Creeping up on 40,000

One more 15 minute sprint and I'm at 40,000 words.  Really, I only have 300 words to go and I'm there, but I want to pass it up a bit.


My random writing thought of the day is about plot devices, since I was thinking about it earlier, I needed to share it here!  Plots are not bad, and things needing to happen in plots are obvious.  But convenient plot devices need to die in a fire.


Convenient plot devices are not convenient. They're cheating. Work for it, people! :P


Your MC (main character) is in a tight spot. Sure, we get it. But make them work to get out. Close calls. Maybe hurt a little bit. Don't just make some random person you've never heard of before (or even thought of before...) swoop in and save the day with his magic machine gun of bubble gum and unicorns.


I mean, if we're talking this is your way to introduce another character, that's fine, but if you're doing it so your character doesn't have to work for it, that's not cool!

So, before you jump into letting something easy come along and fix all your problems for you, think about your character.  Will he/she learn anything from this?  No.  He/she needs to fight for it.  Work to get out of that spot you wrote him or her into.  If you don't let them work for it, how do they learn?

The occasional help from strangers is fine, but the big things need to be done with their own power, and it's for their own good!

It's ok, they're growing up.  *sniff*  They need to grow up to be "real".  Let them.