Pinch of Impossible

Your novel needs a pinch of impossible. Without impossible, no one wants to explore your world. Without impossible, no one will root for the hero. Without impossible, you don’t have a story to tell (debate!).

Impossible is a secret ingredient for your novel. Lucky for us writers, it’s a multi-purpose ingredient. Need instant emotional response in a story about little Katy trying to get into college? Add a caustic ex-mentor who tells her it’s impossible. Need a plot twist? Follow the formula: Impossible situation + Character who escapes impossible situation with combined humor and cleverness = Instant thrill. These are just two–of many–uses of impossible.

Like salt, you can abuse impossible. With a little too much impossible, you’ll end up with a wacky novel that doesn’t fit your original theme. With way, way, WAY too much impossible, and you’ll end up with readers who don’t respect your characters. Example: When faced with human-hungry tiger, clown teleports out of danger. Reader response: Well, that was anti-climatic. (Now, if the clown teleports into the middle of a shark ring, you might have a story. )

Readers want big bold characters who dare to do things that most people don’t even consider doing. Readers want a bit of fantasy in every genre of novel–from whimsical science fiction to realistic coming-of-age. Readers want to imagine possibility in the face of overwhelming odds.

Your character doesn’t have to be a high-schooler-turned-princess or autistic-boy-turned-Spiderman. He just has to be proactive. So let him tempt fate, do foolish things, make mistakes, and break impossible.

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