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I’ve just finished reading a paranormal shifter romance where the shifters never shifted and the only paranormal activity was performed by the normal entering the paranormal world at the very end of the book. The ending scene was great, but when the book is a SHIFTER Paranormal Romance, all three parts of the genre should be touched on.
I wanted to see the dragon shifter in action. This is not the first time I read a shifter book where the shifter never shifted. If you are writing a shifter book, the shifter needs to shift at least once. It’s like reading a romance without any romance. Without a shifter shifting, a romance romancing, the story is build on shifting sands instead of a solid (worldbuilding) foundation.
In this particular case, at least the paranormal aspects of the world remained intact. But the truth is for this manuscript, the shifters could have been vampires, dwarves, genies, or any other human-appearing creature. You may have heard the example, “if you can replace a character with a lamp, it isn’t a character”. In this case, if you could replace the shifter with a normal (billionaire), it isn’t a shifter.
As a writer, your job is to bring your world to life, generic doesn’t cut it. (see previous rant on Generic Worldbuilding)
Don’t do shifting sands. Rock your world foundation.