Creating the Fictional Dream
Posted by Jill N. Noble on
10/31/2008
In a previous post, I talked about the fictional dream, but what does
that mean, exactly? Simply put, it's the state of mind you hope to
create within your readers. As the reader reads, he or she becomes immersed in your story world and if you're doing your job right, lives out the story through the character(s) experiences. This begins when a reader judges your character(s).
We spend our lives making judgments about other people. Whether we do
so intentionally or not, each time we come in contact with another
human being, we make a decision - even if it's just a preliminary one -
about that person's character and behavior. These decisions are
based on our own feelings and previous experiences. For instance, if
you've had a bad experience with a tall, dark-haired, tattooed man,
chances are, the next time you meet a tall man with dark hair and
tattoos, he'll make an instant, negative impression on you. Eventually,
if the man is kind, soft-spoken and treats you well, you may revise
your opinion...or maybe not. Some negative experiences are too great to
overcome. Our life experiences create feelings, and those feelings
color our judgments.
The same thing happens when a reader first "meets" a character. Your job, as the author
and creator of the fictional dream, is to tap into your audience's
feelings and make them correctly judge your characters. If your reader
doesn't judge your characters, for better or for worse, you may have
boring, flat characters, unworthy of a second thought.
Of course, one woman's evil tattooed man is another woman's dreamboat.
So how do you know you'll evoke the right feelings in your reader?
Well, you don't. Not 100% anyway. You work with universal feelings -
love, hate, fear, happiness, sadness, etc - and try to present characters and situations that will evoke those feelings in your reader.
A word on situations - It's not enough to simply "say" a character is this or that - no lazy sentences like, David was happy Maria decided to show up. You must show the reader, through action, dialogue and introspection.
Take the dark guy with the tattoos, for example. If you show him
cuddling a stray puppy, your reader will be much more likely to believe
he's kindhearted than if you were to simply say, David had a kind heart. Rather than saying, David drank too much, show him hitting the liquor store and making a beeline for the tequila. :)
What else do you need to know in order to create a fictional dream? The right words. Concrete and accurate nouns and verbs. Why use ran, when you actually mean raced? Does five year old Mindy walk down the street? Or does she skip?
For each scene, decide which of your characters has the most at stake, and then write your scene from that character's viewpoint. If your viewpoint character can't see it, hear it, feel it, think it or smell it, don't write it. If you do, you're switching viewpoints, and forcing your reader out of the fictional dream you've struggled to create.