Predictability: Two-Edged Sword

This tickled my thoughts recently during one of my "feeding" sessions. 

That is, during a time when my current WIP (or WIPs as the case may be) is roiling in my skull but not passing through my fingers. I "feed" my muse by devouring books or movies that line up in some manner with the pesky project. This usually pushes my muse into cooperating again.


As it happened, I was watching the oldish movie Dragonheart since my current WIP involves dragons. Now I've seen about an hour and a half of the movie, and the ticker on Netflix says it has another 40 minutes to go. But, to be honest, I've no desire to watch any further. 

Not that the graphics are that bad (I mean, I like Bogart and Grant. Old movies don't phase me) Not because the characters are uninteresting. (Sean Connery as a dragon's voice? Bowen the rogue knight with honor? A near-Boudica maiden? Sign me up!) 


But the plot....is too predictable. Right now, having never seen the movie in my life before, I happen to know that a certain character is going to die in order to get rid of another, I have a pretty good guess how the remaining pair of characters will team up, and we are most definitely heading for a HEA (Happily Ever After).


Good, right?  Not exactly. Hence, the title. 


Predictability is something you can both avoid and embrace. And both options have their positive and negative sides. A fairy tale, fairy-tale retelling, and a few other plots can get away with and draw power from their predictability. 


Some examples: Howl's Moving Castle, Cinder, and Kingkiller Chronicles.  These have definite predictability. I know beforehand that certain things must come to pass-- beauty changes the beast, cinderella gets her prince, the narrator is talking about his past so clearly he survived whatever deadly challenges he describes from his youth. 


What makes these stories work is that, though predictable, the actual circumstances are more fuzzy. Take Cinder. (which you should have already read. If not, shame on you. Go buy it/borrow it/whatever. The first five chapters are FREE via Kindle, Kindle PC, etc. Go get it.  Right now.)

I knew that Cinder was clearly going to be mistreated in some manner per the fairy tale, but not how. I knew that Cinder would end up catching a prince's eye (again, but not how) and I knew she'd run away, leaving something behind that would lead to her. And would then have her HEA after all. (ad nauseam)


This predictability is soothing. I knew I could trust the author for that HEA ending. That the plot would flow in a way I could somewhat predict. BUT, that at the same time I'd be surprised and intrigued along the way by the how.

On the other hand, Dragonheart went the exact opposite for me. Readily apparent was the upcoming HEA, and the majority of the how behind its unfolding. The foreshadowing was not subtle enough, the characters not conflicted enough. Instead of soothing predictability, it was jarring boredom. Why? Because it was too predictable.


Here's the conclusion of the matter, to me. There are no new plots under the sun, as it were. You're going to have some predictability in your storylines, especially if you aim for a happy ending. (and you should, even if it's not quite HEA. That's a whole 'nother post though)  Don't fight the predictable side of things; embrace them. But remember to be careful in how much you reveal that expected end, in how you unfold the situations. 

Some stories lend well to a large amount of predictability, as I've said, fairy tales and their stylings. But many, and most, others fail miserably. 

Timing Is Everything

This topic has been ruminating in my mind recently after attempting to read a book by a normally good author. It was also brought up in the writer's forum I frequent as an annoyance by other readers.

Namely, the way an author introduces graphic content, or topics of more sensitive nature. This could and likely would include torture, rape, child abuse, experimentation of any kind, gore, severe violence, and the list could go on forever.

Many authors seem to think that putting such things on the first chapter, first page, even first sentence, is a good way to hook a reader. In some ways, this could be true. It does create instant sympathy for the victim, or instant hatred for the perpetrator. But it's more of a Russian roulette. Chances are very high that doing so creates an opposite effect. It is a very bad idea to alienate your audience.

Commercial break: One rule of thumb that applies to anything a writer does... if it turns off the reader(s), don't do it. Period.

Now let me be very clear. I am not saying to avoid writing on such topics. On the contrary, if a story demands less than pleasant situations in order to drive your characters to their best, so be it.

But learn to use good timing.

Let me explain by comparing two books which deal with nearly the same situation. I've read the book "Hunter of Worlds" by C.J. Cherryth and attempted "Stewards of the Flame" by Syliva Engdahl.

Both of these books have an MC who is abruptly taken by a group in power, and various alterations, indignities, and implants are done to them. Unwilling.  (this may not bother some people, but it does me)  Both authors deal with the same somewhat uncomfortable topic, but I only managed to finish one book--Cherryth's book; the other filled me with nausea.

Why the difference?   How the author handled it. Cherryth timed her revelation of the unpleasant situations carefully, in a manner that gave me (the reader) the ability to handle and finish the book. Engdahl, though one of my favorite YA writers, did not, in my opinion.

Here's three things I've noticed. I consider them general guidelines, at least in my experience as a reader and a writer.

1.  Do not start with the uncomfortable/frightening/graphic topic.  Not in the first paragraph, not on the first page. I'll go so far as to say, not even in the first chapter.

Once you create a knee-jerk reaction, it is extremely difficult to overcome a reader's "eww" response. Books tend to end up back on bookstore shelves.

      In Cherryth's book, the alterations and etc are performed in the third chapter. Engdahl's work has it within the first five pages or so.

2.  Foreshadowing is your friend. If you are going to introduce a hard-to-swallow topic, make sure you give the reader ample preparation. It is easier to handle something that I'm prepared for than to have it thrust upon me. 

Being prepared for a flu shot...being jabbed unexpectedly by a needle. Big difference between the two, isn't there?

Both books do possess foreshadowing, hints of things to come, but the pacing is all wrong. Engdahl has only a handful of hints before the dreaded events begin. Since there is very little time for the foreshadowing to unfold, I was more appalled, shocked, and disgusted than anything else.

Three chapters in the other book gives a great deal of room. By the time it happened, though I didn't enjoy it per say, I was more saddened and concerned for the character.

3. Build a relationship between character(s) and reader.  If all a reader has is a name, maybe a general face, and then abruptly that character is running from a rapist, it is very hard for me to continue reading, to put myself through that rough/painful scene for a character I don't even know. 

On the other hand, if I've seen this character be kind to a young child, seen some of his/her hopes and dreams, care for an elderly relative, etc, and now they're running from a rapist--now I care, I want to read to see how the character escapes. 

Make me care about the character and I'll be willing to follow wherever the story leads.



To sum up, check out this video.  This circus act only works because of one thing.

Timing

Foreshadow: Too Light, Too Heavy

Though I personally do not care for the product advertised in the video above, it does serve as an excellent illustration to my blog post for today. There are many components to a good story. Most of these are obvious if you've read much at all. A sound plot, well-rounded characters, sprinkle some description and snappy dialogue, and it's highly likely you will at least be on your way to an interesting story.

One aspect, however, that I have found lacking in many stories that I've read on various writing sites, and even in some published books, is the proper use of foreshadow.

For one thing, it can be very easy to allow this aspect to fall to the wayside. Problems with continuity or characters are much more glaring and obvious, and thus easier to pick out--whether by your eyes or someone else.

Foreshadow is defined as: to show or indicate beforehand; prefigure:

In storytelling, this is where you slip in hints about future events, character reactions, pieces of the plot that are hidden from the reader as yet, and anything else that belongs mostly in the later parts of your story. In mystery, these are the clues that guide the reader toward the inevitable "the butler did it!" Or perhaps, the hints of a great "ring" or "heir" in fantasy that your hero (or heroine) simply must find. And so on throughout the genre.

The important thing to remember is our little video up top. Too light or too heavy. Foreshadow must never overpower the main plot. It should be a subtle, gentle niggling thought or ideal that pushes the reader and plot forward along the path you desire, but without beating them over the head with the obviousness of the path.

If you can think of a crossroads. Foreshadow should be a smudged sign, with an arrow pointing to a town without a name, and only a vague direction. When foreshadow becomes a brightly painted, light-bejeweled billboard...your readers will become bored, or even annoyed.

Too light, however, is just as bad. If your foreshadow sign is crooked, with arrows pointing in no particular direction at all, so covered with mud that not one letter can be deciphered, your readers will head nowhere fast. And likely reach a destination so unexpected, they'll be just as unhappy as the first.

Clues that are heavily hidden, prophecies couched in unfamiliar and severely vague terms, and stern fact listing of some technology that is then used in the plot several chapters later are all much too light foreshadowing. Readers will often feel cheated, lost, or simply confused. A confused reader is a lost reader. And that is never, ever good.

There are books that I have read, and reached the end furious at the surprise the author threw into the climax that seemed to have no connection or hint at all throughout the book/series. There is a problem when I must re-read the series, sometimes more than once, before I can catch the light hints and foreshadow.

Now, yes, some people may prefer it to be very light. Perhaps it is easy for them to solve plotlines, see the implied connections, and all the other sundered parts that belong to this, but I personally (and many of the readers that I've spoken to) do not.

If I reach the end, and I'm lost, it's highly likely I will not pick up any more books by that author, no matter the reviews. A tricked reader can hold a "grudge" for a long, long time. (I personally will not read anything written by particular authors simply because of the same matter)

The most important thing to remember about foreshadow is balance. Give the reader enough information that they know this particular fact, or this light hint, or suggestive facial expression/dialogue are important, but not the why. It strokes a reader's curiousity and encourages them to continue reading, if just to find out what happens next. Foreshadow can also create tension.

For an example, in one of my stories, a young lady is working as a servant, filling lords' baths in a palace. In the antagonist's POV, he is stalking this girl, and at the very end of his POV, he thinks: "Perhaps Lord Jabin should request a bath."

Did I directly state his course of action, what he'd do exactly to this girl? No. But the hint of it, the foreshadow of what should happen the next time Jabin and the girl have a scene together, spikes the tension. You may not know exactly how or what, but there's enough information to let you know that something bad is on its way, involving those two, and drives you to turn the page.

Balance, young padawan.