Mort Rainey

Mort Rainey is a recently divorced writer who had a mental breakdown after he found out that his wife Amy was having an affair. One day, after severe depression and writer's block, Mort runs into a dairy farmer from Mississippi named John Shooter, who claims that Mort stole his story called "The Sowing Season" and published it in the collection of short stories "Everybody Drops the Dime". Mort compares the two stories, initially believing that Shooter is a nutcase or someone looking for money in a lawsuit, but then realizes that the two stories are strikingly similar. Realizing that the Shooter's story was published first, Mort realizes that the Shooter is not lying, but assumes that this is a simple coincidence. However, the Shooter gradually becomes more aggressive, killing Mort's dog, as well as several people and threatening Mort's loved ones, including his ex-wife. Mort gradually realizes more and more similarities between him and Shooter and tries to hide the Shooter's murders, while his own sanity gradually begins to weaken. In the end, after the Shooter burns down his hut, it turns out that the Shooter never existed at all; in fact, he was a figment of Mort's own imagination. Mort went crazy after his wife divorced him, and created a Shooter character after the stress caused by the discovery of his wife's infidelity. After Amy arrives, Mort kills her and reveals that "Shooter" is just "shoot her" in combination. After the murder of Amy and her lover Ted, he breaks out of the writer's impasse and becomes himself again. After the city sheriff informed him that he was now the prime suspect in their deaths, Mort remained calm, knowing that burying the bodies in his corn garden would quickly lead to the decomposition of the bodies, depriving them of nutrients.
The ending of the book is more bittersweet. The book basically remains the same as in the movie, except for the ending. After Mort tries to kill Amy and Ted, he is shot by the local police.

detects the Shooter's hat. After that, John Shooter really comes and takes his hat, and Amy notices that Mort created a character so bright that he really came to life.