No One to Talk To, CRAFT

In my novel, STAR-CROSSED, my hero had no one but the heroine to talk to in the first part of the novel. To cover topics he wouldn’t discuss with her, I didn't want lots of internal monologue which tends to be boring.

What I ended up doing was letting him have imaginary conversations with his best friend.  Since he was also stuck in one place, I put these conversations at interesting locations from their shared past that showed more about the hero and his past.

The first conversation, for example, was in a bar on a Wild West style planet where the two friends have rescued a sweet young thing during a bar fight.  The two characters shared a beer, talked a bit about the good ol' days, and the hero spilled his guts about what was bothering him.

At other times, the best friend was the devil's advocate for one side of a choice that the hero was trying to make.

If you do something like this, it needn't be as elaborate as an entire scene.  It could just be the mental presence of someone whose opinion the character either values or can't escape.  Most of us, for example, can hear our mom or dad in our head reminding us to do or not do something.

If you want the hero himself as the other character, you should choose some aspect of him you want to emphasize.  Say Dr. Indiana Jones--the scholar versus Indiana Jones--the adventurer.

Set up the use of the mental dialogue/scene fairly early in the novel or story so that the important scene when the character finally must make the big decision won't make the reader go "huh?" when the other side of his personality or an imaginary character shows up to discuss the matter.

In other words, have the mental character show up a few times so the hero can tell his other side to shut up or whatever.

WORKSHOPS:

I'm teaching two writing workshops in July.

“Keeping the Reader Reading the First Chapter”

Drawing a reader into the first chapter of your novel is more than an exciting beginning, more than a “cute meet,” more than a sexy hero and a feisty heroine. Step by step, I'll show you the craft needed to draw the reader into your novel and make her eager to keep reading.

To learn more and register, go here: http://www.writersonlineclasses.com/classes.html


“Magic, Monsters and Amour: Creating a Believable Paranormal World”

Are vampires, fairies, and space aliens real? If you create the right background for your novel, they will be to your reader.

Marilynn Byerly, lauded by reviewers for "building a world that combines both integrity and depth in an entertaining way," shows you how to develop a fantasy, science fiction, or paranormal world from scratch...how to invent creatures to populate it...and how to make your novel utterly believable. She'll teach you the ins and outs of research, fresh ways to use creatures like vampires, and the means to avoid various traps many authors have fallen into.

To learn more and register, go here: http://www.writeruniv.com/Registration.htm