Whenever you are writing in a clearly-defined genre (and that is most of the time, in fiction), you have to watch out for too much rather than too little genre conformity.
Remember: the readers know the genre, too. They want more than the outline.
An illustration of the phenomenon is warranted…
I recently read a conventional Western novel by a not-incompetent author. Our newly introduced hero (loner male) checks the whereabouts of a man who once raised him, and just happens to meet the 10-year-old girl who was there at the man’s death.
My reaction was not “ooh, this looks interesting”. It was instead a mighty sigh. I waited for (and received) the inevitable:
- She explained events which made him even sadder.
- She wanted to help him get revenge (and needed help herself)
- She let herself be persuaded to accompany him on his quest.
Well, this is bog-standard for one form of action adventure. So, why did I sigh?
Because I knew there was going to be a does-nothing-for-our-character-development slog until they met up with “the potential love interest character who’s just the right sort to also look after the kid”. (tab, meet slot).
It didn’t matter what the details of the story-telling were between these two points — that was just killing time until the above character development event took place.
And then, of course, there was the completely mandatory 3-5 “oh no”s where the love interest gets to be in peril of making the wrong decision, etc.
And so forth.
My issue isn’t with the actual plot in the raw: Hero-to-be becomes more heroic, collects people to save, learns he’s worthy, acts on his desires, etc. (and so does the love interest). Nothing wrong with that.
My issue is the absolutely obvious (content and timing) of the mechanisms. I don’t need to be bludgoned by the writer’s plot points and plot point preps as though the outline were right there in front of me written in insufficiently invisible ink.
It’s not that I don’t expect a “happily-ever-after” courtship and ending in a genre novel like this. But that achievement isn’t the only reason I read a story. I want all the in-between parts to be equally interesting, not to mention suspenseful, otherwise it’s just empty straw characters coming to an empty straw ending.
You want to see each scene that goes by as normal (for the current characters with their current interests and experience) rather than as required setups for eventual “who could have imagined” developments.
I found myself thinking at various points “It’s about time for the opposition to make its appearance”, or “I see, this is where we introduce the sidekick character who may be able to become a hero later in the series.”
I think a writer needs to make sure the reader focuses on the actions of the characters (in their own context), not on the too-obvious mechanisms of the author to make those actions occur/make sense for a longer story. The writer’s hands should stay invisible (except as a testimony of a good read).
It doesn’t matter if your characters are blind to what will happen to them, if your reader has already been told via too-obvious and limited plotting. It gets to the point that the reader can count “First try-fail, Second try-fail, Third try-fail”, and so on, while speculating what the final count will be. That’s not enough of an uncertainty to drive the reader forward.
Got any good examples of this sort of composition?
8 responses to “Don’t show your work”
On one hand, yes, I get it shouldn’t read like an outline. On the other hand, if I relied on surprise? I’d never read again. If the story sucks me down into the characters it doesn’t matter that I know what’s coming. The problem seems, as described, less that it was insufficiently suspenseful, than that the characters and world were insufficiently real to inspire anticipation. It’s not a matter of concealing anything. It’s a matter of making sure the rest of the tale has sufficient flesh.
Part of it is that the characters are not good at drawing you in when they are thin. I read one author’s book for research purposes. I tried a second of hers, and put it down at once because I had identified the villain, because it was the only woman depicted without faults.
It can be a problem. I once identified the crook in a Sherlock Holmes story because it could only be one of three, and one of them was obviously impeccable. And that’s from reading later works than his!
That reminds me of a friend who once said that you could always tell the murderer in modern American detective/police investigation shows thusly. (1) Does he carry/quote from the Bible? (2) Does he support the right to bear arms?
If the answer to either, let alone both, of those questions is “Yes” then you’ve got your killer.
There’s also “count up the characters’ Victim Points” — whoever has the lowest total is the murderer.
Yes, by and large. Certainly expectations have to be properly set up and that requires clues. But all outline and no ordinary life is not the way to do it.
I accidentally went the other way. The first quarter of the book is just life happening (granted it is a very strange life).
Stuff happens, but it’s just stuff. It’s not going anywhere because the characters don’t know where they’re going.
I’m trying to keep the readers and the characters at about the same level of knowledge. I succeeded at that, but it leaves the reader wondering “is anything plotty ever going to happen?” I’m not sure anyone will have the patience to make it to the plotty bits. I like it, of course, which makes it that much harder to change.
It needs something more “driven”? pushing at the readers even if the characters don’t see it. I’m letting it sit and percolate while I finish (chapter 25 this weekend, I hope).
On the bright side, I fixed my “the townsfolk have no agency” problem. Unfortunately, now they don’t shut up. No, you cannot be in the cast. It’s big enough already. Go back to your shop. I’m talking to you, Frank, Jerry, Garry, and Howard; you’re walk-ons.
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Karen, this is related to your Aug 27 post about your collection of folk songs. I’m placing it here because I was having trouble with the email on your website (I don’t use Microsoft Outlook). A friend of mine who homeschools had the following information:
Some big homeschool names are Memoria Press, My Father’s World, Sonlight, BJU, those kinds of places. I don’t know anything about how to get their attention. I’d be happy to give her some attention–if she has a link or a place people could go order. Also, my friend Julia is in charge of educational outreach for our local opera company and she might have some ideas. Does she have it available as a sort of print on demand option?
Hope this helps.