Are you hiding something?

Did I just see you flinch?  I won’t tell.  In fact, you don’t even have to tell me what it was that just flashed through your mind.  It’s enough that I know it’s there.  You are carrying a burden, a weight that much of the time you can ignore but which nevertheless never completely goes away.

Guilt is like that.  It persists.  It’s a stab that doesn’t stop.  Until it is spoken and absolved, confessed and forgiven, it remains real.  Now, what’s that you say?  You insist that you have nothing about which you feel guilty?  Why do I not believe you?  If that is true, which I doubt, then you have lived a life that is either lucky, pure or blameless.  Either that or you have no conscience or empathy, in which case go seek public office.

Sorry, cheap shot.  Back to guilt.  It’s a primary emotion, primary meaning not only important but universal.  We’ve all felt it.  If our greatest offense was big enough, even if was committed long ago, we feel it still.  The stab.  What we have to feel guilty about may be something we said or did, or it may be what we failed to say or do.  Remaining silent when a shout is called for can be as damning as anything.

What I’m talking about today is not the wound we feel, but the weight we bear.  Characters too.

The Wound of late has been much discussed in the realm of fiction writing.  It’s the backstory hurt or injustice that has shaped a character into who he or she is in the present.  It is the root of yearning, the yawning hole, the empty bucket to fill, the unmet need that shapes and drives a character, producing a false belief and an anguish that demands relief.

The Wound is a fine and important aspect of character development, one entirely fitting for our era.  The hurts we feel must be healed, and when met by a lack of understanding, ownership or apology, those hurts do not go away.  They burst forth as anger.  Those treated unjustly demand justice.  They shout.  They march.  Our current Age of Resentment has its origins in complaints both direct and indirect, sharp and long-standing.  The public clamor going on these days, ask me, is healthy.  It is our society trying to heal.  It’s our collective story and a fundamental aspect of the stories we tell.

The Weight is different.  The Weight drives us in other ways.  The Weight may lead to avoidance and denial, or it may cause us to project our own guilt onto others.  If you have ever gone on a bender, taken a joy ride, or run away from a situation, or have too quickly pointed an accusing finger at others, then you have felt the displacement of The Weight.  Guilt spills over, like water when a stone is dropped into a brimming beaker.  Guilt has to go somewhere, and that usually that is into blaming others.  Our hope is that when the burden of guilt gets strong enough, it will lead to change.  If you have ever resolved to be a better person, then you have felt that effect. [Read more…]

In fairy tales, characters are extreme.  Heroes are very, very good.  Villains are very, very bad.  This suits the sensibilities of the audience for fairy tales: children.  Black and white works for them.  It’s simple.  As adults, we know that people aren’t so simple. That is not to say that we adults sometimes do not cheer for—or, for that matter, write—black and white heroes and villains.  Think of superheroes.  Think of Conan.  Alex Cross.  Jo March.  Nancy Drew.  Arya Stark.  Clarice … [Read more...]

I’ll admit, that’s a strange post title for a site called Writer UN-Boxed.  But stick with me.  In certain circumstances, you may want to write inside a box. By that, I do not mean a box of expectations, as in slavishly following storytelling “rules”.  Strict adherence to genre rules, for instance, might seem to please genre fans, but actually only results in cookie cutter novels.  Universal story templates such as the Hero’s Journey or three-act structure are meant to inspire but, treated … [Read more...]

Have you ever had a character take over?  I wouldn’t be surprised.  It’s a commonly reported phenomenon: My protagonist wouldn’t listen!  She did what she wanted to do, not what I wanted her to do!  That can be a good quality.  Acting in ways honest and human is what psychologists—and literary critics—call being authentic. Realism is necessary in order for readers to participate in a character’s story, experiencing it “as if” it is their own experience.  By contrast, poor motivation and … [Read more...]

Have you ever felt impatient listening to a co-worker, friend or spouse relate a story?  While you were listening, did you mentally drum your fingertips and think to yourself, get to the point! If you’ve had that feeling, then you know how I feel while reading many middle scenes in many manuscripts.  They can be flabby.  They stall around.  They take their time.  They work up to something, or try to, and sometimes that something is less than terrific.  Dialogue meanders, interrupted by … [Read more...]

It makes you think of movie trailers from the CinemaScope era, the words splashed rapidly left to right across the wide theater screen: Exciting Adventure!  The font is 3-D to emphasize the scope and depth of the soon to be released Exciting Adventure! It makes you think of fairy tales, fantasy quests, Nancy Drew mysteries.  You expect to journey, maybe in disguise, perhaps in a circus.  There will be danger, or better still peril.  You anticipate romance, glass slippers, sleeping princesses … [Read more...]