Comments on: Common Superpower Problems

By: B. Mac

B. Mac — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 14:16:42 +0000

Ah, okay. Never mind, then.

By: Natalie

Natalie — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 12:54:07 +0000

-_- well thanks for the tip, but I actually wanted to write for myself. I don’t think I want to publish anything in my lifetime. :/

By: B. Mac

B. Mac — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 03:17:10 +0000

"And no, I haven’t read Carrie, I hardly read books unless I have to." Hmm. If at all possible, I'd recommend working on that (if you're interested, please see Why Is It So Important That Writers Read Widely?) My rule of thumb is that it'd probably help to read at least 25-50 novels in your genre(s), if at all possible*. The editors best-suited to your manuscript will probably have read hundreds of books in the genre(s), so it really helps to be very familiar with the conventions of the genre and how to build upon and/or subvert them.

By: Natalie Sandyus

Natalie Sandyus — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 01:09:02 +0000

B.McKenzie , I forgot to mention the Infernos aren’t superheroes yet. They also don’t light people on fire, they burn them (a bit). My main character has an anger issues and in the beggining believes preventing bullies would be good that way because she doesn’t know what else to do. (It scares her) the other character’s fire power doesn’t burn the bullies, they use it for other things. Like one uses his fire to grab anything he wants that’s near him, like his pain pills he uses to calm himself down for a school day. They don’t prevent anything yet. They are just kids with a fire ability. They learn to use their fire for better things later. And no, I haven’t read Carrie, I hardly read books unless I have to.

By: CCOlson

CCOlson — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 17:50:42 +0000

I think one of the most interesting things about real human beings is that just because we can TECHNICALLY do something doesn’t mean that we WILL do it or that we can ACTUALLY do it.

Consider for a moment a person who is terrified of heights who gets superpowers, one of which can easily be used to fly. There is a distinct possibility that the character won’t even THINK of flying until the underlying character problem is dealt with, and that psychological action right there can be absolutely fascinating done well.

Schlock Mercenary had an interesting incident like this, where the tiny little roboticist used her martial arts in the middle of a riot WHILE wearing a suit of powered armor. She ended up surrounded by a pile of very dead bodies. The effect that this had on her personality rendered her effectively useless in combat afterward, despite the fact that she had demonstrated the CAPABILITY to tear through enemies without any weapons but her armored fists.

It’s like the fact that guns would make Batman’s job much easier in some cases, but he always refuses to use them. This choice is deeply anchored in his personal psychology, as his parents were killed by a man with a gun and he has fixated part of his hatred onto guns.

Perhaps you have a character who has superstrength and invulnerability, but he was raised in an abusive family where his father beat his mother to death and he is terrified of becoming his father. Therefore, he constantly holds his powers in check and is terrified of letting go of his emotions in a fight because of what he may do. What if he does beat an opponent to a pulp? Is he now becoming his father? Should he flee from any use of violence to avoid this? What if his opponent is a woman? What if his opponent is a shapeshifter who has researched the hero and changes to look like his mother in the middle of the fight, screaming “Stop hurting me Dan!”

The mind has limitless potential to cripple even the most powerful individual in what are seemingly the simplest situations.

By: B. McKenzie

B. McKenzie — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 17:09:10 +0000

“What would you consider a good superpower?” It really depends on the story and the medium (novel vs. comic book vs. movie). In novels, I feel like pretty much any superpower could work IF it doesn’t create plot problems (like leaving the characters underchallenged–immortality, unlimited time travel, and unlimited mind-reading can raise some issues there). In contrast, in a movie, the superpowers don’t just have to contribute to a smooth and dramatic plotline, but also create epic visuals. So, in a movie, agility or something else that can contribute to acrobatic stunts is really handy.

…

They’re fighting bullies with fire? Uhh, I’m not familiar with what exactly the bullies did, but that could seem a bit disproportionate. The leap from bullying to superpowered flamethrowers is quite a big one. I’d recommend being careful about having a protagonist respond TOO disproportionately–unless you deliberately want this to come off as a mistake that the protagonists will get called out for by other characters–because it could compromise the protagonists’ likability. In this particular case, responding to bullies with horrific force (and lighting a regular human on fire is pretty horrific) could make the heroes seem like they’re doing a lot more damage than they’re preventing. Have you read Stephen King’s Carrie?

Finally, I find bullies a bit underwhelming as an antagonist for superpowered heroes. Will these bullies be able to challenge the heroes? Will they be even slightly sympathetic? (I find antagonists more interesting if they are slightly sympathetic–it makes the conflict more complex and harder to predict). One possibility is that the antagonist is a victim of the bullies that somehow gets superpowers and intends to escalate the situation in a notably violent way (i.e. killing the bullies). On the one hand, I think most heroes would want to prevent the bullies from getting killed, even though they have been behaving badly. On the other hand, the heroes would probably want to do something so that the bullies stop misbehaving.

By: Natalie Sandyus

Natalie Sandyus — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 02:20:28 +0000

What would you consider a good superpower. My superhero team fights bullies at their school, they do it with fire. But it only works if they’re very angry or feeling emotional. But if they use there powers a lot it will make their powers out of control even more. And only bring harm to themselves. (Not done with plot yet)

By: Comicbookguy117

Comicbookguy117 — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 15:50:23 +0000

Ok, sorry. I’m just excited. I apologize.

By: B. McKenzie

B. McKenzie — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 15:00:41 +0000

“But I sent you an e-mail. Don’t rush, just keep it in mind ok?” Yeah, I got it, but it’s the school year and I spend a lot of time with students. Please give me a week.

By: Comicbookguy117

Comicbookguy117 — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 16:33:54 +0000

Hey B/Mac I don’t mean to pester and you’re probably busy. But I sent you an e-mail. Don’t rush, just keep it in mind ok?

Also Anne Visible, something to consider when crafting psychic powers is scope. For example I’m developing a story in which my hero gains psychic abilities. He can move onjects with his mind, that’s it. It’s a very basic form of telekinesis. So the scope of the powers can help you determine the scale of the story and even the types of enemies the hero faces.

By: B. McKenzie

B. McKenzie — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 03:57:10 +0000

“a girl who has some sort of psychic or telepathic powers…” For a female character, it might be more original to try something besides psychic or telepathic powers.

“Eventually she’ll have to make the choice to either help the aliens or the humans.” Is there something in place that would make that decision hard? (The harder the choice is, the more interesting I think it will probably be).

By: Anne Visible

Anne Visible — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 02:04:42 +0000

I wanna write a story about a girl who has some sort of psychic or telepathic powers because her dad was an alien but she never knew him. She’s very careless with her powers and that will get her into trouble with the alien race she’s from. Eventually she’ll have to make the choice to either help the aliens or the humans… Does that make sense? How can I develop this? (And should I stick with the powers I have? Because from the looks of it mind-reading and the likes aren’t the best choices.)

By: Nicholas Case

Nicholas Case — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 00:40:12 +0000

I figured such. I think my post caused it.

By: Snow

Snow — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 00:35:06 +0000

Never mind. -///-

By: Snow

Snow — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 00:33:40 +0000

Oh, good gravy.

“” and “” without quotes. Maye that will work to show you what I mean. :/