Thursday, September 8, 2011

The Sound of Pages Turning

The Sound of Pages Turning

As a writer, I am trying to get you interested in my book enough to entertain the thought of purchasing it…crazy business plan, I know. That much is true, but more importantly, I am attempting to engage you enough so that you might feel a certain level of empathy for the characters. This is not necessarily caring about ‘what’ they do or what spells they can cast, or even how effectual they are in battle, but more of ‘who’ they are and what motivates them to do what they do in the Realm of Ashenclaw. 

She seems to be enjoying herself

What drives their decision making process? Can you relate to their issues and problems? Have you ever gone through something similar?

My characters are archetypical of the sword & sorcery genre for sure and I admit that I am not trying to reinvent the wheel in that regard. That being said, I would hope that their individuality and sense of purpose would shine through, making them ‘real’ enough in the reader’s eye in order to relate to them or what they are going through. This sort of emotional attachment to my characters is exactly when I know that I am doing my job, otherwise you are reading about soulless automatons! This, too, is fine, mind you…but is not what I was shooting for.

If you can relate any character of mine, protagonist or antagonist, with an event that transpired in your life or the life of someone close to you, I have achieved my goal. If my character has emotional baggage that you understand or recognize or faces a problem with which you can relate, then my goal was achieved…. If this is done properly, then I will hear the sweet sound of pages turning.



I ask you this -- 

Is emotional relevance and character depth important to you as a reader, or do you just enjoy the mayhem and detailing of a combat scene instead? Feel free to respond under comments. Looking forward to hearing from you!


See you in Wothlondia! Cheers!


Please visit my home page to enjoy an extended reading experience, see direct links to purchase Covenant of the Faceless Knights and to see what else Ashenclaw Studios, LLC has in store in the future!

(Photos from Kozzi

 

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