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Characterization and narrative themes through superpowers

I have the theory that what you want as a superpower is an exaggeration of something you lack in your life.

For example, as a teen, I wanted to be a telepath, to communicate long-distance with my friends and my crush but also to know what people were thinking. Looking back, I probably was a bit lonely, although I didn’t realize it at the time.

Now, in my 30s, I would wish to manipulate time. Make more of it, mainly. Sign of the times, I guess. What’s that quote? “Grandmother didn’t have the vote, mother didn’t have the pill and I don’t have time.”*

If your story world has superpowers in it, you can use this psychology to deepen your theme and characterization.

What if your character suddenly gains the superpower that allows them to “make up” for what they were lacking?

Would they abuse the superpower?

(“Hello my crush, you no longer have privacy, I hear your every thought!”)

What if your character’s opponent suddenly gains the coveted superpower instead?

(“Your crush doesn’t even like you, he’s horny for the substitute teacher right now.”)

How does that make your character feel and act?

What if your character gets the superpower they wanted, but didn’t quite anticipate the “super” part (the exaggeration)?

(“I wanted to connect with other people and know what they think, but I can’t get the voices to shut up!”)

Do they learn to accept it, do they fix the problem, does their character change, …?

What if your character gets a superpower that’s perpendicular to what they lack?

(“I wanted to connect with people and this new power just drives them further away…”)

What if the superpower has an unwanted side-effect?

(“I wanted more time with my friends and family, so I created more time, but now after a few years I seem to have aged a lot. I think I also age in the “extra time”… I’m 34, but my body is 51.“)

Etc. Play with it, have fun with it.

Anyway, I hope this was useful! Don’t hesitate to ask me any questions, and happy writing!

Follow me for more writing advice, or check out my other writing tips here. New topics to write advice about are also always welcome.

Tag list below the cut. If you like to be added to or removed from the list, let me know.

*by Hester Macrander, apparently. Credit where credit’s due.

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Things to Consider When Writing About Characters Getting Drunk

Why are they drinking? To celebrate? To try and drown their sorrows?

Are they drinking on an empty stomach?

How quickly are they drinking?

How old do characters need to be to drink in that setting?

How will they get home?

Where did they get the alcohol from?

Are they an alcoholic?

Are they an experienced drinker? Do they know their limits?

Do they have sober friends looking out for them?

Is there anyone nearby why might take advantage of them?

How will their family react if they come home drunk?

Will they be hungover the next day?

Did anyone spike their drink?

Are they drinking alone? With family or friends?

How well does the person serving the alcohol know them? Will that character try to cut them off after a certain point?

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found family dynamics i adore:

the entire gang shares 1 (one) braincell which they takes turns passing around

unwilling teammates gradually grow on each other

Area Man Forcibly Adopted by Several Children

bonded over shared trauma

none of us have actual families or homes to go back to anymore, but at least we have each other

“every single one of these guys has tried to kill me at least once, but we’re cool now and i’d trust them with my life”

redemption arc comes with bonus new family and friends (bonus feature is non-negotiable and eventual acceptance inevitable)

i WAS going to leave the group and go my own way as soon as this job was over - and i would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for my meddling heart!

villains with Feelings™

Officer I Swear I’ve Never Met Any Of These People In My Life (But If Anything Were To Happen To Them I Would Kill Everyone Here And Then Myself)

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How to write about Grief:

There is no right or wrong way to experience grief. Just as there is no right or wrong way to write it. Everyone is different, each set of circumstances are different. 

The point of this post is to show you how different people react in different ways, and give points on how you might write that, depending on your character and story.

Reactions to Grief

Numbness: Your character may go into auto-pilot and be unable to process the events that have unfolded.

Anger: This can be aimed at other people, at a Higher Being, or at nothing in particular.

Unsteady: Your characters may be unsteady. For example, unable to stop their voice from shaking or they may find it difficult to stand.

Focusing on Others: Your character may disregard their own feelings because they are so overwhelmed and instead concentrate on someone else’s well-being. 

Seek out routines: Amid upheavals, your character may seek comfort in tasks that are familiar and “safe,” such as working, cleaning, making their bed, making absurd amounts of tea or taking a morning walk.

Pretending that Everything Is Okay: Grief is viewed as an emotion that should cease or be concealed once the funeral is over. So people mention the news in an offhand comment, then talk and laugh as if all is right with the world.

Denial: Some people deny the reality of death and convince themselves that the news is a joke or can’t be true.

Reactions from people surrounding your character:

People may avoid your character as they do not know what to say or simply can’t find the right words.

Some may even go as far as to cross the street when they notice your character approaching.

Even people that the character has known for years may act strange or standoff-ish, simply because they don’t know what to say.

On the other side of that, some people may be overly helpful and friendly.

It is not uncommon for estranged friends, family or others to suddenly reappear in a person’s life after they have experienced grief. 

Either because those people want to offer their support and love  or because they’re being nosy and they want to be kept up to date on the “drama”.

Most people will move on from the event fairly quickly if they weren’t emotionally invested. 

Some people may even get annoyed at your character for still being upset weeks or months later.

When talking about the person they have lost:

Your character may recall a memory or tell a story about their loved one, these are possible reactions. (I have encountered all of them.)

Your character may being to cry or get upset at the thought of the person they have lost. 

The person they are talking to may become awkward and avert eye contact when your character brings up the person they have lost. 

Others may ask or tell your character to stop talking about the person they have lost. They may roll their eyes, cough awkwardly, or cut off your character mid sentences so that they can change the subject.

Some people may ask inappropriate questions about the circumstances in which the character’s loved one passed away. Depending on the personality of your character then may react differently. 

Other things to note:

Grief is not constrained by time. 

One of the main problems with grief in fiction is that a character is typically heartbroken for a couple scenes and then happy again. But grief does not evaporate because the world needs saving. 

Allow your character to wrestle with their grief. 

Your character may feel guilty. Your character may feel a twinge of guilt when they laugh or have a good time with someone else; when they do something to remind them that they’re alive, and their loved one isn’t. 

Grief is a game changer. A previously outgoing character may withdraw and isolate themselves. Some people may take grief and/or bereavement as a sign that life is too short; they may make big decisions in an attempt to make themselves feel better and grow away from their pain.

Sometimes grief can help you find your purpose.

At first grief can be all consuming. It hurts and you can’t really control it. It may seem unrelenting. Eventually the grief will become easier to deal with, your character may find the days to be better, but that doesn’t mean that when the grief hits it doesn’t hurt any less.

For most people, grief never really goes away. “Sometimes you have to accept the fact that certain things will never go back to how they used to be.”

It is rare that a person will ever give a long speech about their feelings, a lot of people struggle to even find the words. But that’s okay. Show the reader how your character feels, rather than just telling them.

Don’t pause the plot to deal with the aspect of grief. This could overwhelm the readers and drag the pace down. In reality, life doesn’t just stop due to grief, the world keeps spinning and things still need to be done. Use the character’s grief as a backdrop for the story’s events.  

Yes, grief affects the character’s day-to-day life, goals, and relationships. But it shouldn’t drive readers away or stagnate the story. Instead, should engage readers and produce empathy that keeps them turning pages.

You don’t need to tell your readers that everything will be fine. You don’t need to provide all of the answers.

“Skirting grief and treating it lightly is easy. But by realistically portraying it through a variety of responses and its lasting effects on the character’s life, readers will form a connection with your characters.“

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What if your publisher asks for a complete rewrite?

I got an ask from an anon: “I’ve heard a lot of writers hoping to get published have to do complete rewrites of their work and that kinda scares me honestly, any help as to how to cope with that?”

That’s a good question.

Remember that I’m both a writer and a professional editor, so I will look at it from both sides.

First this: rewrites and changes are normal in traditional publishing. I’ve NEVER, not once, 0%, have heard of a book that was published as it first arrived in the editor’s inbox.

The essence is: if I ask for a rewrite, we see potential, but we can’t publish it as it is.

As an editor, I have the best interests of the book in mind. I genuinely believe that my suggestions will turn the book into its best self. Often a writer can’t look objectively at their story after spending so much time with it. I will bring experience and fresh eyes.

There are several reasons why I will ask for a rewrite instead of turning you down. I will give a few examples, but this is no extensive list.

Your idea is good and I can tell you’re a good writer, but there is a problem with your pacing, your perspective, a major character or your outline. It just doesn’t work as it is.

The book is good, but it doesn’t fit our “brand”. Or, it fits our brand so well that it’s actually too similar to another book we published or have in the pipeline. We don’t want your book to be competition for another book of ours, so we make it different enough that they can be popular at the same time.

Your book features vampires/zombies/teens struggling with cancer and that’s soooo last year, but if you replace them with werewolves/teens struggling with their sexuality/…, it will be soooo now.

I guessed correctly that it was indeed the butler who killed the countess and I made suggestions of how you can fix that and mislead the reader for longer.

All these have been reasons why we turned manuscripts down before, so try to see the question for a rewrite as a second chance.

Usually, the editor will suggest what to change and how. If they don’t, ask. They shouldn’t throw you into the deep.

On the other hand, I assume there must be publishers who don’t have the best of their writers in mind, so always follow your gut feeling. Investigate your feelings honestly. If your editor has asked you to do a major rewrite, did your heart sink because you thought you were done and you’re dreading this much work? Or did your heart sink because you feel like it won’t be your story anymore after all those changes? Or do they suggest to change things that are important for you, for example make a gay character straight because they say it will appeal to a broader audience? If so, maybe it’s time to look for a different publisher, or to look into self-publishing. If you don’t agree with the editor’s diagnosis of the weak points, maybe your book and the publisher/editor are not a match. It happens.

A good rule of thumb is: my writers usually feel I’m right when I point out weaknesses and suggest solutions. I want you to feel like this as well. Of course they would like me to say it’s perfect and they are done writing ^-^, but if the story isn’t perfect, they want to fix it before the big public reads the book. And of course, you don’t want to do all this work for the book to flop.

I hope this was helpful. Don’t hesitate to ask me any questions, and happy writing!

Follow me for more writing advice, or check out my other writing advice here. New topics to write advice about are also always welcome.

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@valkyrie1605

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Designer: Maya Eilam, www.mayaeilam.com

Sources: A Man without a Country and Palm Sunday by Kurt Vonnegut

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A how to guide on creating infographics

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Sorry if you have answered this a thousand time : But what kind of advice do you have for stilted scenes? You know the ones, where it feels like dry cardboard and tastes like wood chips.

Rescuing a Dull Scene

When a scene feels stiff and dull, it’s usually because it doesn’t serve a purpose. Remember that every scene in your story needs to matter. If you could remove a scene and not affect the plot or the reader’s understanding of a character or the setting, the scene needs to go.

So, the first step in rescuing a cardboard scene is to figure out whether or not the scene has a purpose. If not, you can just ditch it, but make sure to save anything you might be able to incorporate into another scene, such as a nice bit of dialogue, a cute moment, or a particularly nice description or bit of wordplay. 

If the scene does serve a purpose, ask yourself whether there might not be a better way to accomplish this purpose. Could you move the scene to a different place or situation? For example, a conversation between two characters about a recent breakup might be more interesting in a cute coffee shop than in the living room of one of the characters. Would adding or subtracting characters make things more interesting? And finally, is there something unexpected–some emergency or bit of drama–you can insert into the scene to jazz it up a bit? For example, the two friends sitting at a cafe talking about the bad breakup one of them just went through… what if the ex walks in? What if the ex walks in with a new girlfriend? Not only might that energize the scene a bit, but it provides an opportunity to further explore the situation, how your character’s coping with everything, and potentially plant some seeds for what happens next. This is the “what’s the worst thing that could happen right now” method of spicing up a scene. :)