Okay, so my beta reader got back with me on the story, Her Jaguar Protector. So I’m moving scenes and I took out a beloved character, though he is so braided into the story, it’s a major job. But I had too many characters. I really miss him though. I’ve saved the scenes and will try to use them in another story later. He and another character were stealing the show. I tried to remove him too, but just can’t because I’d have to rewrite the whole story, and I need to turn it in by next Monday. It’s important to keep the focus on your main characters when you write romance though. Too many main characters and readers get confused.
And I need to give more character information on the bad guys.
I was watching a movie where a couple and his brother were at a closed down state park camping, and their hunting rifles and other gear were stolen while they were sleeping. Three men killed the two brothers. (Which to me is annoying. I get tired of the weakest link always surviving, and the tough, smart guys turning too stupid to live. She’s a doctor, doesn’t like to kill things, they’re hunters, love to kill things, both outdoors-men, Boy Scouts–had perfect motivation for killing the bad guys–the one killed his dog, and then he tried to kill him. The other killed his brother, and tried to kill him. They injured them, but didn’t kill the bad guys. Then they were both murdered. Give. Me. A. Break. Then the doctor woman who only likes to go antiquing, kills all three bad guys.–A. M. A. Z. I. N. G. Oh, and she’s pregnant. Give. Me. A. Break. In stories, we need some realism. Come on.)
But, my initial point was going to be–the three killers had NO backstory. No characterization. It made the story fall way short. They were rotten teens. But why did they do what they did? What was their motivation? Their family history? They all got calls from their families asking when they were getting home. But that was it. So, to give the story more depth, knowing something about their history would have made it much better. Especially since we don’t see the story from their point-of-view. She killed them, took one of their bicycles into town and that was THE END.
And that’s my story and I’m sticking to it! Speaking of which, need to get back to it. I have four more chapters to revise, and then have to reread the whole thing again. Time is running out!
Have a lovely day!!!!
Terry
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
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I do not watch movies like that so it’s no surprise that I have a hard time finding any new ones that interest me. Besides just plain not liking them, I believe movies like that send the wrong message to our children and young adults. Just my opinion. Your stories are much better!!!!!!!
Yeah, I so agree! I like survival stories that are true–like I was watching, I think that it was called The Jungle, or something like that. It was a true story of three men who were conned by a “guide” to find an Indian tribe no one had ever seen in the Amazon. It was a great survival story of how one man, who was ill-equipped to make it through the jungle, survived. So did his friend, a photographer, but the other one and the guide disappeared. Since I’m writing about a jungle, it helps me to “see” the world when I’m not actually there. But those are the kinds of stories I like. I didn’t realize it was a true story, and was shocked to learn it was. I’d only watched it because I wanted to see more about the jungle than anything else. 🙂 I agree about sending the wrong message to kids. When I realized they were just kids (that wasn’t revealed until late into the story), I thought that was bad and felt the same way as you. And thanks about my stories!! 🙂