This series is about mistakes I made as a new writer years ago and what I've seen as a developmental editor.
CREATE A SHADOWY VILLAIN WHO NEVER EMERGES FROM THE SHADOWS:
Simply put, this is another way to create false conflict/tension. This looks like mentioning a villain/antagonist (usually not the main one) who could lay waste to your hero's plans. He gets closer and closer to the hero, ramping up the tension...and then your hero never encounters him because your hero wasn't in the right place at the right time to get taken out. Even if you write a good reason why this conflict was avoided, it leaves the reader unfulfilled. Would the hero have succeeded in a fight against this villain? Did the hero have the tools necessary to win (usually not, and the author knows this and then would have to deus ex machina the hero out of it.)?
EASY FIX:
Pare down the villain (whatever that conflict looks like). If you start writing the villain in the shadows, he'll take on a life of his own and loom large in the reader's mind. Then when your hero successfully avoids this conflict, the reader won't feel like they've missed out. Remember, shadows can be much larger than what they represent. Or have your hero face something in relation to this new conflict--and win.
For example, your hero needs something from the General Store. There's a mob of zombies around it and he has to get through them (seems easy enough). Perhaps he takes out a few, avoids the rest, and gets into the store the back way. If you write your hero needing to get past the zombies in chapters 1, 2, and 3, but in chapter 4 he decides to go to the Piggly Wiggly on East and Third (safely away from the zombies), it just feels like there really wasn't any danger to the hero to begin with.
ANALYZE YOUR WRITING:
1. Is this villain (again, whatever it is) necessary to move the hero forward in the story? Are you creating tension with no effort to resolve it? Shine some light on it. If not needed, then get rid of it.
2. Take a second look at your conflict(s). Are any of them too much for your hero? Think about what your hero needs to do to move forward and write that into the story so he's prepared. Don't deus ex machina your hero out of a problem.
3. If all conflicts are necessary, make sure your hero actually experiences the conflict (on some level).
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