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Look at RL complete monsters. They exist. What makes them complete monsters? What makes them who they are? Hitler wanted to see his country return to its glory days. That goal is not deviant in it...
Speaking as a professor and author of several academic papers; I would avoid it. Rhetorical questions are a technique we use in classrooms to generate interest or debate among students. That is a...
There are other stakes than death. From all of Jane Austen to some of Asimov, sometimes the world isn't about to end, and nobody is about to die. So what else is there? First, your story can be sm...
Maybe you could use some form of rewind technique, summarizing all the (bigger) choices the player didn't do when jumping back to an earlier point. Unfortunately, while that's easy to show when rew...
My gaming experience is with Bioware games. In those games, choices you make significantly affect the way the game ends. Consequently, it is quite common to play multiple playthroughs to achieve th...
The only reason we say there are a small number of plots one can list is because they're defined in an extremely vague way. There's still plenty of room for originality; I'll let you decide whether...
So, does visualization form intuitions, or do intuitions lead to visualization, and which is better? Yes! From my study of biologically informed AI and neurology, I actually think the answer ...
I've been reading a book about a related topic and the author touches on this. They refer to James Bond as the example of this type of opening: the opening to every movie is a fast paced action sce...
Use diary entries. As a substitute for narrative flashbacks, include short chapters interspersed among the main chapters that consist of diary entries written by the dead girl in first person pres...
Don't reveal that she's dead At least, not at first. Not sure if this will work in your story, or if it fits what you want to do, but you could try framing it in such a way that the reader doesn'...
I am not a proficient story writer but I try to pay attention to the story line more than anything else when I absorb art. I will work with your latest edit: An example would be that the main c...
A great example of an egotistical character who the audience warms to is Dr Rodney McKay, who played a short role in Stargate: SG1 and then as one of the lead characters in Stargate: Atlantis. He ...
The classic approach is to go into the events leading up to the volcano eruption via a 'one year (moth/week/day/hour) earlier' chapter. Make sure that you are not merely describing the events but ...
You definitely don't pad. If you are starting with plot, it sounds as though you may not be getting into the characters as much as you might need to. Here's an idea: Take your favorite Crichton ...
So this would be where we would want to use dramatic Irony. Set up a scene where the hero is presented with a similar yet distinct logic question and takes the opposite answer. One of the best ex...
The best advice I've ever received on writing tragic/well-intentioned villains was in an online Q&A with a fantasy author. I don't recall her exact words but in essence she said to find seeming...
It might help if you try always to look for an active verb, and an active way of phrasing your statements. "Be" verbs (is, are) lie flat and motionless. "The problem with this approach is that......
I would say it's to keep the reader guessing where you are taking them. Writing well gramatically with rich vocabulary, is the art of the execution only. Complex fictional characters and story-line...
Celtschk's solution works well for an omniscient narrative, where the narrator can directly comment on the character's actions or imply their judgment through their narration. You can not only writ...
The OP (now) specifies the narrator cannot know the thoughts of any character, including the villain (see question comments). Human logic, both formal and informal, is grounded in self-evident tru...
Show the character's motives involves a fact the character believes to be true, but which the reader has earlier seen is false. Example from David Weber's Honor Harrington SF series: the Grand All...
The villains I like best are the ones that are most memorable. Hannibal Lecter (from the movies) because he was the first villain I met that had a known moral code even if it was twisted. The Joker...
Have someone else reject the logic Even if they don't have access to the character's train of thought, they may decide to try to figure out what's going on, based on their actions; simply have the...
My answer to this is quite simple: Show proof that they're wrong in-story. Doesn't have to be blatant, doesn't have to be screamed, but if you have a reader who is detail-oriented enough to pick up...
The problem you face is common for authors who identify with their protagonist. You look at your story from the eyes of your main character, and everyone else is just defined in relation to the pro...
