That's right! According to Donald Maass, if we want our novels to stand out and be noticed we can't just dream (write) that our characters in danger. We need to put them in situations that makes the reader say, "Oh no! He's just being lowered into a vat of boiling oil with no hope of escape" or "Oh no! The main character is trapped in a well with an electric eel and a homicidal maniac". Of course those are just ridiculous examples off the top of my head but you see where I'm going with this.
I went back through my summary and realized that I was not taking it up a notch (or even getting a tiny spark). It was at mediocre level and that's just being kind to myself. No one was going to read this drivel. Hell, even I was kind of bored with it when I was writing it and then it struck me. Aha! This is why I can't finish anything!
Everything that I've attempted to write up until now has been dry, plain and just dusty (ie sawdust). There was nothing that held my attention so I wasn't inspired to finish it. Oh the horror, oh the humanity, yadda yadda.
Now I can't wait to jump in and start torturing... I mean giving my characters some difficulties that would make the reader want to turn the page and stay up late trying to finish the book.
(I want them to suffer so much that I'm almost drooling with anticipation.)
I don't know if I should be happy about this turn of events or not. Anyway, I can only hope that this will help me push my novel from the starter stage that I've been plagued with for years. Wish me luck with this new tactic.
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