I'm not saying these are bad - just please don't overdo it. And before you flame me down, I'll state that my BR fic is nearly finished, and the first chapters will hopefully be up before the end of the year.
And The Wax Factory - I bow to your self-criticism. That's the sign of a mature writer, who does not feel insulted.
Uh, and what is 72 Hours? Anyway, by the switching point of view, I meant giving EVERY SINGLE person a piece.
Usual characters/patterns
1. The "good guy"
He's introduced right in the first paragraph. If not, generally he is the first character we get to know after the list. Like, the list is given, some info about the country etc., then we are on the bus/in the class/in the gym/somewhere else, and then "Johnny Smith looked around and saw his friend Joe Taylor standing near the wall…"
2. The evil teacher
He (I have never seen a female teacher) is the one who coordinates the Program. And he is evil, pure evil, he loves to see the poor clueless kids suffer, and has fun torturing them. Before it all began, he murdered some of the characters' families or raped their mothers. During the introduction, he kills at least one student and injures a few others (generally shooting them in the leg á la Noriko Nakagawa), often with absolutely no reason (the teacher is neither threatened or anything) – if not the writer's desperate attempt to show that he is evil. Very, very evil.
3. The obligatory suicidal couple
If there are two lovers in the class, they will soon commit suicide together, that's for sure. I'm not saying this is impossible, but it's getting overused. Sure, it is a possibility, but it gets really tiring after the thousandth fic. Couples never survive the first few hours…
4. The murderer students
There are usually two (let's make it even, one guy and one girl) who go around murdering their classmates with little or no guilt. We already met these two when Johnny Smith was wondering about how mysterious/evil they were, so when they go around merrily shooting their friends, there is little chance for us to be too surprised.
5. The troubled ones
In a class chosen for the Program, at least 90 percent of the kids have been tortured/raped/beaten/orphaned/grown up in extreme poverty or whatever, normal families are seldom seen or mentioned. Fine reasons to go around killing, sure, but it would be quite a chance for all the broken souls to end up in the same class. Oh, waddaya know, they also get chosen for the Program!
6. The weapons
Okay, for 3 or 4 students to get useless stuff like a boomerang, a pot lid or a rusty nail is okay. Just don't overdo it, the Programs would hardly go anywhere if 50 percent of the kids were running around with rubber chickens, picture frames and pillows.
Next, remember the bad guy always gets one of the best weapons and the bulletproof vest, or, if not, he soon gets hold of them. I've never seen an antagonist ready to leave behind him a trail of corpses start the Program with, say, a toothbrush.
Oh, and greatswords, bazookas, pneumatic drills, chainsaws, cannons and shovels don't fit in the bags.
7. Bang! Bang!
Firearms are good. Shooting down fellow students is even better, if we are in a Program! Now, of course the major villain has to be killed, but, I say, can't we be a little more creative? All that shooting can soon get boring. Let's get on with beheadings and smotherings, or… hey, why not throw a vase of flowers on someone's head? (No, a piano is too heavy to lift, sorry.)
8. The escape
Honestly, I have yet to see a fic in which someone actually wins the Program. Nope, no chance of that. Some of them (two at least) always escape, and nobody can track them down, end of story. It would be a thrill to see how a winner gets along with everyday life, but, alas, that's doomed to be a fantasy, for now.
