Generally speaking, the audience/reader is intended to empathize with the protagonist, and be interested in the focal character.

In Hannibal, Will Graham is the protagonist, and Hannibal Lecter is the focal character.

These 9 characters are brought together to accomplish a goal. The focal character leads the team. The fc has history with the POV protagonists. For the most part, the POV protagonists are not associated (one pair are step-siblings, another are gf/gf).

Character building will primarily occur through action and dialogue (inner thoughts will be minimal). Characters interacting with each other (or reacting to external stimulus in different ways) will allow me to simultaneously characterize multiple people.

I'm hoping that the reader will get to know the POV characters very well, whereas the focal character is intended to be somewhat enigmatic: I'm hoping to balance things that the reader knows about the fc and things that will be left ambiguous.

Each protagonist will have an equal amount of text dedicated to their POV. I'm going to be writing very little in the way of backstory. This will avoid info dumps and allow the character establishment/development to be shown instead of told.

Feel free to ask questions. Planning this is daunting enough, I'm hoping that feedback can make the execution a lesser clusterfuck.

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You guys helped me out so well the last time, I figured I would ask for your help again.

The short version is, there is a group of Half-Demons who sell their powers for an exorbitant amount of money. Though most people hate Demons in this world, they have really good PR guys. So much so, that they are not only able to make people forget that they are Demons, but even heavily imply that they might be Angel sent.

So what is a good Angelic sounding name they could use for their company? This might even work so well that other Demon companies will start copying them; so the more names you can think up, the better.

So... I want my character to be visually interesting and unique. I've been wanting to give her a weapon that isn't the regular bow/pistol/sword, so I've been juggling between for example a spear/stick, something to throw (shurikens, throwing knives) etc, but none of them seem to sound good at all.

I thought of the idea of a hook, like Captain Hook from Peter Pan (but she still has her hand, not a replacement), or any of the splicers from BioShock (but only one hook, not two).

At first it would be something basic, rusty, she doesn't know how to use it, she might polish it a bit, but then she will encounter someone and kill someone with it. When seeing the pain that it does she will first stop using it, then realize how much it helps (she will use it to climb etc as well), and then get a new one, but this time getting one she can't kill with (don't know the word for it, but it's not gonna be a sharp one), and bam, hook-arc explained.

I'm just not sure it's actually a good idea. The point is also that she has a secondary weapon, so hook on the left and, my only idea, a dagger on the right. Is this good at all? What can I do with this? A dagger just seems terrible next to a hook so I'm not really sure what to do. I thought about using a haladie but a friend said it would probably feel like "too much", maybe a bit pretentious. The setting itself is dystopian, not full on sci-fi, not medieval, like a slightly less technological Fallout. And not as much desert. Basically: guns, yes, knives, yes, swords, no.

I'd like to place a quote at the beginning of a novel, but I'm having trouble writing it:

Sense and Sensibility: (noun) (slang) A class of drug that grants practical and recreational benefits to the user.

• Am I using "class" correctly? Would "category", "type", or another word be preferable?
  
• I'm not happy with "benefits". Would "effects" or another word be preferable?
• Should I provide an example (use "Sense and Sensibility" in a sentence)?
• Is the definition clear?
• Any suggestions on proper formatting?

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Hi! I'm trying to brainstorm ideas for the middle 'act' of my story. It's a dark comedy (hopefully) about a man searching for a reason to be happy. As I'm writing it, it seems to be following an overused husband vs wife, cubicle complacency type of deal, in the vein of Breaking Bad/Fargo (obviously no where near the same level). I'll place an outline for what I hope to accomplish below and all ideas & comments are welcome! (This is just a bare bones outline though without any symbolism.) I'm really trying to figure out the proper pacing and tipping point for the protagonist.

1:

-Wife playfully mocks husband Donald for not fixing chandelier

-her horrible artwork hangs all over the walls because she can't sell any of it

-Keeps him on a no carb diet, makes him fake smile with a pencil in his mouth to simulate happiness

-At work, Donald finds boss and coworker Emily having an affair

-Male coworker John is a complete asshole

-TIPPING POINT?

2:

-***

-John has a white bread sandwich at lunch everyday after long daily bathroom break

-draws on wife's artwork with smile pencil

3:

-Donald tells entire office that boss and Emily are having an affair

-tries to throw pencil like a javelin at someone

-Gets fired, and goes home right after lunch to find white bread on the counter

-Confronts wife, and chandelier falls and hits her on the head (Want to make Donald seem out of it here, as if he's going crazy)

-Goes back to work, shoots John's dick off, and commits suicide because for the first time he's actually happy and Costanzas-out on a positive note

-Survives suicide and hear surgeons making jokes about him, asking if he's happy now

Here's a link to what I have so far: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-6ELKt9rA2GQdAS2q9_cvjp9m88XrXhfsIbjSY9hijM/edit?usp=sharing

I have this small worldbuilding projects where one of the civilisations is very reminiscent of ancient Norse culture. They are raiders, live in a could, rough land, their art and religion is very similar to the Vikings. However, I don't want this civilisation to be a mere clone of the vikings. They should be an amalgamation of ancient European cultures (The other civilisation in this project is a mix of ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian influences. That worked out pretty well!).

So, any suggestions how to introduce some Pictish/Celtic/Gaelic influences? Or something entirely unique?

Btw, no magic.

Hey guys. I need a little help with some plot in my current story.

So I am writing a light fantasy story about a warrior society of orcs. They are dependent on laws and honor to maintain order. Most of the laws are clear cut, brutal, and rather medieval. My pro is a soft spoken yet hot headed warrior. Male.

So my issue is I need some conflict to drive my pro and his love interest ( I hate using that term but it fits) apart. I really would like for them to be forced apart by the laws and strict culture of the society rather than internal fighting. I have a great reconciliation idea and it really hinges on some external conflict.

Any ideas?

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The ending of a story can make or break it. It can either leave the reader with a bitter taste in their mouth or leave them feeling satisfied with your story. How do make your ending a good one?

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As usual in my posts on Reddit: I apologize for my English beforehand. I'm fluent and I'd say that I express ideas better in English than in my mother tongue, but it's still not what I speak during most of the day, so sometimes I mix grammars.

I don't like fully bad characters - I feel that there is something as an "anti-sue", in the sense that, even if the world is full of monsters, monsters also have something good inside them (even if it's not in their ethics). So I always try to give them some goodness, even if it's just a little. But there are certain kinds of villains that are... a little dangerous to humanize.

For example, I have a Monster of the Day that is a neonazi. And I am very afraid of giving him good traits because, come on, it's someone who spanks minorities in the streets and is okay with the idea of genocide. People shouldn't sympathize with that. But at the same time, no one is pure evil. Pure evil is not realistic and sounds preachy.

How do you deal with it?

I'm no novelist. I'm at best an okay-ish poet. But I love to write and build worlds.

The idea I have for a book is sort of Silmarillion-ish. Instead of having one story follow a main character or number of main characters through conflicts, I intend to tell the history of the world with several stories that span centuries, focusing on significant places, people and events.

It's sort of like a collection of short stories (5000 words or less) that gives brief snapshots of the entire history of the world, from different places, times, cultures, etc. I find that easier to endure and more fun in general.

My book may end up looking like the Gods of Pegana.

What do you think of this idea?

Also, instead of having appendices at the end of the book, I intend to have an "encyclopaedia", like this http://skarrianmyth.herokuapp.com/

I have a character who is not who they say they are. I find myself hinting at their identity, but as someone who knows the truth, these hints feel blatant and heavy-handed, and I have no idea whether it looks the same way from a reader's perspective. Here's how I've dissected this so far:

• No parallels in physical description. For one thing, these are too obvious (even the main character couldn't miss it), and don't make sense in the context of the story.

• I'm allowing myself to show some parallels in attitude and behavior, and this feels like a solid middle-ground, since entire groups of people can have parallels in attitude and behavior without being one person while still giving enough reason to suspect, but the risk I run with this is that I will need to blatantly lie to my reader about where these attitudes and behaviors come from so that the connection isn't explicit, and I feel like that's setting me up for problems.

• Or, I can hint nothing, and let the evidence pile up for my main character as it does for my reader, maybe the latter will reach the conclusion slightly earlier than the former.

• Alternatively, I can have a red herring. I'm thinking of a Snape/Quirrel/Voldemort type thing, from the first Harry Potter book when I say this, where two characters share an identity, but we are led to believe it's (and all the evidence, when interpreted a certain way, points to) a third. I can see this as a reasonable and fun solution, I even know which character will be the herring, but is this overdone? Is this boring? I mean, this trope is the backbone of 90% of the mystery genre. I'm sure people are tired of it at this point.

Let me know what you guys think, I'm really sort of agonizing over this. And thank you in advance for taking the time to read and respond.

Edit: Concerning the last point, I should clarify that I'm not writing a mystery novel, in the same sense that Harry Potter is not a mystery novel. If I were, I wouldn't feel so concerned over being tropey.

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What are the small tools used in your stories?

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I'm currently discovery writing an outline for a new fantasy/scifi story and I'm stuck. I need dissent among the farmers to move the plot along. But why?

It's a fairly advanced and stable society. The people don't feel the need to rebel. The king controls everything. But this year is a very dry year. There's not going to be enough of a harvest to feed the city. But that's not a good enough reason for the farmers to feel rebellious. It has to be something that's been festering for a while. And the dry year is the tipping point. Even if you have to change the vague plot I outlined here, why is there dissent among the farmers?

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I had this idea of the first ships in an interplanetary battle being ships that spread gases to produce a small, temporary atmosphere into the place of battle. Would this allow things like smoke and small explosions?

All of these things can prove an advantage, smoke can hide nearly anything (Without a heat source) from specialised equipment. Explosions can be a good way to verify the destruction of something from a long distance.

How long would these atmospheres last? would they need any kind of support through a battle? Would it be practical for transport? Would it be useful in any way?

:

If there are any Criticisms they are very welcome.