Quick Fire Questions (A Place to Ask and Answer)

[Jo Zebedee]

hard one. I just finished reading the first two books of the Mistborn series, where he kills off the main protagonist at the end of the first one, and I definitely felt the second was a poorer book for it. I suppose it depends if you have someone to replace him with? If so, and he's superfluous, then killing off someone everyone has got to like could be memorable

 

[Jo Zebedee]

In the city of Bendau on the planet Abendau, five year old Averlyn Petina was being put to bed, snuggling down as her mother leaned over and sang a lullaby

Just a quick question for those who are good at these things; is the above sentence okay, or is it switching tenses to put in snuggling rather than snuggled. I thought it gave it a bit of pace, and then I thought it might just be confusing. Since i do this quite a lot, I thought I'd check.

 

[Mouse]

Snuggling is the right tense, I think. But the very first bit is a bit odd. You go from a city, to a planet. No mention of a country/continent? And the city's name is that close to the planet's name?

(Sorry, I know you weren't asking about that, but that stuck out the most to me in the sentence.)

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I'm probably going to change that, too. and the other 70000 words, for that matter lol.

 

[Boneman]

Quick Fire question away!

I have run into a rather interesting issue with my novel. My main character, the one I decided long before I began the tale, has slowly become just another member of the group.

The plot kind of revolves around him in a sense, as the characters involved never would have come together if not for him. However, his involvement with most of what's been happening has fallen away.

Is this a common occurrence where you realize your main protagonist is no longer the focus any longer? Should this be remedied sooner than later?

I hate it when that happens. Why can't they stick to the script?

I'd run with it, because your creative brain needs to do it, but bookmark that place in case your brain needs a slap, and you get back on the track you were diverted from. I guess the question is: is it weakening the story, the way it's going? If so, then maybe look closely at the plotlines and see where you can strengthen them. I'd maybe kill off a member of the group, then they can't interfere...

 

[Phoenixthewriter]

Heh, well I actually reached a point where finally he will be with a lot fewer characters and his story comes back into its own. However since about the fourth chapter he gets badly injured and just kinda floats through the rest of the novel, over a hundred pages of writing where he does practically nothing, mostly acts like a little kid.

My issue was that it flows really well as it is, but I liked that rising apprentice feel it had for the first several pages. Just not sure if other writers had practically switched out their focus characters because it just felt right to do so.

 

[The Judge]

Can't help you there, Phoenix -- I've never had a character do that. Mine all go the other way -- they're written in as bit-part players and then they start demanding top billing!

Springs -- you're not changing tense as such, since they are both past tense, so yes ordinarily it would be fine. However, the "snuggling" suggests that's continuing throughout the time her mother sings the lullaby, which seems a little odd, and the "was being" before it -- also continuing -- is a tad clumsy. Since we can guess her mother has put her to bed by the rest of it, how about:

In the city of Bendau, five year old Averlyn Petina snuggled deeper into her bed, as her mother sang her favourite lullaby

I know what Mouse means about the equivalent of "In the city of Dublin on the planet Earth" but you can't really give more info otherwise the sentence would grind to a halt! I'd stick with whatever is more important, the city or the planet. I wasn't sure what the "leaned over" bit was doing, which is why it fell out of my version, but pop it back in if it's important, obviously.

 

[hopewrites]

I had a protagonist who for a while looked like she was going to fall for the wrong man in the romance I was writing. When I let her have her way she came around on her own which was good because otherwise it was just going to be tragedy after tragedy for the true object of her affections.
I would say keep it if it helps him develop as a character now or later on. For me plot is just a device for showing how your characters grow.

 

[alchemist]

It wasn't worth opening a new thread for this, so i thought I'd just resurrect this one.

I have a character, a woman about 21 years old, whose confidence is so low that she only comes out of her house at night.

A) If i give her a cat, am I sailing too close to caricature?
B) What do cats eat, apart from cat food, that would be available in a corner shop (local convenience store, for the otherwise inclined)?

 

[Boneman]

1) only if it's black

2) Tinned tuna/fish, cold meats - packet and tinned.

 

[HoopyFrood]

It wasn't worth opening a new thread for this, so i thought I'd just resurrect this one.

That's what the thread was made for, to be resurrected as and when it is needed.

 

[goldhawk]

A) many people have cats

B) fish, fowl, meat, raw or cooked

 

[alchemist]

Thanks for the replies folks, and...

That's what the thread was made for, to be resurrected as and when it is needed.

...would a mod consider stickying this? It's a useful thread and might save some space.

 

[Ursa major]

B) What do cats eat, apart from cat food, that would be available in a corner shop (local convenience store, for the otherwise inclined)?

If there's also a chip shop nearby, they may sell fish trimmings. (Many chip shops I know don't open all that late, so this source of food for the cat might dry up in the summer (assuming that she only leaves the house when it's dark rather than being reliant on what a clock says).

 

[Hex]

We had a cat that ate cheese...

 

[Ursa major]

That's probably because your cat believed the myth (common amongst cats) about how "cheese breath" helps in catching mice.

 

[alchemist]

The term "fish trimmings" conjures up some pretty awful images. I think I'll go for tuna. My girl would never be able to contemplate going to a chipper. Although, maybe in the sequel...

 

[Ursa major]

I assume the trimmings are merely off-cuts from the fish pieces we eat, and skin and stuff. (Would a chippy be sent fish to gut? Or the heads? I doubt it, not when the supplier probably has other customers for the innards, etc. Cod liver oil, anyone?)

 

[TheDustyZebra]

It's only caricature if you give her more than two cats. One should be ok, unless it's pregnant, in which case she might be in trouble.

 

[odangutan]

B) What do cats eat, apart from cat food, that would be available in a corner shop (local convenience store, for the otherwise inclined)?

If you don't know basic stuff like what cats eat then I do wonder if you should be putting one in the story.

Cats will eat pretty much anything, if they've a mind to. Mine used to have a wee Christmas dinner with sprouts and everything. They also like cheese, yoghurt and most dairy (although it's not great for them in excess). Biscuits, some kinds of crisps, cured meats, banana...