P is for Peril

PERIL
 "Glory is the child of peril." -Tobias Smollett
Are your characters happy? Do they lead safe, contented lives? Do they never encounter danger?
If so, your story is in trouble.

 Characters need to be put into peril from time to time, whether it is physical danger or psychological trauma (or even better, both!). Think about what they are most afraid of. Then make it happen. Do they have any phobias? Use them. We are all afraid of something, so your characters should be too. Make it impossible for the characters to turn back. Not bad enough? Put the person they love most in the world in peril. Have them make mistakes. Even better, have one of their mistakes endanger both them AND the person they love most in the world. 

 And don't forget the ticking clock. 

 For example, Joe has to save his sick daughter and wife from the kidnappers in 24 hours, or pay their ransom, or else. The kidnappers? Joe's mistress & her, um, brother. (They don't act like brother and sister, but that's for another blog post.) And the ransom? More money than Joe has. He might be able to get his hands on the money, but it will be illegal. By the way, they are being held in an abandoned coal mine. Did I mention that Joe is terrified of dark, cramped, dirty places? Or that the coal mine was abandoned because it kept collapsing, killing people? Or that his daughter has asthma...and left her inhaler behind?

 Too much peril? You can always dial it down a bit by letting us see happier family moments, showing us why Joe fell for the diabolical kidnapper, or glimpses into what else is happening in their lives. But keep that peril alive. 

 If you don't, you're killing your story.

Comments

  1. AnonymousApril 19, 2016 at 4:51 PM

    My characters are never safe from me. I laugh evilly as I throw them under the bus.

    ~Ninja Minion Patricia Lynne aka Patricia Josephine~
    Story Dam
    Patricia Lynne, Indie Author

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

N is for Name

Image
NA M ES               “Names have power.”                       -Rick Riordan, The Lightning Thief              What's in a name? Plenty. The name you give your character gives the reader an instant impression, even if they don't know what the name really means. For example, w hat do you think of when you hear the following names:  Destiny Colt Barack Ruby Hester Sierra Khan Jesus Barbara Magda Aloha Martha Kofi Prudence Lucifer Bilbo Miranda Filippo Jessie Duncan Anjali Peewee Ishmael Ludwig Ngai Dae won Amber Hercules Scarlett Ashley Midori Gabriel Xerxes Ralph Heathcliff Veruca Hannibal Roshanna Ramona Svengali  Hans Isabella Lolita Jeeves Pip Ebenezer  Rudolph Gump Scout Winnie Grendel Tarzan Scheherazade I bet each of them gave you an immediate impression, even if you can't fully articulate what that impression is.  Well, your reader will have one, too. So when you choose a name for your c
Read more

H is for Horror

Image
H O RR O R “We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones.”  ―  Stephen King Writing can be a scary business. Whether alone or with others, it requires a lot of risk on our part. We bare our souls, share our secrets with the world. Or we put them in a story and call it fiction. Yeah, that's it. I'm kidding, sort of. But today I want to talk about writing scary stories, not living them.  Writing horror So you love horror. Great--so do lots of people, and there are many potential markets. Paying markets, even. Well, not paying much. But still. Did I say paying?  We'll get to that in a bit.  What's the best way to start writing horror stories?  Ask yourself this: What makes you anxious? What scares you the most?  What is the most terrifying situation you can imagine? Your worst nightmare? What grosses you out? Start there. Avoid  cliché s . But if you have a new take on that  cliché , go for it. There is always room for so
Read more

Yearn

Image
We yearn the most for what we have lost, for what we cannot have, for what can never be. But there can be silver linings to our yearnings. We might discover something we love or want even more than what we originally desired.  And, then, this: out of yearning, great stories are born.  "I love those who yearn for the impossible."  -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe What do you yearn for?  What story can you tell about it? "Art comes from the place where you dream."  -Robert Olen Butler interview with Robert Olen Butler Writing about yearning in fiction Robert Olen Butler & short fiction Longing writing prompt From fear to yearning writer's prompt An ancestral yearning: why writers love the ocean Yearning for transcendence Books about yearning Yearning and writing inspiration Harness the yearning "If you don't die of thirst, there are blessings in the desert. You can be pulled into limitlessness, which we all yearn for, or
Read more