Being the Author

[k_a_webb]

Sometimes you write a story and you know damn well that the characters have been lied to, that certain things have happened for reasons they don’t know because someone explained situations to them in a way that means they have an incorrect idea of why they are in said situation, but because you’re writing about that character it’s not possible to show that they have believed lies. They don’t know that the reasons they were given were lies. Occasionally these lies can make a story seem more illogical than they are and because the characters are unlikely to ever know about the lies they were told it seems a little difficult to make the story seem less illogical. I could write about other characters who had to deal with the same thing and weren’t as lucky. I could write about one of the characters who told the lies in the first place. I’m just not sure if they’re stories I want to take on, but at the same time I want to make the original story less illogical.

Then there are character types that seem to be taking over some of my stories – the creepy stalker type. I can’t explain exactly why, but I have always written about them and I don’t think I’m going to stop, although I know that I want to teach them all the error of their ways. Some will change, realise they made mistakes, and make their lives different to the way they may have been if they didn’t have someone there to point out all their flaws. Others will get their comeuppance, but it will take time.

Mirrored from K. A. Jones Writing.

Comments

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>>Sometimes you write a story and you know damn well that the characters have been lied to, that certain things have happened for reasons they don’t know because someone explained situations to them in a way that means they have an incorrect idea of why they are in said situation, but because you’re writing about that character it’s not possible to show that they have believed lies.<<

That touches on the "unreliable narrator" motif. There are some ways to hint that a character is personally unreliable (i.e. a liar, a manipulative psychopath, etc.) or has unreliable information (i.e. is the first of their kind, is working from patchy references, is stuck with an asshole teacher). You might find it helpful to look into that. Even if it's not possible to clue things in advance, it usually is as the story progresses because the character will start discovering that some things are wrong and then wonder why. But yeah, it can be frustrating when they've done a really solid job of convincing themselves and are resistant to new input -- that makes it very difficult to convey to readers that you, as the writer, actually do know what you're doing even if the character doesn't.

>> I could write about other characters who had to deal with the same thing and weren’t as lucky. I could write about one of the characters who told the lies in the first place. I’m just not sure if they’re stories I want to take on, but at the same time I want to make the original story less illogical. <<

I think I'd go for either short side-stories by the lying character or someone else who could figure out the dissonance; or just bonus material comparing lies to truths. Pick side-stories if the lies are deliberate, especially if the misleading character is plotty. Pick bonus material if the lies are endemic to a situation (like "women are weaker at magic") and widely believed. Warn people of spoilers in either case, because a lot of these will probably relate to story revelations later down the line.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>>Then there are character types that seem to be taking over some of my stories – the creepy stalker type.<<

In my observation, most writers have one or more recurring character types. Me, I write about a lot of genderqueer characters.

>>I can’t explain exactly why, but I have always written about them and I don’t think I’m going to stop, although I know that I want to teach them all the error of their ways.<<

What determines my willingness to read and support that kind of writing is based on the portrayal and karmic balance. If it's presented as okay, I'll bail. If it's vague, I may give it the benefit of the doubt for a while. If it's hinted early on that Creepy Stalker is going to get his balls stuffed into a sausage grinder, I'm right on board with that. So then, if I've already read something by the same author where that type of character Comes To A Bad End, I'm more likely to read another such story to see what happens this time.

In this regard, you might see an increase in reader attention as some of the older stories progress to the point where the bad guys start getting serious consequences for their misbehavior. I don't mind playing cat-and-mouse with an antagonist for quite a long time, as far as I'm confident that it will pay off properly in the end. I'll happily give little sadistic prompts because it's fun to beat on asshole characters with a karma mallet. But I became an ex-Babylon 5 fan when I realized that Bester was going to get away with everything and I was never going to get to see his brains splattered all over some nice shiny wall. I consider it to be a violation of the entertainment contract if an unsympathetic character gets away with horrors. If I was into that, I'd watch the news.

Much of this is really a matter of trust, and that means establishing a reputation for handling difficult issues well. Stalking is a touchy topic precisely because it causes very real problems both in person and online. Me, I deal with things like racism and rape and controversial historical incidents. By now, my readers know that if I handshake a villain at the beginning of a story or poem, he's probably holding a monkey's paw and will deeply regret his actions by the end (if he's even still alive). That takes time to build up. I suspect you're headed in that direction, though; I've been pleased with your handling of oddball situations in prompts, enough to give you things that I wouldn't hand to just anybody.

>>Some will change, realise they made mistakes, and make their lives different to the way they may have been if they didn’t have someone there to point out all their flaws. Others will get their comeuppance, but it will take time.<<

It is fun to explore all different kinds of iterations on a favorite motif. Another thing to consider is how to foreshadow for readers that a given character is eventually going to shoot his own balls off with his bad decisions. In that regard, small negative results sprinkled along the plotline will help support the main climax when it arrives.

These are really good issues that you've raised for discussion, by the way, and they apply to more than just your own writing. With serials becoming highly popular again, they're good things to discuss. I'd enjoy seeing more "author's view" posts in the future. Around the first anniversary is when many crowdfunders start noticing long-term patterns in their work, and thinking about that can help boost a project to the next level.