Does the scene reveal something new about one of the characters?

That’s one of the questions an author asks when reviewing their draft copy. When you’re reading a fast-paced horror thriller like my new novel, Hags, you can expect to learn something new about at least one of the characters in every scene. The scene might reveal a character flaw as the young lady swipes a few dollars from the bartender's tip glass. Or you may discover a new suspect in the behavior of one of the characters. You may find that the guy you thought was evil isn’t such a bad person after all. Maybe you misjudged him. You might even learn that the girl the guy thinks he loves is actually a royal pain in the left elbow.

The author should be giving you something in every scene to move the story forward and move the characters forward through their individual character arcs. Each major character goes through an arc of self-discovery or revelation. The character learns something. The character grows. The character is a different person at the end of the story then at the beginning. The way the characters change is through a series of incidents that take place in the scenes and chapters of the novel.

The thriller genre involves some sort of monster, human or otherwise. As the characters experience the intensity of the action involving the horrors committed by the monster, they grow from the experience. You can’t enter the dark world of evil doers and expect to come out the same person on the other side of the experience. Identifying character changes as you read a scene enriches your enjoyment of the story.

Read a healthy chunk of Hags free by clicking on the book cover icon after you click over to the Kindle version on Amazon. Available for your Kindle reader by clicking here.  The paperback version is available by clicking here.

Don’t have a Kindle reader? Download the free version for your computer, tablet or smart phone from Amazon by clicking here.

Here’s another novel idea…
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