Thoughts of a Mad Man

Riddles and Confuscations, Oh My.

Riddle me this:


What if the in-line critique involves (impertinent!) questions?


What to do?


People read to find out the answers to questions, so there are at least two kinds of questions: the kind that makes people flip pages looking for the answer, and the kind that makes people close the book on your piece.





For example:


Flipping pages question:


Why does the sidekick seem to never worry when the main villain is attacking, if she's always such a coward against regular opponents and lesser enemies? Is she planning to turn on the hero? (This one is good if you can see a great opportunity for this character to turn.)


Broken question:


Why doesn't the hero call in the police force or at least call one of his several contacts in law enforcement when his back is against the wall and he hasn't done anything illegal?


Well, but here's a stupid reason: I'm a lone wolf who has a way of getting himself out of trouble. I'll be alright. Oops, I could really use their help, better just take care of it because it will be too late by the time they can get here. These will tide the reader over. What's the real reason? Well, I don't know in the early part of the story (1st draft) but maybe he lost a friend with just such a call.


If you don't call on your friends in the clutch, they can't let you down and you can pretend they WOULD have been there for you. And so, they're still your friends. But really, he wasn't the one let down. Worse, maybe HE was the one that blew somebody off, and got dumped, and so he never wants to put that pressure on anybody else.


The point here, of course, is that stupid answers work because people come up with excuses for why they do things. So the reader will believe you when you tell them that's what the character came up with.


Wrap up


In sum, don't feel the need to provide the real answer right away. Suss out whether the question is a page turner or a deal breaker; if it's a deal breaker, work in just enough information so that the reader can imagine that there is a good reason somewhere in the works.