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- Rank: Eccentric Mentor
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Your novel sounds AMAZING and very well thought out!! It sounds so exciting, I would totally read it. I have a lot of respect for fantasy world-builders. That sure takes a lot of creativity.
@gracie-j Thanks! I plan on doing the illustrations if I can, it will be a lot of work but there’s others who have been able to do it! Right now for me that means practicing and getting better at my art and learning all the ins and outs of comic designing (there’s so much involved it’s crazy.)
@joy-caroline thank you! Haha it seems more polished than it is. The blurb doesn’t mention the arduous process of filling in plot holes and changing things over and over to make it all fit together.
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I change things all the time, too, LOL. It’s a good thing we’re allowed to write more drafts than just the first.
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@larchness Wow! I can’t imagine the work that will go into that, but you go, girl!
@gracie-j Thanks! I can’t wait to finish up the script and start on the art 😀
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@larchness You’re welcome! We’ll be cheering you on!
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Hey everyone!
I was just wondering if anyone has any advice on how to foreshadow big events in your novel. One of my big plot elements is that one of my characters has a serious illness and is hiding it from other characters. I want to foreshadow that he’s hiding the sickness, so that I don’t randomly spring it up chapters later and be like: “So this was happening for years and none of you knew.” I hope that made sense!
So if anyone has any advice on foreshadowing, I’d love to hear any and all comments!
@joy-caroline Coughing in old novels always meant tuberculosis. So if the character has any symptoms, that could help.
Also if he takes pills or needs injections or something you could also make someone accidentally open his bag once…and then the character can come and quickly take it away and say they’re for someone else or something. I dunno, hopefully this helps.
Lately, it's been on my brain
Would you mind letting me know
If hours don't turn into days- Rank: Eccentric Mentor
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Yes, the character has symptoms (high fevers, coughing up blood, and lots more that are pretty horrible) so I am planning on having the characters he’s trying to keep it a secret from notice the ensuing changes in his appearance and demeanor. ‘Cause having an illness like that would definitely create those changes.
And actually, I planned a scene that’s kind of like the one you mentioned about the medication, but it’s with emetics (the scene is not too pretty😂) since I’m writing a Biblical novel. But that scene happens minutes after the secret’s out to everyone.
Thanks for your suggestions!
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@joy-caroline My suggestion would be to give little hints along and along. Maybe Paul turns around and his sister notices he’s limping a little bit. He could easily say something like, “I stubbed my toe” or “Limping? Well, I didn’t notice anything,” and the subject could be dismissed. Maybe he coughs every once in a while or winces at bright sunlight or yawns too often or sweats profusely–you know, the little things.
I tried this with a character who was developing pneumonia. A few well-placed coughs here and there can slowly bring the reader into awareness that they’re sick, but still keep things under wraps for a little bit. Capisce?
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@gracie-j
Thanks for the suggestions! I agree with you that it’s probably good to drop little hints, because I feel like things are less satisfactory when they’re just suddenly discovered instead of giving the reader clues. I’ll think about these tips! I like the idea of well-placed coughs. I bet that worked great for your pneumonia character.
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@joy-caroline I’m glad that helps! I think it worked pretty well for my character!
@gracie-j @devastate-lasting @r-m-archer @issawriter7 @joy-caroline @kathleenramm
I could really use some help. As I mentioned, I’m doing a long “outline” of all of my scene ideas, but now I’m running low on steam lol. I’ve reached the part in the outline right before the Fun and Games begins (most of the middle).
First, I’m struggling with the mystery side of things. I’m…lost to be quite honest. Sigh.
Also, I have a character who is related to the victim, so, while she is pushed into more then she bargains for, I still want her to be believable. To be grieved, but also able to quickly move on (because she’s forced to.) Ya know? But maybe it comes out later or she holds it in? Just wanna portray that without it seeming like she’s just blowing off the whole tragedy.
Again, I’m just running low on scenes to brainstorm, and I think some of it is because it’s tough for me to move past this particular point because, while I don’t know what’s happening completely I’ve also thought about it so much as a whole that I’m not interested in it anymore. (Not the story! Just trying to move past this part into the middle.) once I reach the midpoint I think I can figure it out, it’s just the in-between.
So pretty much the mystery side of things.
I have a list of clues I can use, plenty of side characters/suspects, a rough idea of my murderer’s motive, but not totally finalized. Any ideas? I would like to get this outline done before February lol.
#IfMarcelDiesIRiot
#ProtectMarcel
#ProtectSebAnd some of the problem might be the scenes I have ideas for after this just seem boring to me now. I mostly just have talking to suspects and looking for clues, which as a whole sounds boring, and I don’t know exactly how to do those scenes. I want to have cool, threatening, thrilling scenes, but not sure how to transition.
Wait.
That’s it. I think my real problem is the transition! The transition from fantasy to also mystery, and turning my characters in amateur detectives out of the blue because they have no choice. PLEASE ANY IDEAS XD
#IfMarcelDiesIRiot
#ProtectMarcel
#ProtectSeb- Rank: Eccentric Mentor
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@godlyfantasy12 I feel you, girl! IÂ think I may have something that can help you out–but I’ll have to type it out (and format it like an essay, and probably write an outline just for my reply), so I’ll get back to you, okay? I know I’ve gone/am going through a lot of the same stuff–which goes for my own mystery–so I know what that’s like!
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