2 Main Characters meeting in the middle of the story

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Don Raden

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Is it okay if the 2 MC's are meeting in the middle or the last quarter of the story?
 

Sol Quince

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I have a story with two main characters that never even meet. When they do it's in a dream. And the characters have to be linked in some way even before they meet.
 

Don Raden

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I have a story with two main characters that never even meet. When they do it's in a dream. And the characters have to be linked in some way even before they meet.
Really? I am more than encouraged to continue writing this first story...
 

Persei

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Sure why not? If you have good reasons, and it's consistent... I don't see anything wrong with it.

In fact, I imagine it as being actually a good plot twist, having the tension building up for the climax. They met before the climax, I suppose?
 

Mr Flibble

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MCs (both POVs) don't meet until over 2/3 of the way through the story (when one tries to kill the other, and gets his hand cut off..long story)

The affect each other, by their actions (each is the other's antagonist if you like) but they don't meet till then. If they had, half the tension would have popped like a balloon.

If it makes your story better, if it amps tension etc, it's fine. Better than fine - it may be what your story needs.
 

dawinsor

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That kind of convergence of character and plot can work very well. Readers usually instinctively expect it, so it keeps them looking forward.
 

Allen R. Brady

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I don't believe Luke met Leia until about the half-way point of Star Wars.
 

DanielaTorre

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As long as it's not Sleepless in Seattle. Jesus H. Nice, that movie bugged the hell out of me. They meet at the end and just look at each other. WTF! :rant:

Er — sorry. I don't see a problem. There are forced driving these two characters together. They have to meet sometime, no?
 

cmtruesd

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Cinda Williams Chima accomplishes this quite well in her book The Demon King. The two MCs, Han and Raisa, don't meet until well after the midpoint. I thought it was effective because they both start out at such different places, it was more believable for them to take time to meet each other rather than simply tossed into each other's path.
 

Don Raden

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Thank you very much for all useful comments and suggestions. Now I have more determined to continue..

As long as it's not Sleepless in Seattle. Jesus H. Nice, that movie bugged the hell out of me. They meet at the end and just look at each other. WTF! :rant:

Er — sorry. I don't see a problem. There are forced driving these two characters together. They have to meet sometime, no?

LOL, yes, I am totally agree with you. The ending disappoints me...
 

Bufty

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It should be.....Now I am more determined to continue.

'have' means possession of something.

But you could leave your sentence with 'have' and then change the verb 'determined' to the noun 'determination', which makes your sentence read -

Now I have more determined determination to continue.

I only spell the above out for you because you said elsewhere English was not your first language and you didn't understand some words.

In post #3 above - I am more than encouraged to continue writing this first story. That's a perfectly constructed sentence. I doubt I could do that in your native tongue.

You will be aware that if you intend self-publishing then proper grammar and sentence construction is essential if you expect folk to pay to read what you write.


Good luck.

Thank you very much for all useful comments and suggestions. Now I have more determined to continue..



LOL, yes, I am totally agree with you. The ending disappoints me...
 
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Don Raden

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It should be.....Now I am more determined to continue.

'have' means possession of something.

But you could leave your sentence with 'have' and then change the verb 'determined' to the noun 'determination', which makes your sentence read -

Now I have more determined determination to continue.

I only spell the above out for you because you said elsewhere English was not your first language and you didn't understand some words.

In post #3 above - I am more than encouraged to continue writing this first story. That's a perfectly constructed sentence. I doubt I could do that in your native tongue.

You will be aware that if you intend self-publishing then proper grammar and sentence construction is essential if you expect folk to pay to read what you write.


Good luck.
I thought I wrote it "I have more determination to continue"... that was a typo.. sorry... and I'm not a native English speaker. Nevertheless, I have a reliable editor who checks my work from time to time.

BTW, I used to write SEO articles and writing a story/fiction is totally different and far more difficult. The selection of words to use is really making me crazy, but since I want to put my emotion through writing, I am trying my best. No emotion in SEO writing though..

Thank you
 

WriteMinded

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Is it okay if the 2 MC's are meeting in the middle or the last quarter of the story?
Only if you did it on purpose.

I'm not being flip. My first attempt at a novel had 180k words and the MMC and the FMC hadn't met yet. I might still be writing the damn thing if I hadn't done a search to find out how long a fantasy novel should be.
 

little_e

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You can do whatever you want, so long as it works.
 
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