Monday, August 6, 2012

Heroes don't know everything!

I hate reading a book where the good guys know EVERYTHING!  

Examples: 

Need an escape route? Oh hey look, there is a motorcycle! I can drive that! 

I need a weapon. What's that?  There is a sword? Oh yeah, I can fight with that. 

I just saved the damsel in distress and now I'm gonna kiss her! Because I know exactly what I'm doing, our first kiss is the romantic thing ever! 

NO! NO! NO! NO! 

When did our hero learn to drive a motorcycle, fight with a sword and be the best kisser ever?!?!?!.

Guess what! In Harry Potter, Harry had no clue what to do when it came to magic.  
What did he do?  Went to school and learned. 

When Katniss walked into the training arena, guess which weapon she chose?  The Bow and Arrow.  Why? 
Because she already knew how to use it! 

In Lord of the Rings, Frodo is given a ring that he must destroy.  Does he know what to do? NO! 
He asks for help! 

Don't give your characters the knowledge.  Give them the tools to learn. 

I hate reading books where the lead character (woman or man) just know everything.  They never think 'hmmm. . . how do I do this?'.  They just KNOW EVERYTHING and it's horrible.  

Do you know everything?  I don't know everything.  If someone handed me a sword and said "Fight!"  I would probably end up cutting my arm off. 

If I came upon a motorcycle as my only fast way for escape, I would just start running.  No way would I try and drive a motorcycle if I've never been taught how! 


8 comments:

  1. I wonder if that comes from watching the movies and thinking a novel is just a movie in words?

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  2. Hahaha I love this ranting post. It's so true!

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    1. Thank you! I didn't really mean to rant. It just annoys me when the hero knows everything!

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    1. Thank you! The funniest thing about this is two days after writing this post, I went and saw a movie where they got it right! It made me laugh!

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  4. I so know what you mean! I agree completely. It is not only annoying when heroes know everything but it makes it harder to believe and really get into the story.

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  5. Exactly! And while this post was about the heroes, the same thing happens with villains. I hate it. But like I said, The Bourne Legacy was super amazing BECAUSE OF THIS! They have a whole chase scene that is epic because they made it believable!

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