On the ‘Jane Friedman’ blog, Justin Attas wrote a guest post about three common pitfalls and how to avoid them. I find this an energetic, educational and interesting blog post which I thought I needed to share.
Today’s guest post is by novelist Justin Attas (@justinattas).
Writers always seek to produce a unique story, hoping readers will choose their book from the increasing pool of what’s available. But this can lead to creating a character or story that is “different” sheerly for the sake of, well, being different.
I’ve found three dangerous pitfalls for writers struggling to stand out:
- “Strong” female characters
- enemies-to-lovers storylines
- Leading characters who are damaging, not damaged
Luckily for anyone struggling with one of these tempting story blackholes, there are ways out of all three.
Continue reading here
