A closer look at what I write

I’ve been working my way through Stealing Hollywood by Alexandra Sokoloff (it’s analytical—or at least the part I’ve gotten through is). And it’s been really interesting looking at the kinds of stories that I like…and the stories that I tend to tell.

I tend to like dramatic stories with high stakes, extraordinary events, but I like ordinary heroes. Or as my husband put it, I love an underdog. I especially like the kind of character that would usually be overlooked as hero material, maybe they aren’t that good at anything, but they are persistent and they won't give up.

I also like wounding my characters, they often end up shot or stabbed or otherwise bleeding on the page. I’m sure they signed a waiver before agreeing to be part of the story, although sometimes it must go a bit like this…

Character: this is so cool I’m the hero! And this world is amazing, I have magic you say? 
Me: yes now this is the villain and they are going to stab you in the leg and the gut, you then need to get away and pick a lock before they can kill you.
Character: er…what?
You should probably find something to fight with—you do know how to fight?
Character: this isn’t what I expected, this was meant to be a romance novel…where is the romance. Arggghhh!
Me: hmmm…well that happens later if you live
Character: *bleeding* what do you mean if I live? I’m the hero!
Me: and you will be, by the end ;)

I’m sure I’ll make other discoveries as I go. So if you like to analyse films and the books you write, you might like Stealing Hollywood too.