I don't even have a setting or characters for my plot yet, but essentially, it's an epic tale of everything going wrong in every possible way.
However - I do know the protagonist is going to win through. Minus his/her loved ones, limbs, sanity and life, maybe - but they are going to make it to the end and essentially triumph.
Any tips on making this as not obvious as possible?
I get the feeling in a lot of books that, even if I am genuinely afraid for the character, I just know that the bad guys are going to be beaten at the end, it's a question of how, not if. I'd love to manage to get my reader thinking in terms of if!
I'm not sure there's a way of avoiding it completely, I'm just casting about for things I can do to keep the peril up without it getting repetitive or the character seeming indestructible (because I've thrown so much peril at them and they've survived).
Anybody?
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Project One: Spirit, a TV pilot about the crew of a Most Haunted-style show who discover they can see real ghosts
Project Two: The Laureate, a graphic novel. Teachers meets Harry Potter set in Gormenghast, starring Thierry the Heroics Professor.
274 / 50,000
Oct 4, 2007 - 05 32
If you aren't sure that someone is really good, if you are concerned for thier goodvsevil status that might make it easier to believe tha they are going to end up as toast.
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Does not read and follow label directions.
25,007 / 50,000
Oct 4, 2007 - 05 41
Tricky...
I guess you could use foreshadowing techniques but to the opposite effect. Use phrases and a mood and small hints that suggest that the book is likely to end in tragedy. That way the reader probably wouldn't expect the protagonist to triumph. The only problem with this is that the ending could seem a bit sudden and not in keeping...
I suppose you could also set up the idea of no character being safe, I watched a film once that was really realistic and you really didn't know who was going to survive to the end because people you expected to follow throughout the film suddenly died unexpectedly and it became impossible to know who would triumph (or even survive) at the end.
I don't know, really. Is it that important for readers to think in terms of 'if' rather than 'when' in terms of triumph? Some readers like the security of knowing that no matter what hardships the characters go through, everything will be all right in the end. Perhaps something to think about (if you haven't already).
Definitely an interesting concept to consider though (from both sides). Hope I've been of some help.
Anon.
50,087 / 50,000
Oct 4, 2007 - 10 33
Is it really so important for it not to be obvious that he will triumph? Honestly, in the vast majority of books we know that the protag will somehow meet his goal. The suspense is in the how and when.
Or you could take a leaf out of George R.R. Martin's book. He has many main characters, and he kills them off messily extremely often. If a character goes into a plan he knows has a low chance of working and a high chance of death, he will die; no deus ex machina or last-minute epiphany will save him. Have a secondary character do something that looks like it will end in death and then have it actually end in death; this will give the reader a sense that anyone could die at any time, even the MC.
----------2003: Anomaly (won!)
2004: Duodecium (won by a large margin!)
2005: Follow the Tides (won, but hated the story)
2006: Glass Jars and Seashores (won! This was Anomaly, mach II, with 100% new characters and a completely re-outlined plot)