Unwacky: Brett Favre’s first completed pass was to himself.
Barely wacky: Austria’s World Cup team threw a key match to West Germany to screw Algeria. The game got so bad the announcer asked viewers to change the channel.
Wackier: “You were like 50 feet away. How could you be so sure that the ball crossed into the German goal?” “Stalingrad.”
Outlandish: “The Band Is On the Field!”
If we accept the premise of your story, whether that’s heroes getting superpowers from unlikely insect bites or gaining magical powers, does the rest of the story make sense? For example, you could get readers to buy into a guy getting magical powers and using them to fight a magical mob. But if the story is mostly realistic, like a cop infiltrating the mob, it’ll really disorient readers if a mobster starts using magic on page 200. If you’re planning on using unrealistic elements, introduce or foreshadow them early so that readers won’t be surprised when they show up. (For more on this, please see Holly Lisle and the Case of the Exploding Cat).
Realistic: the premise occurs or could easily occur in real life. Cops infiltrating the mob or students dealing with school, for example. Most superhero stories don’t have very much realistic stuff going on, and that isn’t a problem. Many premises give a superhero superpowers/capabilities through supernatural means such as science fiction, magic/occult, religion, etc. The only thing that matters is whether the reader can maintain the suspension of disbelief.
If you picked up a comic book, what would be some of the cues that would tip you off that it was written in the 1990s? If you were doing a parody of 1990s superheroes, what would your approach be? […]
“Hi there, I’m Ani, a newbie to posting but a long time reader, and I’d like some opinions. My newest idea is about a teenage girl named Jessie who has been working to defeat the forces of the supernatural since she was ten years old, when the ghost of her mother returned to help […]
1. If a competent villain must make one of the huge villain mistakes on the Evil Overlord List, the villain should have a good reason to do so. Here are some examples: For example, generally, it’s a mistake to try capturing a hero rather than just killing him (because the hero will always escape). However, […]
Green Kid says: “I’ve started work on a teen superhero novel about a boy who develops super powers after being exposed to a chemical dumped in the local lake by a large corporation conducting research on possible ways to create a superhuman. It’s very early in the process and I’ve barely written anything, but I’d […]
I wouldn’t recommend giving your characters supersenses unless they develop a character and/or serve an important plot purpose. Otherwise, they’re probably wasted space. 1. You can use supersenses to develop an unusual point of view. For example, maybe a nonhuman is supernaturally talented at perceiving something highly relevant to his species and/or cul […]
