Written by: Sally Brown
Tags: American Crime Fantasy
Toby is a minor character trapped in a bad 1930's detective story. But when his page is destroyed by a coffee spill, the characters discover they can change the narrative for themselves. But will Toby become the protagonist he has always dreamt of being?
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Details
Toby, The Plot Device was added to Shortbread stories on Wednesday 14th October 2009, and has been accessed 547 times. It's been read online 34 times. It's been downloaded as a PDF 6 times. 0 members have added Toby, The Plot Device to their favourites. 1 members have added Sally Brown to their favourites.
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Reviews
| Editor's Pick › Toby the Plot DevicThe first line got me for two reasons. I have a nephew named Toby, and
well just read it: ‘Toby Keats was a young man of no particular
consequence or interest and therefore did not deserve to be the
protagonist of any story.’ One could not find a more self-aware piece of
prose. It’s the sort of story that’s great to read, and could be used in
either a creative writing or literature class. It’s both self aware and
self-irreverent. It’s cleverly written and well plotted. I’m totally
enamored with this story.
What’s the story about? Simply, it questions the existence of
the secondary characters. As writers, we all like to think that we
create people when we write, in a sort of ‘Stranger Than Fiction’ film
sort of way. In this piece, Sally asks us about all those little
characters that we create then throw aside. The ones that we write-off
by saying, ‘Oh, that one’s not the protagonist.’ Well, Sally’s secondary
character, Toby, finally gets his day.
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Comments
Toby the Plot Device › Original and interesting. I liked it - very clever plot device.
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Brilliantly original › This is SO clever and original (well, I certainly haven't read anything like it before). Absolutely loved it.
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