(no subject)

[nonionay]

And SLAM! At 86000 words, I just hit my first solid plot wall. (As in, I don't know what happens next, plot wall, as opposed to everything I usually angst about) I know what's beyond the wall, and I could cop out if I wanted to, but I need my hero to fail at something, and I need him to fail spectacularly. At the moment, I can only think of how to make him fail pathetically. Right now, my choices for him are: run, die, or successfully cripple the bad guy. None of these are acceptable. Likely, I just need to my icon and ask, "What Would Joker Do?"

Meh. I've got to clean the day-job office, and that's good for working out knots. I'm going back to Jo Beverley.

I also realized that, if I stick to the magical/metaphysical system of my world, there are times when my semi-amnesiac hero should regain the entirety of his memories. Warning, severe brain damage may occur (to him, not you.)

Comments

[mimerki.livejournal.com]

I don't know if it helps, but have you looked at the problem scene(s) from the bad guy's POV? Even if he isn't a POV character, how it works for the bad guy may tell you how to make your hero fail spectacularly...

[criada.livejournal.com]

That's definitely a good point, thanks.

[karenjunker.livejournal.com]

I have all the Jo Beverley books, which you may borrow if you like. Many of them start in the traditional heroine/hero meet in the first few pages, unlike Skylark.

That one was the ninth or tenth in a series (she writes three main series, one Regency, one set some years earlier than that and then a medieval series) so she could get away with varying from the sacred 'rules' of romance a bit more - by the time she wrote it, she was already a lifetime achievement award winning author.

I wish I could remember the stories well enough to do a brief review of each book, but with my memory, the nice thing is I can re-read them and not know how the story ends til I get to the end of the book each time!

[criada.livejournal.com]

Of course, it was because of Writers Weekend that I discovered her!
Once the number of friends of the hero with names like Darius and Drake started to go up, I started to suspect this was part of a series. :-)
On her webpage, she's got a short summary of each book. I'm pretty sure she wrote them herself, and they're adorable and hilarious. (" And then, of course, he has to help her on her quest, especially as it will take her to an orgy. He is, he assures her, an expert guide to orgies.")