Excerpt:
"Secondary characters are often used as red herrings. Though they might have a legitimate goal in the plot, they can also be set up to mislead the reader to link they have a part in the criminal action. Remember, a Red-Herring must always have some kind of motivation and opportunity. Suspense has to do with anticipation and expectation which helps create anxiety and tension.
"Examples of Red Herring Uses
- Distracting the main character
- Appearance of lending support but tendency to send momentum awry
- Get in the way of resolution intentionally or not
- Cause of new events though not always helpful towards solution" More
I found that the more the reader knows about the villain, the trickier it is to create red herrings (for instance, in one of my book, you know the villain is a man within a certain age range, so that automatically lets out all the women characters)!
ReplyDeleteHmmm. I guess that's when we have to look to red herrings that aren't people. Like maybe motives? I don't know. This is definitely something for us to think about?
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