Breaking the rules of novel-writing at every turn... http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043 zfttm64 What are, in your view, some of the predetermined 'rules' of writing a novel, and which of them have you broken, or even utterly shattered? My rules: 1. The main character never dies. BROKEN 2. Do not reincarnate characters. BROKEN Wed, 09 Nov 2011 21:19:12 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_612849 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_612849 Dairenna 1. Evil never wins. Will be broken as the villain WILL get away almost completely unharmed. 2. An important character (not the main, but still vital) survies. Will be broken as the important character will kill himself. 3. Two characters meet and fall desperately in love on first sight. Broken. Twice over because I'm mean. 4. Cyborgs lack emotion (not sure if this is actually a rule or not). Broken. I can't think of anything else. Last year I broke the "Main character never dies" five times over with five different MCs. It was awesome. I will eventually break that rule and the "do not reincarnate characters" a bunch more times in another trilogy I'm writing. I can't even remember how many times but it works with the plot. Wed, 09 Nov 2011 21:30:19 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_613014 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_613014 Alice_345 1) "I will not base my characters of people i know." Broken all over. 2) MC does not fall in love with creeper guy. Broken during their first time meeting -__- Wed, 09 Nov 2011 21:45:13 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_613280 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_613280 paperlanterns I killed my MC in the first sentence and brought here back by the end of the first chapter, more or less. Oops. Wed, 09 Nov 2011 21:51:12 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_613373 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_613373 TheGildedFox I think someone needs to let George R.R. Martin know about this "Main Character never dies" rule. It would save all of us a lot of trouble, really. Wed, 09 Nov 2011 22:52:27 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_614146 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_614146 TheGildedFox Oh and to answer the question. 1.) Never use a character as a self-insertion. BROKEN. and this is a biggie. I figure if I am aware of it, and do my best to avoid all the reasons why they tell you NOT to self insert, I can pull it off with creative writing kung fu and mad skills. Or I might be writing a giant train wreck and I'm just in total denial. But here's the thing, I want people to be able to relate to and imagine themselves as my narrator. I don't know to make her anymore real and relatable than by drawing upon my own experiences and making the choices that I would make in her situations. I mean, seriously, look at all the successful stories out there that are obviously self-insertion type of characters. Jane Eyre, Luke Skywalker, Captain Kirk, etc. I know that she'll probably get bashed as a Mary Sue, but hey, there you go. I'm doing my best to write in a well written, well rounded character, with flaws and emotions, and consequences for her (sometimes questionable) actions. If that's not good enough, than I give up. So what if she's experiencing a world and a life that I would give almost anything to experience (yes, even the bad stuff that happens to her)? Isn't that the whole reason that we write books in the first place? Especially historical fiction...isn't the idea to dramatize history in a way that the reader can feel like they are experiencing it first hand, from the character's perspective? To give it a human aspect that it just doesn't have when you read it in the history books? Anyways, I'm babbling. Wed, 09 Nov 2011 23:14:51 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_614400 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_614400 sirichan 1. Do not kill the main character. *Broken~* 2. If you do kill the main character do it at the very end of the novel. *Broken~* 3. Things should happen in chronological order. *Broken broken broken.* 4. The narrator must be human or at least similar to a human. *Broken.* 5. Deaths must have meaning. *broken broken broken* Thu, 10 Nov 2011 08:26:16 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_619420 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_619420 Hoshi Niccon 1. characters should have names biased on where they live *broken* Yes I am in fact one of those people who name my american characters with Japanese names so sue me >< I didn't feel like setting this story in Japan but I love Japanese names and anyways the whole book is about the Japanese Grim Reapers known as Shinigami. *shrugs* Thu, 10 Nov 2011 08:42:27 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_619681 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_619681 Arya Svit-Kona 1. Good always wins. ~Broken~ Considering that fact that my MC is the bad guy, it'd be odd for him to lose... though technically, neither good nor evil wins. 2. Main character always lives. ~Broken~ I's sorry, Leify.... but you have to die. 3. Main character and main girl fall in love. ~Broken~ There is zero chemistry between them and Rowan just doesn't seem like the type to fall in love with him.... 4. Do not base characters off people in real life. ~Broken~ Rowan and Alya are both based off two of my friends. 5. Do not base a character off yourself. ~Broken~ Silva is my appearance in the story. But she only pops up once to get introduced and again to get killed. Thu, 10 Nov 2011 13:38:50 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_625020 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_625020 zfttm64 Another one I thought of: The main character always does the right thing in the end. BROKEN. Spoiler alert, but he ends up destroying all of America. :3 In response to some of yours: Good always wins: BROKEN Main guy and girl fall in love: What am I, a romance novelist? Eew, no, BROKEN. Base characters off yourself: I did that to all of them save one, BROKEN. Characters should have names based on where they live: I use character names like 'Wolf' and 'Blizzard', so BROKEN Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:37:59 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_629471 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_629471 Mynerva 1. Never start a scene/chapter with characters waking up. BROKEN 2. Never end a scene/chapter with characters going to sleep. BROKEN - Oh, so many times broken! 3. No cliffhangers. BROKEN 4. No basing characters on real people. BROKEN (though it's usually people I really don't like... and no, they don't usually survive for more than a few chapters) 5. The heroes always get saved in the nick of time. BROKEN - they get saved maybe five or ten minutes after, so they're just mangled and injured enough to provide for more angsty and juicy scenes later and on previous novels... 6. All the 'beautiful people' are good. BROKEN 7. Evil never wins. BROKEN 8. Evil characters can never experience real and honest love. BROKEN Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:56:48 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_629794 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_629794 Karey Lea Wait...you killed the character that was based on yourself? Isn't that a form of suicide? Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:57:28 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_629807 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_629807 zfttm64 As for your rules... 1. Never start a scene with someone waking up: What other way is there? BROKEN 2. Never end a chapter with someone going to sleep: Does getting knocked unconscious count? If so, BROKEN about 50 million times over 3. No cliffhangers: How can I not? BROKEN 4. Already did this one. 5. The heroes always get saved in the nick of time: Never happens. They always just die. BROKEN 6. Beautiful people are good: BROKEN, if handsome and charismatic counts 7. Evil never wins. Well, this one's complicated for me, so I'll just label it BROKEN 8. Evil = no true love: I'm not a romance novelist. This isn't an issue. Thu, 10 Nov 2011 18:05:34 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_629940 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_629940 Arya Svit-Kona I most certainly did! *grinzles* It was rather fun, actually! *shrugs* Could be if you think about it the right way! Sat, 03 Dec 2011 19:01:55 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_930045 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_930045 Angryman Let's see... 1. The protagonists are always the good guys. Broke that with 4 characters. 2. The MMC always winds up with a girl. Broken. He winds up with 2 girls. 3. Magic and monsters can only go with swords in a medieval setting. Broken by a sharpshooter in a modern day city. 4. Romeo and Juliet must always be in love with each other. Broken. The feuding families decided to put Romeo and Juliet together. 5. Unless the lyrics are written into the story, music has no place in a novel. Broken several times in one novel (Booyah!). 6. Demons are never chaotic good (civilians). Broken. Hassan would rather be a regular citizen that volunteers time at the local Salvation Army than the cold-hearted beast that everyone sees demons as. 7. The best warriors are never clumsy. Broken by Hassan (I think he had lessons from Himura Kenshin). 8. The protagonist always knows what sort of weapon and how many rounds the bad guy has. Broken. Simon might have told you what it was if it was a weapon from Halo. Other wise, all he knew was that he had a gun pointed at him. 9. The protagonist either comes out of a dire situation without a scratch, or not at all. Broken. Si was definitely grazed by a bullet. He wouldn't shut up about it. 10. Only the warriors get in on a fight. Broken. Desiree is a healer, but she's not afraid to step up and slap the sh*t out of a person. Nothing like breaking all the rules. Sat, 03 Dec 2011 20:19:46 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_930299 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_930299 Tetrinity 1. Characters should not be based on people you know, and definitely not based on yourself Broken, and spectacularly so. Almost every single major character I have is a character from the old GURPS campaign my friends and I had going. Each of the characters in that campaign were essentially stylised avatars of the person playing them. 2. Never start a scene with someone waking up Broken. Give him a break, the day before he'd been involved in a deliberate car crash to break him out of police custody, a mission involving breaking into an important businessman's home to steal some documents, and a massive police pursuit! The poor boy needed the rest. 3. Cyborgs lack emotion Broken. One of my main characters is an obscenely sarcastic robot who becomes flamboyant during a fight and changes to a sing-song voice when enjoying himself. He's probably more emotional than the MMC he's supposed to be the sidekick of. 4. The protagonist either comes out of a dire situation without a scratch, or not at all. Broken. That police chase I mentioned earlier? Huge gash to the head and unconsciousness for the FMC. Two cracked ribs and whiplash for the MMC. Although... this was admittedly caused by driving at high speed through a crash barrier, off a raised highway and landing directly into a garden shed. Anybody in reality would surely have been killed. But hey, creative liberties, right? 5. MMC and FMC fall in love Broken, or at least planned to be broken. Perhaps they'll surprise me. They do (grudgingly for my FMC) care about each other, and my MMC does have a slight crush on my FMC, but he has crushes on a lot of women and rarely acts upon them anyway. The only other MMCs I have are a friend of the FMC who is firmly in the friend zone, and a robot. The only other FMC is asexual. Romance? Not happening in this novel if I have anything to say about it. 6. Evil never wins Depends how you define "evil". The MCs view the main antagonist as a corrupt faceless businessman who is willing to murder anybody in the way of greater profits. The main antagonist views the MCs as a gang of criminals who pose a threat to the stability of the planet, which is doing just fine, murderous CEOs aside. I'm still not really sure which side is supposed to be the "evil" one. 7. Characters should have names based on where they live Broken, then beaten with a baseball bat until it stops quivering. The novel is set in a fictional universe, on a fictional planet with fictional countries and cities. Why does my FMC obviously hail from Japan? Why does my MMC use a pseudonym that is half German, half Swedish? Why does everybody use British slang? I could probably go on, but this post is getting long enough as it is. I'm a bit of a rebel when it comes to fiction, apparently. Sun, 04 Dec 2011 08:32:48 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_931765 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_931765 TwilightSparkle The Me Rules of Writing 1: Children are immune to dying. 2: Protagonists can't die if they've been around for more than one paragraph. BROKEN. RIP, Samantha Blaine, one of my secondary characters from this year's NaNo. 3: No basing characters off of people you know. UNLESS they're actually competent, relevant, and snarky enough to actually have been written by me. Otherwise, you end up with crap characters. 4: No onscreen sex 5: No cursing. BROKEN. My characters for this year's NaNo were the biggest group of potty mouths I've ever written. Sun, 04 Dec 2011 12:20:17 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_932631 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_932631 JuniorFrenzySista 1) "I will not base my characters of people i know." Broken all over. Join the club. :P Tue, 06 Dec 2011 04:02:45 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_941178 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_941178 JuniorFrenzySista 1. The MC doesn't die. BROKEN. Andru was shot with a poison dart then thrown off a building. 2. Children are immune to dying. BROKEN. My FMC is going to kill her eight year old stepdaughter. And yes folks, these are the good guys. 3. The MC always gets to kill at least one of the bad guys. Usually one they have the vendetta against. BROKEN. Actually, this one was broken, shot to shreds and thrown in a volcano. My FMC had three people she had vaguely personal reasons to kill. The guy who was orchestrating the whole thing, my (dead) MMC's girlfriend who betrayed them and the mercenary who tortured her. And that ninja who caused my other MMC to almost break his neck. They all got killed by someone else. 4. No basing characters off people you know. BROKEN. One of my minor characters was based on the person I have a crush on and one of my MMCs (who was supposed to be a minor character) was partly based on a boy I know. And then there's all the characters who are based on TV show characters. 5. MMC and FMC fall in love. BROKEN. And burned. One of my MMCs liked my FMC but she didn't return it at all and he had a girlfriend anyway. As for the other MMC, well he's my FMC's cousin. And gay. 6. FMC has a love interest. BROKEN. My FMC is asexual aromantic. No love interest at all. 7. The protagonist either comes out of a dire situation without a scratch, or not at all. BROKEN. They've all been shot, my FMC was tortured and one of my MMCs broke his nose and ended up covered in scratches. And possibly had a concussion. 8. The protagonists are always the good guys. BROKEN. Probably. Depends on what you mean by the good guy. My FMC is on the good guy's team but she is a nasty piece of work. 9. Only the warriors get in on a fight. BROKEN. Kind of. Technically Ben works for Intel but he knows how to fight and he gets into a lot of them. 10. Never base a character off yourself. BROKEN. Almost all of my character are something like me. Otherwise I find it hard to write them. Emilia is just more like me than anyone else. Tue, 06 Dec 2011 04:25:09 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_941210 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_941210 sschwarz 1. Don't base characters on people from real life. Destroyed that one with my MC alone. 2. Don't bring your family into your novel. Broken! Relatives made their way into this novel quite easily. 3. No cliff-hangers. Yeah, broke that one. Decided that the reader couldn't know everything. 4. Only one symbolic death is needed, any more and it'll come across as tacky. Yeah, several people die symbolically but it's all for good reason, I swear. 5. There should be at least one stable relationship. There isn't, there just isn't. 6. Do not make the enemy sympathetic. Utterly broken with the inclusion of Hans. 7. Names of children should make sense and flow. That theory got smashed a little when you get the list of the ordinary, American sounding names and then throw two strong German names. 8. Do not kill the MC. Well, the reader was only given that impression for a few pages afterwards, and against the odds, he pulled through making it all okay. Tue, 06 Dec 2011 06:46:04 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_941424 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_941424 whitedove Ah, their more of what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules. Sorry, had to do it. 'Cause it's true. Wed, 07 Dec 2011 09:28:03 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_946606 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_946606 whitedove they're not their To use another quote: MY KINGDOM FOR AN EDIT BUTTON!!! Wed, 07 Dec 2011 09:29:30 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_946610 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_946610 Mungolian Romances always end in happily ever after. Broken. The MC is the MC. Broken. At least in my 2010 NaNo, my MC was a decoy. Do not kill the MC. Also broken in 2010, so the heroic mantle could be passed to the real MC. Endings are conclusive. Broken. I love those ambiguous ends. Characters should not be based on yourself. While I wouldn't call them 100% self-inserts, some of my characters are definitely reflections of my own problems. So, probably broken. Never start a chapter or scene with descriptions of weather. I can't think of any specific examples, but I most likely broke this rule. Evil never wins. My antagonists did not spend hundreds of years in power just to be toppled in one book. Broken. MC is a good guy. Broken. Especially this year. With the exception of one, all my characters in a particular story were terrible people. Wed, 07 Dec 2011 10:08:43 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_946697 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_946697 ellarien Know who your main character is. Maybe I'll figure it out in the rewrite, but for now -- broken. I have at least three candidates for the position, only two of whom are viewpoint characters. (These are not to be confused with the candidates for the throne of my fantasy kingdom, who are also three, but only one of them is in the running for MC.) Wed, 07 Dec 2011 16:15:15 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_948236 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_948236 Ellipses... - The lovers ends up together in the end, despite hardships they go through. FALSE, Reva and Jake end up totally not speaking by the end of the novel. In fact, Reva ends her story much like she began it: alone. Oh, it's slightly depressing. I dislike putting my poor RJ through such horrid things. Wed, 07 Dec 2011 18:54:12 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_949107 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_949107 Angryman ...Are you the reason all the rum's gone? Wed, 07 Dec 2011 23:38:13 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_950315 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_950315 whitedove . . . You would not believe how often I get asked that. Fri, 09 Dec 2011 19:44:14 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_957672 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_957672 fuzz - Main characters never die - broken - All deaths have meaning - broken (on purpose. Does it count if your meaning is that senseless death don't have much meaning?) - Do not resurrect your main characters - very, very broken. But hey, it's a book about necromancers. - Do not write a love triangle - broken - Do not have tangled relationships between every one of the cast - broken - Do not leave an ambiguous ending to your love triangle - broken - Do not kill off a bad guy and make it easy - broken - Do not use 'the butler did it' - broken :P Sat, 10 Dec 2011 02:08:39 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=2#forum_thread_comment_958512 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=2#forum_thread_comment_958512 bobo_the_bard Ohhh, so many many rules to break! Let's see... 1. Do not kill main character. BROKEN! She'll probably still die only at the end of the book, though, but in the middle of the trilogy. I might not kill her after all... 2. FMC and MMC fall in love and end up together. BROKEN! At least, different parts of that rule will be broken in different stories. Some pairs won't fall in love at all, some will be one-sided, and some will work out, but I will cause some catastrophe to happen that prevents them from being together. And some end up working out, or they find happiness with others. Dunno specifics yet, since I'm Sf&F author, not romance. 3. Do not resurrect dead main characters. BROKEN! ...Does it help that I am making blatant Battlestar Galactica references, and that she just might be a Cylon? Oh, wait, I'm not, not in my original story! Greeeaaaaaat. 4. Do not base characters off if people you know or yourself. BROKEN! That is, I don't use people directly. I use bits and pieces, and make others up. I take emotions and motivations from real life to make characters more believable. 5. Do not break the fourth wall. BROKEN! My characters are intermittently aware that they are in a story. That's part of the entire premise. I also several different walls, just so I could break them! 6. Do not have a Love Triangle. BROKEN! Technically, it's not a love triangle; it's a love polyhedron. 7. If there is a love triangle, the Chooser must choose one or the other. BROKEN! The good prince wants to kill the FMC, and the other guy is nice, but he likes Evil too much. How's a girl to choose at all? 8. The bad guy is a psychopath and the good guy is an honorable hero. BROKEN! The good guy kills people indiscriminately, and has a rather gloomy study. The bad guy has a really nice, airy castle, and the health and dental plans are quite good. Come to think of it, I'm not so sure that they can be labeled 'good' and 'bad.' 9. Do not do any self-inserts. BROKEN! ...Well, she's not a Sue. And she dies. I think. And she has flaws, although not necessarily my flaws. As for my other story, it's meta fiction. I'm allowed to romp around as the Author! ^_^ Sun, 11 Dec 2011 09:06:23 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=2#forum_thread_comment_962287 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=2#forum_thread_comment_962287 izzyhindle "I will not base my characters of people i know." ...Oops. Mon, 12 Dec 2011 04:38:30 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_965179 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_965179 izzyhindle I have the exact same problem. Rraghl. My character is dangerously close to being a self-insert. Not completely, but definitely -very- close. Mon, 12 Dec 2011 04:39:26 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_965180 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_965180 Earthsick [quote=Arya Svit-Kona] 3. Main character and main girl fall in love. ~Broken~ There is zero chemistry between them and Rowan just doesn't seem like the type to fall in love with him.... [/quote] Same here. The only female MC is like a-ok with my MMC but she's neither in love with him, nor overly friendly. She even ruins the bromance with his best buddy, lol. Tue, 13 Dec 2011 04:49:48 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_968896 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_968896 emberwing Main characters never die- BROKEN mind you, she was promptly resurrected, but that was not in the plan at all FMC and MMC hook up- BROKEN On the contrary they loathe each other with a passion not unlike Snape and Harry, though they've come to grudgingly respect the other. Sort of. Do not base characters off peple you know- BROKENBROKENBROKEN Do not break the fourth wall- BROOOOOOOKEEEEN I was a villain for a short time because reasons The good guy is an honorable hero- ARE YOU KIDDING ME? HA. NO. Mira has little to no control over her blood lust, is angry all the time, bosses everyone around and makes stupid, rash decisions. The villain is just worse in comparison. There will be a happily ever after In MY novel? NEVER! Last years ended on a bitter tone and while I haven't finished the actual story of this years it's looking like the bad guy will win. Who is incidentally a vague self insert gone horribly wrong. Never again. Do no have a self insert THIS WAS SUCH A BAD IDEA. Two books later this self insert has suddenly turned into a VILLAIN FROM MY NIGHTMARES. What does this say about my innermost self?! Tue, 13 Dec 2011 21:03:38 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=2#forum_thread_comment_971556 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=2#forum_thread_comment_971556 Rubyfruit The only one I've broken, at least halfway, is that Evil Never Wins. For both the Nano and the thing I'm working on now, I have two endings. Depending on which ending the readers accept, the rule has either been broken or not-broken. Sat, 17 Dec 2011 16:13:29 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=2#forum_thread_comment_980672 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=2#forum_thread_comment_980672 rainstorm. There are novel-writing rules? oops i tripped and broke all of them sry Sat, 14 Jan 2012 13:06:35 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1059802 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1059802 IzzyRoxUrSox14 1. Children are immune to dying. BROKEN. It kills me to do it, but it IS a war novel. 2. The protagonist either comes out of a dire situation without a scratch, or not at all. BROKEN. Tuns of battle wounds, broken hand for my FMC, MMC got freaking killed. 3. Only the warriors get in on a fight. BROKEN. It's citizens fighting, just some random people. 4. Never base a character off yourself. BROKEN. There's always a character who is somewhat like me. Not fully, but somewhat. 5. Never start a scene/chapter with characters waking up. BROKEN 6. Never end a scene/chapter with characters going to sleep. BROKEN - Oh, so many times broken! 7. No cliffhangers. BROKEN. I end the whole thing on a cliffhanger 8. Do not kill the main character. BROKEN. Hangs head. I killed my MMC. It was a tough decision. 9. The MMC always winds up with a girl. BROKEN. He freaking DIES! 10. No cursing. BROKEN. Ugh, oh so broken. Hey, only 10!... Well probably not only 10, but that's good for now :) Sat, 14 Jan 2012 17:38:24 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1060460 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1060460 Rubyfruit Oh, wait, I forgot the "Good Guy Is Always Honorable" rule! At least for my Nano, both hero and villain are big friggin' liars for the exact same reason--they both want to save the world. Except my villain has a...different approach. She's not so much psychotic as much as she doesn't think the world is "ready" yet so the only way to make them "ready" is through mind control. In the other thing I'm working on, I have yet another Utopian Villain Antagonist who is not psychotically, puppy-kickingly evil, but she is more honorable than some of the people who can be counted as being on the "good" side. Sat, 14 Jan 2012 19:38:27 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1060722 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1060722 RobertLent Is there a "the good guy is always honorable" rule? It seems that these days, the anti-hero who isn't much better than the villain is quite in vogue. Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:11:06 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1070755 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1070755 Rubyfruit [quote=RobertLent] Is there a "the good guy is always honorable" rule? It seems that these days, the anti-hero who isn't much better than the villain is quite in vogue. [/quote] The "Good Guy Must Be Honorable, Or At The Very Least Less of a Jerkwad Than the Villain" rule still applies in some genres. As far as I know, this is especially true of books written for younger audiences, and at least in some parts of romance writing, that applies. While anti-heroes are in vogue, the classic Good Guy hero is still hanging around. Thu, 19 Jan 2012 07:23:59 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1073550 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1073550 Smartiez101 1.) The hero must be honorable. BROKEN!!! My three MCs are complete airheads. Willow is an airhead because she's one of the best fighters besides the legendary people. Akara is an airhead once everyone figures out that she's really the famous interplanetary racer 'Aria Yang' because she doesn't ever let them forget it. Truvik Survik is an airhead because, even if his drunken uncle blew all his inheiratence no matter whether it all went to Truvik or not, his dad used to be the CEO of the best company in the inner circle planets. Even if both Truvik's parents died a bit ago. 2.) The MMC ends up with the FMC Broken. Haha, no. All the MCs are airheads. Willow is seventeen, Truvik is nineteen, and Aria is twenty one. (in that galaxy, you don't become an adult until you're twenty one, so Aria is the only adult.) They may come to (mostly) trust each other, but none of them really become friends. 3.) Nobody 'just dies'. To Be Broken. Dennis just dies. 4.) Children are immune to dying. Broken. Well, Dennis is only 15, which is just reaching around the teenager stage in that galaxy, so technically he's still a kid. The rule would be better put in this case as 'NonAdults are immune to dying'. 5.) The FMC has a love interest. Well, Aria doesn't have one (no matter how much it seemed Avery and Aria would get together. That's kind of hard when they're both on complete different planets with no way of interaction.) Willow has a crush on this one guy in the beginning but that gets extinguished when (SPOILER ALERT!!! SPOILTER ALERT!!!) A Drakkon Reborn. Only five. Shame Smartiez, Shame. xD Fri, 20 Jan 2012 08:02:59 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1076304 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1076304 fuzz Oh, oops. Hero must be honorable? Broken to hell. Sat, 21 Jan 2012 17:15:57 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1079882 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=2#forum_thread_comment_1079882 Lisa.Vail Broken. Tue, 31 Jan 2012 03:09:57 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1104862 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1104862 Angelfowl "3. Things should happen in chronological order. *Broken broken broken.*" Am I the only person who read the "Broken"'s out of order because of the question? ... I thought it was funny... Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:52:26 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1119820 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/all-ages-coffee-house/threads/32043?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1119820