Surprised and Satisfied

So here I am, sitting on the deck, typing on my palm, on Fathers Day. There are a few small clouds and it's not directly sunny right now.

It's nice out. Grind of traffic, a few birds, all quite different, chirping, cawing, tweeting their little hearts out...

I have my coffee, the last cup of the pot... In my blue plaid pajamas and fuzzy slippers (OK, we guys call them sheepskin, but they are fuzzy!).

Robin had me read his story, a sci-fi romp, and we talked about writing... suspense, scene vs. summary; using sensual details to make important scenes and characters stand out.

I probably gave him more information than he needed, but it was also something I needed to hear. I guess, in some ways, he's my writing buddy.

Maybe I could let him read (and I could write for him as a reader), my Romeo and Juliet in Hell story...

Damn, these are important ideas in writing.

Suspense, mystery, foreshadowing... all overlooked in 99% of books on writing (notable exception, Rust Hills' Writing in General, the Short Story in Particular, which has nailed it down, although most of the rest of the book is classic writing bullshit.

David Sedaris is one of the best suspense writers out there. See, I'm not talking about Suspense as a genre, but suspense as a writer's device to pull readers in, to keep them reading, wondering what's going to happen next, when's it going to happen...

At some point we know what's going to happen, we just don’t know how, or, crucially, when.

Indeed, this is more than a device, but what fiction is. A suspension. Suspension of disbelief, of course, although a scholastic viewpoint - distanced and critical - is justifiable in some cases. But the emotional connection happens when we believe, when we empathized, when we walk in the characters shoes.

I don't think characters have to be likable, even. Many a so-called tragic hero is despicable, even though they are heroes, larger than life (classically kings).

But the other kind of suspense, when we allow ourselves to be set up by the writer with simple or complex conflicts that must be played out, to whatever ends, is what gives us the sense of time in our story; short of epic.

We are human. We want to know what's going on, what's going to happen next, what are the consequences of our actions or inactions, even if the answer is... nothing.

It can be spelled out; "Bill put the screwdriver in his back pocket not knowing that later that day it would save his life... and bring down a kingdom."

Or subtler, "Jim had a temper that got him into trouble at work. He was told if he lost his temper again he would lose his job. (For six months Jim was able to control his demons, but then one day he started out late for work...)"

It can be very subtle, in the mood of description, "Clouds gathered in the east but did not move over the parched farm lands, and eventually the clouds drifted away over the horizon and the sun beat down on Mary's wilting crop."

These examples are ham-handed, but also good. They set us up.

Just like with characters. We want to root for them. We want to know what difficulty they are up against that makes them unique.

The cliché advise; first act you get them up a tree, second act, throw stones at them, third act, get them down.

A character is in suspension. They have something internal or external that they must face; to resolve, to fail, or to give up.

Often there are conflicting internal and external factors. One may be more glamorous and attractive, the other more important. We think we want them to succeed on the glamorous level, but when we are surprised at the end, we look back and could have seen it coming.

A classic misdirection.

A good writer is a hypnotist and a slight-of-hand magician.

We are both surprised, and satisfied.