Sure, an omnipotent superhero is cool.
Right?
Wrong!
While the fairy tale of the elusive knight in shining armor is still going strong with some, many have ditched the sod, stopped kissing frogs, and started taking matters into their own hands.
Because it is better fun, more exciting, and more satisfying to solve problems, rather than to sit tight and pretty, waiting around to be rescued.
Having said that: A bit of 'superheroism' is sexy, exciting, and allows for unusual solutions.
Fiction conflicts and problems are major drivers of a story. They create suspense, tension, and that heart-pounding urgency to turn the pages. Solutions to seemingly unsolvable problems are the spice of every good story. When the protagonist is with the back up against the wall, facing a fire-front racing towards him/her! How will they get away when there is no way out!
Divine intervention... The Deus Ex Machina... The proverbial hand that picks the protagonist up and carries them away.
What an epic letdown!
Angry disappointment prompts the reader to close the book.
Did you ever feel like this?
For authors: Letting your readers down is never a good thing. We know that. We struggle to avoid this at all costs.
It's undoubtedly one of the hardest tasks in writing to create a seemingly unsolvable conundrum and provide a solution without waving the proverbial magic wand too frantically.
I embrace superheroes, aliens, and magic. But I avoid the Deus Ex Machina like the devil the holy water.
Superheroes make good characters, but they need to keep their vulnerability, weakness, and believability.
Kryptonite anyone?
Right?
Wrong!
While the fairy tale of the elusive knight in shining armor is still going strong with some, many have ditched the sod, stopped kissing frogs, and started taking matters into their own hands.
Because it is better fun, more exciting, and more satisfying to solve problems, rather than to sit tight and pretty, waiting around to be rescued.
Having said that: A bit of 'superheroism' is sexy, exciting, and allows for unusual solutions.
Fiction conflicts and problems are major drivers of a story. They create suspense, tension, and that heart-pounding urgency to turn the pages. Solutions to seemingly unsolvable problems are the spice of every good story. When the protagonist is with the back up against the wall, facing a fire-front racing towards him/her! How will they get away when there is no way out!
Divine intervention... The Deus Ex Machina... The proverbial hand that picks the protagonist up and carries them away.
What an epic letdown!
Angry disappointment prompts the reader to close the book.
Did you ever feel like this?
For authors: Letting your readers down is never a good thing. We know that. We struggle to avoid this at all costs.
It's undoubtedly one of the hardest tasks in writing to create a seemingly unsolvable conundrum and provide a solution without waving the proverbial magic wand too frantically.
I embrace superheroes, aliens, and magic. But I avoid the Deus Ex Machina like the devil the holy water.
Superheroes make good characters, but they need to keep their vulnerability, weakness, and believability.
Kryptonite anyone?
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