Thinkin' Thursday

Occassionally, my writer's bump is more prevalent on my head rather than my hand. Today is one of those days.

Q: If my MC were stranded on a deserted island WHO would he/she bring to share the desolation, despair & hunger? And, here's what I came up with...

A1. If the story is a romance then it had better be the love interest. If its the best friend, antag or any of the other characters, then there is a problem. Problems like this = no HEA = NO romance.

A2. For mystery, more options abound. Could be the buddy (cannibals like dessert), the private investigator (unless they are the PI), the victim (protecting's the game after all) or the antag which creates a whole different set of fun all its own.

A3. SciFi/Fantasy has even more possibilities. Using Luke Skywalker as an example, it could go something like this:

• Darth Vader - the battle for his soul continues or they build the father/son bond
• Han Solo - the buddy, the back-up; fighting cannibals is just all in a galaxy's fabric
• Leia - another family bonding moment or another way to grate on Solo's last neural fiber
• Obi-Wan - the mentor father figure because, lets face it, Luke has a penchant for trouble
• Yoda - because hangin' with Yoda would just be cool

The whole point of this exercise is to determine what type of story you have. The mix of characters, the MCs dilemma & a host of other issues become the backdrop upon which the story is told. Knowing how that plays out & with whom tells us a lot about where our story is headed, how it will unfold & ultimately what the ending should look like. The who & the why also speaks to genre/cross-genre stories which is important to know before the first query hits the cyber rails.

Happy Writing,

Patti Struble