Why Didn't They...

Why didn't they just...

Sometimes when I'm watching a movie or reading fiction I wonder, why didn't she do...this...or that. For example, I was watching Hitchcock's "The Birds" one night this week and I wondered, why didn't the protagonists pack up the mother and the little girl and head to Mitch's place in San Francisco after the kids were attacked by the birds at the birthday party? Or at least after the mother found her neighbor killed by the birds?

I heard a comedian during a routine he was doing question why the characters in the Amityville Horror didn't just leave the house when weird things started happening.

Certainly, these sentiments are common to most of us. That's why the comedian used that material in his show.

Sometimes characters do the things they do because it's in their "nature" to behave as they do. Using "The Birds" again as an example, neither Mitch (who was a criminal lawyer) nor Melanie (who kept company with a "wild" crowd) were the type of people who ran from a fight. Each of them, as we learn during the picture, stood strong and faced challenges rather than running away from them. So, they stayed in Bodega Bay instead of seeking the safety of San Francisco.

I can live with the question "Why didn't they just..." if the answer is as clear cut as it is in "The Birds." I understand characters should behave according to who they are. I WANT them to be true to their nature, even if the actions they take seem ill advised. If they use poor judgement or make mistakes, it only makes them more human.

We readers or movie viewers are only cheated when writers of novels or screenplays "force" characters to do what it is not in their nature to do or when their actions are directed by the writers who are fulfilling an agenda for the story instead of letting characters be who they were created to be.

For example, the author of a book I read earlier this year "forced" two old sweethearts into a reunion leading to marriage without any attempt at resolving the titanic problems which had festered between them for nearly two decades. All of a sudden, each of them forgot the terrible pain they'd caused each other and just decided, hey, let's get married.

This book left me asking, why didn't she just..., but this time the "she" wasn't a character, it was the author. Why didn't she put the hero and heroine in a situation where they needed to rely on each other to make it through a crisis? It would then be logical and believable that they could somehow realize the old feelings they had for each other were even stronger than any of the problems they'd had in the past.

Life's complicated, writing fiction is complicated.

However, reading fiction should be pure pleasure and a complete escape from life's complications. Shouldn't it just?

Fran

Fran Shaff, Award-Winning Author
Fran's Web Page

People Don't Change

My mythology teacher in college always used to say, "There's nothing new under the sun."

What she meant was this: people are the same; life is the same; essentially, we never change. If she weren't right, we wouldn't be able to understand and identify with ancient writings.

Whether we're talking about Roman and Greek mythology, the Bible, or other ancient writings the people of today can identify with the people in myths and in other ancient writings like those of the Bible because we are the same in most ways.

We think, feel, love, hate, pray, get hungry, sleep, wish for a better life, take action to right wrongs, work at professions, love our children and make many of the same mistakes people have made for thousands of years.

In literature the same plots are used over and over again, but we never tire of reading them because we like certain types of stories.

Each mystery novel has a puzzle to be solved. Hints to the solution are peppered throughout the book, and in the end the solution is revealed.

Most good love stories feature a couple who is in conflict in the beginning, and, by the end, after overcoming tremendous obstacles, end up together--unless, of course, it's a Romeo and Juliet type of tragic love story. I guess they did end up together--just not alive and happy.

Soap opera types of dramas often feature secret babies, characters prone to get amnesia, and people thought to be dead turning up alive. Again, nothing new here. I doubt any drama has outdone the plot in the Oedipus Rex, written thousands of years ago by Sophocles. [A baby is left to die, he's rescued and raised by an adoptive parent (unknown to his birth family) and eventually ends up marrying his biological mother.]

Our technology changes; our homes aren't in caves anymore; we drive motorized vehicles instead of animal drawn ones. Yet in the hearts and souls of all of us, though each of us is unique, in many ways we're the same as the first people to live on the planet. We aspire to love and be loved, to be healthy and happy, to indulge in fulfilling work, to ease our own pain and suffering and that of others too.

And what is wrong with that?

Whatever you're reading, whether it was written this year or thousands of years ago, I hope it leaves you with a good feeling and lots of hope.

Fran

Fran Shaff, Award-Winning Author
Fran's Web Page

Readers Benefit from Publishing Changes

The publishing industry is changing rapidly, and we readers are reaping the rewards of those changes.

Now more than ever readers have the chance to read terrific books publishers often rejected for one reason or another.

Publishers have limited space in their yearly publication catalog. They have often needed to reject quality books because there just wasn't enough space in their programs to publish them.

Enter Independent Publishing. With places like Kindle Direct Publishing, Barnes and Noble's Pub-it program and Smashwords, authors now have the ability to put quality books into readers' hands without having to jump through publisher hoops, hoping to have their books published. Authors benefit and so do readers.

Last week I read an article about a reporter who'd dreamed of writing fiction. After years of procrastination, he finally wrote his book. He spent a couple of years traveling the traditional publishing route submitting to publishers, using an agent, etc. He got nowhere. He heard lots of "you've written a nice book, but" yet no one wanted to publish his book.

Then he heard about Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing program. He published the book himself, and it wasn't long before his book started selling. Fortunately for him, his book really took off. Within months it had sold thousands of copies. Readers LOVED his story. If he hadn't made it available to them on his own, they'd have missed out on a terrific read.

This past week it was announced that Amazon has acquired long-time publisher Avalon Books, a traditional New York publisher. Three of my books have been published in hardcover by Avalon Books. My fellow Avalon authors and I are looking forward to working with Amazon as they make distribution of our books more easily accessible to readers.

I've read dozens and dozens of books published by Avalon Books. Believe me, readers should be prepared to be highly entertained when these quality books become available in the more affordable e-formats, audio books and paperbacks.

As I said, changes in the publishing industry have been great for readers, and I think things will only get better.

Fran

Fran Shaff, Award-Winning Author
Fran's Web Page

The Work We Do

Fiction writers are one of those kind of people who do what they do because it's in their blood. They can't NOT write. Whether or not they are ever published, they write.

I believe there are a good many professions where the people involved are doing what they do because it is a part of their heart and soul.

People in the medical profession, for example, the ones who work directly with patients, are laboring under conditions many of us would have a hard time dealing with. If their work wasn't a part of who they are, how could they stand the stress of it, the demands of it?

Over the years people have often said to me, how can you put together great stories the way you do? I could never do it.

I could ask a police officer, a soldier and a nurse a similar question. How can you put up with felons or enemy combatants or disgruntled patients? I could never do it.

Fortunately for all of us, God made us different. When we put our talents to good use we can create a pretty good environment in which to exist. Whether we're talking about the blessed farmers who produce the world's food, the courageous soldiers who protect our freedoms, the loving parents who tend to the needs of their children, the inventive entrepreneurs who provide us with wonderful material goods and services, or the much less significant contributors to society such as writers like me, we can all make life better for someone. Sometimes, we make life better for many someones.

Whatever work you do, dear reader, I thank you for the good contributions you make to your family, your religious affiliations, your neighborhood and your country.

God bless you.

Fran

Fran Shaff, Award-Winning Author
Fran's Web Page

Get "Unblocked," Be Creative

Writers, are you blocked? Do you need a new story idea?

Get out your TV listings magazine and read the descriptions of various programs. This is a great way to find the inspiration you need to create a premise of your own.

If you've got a collection of DVDs, checkout the blurbs for the movies or TV programs. Select an intriguing premise, put some of the characters you've created into this situation and see what happens.

Checkout your stash of novels. Page through them until an idea strikes you as a good possibility for a short story or novel premise. Profile a few characters from those stories. Mix and match plots and characters and find something unique which you'd like to develop into a story.

These are great exercises in creativity. You'll find they can be a big help in getting those writing juices going. Before you know it, you're fingers will be flying over that keyboard creating a new project.

You can decide a few thousand words into your new story whether or not it's worth completing, but at least you'll no longer be blocked or devoid of story ideas.

Try it, and see how well it works for you.

Fran

Fran Shaff, Award-Winning Author
Fran's Web Page

Fun With Characters

Writers might disagree whether plot or characters come first when they are fleshing out a story, but they probably all agree great characters are essential to great stories.

Think about it--almost every story we remember, we remember because of the terrific characters.

Series in books, movies and television are successful because of compelling characters, in most cases. Whether the characters are vampires, detectives, cowboys, southern belles, knights, aliens or comic figures, there is something so irresistible about them we readers/viewers keep coming back for more because we love the characters a writer has created.

Here is a great example of the importance of character: the Lucy character in "I Love Lucy" was created for television back in the 1950s when TV was in its infancy. Anyone who has ever seen this series knows the story lines are virtually all the same--Lucy pulls a prank or tries to get into show business, Ricky (her husband) gets angry with her, and, in the end, they're as in love as ever, no matter what terrible thing went on between them. It isn't the cliched plots of the stories which have kept this series on television for more than six decades, it's Lucy's character. Thousands of people, maybe millions, truly "Love" Lucy.

One of the most important things a writer should keep in mind while developing his characters is this: a character should generate his or her own stories. For example, in the movie "The Pacifier" Vin Diesel plays the part of a Navy SEAL who's mission puts him in charge of the care of several children from infancy to teens. This man has NO experience with children. He is pure Navy SEAL--and he behaves like the tough guy he routinely needs to be while carrying out his usually dangerous missions.

In other words, the Diesel character stays true to who he is and he "generates his own story" just as a well-developed character should. Whatever situation a character might be in, he must react to his circumstances in a true, honest way. If he doesn't readers (and viewers) will walk away from a writer's stories.

Writers, and readers who just want to have some fun, try this exercise. Select a character or maybe a group of characters you know well, and play the "what if" game with them. Put them in unusual or challenging situations and, staying true to who these people are, let them generate their own stories according to who they are and the situation they are in.

Examples

1. What if -- cowboy Clint Eastwood found himself at a quilting bee?

2. What if -- Mickey Mouse was called to be a clergyman?

3. What if -- two or three characters (you choose which ones) from the TV series "Friends" were trapped in a gas station during a tornado with two or three characters from the "Twilight" movie series?

Fans as well as writers should have fun with an exercise like this, but writers might just also find something helpful they can use when developing characters for their next stories.

Have a great week!

Fran

Fran Shaff, Award-Winning Author
Fran's Web Page

Don't Call it Outlining

The term "outlining" can be a major turnoff to many writers faced with beginning a new project. Frequently, we still remember (with a sour stomach) the process teachers made us go through when we started a new chapter in our history books. Roman numerals, upper case letters, lower case letters, numbers, etc.

Putting down on paper exactly what is to appear in a book is an absolute necessity, whether a writer is planning a work of fiction or non-fiction. Fortunately, there are a variety of ways this can be done.

Traditional Outline. If a writer rather enjoys mapping out a plot using roman numerals, upper and lower case letters, numbers, etc. then she should use that method to outline her book.

Chapter Summaries. Using chapter summaries to structure projects is very easy. The writer simply sums up all the action or information which is to occur in each chapter. It's a great way to set up a guide, and brief summaries are very easy to follow when writing the first draft of a book.

Storyboards. Index cards used to storyboard a novel or a work of non-fiction can be very helpful in laying out scenes in fiction or presenting information in non-fiction. Whether the writer tacks the cards to a wall or lays them out on a table, they're easy to see all at once which makes them very handy in determining the order of the action or presentation of information in a book.

Scene Synopsis. One of the best ways to layout the plot of a novel is by using scene synopses. In writing a synopsis for a scene the author jots down the character goal, notes the point of view character, lists the people on stage, summarizes the action, and adds a new goal at the end of the scene. Scene synopses are especially useful to the author who wants to know his story as intricately as possible before writing the first draft.

Chronology. In fiction, a writer would use scene synopses to lay out a plot according to the sequence best suited to the story. In non-fiction, a writer determines the chronology of events in a way that best serves his thesis.

Fiction or non-fiction, a writer needs to have a guide for the layout of her book--an outline. Without properly structuring her book a writer risks being tasked with fixing many problems which could have been remedied before she began the first draft if only she'd have taken the time to outline her book. Having to fix problems after the first draft is completed is a lot more complicated than fixing them before it's begun.

No one ever said everything about writing is fun...

Fran

Fran Shaff
Fran's Web Page