In any dystopian/fantasy/paranormal novel, the author faces the question of how characters accept the weird things that happen to them. If the hero stubbornly refuses to believe in the bizarre events, he appears stupid. If the heroine jumps on the paranormal bandwagon immediately, she isn’t credible. There must be doubt, but not for too long.
Archer does a fantastic job of portraying a girl who is torn between thinking she communicates with ghosts and fearing she is going insane. Many of the episodes occur at night and have a dream-like quality without ever being a dream. Also the tastes of the alternate realm start small and expand as Tansy is drawn into the ghost’s world. Her fear that others will find out increases as the ghost begins to affect her perception of everyday life.
For my current project, a fantasy novel, I need to revisit my protagonist’s acceptance of the plot’s premise. She needs to spend some time walking the tightrope between belief and disbelief.
4 comments:
I struggled with this issue in my mermaid manuscript. Ultimately I inserted more clues and rewrote so my MC believed earlier. It is a tightrope!
I would love to be considered as a beta reader for your WIP when you get to that point!
Thanks, Kim. You're on. It may be a while ...
It is a tightrope Ann. I agree that if we don't get it right, our characters don't seem credible.
Thanks for sharing about this book. I hadn't heard of it.
Yes! Finally someone writes about confusions.
my blog post ... David Rohl
Post a Comment