I Should Be Writing Daily Experiment #5
This one goes a bit longer because we discuss a voice mail I got.
March 31, 2006 | Mur Lafferty | Comments 6
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Filed Under: Podcast
I Should Be Writing 2.0
The podcast for wanna-be fiction writers by a writer who’s still learning. Writer Mur Lafferty discusses rejection, cover letters and getting the oomph to keep going.
Cisco | Mar 31, 2006 | Reply
Thanks for the sugestions, Mir. I’m thinking I will leave my scene as it is, and address the issues raised buy the group the next chapter. In my case, the big issue is that while she is carrying the weapon, she can’t talk about it, so I seem to have written myself into a litle catch-22 there.
In any event, it gives me some direction where I had none bfore. Thnaks.
PaulJ | Apr 2, 2006 | Reply
How about a flashback? That ought to work — or maybe a brief bit of interior monologue.
That was stellar advice Mur. By incorporating the disbelieving questions into the story, it becomes even more realistic.
J. Hazelip | Apr 2, 2006 | Reply
1. Your writing group is not your audience.
If your writing group doesn’t “get it”, too bad. They’re only there to
point out mechanics, writing style issues, and story logic. If you have
the expertise I don’t in a writing group, and you tell me that all brain
surgeons whistle show tunes while they operate, I’ll be forced to defer
to your expertise.
2. It is your responsibility to discard any irrelevant feedback.
If I refuse to do so, I’m not doing my part as a member of a writing
group, I’m looking to pick a fight over a matter of opinion. When you
encounter this, ignore it and move on.
3. “Truth is stranger than fiction” may sometimes be true, and your
fiction may have to be altered.
While your expertise in any given are something that to which others
should defer in a group, it may be in your best interests to remember
this cliche.
Mur, your advice isn’t a hack in the sense that it’s a shortcut someone
with poor skills would use, but it’s a hack in the sense that it’s a
clever solution. Characters in stories are there to move the story
along and convey information. Without characters, all stories would be
huge infodumps, and that would be boring.
Good luck to Cisco, and I hope you find a better group,
Jake
CharlesP | Apr 4, 2006 | Reply
I think Jake hit the nail on the head Cisco. Your writing group isn’t your audience. I assume if you’re writing a book with a main character carrying a concealed weapon the people who you expect to read the book would have some basic knowledge of how that might work, and wouldn’t be disbelieving.
Having not read your story I couldn’t say for sure, but my feeling is that if you’ve got a writing group where nobody already knows that you carry the gun with the realization that if a safety is on and you need to use the weapon, you’ve probably bought the farm already… they’re not the intended audience for the end story.
THAT said, having something address it in the story isn’t outside of the realm of reason. IF you can do it without it coming across as a lecture to the reader (which is the danger in having those explanations in dialogue. Often times it comes across like what it is, an excuse to tell your reader something).
CIsco | Apr 6, 2006 | Reply
I posted a second post already, but it looks like the internet ate it…anyway.
Thanks EVERYONE for the feedback, I did make good use of it.
One point to make however…
While I know Writing groups are NOT my audience, there is the 100% rule:
When 100% of your group all say the SAME thing… something is out of kilter.
anyway…as an update, I took the chapter in question to this weeks group. I think I only changed a line or two, but they seemed to go with it without any comment. I’m still going to address it in a subsiquent chapter.
Oh!…. Charlesp
Im going to use your comment (if you dont mind)
“…you carry the gun with the realization that if a safety is on and you need to use the weapon, you’ve probably bought the farm already…”
It sounds exactly like what my character would say, and is the type of phrase I think I would just never come up with.
Thanks again, everyone.
Carolyn B. | Jul 19, 2006 | Reply
Hi, I’m late to the table but have just recently discovered the ISBW podcast. I agree with Mur that it makes sense to address some startling real-world tidbit within the story, especially when something like this bumps most of the man-on-the-street readers out of the story. I think PaulJ’s advice on interior monologue would be my preference.
My suggestion? You might try having your main character smolder over yet another person’s “stupid questions” about the gun. It could be the character resentfully recalling having to explain AGAIN to another new guard at a familiar corporate office (making her late for an appointment and thus snappy with a client), avoiding her mother’s fretful questions, or dealing with the askance looks she gets from her boyfriend when she hangs the gun over the back of a chair at his house. (Maybe his pet bats at the gun and the guy yelps in worry. Who knows.) Anything that gives you a chance to tell her side. If you do it this way, it gives you a chance to do a little character development too.
Just a thought. I enjoyed the interesting question and all the responses.
Best - Carolyn Bahm
Collierville, TN