That put me in the mood for writing about superheroes. So, a while after I saw the movie, a friend and I started to coauthor a story about superheroes. It didn't last for too long- guess it just didn't spark out imagination- but it was fun to write.
It also got me thinking. While I was writing and editing one of my novels (which is on its last round of editing, by the way! Whoo!) I gave my characters "super powers". The reason for the quotes is that they aren't so much "powers" as enhancements. The characters could technically do everything they do in real life. For instance, one character is very strong. Not strong enough to catch a falling plane, but way stronger than the average tween. I tried to keep the "powers" as believable as I could.
Why? Because there are already so many books out there where the characters have some special ability. Inkheart by Cornilia Funke, Gone by Michael Grant, Harry Potter by JK Rowling, Maximum Ride by James Patterson, Wings by E.D. Baker, Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan... They all have main characters that have some sort of super power. Don't get me wrong- I like books like that. I'm a sucker for stories like that. They're fun to read and were no doubt fun to write.
(Side Note: I love, love, love the movie The Sorcerer's Apprentice because of the magical powers the main character has. It's, like, what every kid (and teenager, and adult) dreams of!)
Anyway, the point is, while writing my story I tried to keep their "powers" believable. Like it could happen in real life. I hope it doesn't, because my characters' lives get pretty messed up, but it is possible within the rules of our world.
A while ago I had a debate with one of my friends over how believable a story has to be. She argued that if she wanted to have, say, blue knockout gas in her story, she could. After all, there were plenty of less likely things going on in Harry Potter, and look how well that did. She said that anything at all could happen in her story because that was the point of a story.
Okay. I get that. But within that, the things in a story need to follow the rules of physics, and the rules of whatever world the story is set in. For instance, if Harry decided to bring back his parents from the dead to help him defeat Voldemort, that wouldn't be very realistic. Sure, Harry goes around casting spells and making potions and encountering giant monsters, but all of that follows the rules of the Harry Potter world. Raising the dead does not follow the rules of the Harry Potter world.
However, if Percy Jackson decided to raise someone from the dead to help him defeat Kronos (maybe he'd get Nico to do the dead-raising thing with Coke and a Happy Meal), that would be okay because, in the Percy Jackson world, you can do that.
Okay, I'll stop rambling. To sum up: to make a story believable, you need to follow the rules of physics (which, sadly, rules out the possibility of blue knockout gas) and follow the rules of the world the story is set in.
that is so true! every good story has to fit its guidelines.
ReplyDeleteSky the dragon