No one's life is constantly filled with this...
or battling these...
No one sees this every day.
It's not always a this.
Or a this.
So why should that be our characters' lives?
Consider letting your main character spend a few minutes somewhere like this...
Before he rushes off to do this...
Or maybe she gets a chance to enjoy this...
Before slapping on these...
Elspeth - Funny you'd mention that about giving characters lives beyond sleuthing. As I'm editing my manuscript, I'm finding I've had to have my characters do other things besides work on the case. As it was, they were just a little too one-dimensional It's a good way to help readers tell them apart and see them as people.
ReplyDeleteMe, too. I love this post :)
ReplyDeleteOne of the first writing lessons I learned was from a romance writer, which was kind of the reverse. In romance, the focus tends to be on the hero/heroine's relationship, so you have to remember to include the "character at work" scenes as well.
ReplyDeleteTerry
Terry's Place
Romance with a Twist--of Mystery
Margot; You've put that so well - each character's life outside 'work' will help define them to readers.
ReplyDeleteCarol; Thanks!
Terry; I think the trick is give readers a moment where something else other than the main thrust of the plot is driving them.
So true about getting them into scenes that make up their lives apart from the plot conflict (the romance, the mystery, ect.) a similar danger is always placing them in the same setting (a restaurant or airpotor pub). There's so much to keep track of, isn't there!
ReplyDelete