With modern day controversies, why not just take them out of your novel altogether?
We're novelists! We have a long heritage of nonconformity in regards to modern political movements.
Political and cultural wrangling aside, what can guns do for your novel?
—Give strength to the weak. The smallest are physically equal to the largest if guns are involved. Muscles don’t mean much here.
—Move the plotline along quickly. Remember Raiders of the Lost Ark? Yeah. Indiana Jones brought the sword-wielding villain down pretty fast.
—Add a character. Sometimes characters love their weapons so much, the gun takes on its own personality. James Bond’s Walther PPK is a great example.
—Tension. Who can forget The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly’s stellar scene at the end?
—Accessorize the characters. A holster slung low on the gunman’s hip. An AK-47 strap draped over a shoulder. Or the best…Get Smart’s 99 and her array of guns.
—Make a bad guy even worse. Just like a gun making a weak character strong and moving the plot line along quickly, one pull of the trigger can make a bad guy even worse. And fast.
So, in todays political tempest, should you use guns in your novels? If the plotline calls for it, yep. If you want to be counter-culture, yep. And if you like guns, of course.
And if you simply cannot induce yourself to include guns, if they're so distasteful you cannot even type the words Colt .45, then by all means, leave the guns out.
Political and cultural wrangling aside, what can guns do for your novel?
 |
| Envato |
—Give strength to the weak. The smallest are physically equal to the largest if guns are involved. Muscles don’t mean much here.
—Move the plotline along quickly. Remember Raiders of the Lost Ark? Yeah. Indiana Jones brought the sword-wielding villain down pretty fast.
—Add a character. Sometimes characters love their weapons so much, the gun takes on its own personality. James Bond’s Walther PPK is a great example.
—Tension. Who can forget The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly’s stellar scene at the end?
—Accessorize the characters. A holster slung low on the gunman’s hip. An AK-47 strap draped over a shoulder. Or the best…Get Smart’s 99 and her array of guns.
 |
| Commons |
—Make a bad guy even worse. Just like a gun making a weak character strong and moving the plot line along quickly, one pull of the trigger can make a bad guy even worse. And fast.
So, in todays political tempest, should you use guns in your novels? If the plotline calls for it, yep. If you want to be counter-culture, yep. And if you like guns, of course.
And if you simply cannot induce yourself to include guns, if they're so distasteful you cannot even type the words Colt .45, then by all means, leave the guns out.
Go ahead and have two cowboys sword fight.
(For two cowboys sword fighting, read my novel, West for the Black Hills!)
~~~~~
Peter Leavell is an award winning historical fiction author. He and his family research together, creating magnificent adventures. Catch up with him on his website at www.peterleavell.com, or friend him on Facebook:
Peter R. Leavell.
~~~~~
Philip Anderson keeps his past close to the vest. Haunted by the murder of his parents as they traveled West in their covered wagon, his many unanswered questions about that night still torment him.
His only desire is to live quietly on his homestead and raise horses. He meets Anna, a beautiful young woman with secrets of her own. Falling in love was not part of his plan. Can Philip tell her how he feels before it’s too late?
With Anna a pawn in the corrupt schemes brewing in the nearby Dakota town, Philip is forced to become a reluctant gunslinger. Will Philip’s uncannily trained horses and unsurpassed sharpshooting skills help him free Anna and find out what really happened to his family in the wilderness?
With Anna a pawn in the corrupt schemes brewing in the nearby Dakota town, Philip is forced to become a reluctant gunslinger. Will Philip’s uncannily trained horses and unsurpassed sharpshooting skills help him free Anna and find out what really happened to his family in the wilderness?
