I am sure you were wondering about my new blog title. I didn't quite explain the switch, except for saying that I didn't like the old one anymore. But there's another plus side to the new one. Some months ago one of my blog posts was titled idiots and earthquakes. It was about people being stupid if I remember correctly. Doesn't really matter, but as I thought about this particular title, I had some sort of epiphany. I suddenly realized what a perfect and simple truth this title contains.
See, a perfect story, one of the sort that captivates the reader emotionally, it both consists of idiots and earthquakes. Has to! It is the ideal ingredient for a bestselling novel.
The idiot is someone (not necessarily the protagonist) who is left in the dark about certain of the goings-on in the story. He doesn't know that something is rumbling, even though there are certain signs that the author carefully planted to let the reader know about it.
Generally the idiot doesn't have to be literally stupid not to see them, but he has to be in some way negligent to overlook certain obvious events. The more elegant version is that circumstance keeps him from knowing, but either way - not for long!
When he finally finds out, the shit has already hit the fan and there will be some huge consequences. The earthquake! The earthquake will transform the current delicate balance into something else, good or bad. Now the idiot will finally know the whole truth and the realization will demand some (heroic) action from him, but he may also fail in his attempt to do something. It depends on what kind of story it is. One of the kind that allows you to exhale or the other kind that makes you want to tear your hair out in the end. They can both be excellent. Haven't fully decided which route I'll be taking in my story. Stay tuned!
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