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“You enter the extraordinary by way of the ordinary.” ~Frederick Buechner
 “Besides furnishing a plausible abode for
the novel’s world of feeling, place has a good deal to do with making the
characters real, that is, themselves, and keeping them so.” Eudora Welty
Some of the richest metaphors come from the most ordinary
plausible details. They parallel the external realities alongside internal
hopes and dreams, and transform the common with translucence.
Some excellent examples of several mythic influences can be
found in the recent release of a romantic Four-In-One Collection, Central Park Rendezvous. This
contemporary/historical threads three common details throughout a century plus
time span: letters, a coin and a bridge, each of which also mirror and
complement each other. To the passerby—nothing of importance. To the
participants—a heart aching search.
In A Love Meant To Be,
by Dineen Miller, the valued coin, a keepsake,
is a link to the past and promise to the
future, yet becomes the catalyst for miscommunication, strained friendship, a
broken heart and failure. Just the act of passing the coin from one hand to
another explodes all preconceptions of family dynamics forcing the characters
and the readers to re-evaluate everything. The concrete coin becomes a spinning
metaphor for plot, characterization, theme and atmosphere. Plausible. Ordinary.
Real. Translucent.
Journal Prompt:
Your
main character needs to pack and move with little notice. A friend comes to
help and discovers a small box in a drawer or in a closet. Overcome with
curiosity he, or she, opens it. What do they find inside?
Share: Which of
the items does your character choose to hold?
Read With Impact
Whatever
our field of interest is, we all consume tons of information, sometimes by
assignment and sometimes as hungry passion. Often, however, specific elements
of reading can get lost in the quantity. A few months ago I had the privilege
of co-presenting at an ACFW mini-conference in the Bay area and as this reading
sequence brought several responses I’m going to share it as a sequence for the
month of April.
And
I hope you’ll share your insights as well. Also for those who live in the Bay
area check out some great upcoming workshops from Golden Gate ACFW Northern
California at http://goldengateacfw.wordpress.com/.
In the meantime—happy reading.
The
methods used to interpret literature can also be applied to other arts such as
film, music, dance, architecture, paintings and photography. The difference
lies in the purpose, or focus, of your intent or search. Like other forms of
analysis, interpretation requires making observations, connections, inferences
and conclusions.
Reading As Process
What
is the process involved in understanding a communication?
What is being said or what is it? A summary.
What does it mean? Why? An analysis.
Is it good? An evaluation.
Questions:
1.
Questions of
fact: recall questions. These are
essential to form the basis of our support.
Ex. What time did Cinderella
have to be home from the ball?
2.
Questions of
interpretation: can only be answered
from the text
Ex. What motivated
Cinderella? How would you characterize her stepsisters?
3.
Questions
Beyond the Text: connections to the
real world
Ex. Is there such a thing as
happily ever after?
Suggestion: For fiction, look for main elements and then track the information in a
journal. Plot, theme, structure, character, setting, point of view, style,
symbols all work together in a novel. One method of reading is to use different
color highlighters for different threads.
For your beta readers, after
they have read your manuscript and given you their feedback, give them these
three questions. As readers we all focus on the aspects that touch us
personally. Not only will this give you some insight into how others perceive
your story, but also you might discover some nuggets for interviews and
marketing.
Applications:
1. Choose one main character
from the most recent book you have read and answer the above questions?
2. Note how they tracked
throughout the story line. Did all three aspects weave together or were there
place where it seemed disjointed?
3. How would you fix it?
Share: Did you notice any new
details?
Create With Mystery
“On the contrary, the
world where this Joy happens is as full of darkness as our own world, and that
is why when it happens it is as poignant as grief and can bring tears to our
eyes.” Frederick Buechner
Seeds of mystery by even minor characters can add an extra
layer of atmosphere to the overall story world you are building. Sometimes the
mini-sequences can pack a strong emotional jolt just because they are a brief
close-up.
There is an excellent example in the novel The Crystal Scepter by C.S. Lakin. Every year, to a combination of
disgust and fear by the inhabitants, the trolls visit the poor fishing village
that Perth lives in. This year however, Perth finds he must face them and hopes
to stave off their rage long enough to retrieve a stolen item.
Perth finds that everything horrid about them matches his information.
Yet on the other hand they wore “shreds
of clothing in a hodgepodge fashion,” and one wore dozens of necklaces.
They spoke his language, much to his astonishment. And their conversation
became stranger and stranger.
Perth stood
listening in disbelief. Carrying on about tea and crumpets? These trolls were
odder than he ever imagined. ‘I could get you some clotted cream,’ he offered
without thinking.”
When the truth about the trolls comes to light, it brings tears as to
what happened to them; admiration for their determination to hold on to their
heart truths, and a recognition that light can exist even in the darkest
moments. And touches of laughter as they wrestled with the good and evil battle
they were forced to face.
For Perth, their brief encounter became another
stepping-stone forward to decisions he needed to make and strength to face his
own battle with darkness.
Journal Prompt:
Buechner also says that “Good
and evil meet and do battle in the fairy tale world much as they meet and do
battle in our world, but in fairy tales the good live happily ever after.”
How can this concept be applied to the genre you are working
it. What have you read that would fit this description?
Share: The story
where this works.
Thresholds Bonus Exercise
 The following are some quotes from the movie Green Dragon. Put your own character
into a mini scene where he or she makes the statement for themselves, from the
perspective of crossing a threshold literally or figuratively.
“Going to
provide a taste of the dream.”
“People like you are the reason we
are here.”
“But maybe I can do something for
you.”
“What do we have to lose? We’ve lost
everything already.”
“Fate has always been cruel to me
but like our country I will endure”
Share: Did you see
anything new in your character?
“Evil has within
itself the seeds of its own destruction.”
Rolland Hein (in reference to the Lord of the Rings by
J.R.R. Tolkien)
Often when we have major decisions to make we take time to
reflect and remember previous successes and failures to guide us. We use
experience, seek counsel and estimate consequences as best as possible.
However, sometimes what our heart most desires will tilt that process towards
one side or another. Jesus reminds us that, “where
your treasure is, there will you heart be also.”
The same possibilities apply to our characters. In the
novel, The Crystal Scepter, Pythius
wanted power and authority beyond all measure. While still a youth, he murdered
his own father to obtain the crown rather than wait until he was older. Every
time someone placed a warning or an admonition before him, they suffered
deathly consequences. The only thing that caused him anxiety was the reality of
death.
“What he needed was a
magical amulet or something that would ensure a long life, some charm that
would insulate him from attack and make him invincible. If only such an object
existed! What he would pay for that!
Why, he’d sell his very soul if he could live without fear of death.
Without always having to watch his back, suspicion hounding his every waking moment.”
And so he planted his own seeds of destruction. Every time
he had an opportunity to hear the truth, or to change his direction he
remembered his heart’s desire and chose it again and again. The warnings as
well were given over and over. He resisted even as poison and decay coursed
through him. He believed he had ultimate power and wealth and therefore no one
could refuse him. Not even the prophecy.
“The created fantasy
world must have its own immutable laws. Once those laws have been established,
they cannot be set aside at the author’s whim for the demands of plot.”
Jane Yolen
“Choose for yourselves
today whom you will serve:” Joshua 24:15
Journal Prompt:
Choose
one of the seven deadly sins, (lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and
pride), for your antagonist and plot out a series of opportunities before him
to relinquish his choice for evil.
Or
According to Wikipedia, “Sloth has also been defined as a
failure to do things that one should do. By this definition, evil exists when
good men fail to act.” List a series of incidents for one of your ‘good’ characters where
they continually failed to act.
Share: Which
consequence in your sequence do you think became the step of no return for him
specifically? Why? What evil for that character resulted?
Thresholds of Distance
These include worlds apart in distance, such as East to
West, or civilization to wilderness.
Then too, is the distance created by time barriers as found in time
travel fantasy to move across historical eras, and science–fiction travel
crossing space and time?
Each one of these thresholds often includes a mechanism. How
will the crossing and re-crossing be accomplished? What new thresholds happen
if stranded? Is there a limit before a character must choose to stay or leave
permanently?
The movie Avatar
includes multiple layers. First there is the threshold to be permitted to
travel to Avatar. Then there is the different stratas of power and influence within
the mining colony. Next comes the limited access to the Nav’i, the inhabitants
of Pandora, with another hierarchy of status based on qualities almost
completely counter cultural to the business based colony. And within each
crossing and re-crossing is the threat of death from the poisonous atmosphere.
Take another look at the movie, or another time-space
crossing genre, and make a list of all the distance barriers: physically,
emotionally, mentally, spiritually and morally.
Exercise:
1. Choose one of the above categories and put your
character into that moment of choice. Overwrite all the sensory details.
2. Then write up the scene twice, once for each
possible decision: to flee or fight, or to submit the accepted ‘dogma’ either
socially or personally.
Share: Which one
has the strongest emotional reaction? Why?
Thresholds of Immigration
This includes two separate layers of thresholds. First is
the sense of a new arrival. Will the journey chosen to find shelter bring death
or freedom? Then later begins the
journey of “non-acceptance/ acceptance, understood/not understood” in social
mores and customs.
As I’ve shared in a previous blog, an excellent example of a
cross-cultural situation can be found in the movie Green Dragon. One poignant scene occurs with a young woman frantic
to get some milk for her baby who cannot digest the American version. The baby
needs sugar added. A leader in her community is refusing, in a misguided
perception that they still need to ration, so in his mind he is being
responsible. When one of the cooks gets a translation of the difficulty he
makes it clear they can have as much as they need. Both refugees are stunned. But their reactions are very
different. The woman is grateful and relieved while the leader is miffed with a
perception that the young cook has interfered with his authority.
Exercise:
1. Put your
character in a situation where she either dreams, or actually experiences, a refugee
relocation. It can be either by war, or natural disaster, or a long term
camping trip for someone who has never camped before.
2. What is the first thing
she does to give her space a personal focus? Or how does she resist?
Share: Give an
example of a serious misunderstanding and another that is humorous.
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“Besides furnishing a plausible abode for
the novel’s world of feeling, place has a good deal to do with making the
characters real, that is, themselves, and keeping them so.” Eudora Welty
