On the topic of cheap tricks and world building, what's your take on an author proxy character? I'm referring to the side kick or guide or elder that joins the protagonist/party/cast who basically serves as the author's proxy to the reader, able to explain the world around them to the protagonist. It's a trope I'm reluctant to use but also one that I find stupidly effective - and see used a lot, especially in fantasy or sci-fi where the world needs building. Do any of your works rely on method? Thoughts?
I feel like it's a crutch, but it's one of the more effective ones as long as it's not like that fucken scene in Alien Resurrection where the guy stuck in the goo is given a 10-minute monologue to explain the movie 🤣 I don't do this, because I think people know when there's a magic lantern or whatever explaining how shit works, but if you have people just naturally vibing in dialogue that can explain it, then IMO that's how to do it. This would skirt the edge of your guide system, and marry it to the as-and-when discovery I use. I guess my real problem with the guide/magic explaining latern method is that if I have to use that, I feel I've already failed the reader by not giving them the world through action and/or dialogue.
On the topic of cheap tricks and world building, what's your take on an author proxy character? I'm referring to the side kick or guide or elder that joins the protagonist/party/cast who basically serves as the author's proxy to the reader, able to explain the world around them to the protagonist. It's a trope I'm reluctant to use but also one that I find stupidly effective - and see used a lot, especially in fantasy or sci-fi where the world needs building. Do any of your works rely on method? Thoughts?
I feel like it's a crutch, but it's one of the more effective ones as long as it's not like that fucken scene in Alien Resurrection where the guy stuck in the goo is given a 10-minute monologue to explain the movie 🤣 I don't do this, because I think people know when there's a magic lantern or whatever explaining how shit works, but if you have people just naturally vibing in dialogue that can explain it, then IMO that's how to do it. This would skirt the edge of your guide system, and marry it to the as-and-when discovery I use. I guess my real problem with the guide/magic explaining latern method is that if I have to use that, I feel I've already failed the reader by not giving them the world through action and/or dialogue.