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I want to scare people. *creepy grin* Not horror movie style, but I want them to fear for my MC, Rori. Some plants hate her and want to kill her. (Yep, plants. In my WIP, some plants are intelligent, and have formed factions who often fight each other using assassin-cats. One faction is out to get Rori. My WIP is weird.) Everyone else thinks Rori is crazy for being afraid of plants. I am afraid my readers will think she’s crazy, too. It’s hard to take a MC seriously when you think they’re off their rocker. Actually, Rori is totally sane, and plants have tried to kill her repeatedly. Only certain plants, though, but she doesn’t know this, and will defend herself if she thinks a plant is going to hurt her. She often carries a weed whacker around for this purpose. So, how do I convince my readers that Rori is in danger, and not just crazy?? I honestly don’t think I could take a weed whacker-toting, plant-fearing hero seriously. At one point, she has to go into a florist’s shop, and I want it to be suspenseful. I want people to think she may actually be attacked by plants. But I have no idea how to do this… *pleading look* Help!
@daeus @kate-flournoy @graciegirl @that_writer_girl_99 @dragon-snapper @winter-rose @Shannon @Emily @catawing @anyone-elseBlog: https://weridasusual.home.blog/
It’s @catwing not @catawing what was I doing. XD
Blog: https://weridasusual.home.blog/
@daughteroftheking Well, that’s weird, but it’s also cool.
Could you write a scene from these killer plants’ POV?
Could some small animal be left in a room of plants and then when we come back to the room the animal is dead with signs of violence?
Could you describe a setting from the omniscient POV where there are these killer plants around and describe it so that the reader gets the idea there is something unnatural about these plants? Something angry and malicious?🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢
It all comes down to whether or not whatever you’re considering is believable.
Here’s what I mean by that: given that a reasonably observant person picks up your book, they’ll know it’s fiction. And fiction…well, it’s fiction because it’s not real. There’s an unlimited amount of craziness that can go into a concept like this, and that’s why it has appeal–because it’s crazy.
So first, you have to evaluate just how important this “dilemma” is to your story. Then, you can build in elements that give the concept more credibility. For instance, like @daeus said, maybe consider doing a chapter from the POV of the plants themselves. Maybe consider giving a bit of background as to why the plants hate Rori, instead of just laying that bit out without warning (I’m not saying you’re doing that, but it would be an important thing to remember).
Never underestimate what your readers are willing to believe. If they can get over the fact that it’s fiction, then they will enjoy any well written story. Any details that you can add in to increase credibility will just help to that effect.
@daughterofthekingWriter. Dreamer. Sometimes blogger. MBTI mess. Lover of Jesus and books.
If I picked up a book with the MC fearing plants… I would honestly be pretty curious. What made her fear plants?
She could be trailed by assassin cats. That would put danger and have something logical *nods* to be afraid of.
(If it makes you feel better there is a show where the MC is afraid of everything. The viewer still roots for him. His wife has died and he can’t solve that case. But he looks at things differently, and solves other cases.)
If she is crazy and has an unrealistic view of plants. Then get readers to want her to over come this… Until, tada! The plants are alive.IMMA KAPEEFER! Til we're old and gray!
@Daughteroftheking ooh, that’s wacky, but I like it! Great points already so far… I’ll just add that it might not be such a bad thing for the reader to think Rori’s a little off her rocker. As @Catwing said, it gives a curiosity factor.
But if your concern is believe-ability and the reader taking your story as a story seriously, I’m afraid that’s entirely on you. If you believe it, they’ll believe it. It bleeds through.
And there’s actually a deeper side of that question…
A lot of really famous books have completely wacky plots. For instance, Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It’s practically a classic, and yet the plot is about five children who are invited to this crazy candy-man’s underground factory in London where he grows magical candy with the aid of two-foot-tall orange men called Oompa-Loompas.
The reason this works is because the wackiness of the plot is not what the story’s built on. It takes a very definite second place to the heartwarming rags-to-riches story of little Charlie Bucket, who has nothing in the world and deserves everything.
The plot doesn’t make the story. That’s the theme’s job.So don’t think of your story as a story about a girl named Rori who is paranoid of killer plants. Think about it as a story about a girl named Rori who sees a very real danger everyone else is oblivious to and has to learn to fight it on her own.
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That sounds like a really cool story idea, @daughteroftheking. You have already gotten some great tips for this. So are the plants out to get him using the cats, or is it the plants who are actually fighting? In order to make your readers think that Rori is sane, I think that a backstory of Rori would be good. That would give her a reason to be afraid of them. Maybe sort of like @daeus said, but instead, a family member is in the situation instead of a small animal. Those are just my thoughts. Hope that makes sense.
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@daughteroftheking Cool story idea! Maybe have a prologue set up as a news report, reporting about plants revolting, or taking what @daeus said about an animal or what @emily said about a family member being killed by plants. That might be a good way to introduce it. Maybe the family cat was killed by plants, and the a news program reports this strange incident. That’s just what I might do!
@DaughteroftheKing First off, I think this a perfect example of how writers can get into some pretty weird conversations. XD I love it.
And it seems you’re pretty much covered here. Everyone’s making great points, and I especially like @Kate-Flournoy’s point about theme and plot.
I’m afraid I don’t have much to offer myself, but there’s always the option of telling the story from someone else’s POV. (Besides Rori’s, I mean. And I love her name btw. :D)
Whichever character’s POV you tell the story from becomes the readers’ story-world counterpart, right? They’re in this character’s head and they sorta think like him/her.
I believe the trick with POV is getting your readers to agree with the POV character on key story elements so they can bond easily.
For instance: Rori believes she is sane, and if the readers can be convinced that she is sane somehow (possibly via one of the other methods the others suggested). No problem. The readers and their story-counterpart are on the same page.
However, if you find yourself having a really hard time with this you can always try something else.
For example, maybe give your readers a different story-world counterpart (a different POV character). One who believes Rori is crazy. Reader’s will see a weed-whacker-toting person and will have no problem agreeing with their story-counterpart: Rori is crazy. She certainly looks it.THEN, you can get your POV character in a situation where they SEE that Rori is, in fact, totally sane. Maybe the POV character sees her getting attacked, or maybe even gets caught in the crossfire when she is attacked. Then the readers and POV character continue to agree as they come to the conclusion together that Rori actually has some very legitimate reasons for fearing plants. (And they also get pretty creeped out themselves in the process because whoa, killer pants. XD Anyone who’s not freaked out by seeing someone/being attacked by plants isn’t human. :P)
The pitfalls of this are obviously that you have to create another major character to serve as the POV character, which can be tricky. This person will have to be well-rounded, and will probably have to tag along with Rori for most of the plot. Making sure the POV character is someone who Rori is sorta brought into contact with regularly helps with this.
(Lotsa scary movies/books do this by having the POV character be main character’s next door neighbor, for example.)Anyway, just an idea. 😀
Good luck with this story!!*is probably geeking out about something*
Thank you so much everyone!!!! These are great ideas. @daeus I absolutely love the idea of writing form the plant’s POV. I may have to use that throughout the story, because I have no idea how many times I’ve looked at a plant and thought, “I wonder what’s going on inside their head.” Just kidding. Kinda. XD @that_writer_girl_99 That is a really good point. I should put more faith in my readers. 🙂 (And if they’re half as crazy as I am, what have I got to worry about? XD) @catwing Cat assassins are a legitimate fear. If I was being stalked by them, I’d sure be scared. *glances around warily* Was that a cat looking at me from outside my window? *bites lip* Well, Rori fears plants becouse once, she was leaning out a second-story window, and a tree grabbed her wrist and tried to pull her out. It literally reached out, grabbed her, and would not let go. It also laughed diabolically. Nothin’ scarier than a laughing tree. And things like that keep happening to her, so she is reasonably afraid of plants. @kate-flournoy Wacky is good. I like wacky. *nods furiously* I should work on my theme. My non-existent theme… I should get on that. 😛 Thanks! @Emily Oh my, I just realized Rori doesn’t have much of a backstory. (Just now realizing this now… *facepalm*) Well, that means plenty of opportunity. I know she’s an orphan, but I don’t know why. If plants had something to do with her parent’s death, that would make her even more afraid of them. And the plants are after her, not cats, since she has a pet cat and I don’t want to make afraid of cats, too. @Shannon A news bulletin… I hadn’t thought of that! That would definitely show that there is something going on besides Rori’s imagination. I likey. 😀 @Graciegirl I’m glad you like Rori’s name! *happy dance* I like the idea of narrating from the point of view of someone besides Rori. I’ve haven’t got plot as of yet, so it’s hard to imagine what that would look like, but that would be a cool thing to do. The gives me an idea for a new spin on a character I thought up. Originally he was going to know more about killer plants than Rori, but if he thought she was crazy, that would totally change him and actually make him a more interesting character. And that’s a good point about the POV character being the reader’s story-counterpart. *tucks that knowledge away in my knowledge suitcase*
Blog: https://weridasusual.home.blog/
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@daughteroftheking Hey that’s a good idea! I should have a knowledge suitcase! 😉
- Rank: Eccentric Mentor
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@daughteroftheking I always have trouble being able to come up with and somehow include a backstory in my writing, but I personally think that it is really important.
@daughteroftheking *look of horror* A tree grabbed her! *Curls up looking suspiciously at all plants* Have fun with your story, it sounds cool!
Also for this type of fantasy, I would probably be dragging my claws into the ground, determined that she isn’t crazy. The plants are alive!
(I have for no reason been imagining the cat assassins as Catwings. 😹 *shrugs*)IMMA KAPEEFER! Til we're old and gray!
@Emily Backstory is usually the first thing I think of, so having about 9% of my backstory is really weird for me. *wary glance at nearby plants* These killer plants must be getting to me. XD Although incorporating my backstory into the story is a challenge.
@catwing The plants are alive!!!! Funny you should mention Catwings/cat assassins, becouse one of my cat assassins is named Shadow, and wasn’t the Catwing in your comic named Shadow? Strange coincidence, if you ask me.Blog: https://weridasusual.home.blog/
@daughteroftheking Shadow is my cat. My family rescued him. From our neighborhood. 😊 Before we knew if he was a he or a she I wanted to name him, Zilla (What? I was thinking him was a she.) after Liz in the Epic Order of the Seven. *cough* My brother didn’t want to name our pet after a book character and, then the vet said he was a he. *cough* 😳 Opps… So, I suggested that we name him Shadow. (Zilla means little shadow. And in the story Zilla followed her human (at the time) around like a shadow.) I actually did a post about finding him on my blog… I need to write another post. 😅
You shoulold give her the link.
What? My blog is in shambles.
Do it.
Okay fine. Here. Whoo’sWriting
*laughs*
What?
She going to see the shark!
*facepalm* Oh, the shark.IMMA KAPEEFER! Til we're old and gray!
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