So I am super new to this forum so go easy on me. I have been writing a sort of action adventure westernish story for awhile and I have been struggling with something. How does my main character dispatch goons and get away with the killing? The main character is kind of an average joe that winds up getting into trouble. The story is set in the mountains north of modern day Tucson, AZ. It is kind of fun, maybe a tad pulpy and on the more lighthearted side. Think maybe along the lines of Fool's Gold or The Rundown if you have seen those films. Now it is not just a complete murder spree. I think I have come up with some clever ways of stopping the baddies without causing death in most instances but there are a few scenes that require some gunplay. And well...guns kill. I am just curious on thoughts and suggestions dealing with this matter. I don't want my character to end up in the State Pen after his first adventure. I hope I am explaining this sufficiently. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance everyone!
Sounds like a vigilante super hero story. Have you thought of a tranquilizer gun. Takes the, "baddies" out without killing them.
When you can answer this, call me. I've got a novel planned for the future which is going to need a handful of good ways to coverup a murder.
I have thought of tranqs. However that is not something that would available to the character. He is a kind of Treasure Hunter. He has gotten by with grave robbing for awhile but has finally gotten a huge lead on a mother lode. Unfortunately a militant cult (based on real life Celeste Jones) is hunting the same treasure as well as a third party. It ends up being a kind of chase through the mountains. The character has a handgun, binoculars, a rope (can be used as a lasso), a survival knife, a compass and a few other survival tools. There will be at least one shootout with the cult and a classic western style duel. The character is an overall decent guy. He is no murderer. But when push comes to shove he has what it takes to survive. Should I just ignore the details and focus on making a fun adventure story? Or should I rethink it a bit?
I remember writing a piece where I killed characters off just for the hell of it. Some people thought it was kind of funny, some people thought I had a morbid sense of humor. Back to your story though, I'm sure you can figure out a clever way for a gunfight to not end in bloodshed. Maybe all the participants are bad shots, and somehow one of the groups gets away. Maybe people only get injured. Depending on how realistic you want to make this, it could just end with a bunch of "flesh wounds." Or you could just do what I did, and kill people off while you laugh maniacally at your keyboard. Good luck with your story... but did you have to set it on the worst city in the country?
Is wounding ok? Is the MC good at throwing? If so, use the knife. In the end it is fight or flight and if he can not fight then he has to run. If he has to run then you need to slow them down. Can he make traps like pits or get them stuck in a cave? You might also have your MC sneak into their camp and either tamper with their water or take their compos kinda like the strategies used in the book "Hunger Games". Unfortunately, it is up to you to decide how to tell your story. I hope this advise inspires you and gets you unstuck. I highly recommend you read "The Hunger Games" and "The Host" because there where very much the same situations you are facing. Also, "The Host" was based in Tucson as well as your story and I love Stephanie Myer's stuff. Good luck.
Thanks for the info! As for the worst city in the country... I used to live there and I got really into Lost Mine Legends and Westerns. I really didn't like the city much either, but the mountains are fantastic. I really just wanted to write a modern day western/treasure hunt adventure story. I knew the land and the legends really well so that is how I picked the setting. I laughed out loud when I read your thoughts on Tucson by the way!
Thanks for the advise Mr, Flagg! I am beginning to see scenes in my head and the way things work out. I have already planned on the traps and such. I will have to check out the books you mentioned. Thanks again very much!
I thought I'd be able to rattle off my story about how I could get away with murder if I wanted to. See, the police don't have my finger prints, so as long as they can't ID me, link me to the person I murder, or link me through motive or anything, I can get away... But this is a different question. I'll tell you now, if they're baddies, they're baddies. They have death coming. They're lawless, and so should your character be when dealing with them. Of course, if you really want him to avoid murder if he can, shoot to maim, then knock them out and rifle through their pockets.
He could get away by fleeing to another state. Having contacts among the police/sheriffs could help. The baddies may be so impopular nobody spends much effort investigating their murders.
Make the countryside make the excuse for your. Maybe that part of town is prone to highway robbery and murders, so someone laying by roadside is fairly common. Maybe whoever is in law enforcement is corrupt and they investigate murders and such unless the family pays a lot of money. And since the family is poor, law enforcement won't look into it because they have other things to look into for people that pay.
You could just go about and not really explain it. I mean how many action movies are there where at the end of the movie the action hero walks away from it all while leaving with a body count and some blownup stuff. It's never actually explained how he got away with any of it. lol
hmm...some of my characters kill for fun and they get away with it....because I set up the world so that its a common enough event. Sounds to me like there are plenty of "baddies" in your story, which should mean that there is plenty of violence and death anyway. Sometimes its easier to change the set up than it is to change the event itself. hope that helps
#1 unless this guy has gone to jail or soemthing they should not really have his finger prints, huge plus, most crimes go unsolved cause of that #2 EXPLOSIONS, believe it or not they are really good for killing with out getting caught # 3 if the bad guys are after him and fire first you can have that on vids, in which case he is save as self defense (depniding on how you kill them) things like that
It's your story. Don't mooch it from other people's heads. If you don't have all the seeds yet, set it aside and let your mind process it in the background. Some things are worth waiting for.
Self-defence. Nothing else will be tolerated. If you want your protagonist to be "good", then justifiable use of force is his only defence. He only kills when his life (or the lives of innocents) are in jeopardy.
Wow, thanks everyone for all the great feedback. Plenty of ideas to sift through here. It is all very much appreciated.
Your super hero can be a hell of a shooter, shooting for disarmament purposes.... (shooting the hand that holds the gun, etc).
I can think of a few situations. It takes place in the mountains? Many people dissapear up in the mountains going hiking so their dissapearances are often never solved unless someone discovers the body. You could easily have him bury the bodies or something similar. If it's taking place in a non-populated area then you can easily get away with murder. Though spicing it up would be half-way through having a cop investigate him and he can start off his next adventure as a fugitive.
