So now that my book is finally out, and selling like empty snail-houses, I can finally focus on some other things. (Such as writing the next one.) As beautiful as my wife’s eye is, I’m getting a little tired of seeing it everywhere, so I’ll try to update this page a little more often, and with at least some content that isn’t Fall of Noman-related. With that said; here’s a short rundown of two major tropes writers often use, as well as a possible explanation for using them.

I’m currently following the new Walking Dead series – I think it’s great, it’s okay if you don’t, that’s not what this post is about – and while it’s generally quite good, there are some ‘plot required stupidity’ moments. After a short discussion with my wife, I started thinking. In Fear the Walking Dead, the characters don’t know what we know, and they don’t think like we do. You and I know very well there are zombies walkers/infected/thriller-reenacters around every corner, and – having been corrupted by years and years of various narratives and stories – we know that if a character forgets something in the previous room, it’s only because there’s danger there, to scare the audience. “Why would he ever forget something in there, when he knows there’ll be trouble if he returns?! Can’t he hear the scary music?!”

The thing is: they can’t hear the music, or feel the foreshadowing. A part of suspending your disbelief is coming to terms with this. Most of all movies or TV-series reset the world and starts at zero. These characters haven’t experienced anything creepy yet, and they aren’t suspecting a thing! (Disclaimer: Yeah, when they still allow zombies biters/munchers to sneak up on them after six years in the wastelands, that’s pretty fucking weak-sauce.)