: Re: How do I ratchet down expectations in a genre that seems to have gone gonzo? I've done worldbuilding and extensive plotting for a Book 1 based around a "detective" (not a literal detective

I suppose one alternative is to play it as you yourself found the problem: Start your detective out as a great detective but a novice occult detective, that just stumbled into the whole occult side of things, and naturally knows nothing about it. He is certain it is really occult, due to some instigating incident early in the story, but the idea is new to him.

As he investigates he finds this occult detective world is bigger than he imagined, there is competition, people he gets advice from, people that try to thwart him, and he hears crazy stories about Wiccan werebats and zombies.

But he's a grumpy detective, stubborn, and he sets that aside for HIS quest, this one damn occult thing that has to be stopped, no matter what else is out there. In a way, he fits the role of "stranger in a strange land".

You can take what you want from what is written, and write an original story acknowledging the genre. Your character is vaguely aware the occult world is much deeper than he imagined starting out. Readers that DO have any expectations don't think you are uninformed, and it makes room for a sequel in which the next case is something just a little deeper. But instead of exploring this whole forest of genre, your character is yours, trudging a straight line through the forest, seeing glimpses of other weird stuff, but this doesn't discourage him. He continues his single-minded pursuit of the one damned thing (literally) he knows must be neutralized.

Load Full (0)

: Your answer is given by your first trope link; on DIAA, perhaps you have misunderstood it! The protagonist is incredibly self-centered, an existential nihilist Then why should the reader

@Welton431

Load Full 0 Comments

: How do I describe an accidental kiss between the two main characters that is romantic as well as regretful? How do I describe an accidental kiss between the two main characters? I want

@Welton431

Load Full 3 Comments

: Making a prolonged training montage work Training montages and arcs are typically viewed as backstory, something that ends in the prologue, or shows up in flashbacks. They show us a piece of

@Welton431

Load Full 1 Comments

: If a character was murdered in the 1920s, would someone in 2018 find their bones? In my story, a character is murdered in 1920. Nothing special about the environment. Buried in the midwest

: Re: How do I ratchet down expectations in a genre that seems to have gone gonzo? I've done worldbuilding and extensive plotting for a Book 1 based around a "detective" (not a literal detective

More posts by @Welton431

: Your answer is given by your first trope link; on DIAA, perhaps you have misunderstood it! The protagonist is incredibly self-centered, an existential nihilist Then why should the reader

: How do I describe an accidental kiss between the two main characters that is romantic as well as regretful? How do I describe an accidental kiss between the two main characters? I want

: Making a prolonged training montage work Training montages and arcs are typically viewed as backstory, something that ends in the prologue, or shows up in flashbacks. They show us a piece of

: If a character was murdered in the 1920s, would someone in 2018 find their bones? In my story, a character is murdered in 1920. Nothing special about the environment. Buried in the midwest

Login to post a comment!

0 Comments

Back to top