as requested by Silvan_Elleth and Mossfire946.
so first off, here are some tips on building tension.
1) obviously, you don't want to make things too easy for your characters. challenge them as much as possible.
let your character struggle, or even lose a few battles. because reading a story where the main character always wins is pretty boring/predictable. but, at the same time, don't destroy everything your character has, unless it is important to the plot.
2) don't let all your characters get along. have them argue, disagree, dislike or mistrust each other. especially in intense, life or death situations. characters might be tired and stressed and start to fight.
3)Don't resolve conflict too early. introduce new problems just as old ones are overcome. for example, in agent's of S.H.I.E.L.D., as soon as they defeated Hive, Radcliffe created Aida to save lives, but then got obsessed with the Darkhold and became the new villan. not to mention this was happening at the same time as the watchdogs were causing trouble.
4) your villan has to have some reason, some backstory behind why they're the villian. ask yourself, "Why are they doing it?"
now some tips on how NOT to start a novel.
1) Please. PLEASE, do not start your novel in a dream. it gives the reader a false begining and they tend to feel cheated after reading it.
2) another one is don't start your novel just going through the main character's everyday routine. Something out of the ordinary has to happen, or there must be a good reason for starting your book this way.
So here are my tips on making your characters realistic.
1) always do research when injuring your characters. know how much is too much. your characters are only human (well, most of the time) and they always have their limits.
2) do injure your characters, though. it makes them feel more real, more relatable to the reader. even something small. a cut, a bruise, a bloody nose, something. don't let your character go through a huge dramatic battle and come out perfectly fine.
3) give your characters real-life problems. for example, a teen character might have homework (spider man), or other school problems. or an adult character struggling with work, or bills. this, again, helps the reader relate.
and now, the moment you've all (probably just maddy) been waiting for. killing characters.
1) to make a characters death sadder, create a reaction from their family members and friends. seeing someone else sad (especially a young child, maybe...) triggers sympathy.
2) don't let them die after a long, fulfilling life. that would make it a happy ending. give them unfinished tasks, unachieved goals, ect.
3) Please don't just kill them for fun.
let their death be important to the plot. for example, to push someone to achieve something(or In a villains case, to do something horrible), dying for a good cause(tears up and looks in Lincoln's general direction), or to leave something unfinished (contributing to a bigger part of the plot).
I had more, but I forget them...
I'm sorry for not posting this sooner. I totally spaced.
well, bye!~Turranna ☕
