Advice on implementing a near tragic event into my story. http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/49982 Alaskan_Adventurer Hello. About 4 months ago I was nearly murdered. I was attacked on an open road by a couple of guys, beaten to a pulp and then they dragged over to a nearby cliff where I was thrown over. I fell about 120 feet and somehow survived. I guess it wasn't my time to go and I am more than thankful for that. Climbing back up with only one eye and numerous injuries was half the battle. This occured in Ecuador, South America. The event was intense and I feel it would make a pretty exciting edition to my story, but for the life of me, I can't see how to fit it in to a fantasy novel. Do you think it would make a great opening event to the novel, or add it in later? Do you think I should should just leave it out? I just signed up to Nano today, and will fix up my profile on a later date. Nano is pretty awesome. Cheers! Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:21:19 +0000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/49982?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1122207 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/49982?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1122207 Brightdreamer First off, attempted murders could go into many genres - it's the setting (and the characters involved) that will determine the genre, not the event itself. Mobsters going after a nosy PI? Mystery/action-adventure. Altarian cyborgs attack an Earth ambassador? It's sci-fi. Hired thugs try to "disappear" an heir to the throne? Historical fiction or fantasy. Ogre bandits attacking an elf queen? Straight-up fantasy. As to how to incorporate it... you'll probably want a rough idea of a larger story arc to fit it into. Who are the attackers? What do they want? Who is the victim? Why are they being attacked? Is this a "Minor Event" (random attack that's merely a setback or side-step) or a "Major Event" (the culmination of numerous threats, or the incident that provides the clue that ties everything together.) Remember, this is fiction; unlike real life, it doesn't have to be just a Bad Thing Happening To Good People event. It could go anywhere in the novel itself. As an opening, your MC (presumably the attackee) could be tumbling down the cliff, reflecting on the events that led up to this moment (making much, if not all, of the story a flashback.) In the middle, it could be a plot turning point - or a cliffhanger, where you cut away to a different part of the story before coming back to them climbing up the cliff. At the end, your thugs could be back at base with their boss, celebrating a job well done, when your battered MC turns up to settle the score (with the police, or just with a firearm and an alibi.) Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:11:14 +0000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/49982?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1122245 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/49982?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1122245 Alaskan_Adventurer Thanks for the ideas. It is definitely going to be in my fantasy novel and will most likely be a fairly major event to assist in the growth of my mc. The reason I want to use it is because it is so strong in my mind, and I can really build on it. Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:22:15 +0000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/49982?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1122372 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/49982?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1122372 WritingGeek97 Wow...Poor guy...(You, not the other people. Hopefully they got caught, though it's bad that they did something like that to begin with.) Maybe it could happen near the end as the worst-thing-possible-before-the-climax part? Because suffering is supposed to gradually increase, and it should be mostly emotional. (Being almost-murdered must be painful emotionally and physically, but it's never happened to me so I'm just guessing here.) Or it could be the climax. Hope that helps and that you keep getting better (if you aren't all the way better yet). Wed, 08 Feb 2012 03:51:45 +0000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/49982?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1123459 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/49982?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1123459 Kataja (Hope you did not get permanently injured, uiks...) That could be a major plot point in your story - it is an attempt to murder the MC for some reason, and the bandits are actually hired assassins. The person who hired them did not get top professionals, however, and they attacked and beated him, so as to make it look like common robbery, but they got disturbed, pushed him off the cliff and run away. Then you can either have the persons coming to interrupt save the MC or then not notice that the tumult at the edge had resulted in someone pushed over... (in the latter case he survives against all the odds and the witnesses do not know what they did witness, in the former they already have the information that those were the culprits but little more...) Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:38:52 +0000 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/49982?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1123947 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/fantasy/threads/49982?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1123947