Factability
One of the things that I've learned since moving up to New York is that, yes, anything in the world can happen, and often does. I like the All About Romance Site, enjoy reading their reviews, and they usually have the best discussions on the romance industry anywhere. Anywhoo, there was a review for UNDENIABLE by Julie Elizabeth Leto about a restaurant that had beds instead of tables and the reviewer had problems with the concept and because of that, couldn't quite get into the book. But in New York and Miami, restaurants with beds are becoming the new pink. So is this a problem with the reader or the writer? Who's to blame when reality isn't believable?
I had a scene in JUST KISS ME where the heroine and the hero got a little frisky on the subway (and no, they didn't have sex, just a little touchy/feely fun). One reviewer had a problem with the scene and said that she couldn't believe it would happen. Well, not too long after that, two guys and a girl were arrested for having a three-some on the subway. Did I feel vindicated? Not really, because even though the history factability quotient is high, the reader still had an issue.
So, how does a writer approach this? Do they ignore anything that is unlikely to happen? Oh, yeah, that'll go over well. No Harry Potters. No Da Vinci Code. The answer is that it's the writer's responsibility to craft the scene in such a way that the reader becomes so completely immersed in the author's reality that it doesn't become an issue. If you look at the plots of Law & Order, they are oftentimes full of coincidences that if the writing were poor, would send the audience into fits of laughter. But the writing isn't poor. The writing is very well-done, and the setup for the story is crafted in such a way that it becomes believable.
And if you're wondering why I'm musing about using real life in fiction, it's because I'm still on the grand jury and one of our cases is a doozie. Will it show up in some form or fiction at a later date? You betcha.
And because it's Tuesday….
I had a scene in JUST KISS ME where the heroine and the hero got a little frisky on the subway (and no, they didn't have sex, just a little touchy/feely fun). One reviewer had a problem with the scene and said that she couldn't believe it would happen. Well, not too long after that, two guys and a girl were arrested for having a three-some on the subway. Did I feel vindicated? Not really, because even though the history factability quotient is high, the reader still had an issue.
So, how does a writer approach this? Do they ignore anything that is unlikely to happen? Oh, yeah, that'll go over well. No Harry Potters. No Da Vinci Code. The answer is that it's the writer's responsibility to craft the scene in such a way that the reader becomes so completely immersed in the author's reality that it doesn't become an issue. If you look at the plots of Law & Order, they are oftentimes full of coincidences that if the writing were poor, would send the audience into fits of laughter. But the writing isn't poor. The writing is very well-done, and the setup for the story is crafted in such a way that it becomes believable.
And if you're wondering why I'm musing about using real life in fiction, it's because I'm still on the grand jury and one of our cases is a doozie. Will it show up in some form or fiction at a later date? You betcha.
And because it's Tuesday….
posted by Kathleen at 10:04 AM
1 Comments:
You know, I'm with ya on crafting scenes carefully so that they will be believable, but sometimes no matter what you do, people who haven't "been there" can't relate or believe. I wrote a scene once that involved weather phenomenon that I know for a fact can happen (I'm a meteorologist and part of my job was to document occurrences of the phenomenon.)
Anyway, most people who read the scene HAD heard of the phenomenon (lightning shocking people in the bath,) and had no problem with it. But one person had a fit. "That is ridiculous and CANNOT happen."
Another time, I wrote an accurate paramedic scene (I'm also an EMT *g*) and although I had it proofed by fellow EMTs and paramedics for accuracy, a lady insisted that what I wrote couldn't happen--because it didn't happen to her, even though her situation was different and WOULDN'T have required what my medics did.
So anyway, my rather rambling point is that sometimes you gotta do your best and hope that most people will just accept what you say as reality! LOL
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