and diversify your toolbox and may help you create an awesome book.
