Balancing Concrete

[Anchoring the Metaphoric with the Physical: source]

 I've been blogging about how to make your writing more literary. Not all literature is more concrete more than it is otherwise. Often, the concrete, what's really happening in your story vs what may be happening in a character's head or in the metaphoric world, is secondary. It's frequently a very good thing for many concrete things to symbolize something in the metaphoric or internal world. But when it's all internal with nothing concrete to anchor it, your reader can get lost, bored, or frustrated. Most things internal should be tied to something concrete and vice versa. 

[The Mind Alone: source]

I recently started reading two books back to back. One just stayed in a character's head with nothing to tie it to the real world around him. It was just his thoughts, and he was not interesting or unique. Why would I care? Answer: I didn't. I've read books like this, and it feels more like data dumping than a story with meaning and symbolism. We're just floating in a world with few or no ties to the world around that character. I couldn't get past about page four of this book that was just about a boring character's endless ruminations that failed to make me care. 

[Triggering the Imagination: source]

The other book had plenty of metaphoric language and mental meandering. But it all first started with something in the world around the main characters or something the character was doing. We got setting and characters actually doing something, making choices and engaging with the environment. The figurative language included concrete images and metaphors that enlightened what was going on. And those metaphors were so fresh and witty that I have since read several of the same author's books. By starting with the concrete realities of the character, the author triggered my imagination. I wish I could bottle those concrete and clever turns of phrase that kept me in the moment. 

[Hamlet: source]

It's important to balance the concrete and the metaphoric in order to engage the reader. Both are needed. Imagine Hamlet's speech on words if it stood alone without the events around it. His speech becomes more meaningful because of the events of the story. Without his speeches, the actions could easily become meaningless. If the real and concrete world is just what we're reading, only events and actions without any deeper level, that can get dull. 

[Finding Balance: source]

One needs to balance the concrete with the metaphoric, mental, and emotional. Create the anchor in the concrete world, so the non-concrete can have something real to make it meaningful. But also, give the concrete meaning beyond just events, location, and characters. It's not enough for stuff to happen. That stuff should give a meaning on which to reflect. Look through the events of your story. Is there a way to make concrete events in the story more meaningful and symbolic? Is there a way to anchor speeches, thoughts, and ideas with something in the physical world? 

Keep It Moving

[Source]

I've been blogging about how to write in a more literary or meaningful fashion. This is not necessarily about adding meaning so much as keeping your reader interested and turning pages.  There are a few ways to keeping a reader going.  

[Source]

Step one is always making sure your reader cares about the reader.  If the reader doesn't care, you'll never get them to page two, let alone to chapter two and beyond.  I recently watched a video wherein they skipped that part. All the explosions, excitement, sinister villains jumping out of the darkness, etc. didn't affect me because the protagonist was not just uninteresting but was obnoxious to me.  Even if your character starts out obnoxious/mean/selfish/etc. to give them room to grow, I still need something to care about. You could have them save the cat (do something kind) or, better yet, start with a personal connection with someone (someone or something they care about) or a great personal loss (think how Disney often kills off one parent or another or simply takes the child away from them).  One way or another, always make the reader care, so what happens to them matters to the reader. 

[Source]

Once you've got them started, many authors suggest throwing in a question or cliffhanger at or toward the end of the chapter, so they have a reason to feel compelled to move onto the next chapter.  Obviously, if you're writing a romance or literary novel, you're not going to end every chapter with the damsel in distress or someone hanging literally from a cliff, though an action yarn often will.  Regardless, there needs to be some compelling reason to move forward. Think of Harry Potter or a murder mystery, wherein the narrative asks new questions every chapter before previous questions get their answers.  With a romance, it's often a piece of the overall will-they-won't-they question.  Find a way to make the protagonist, and, therefore, the reader want to know what happens next. 

[Source]

If all else fails, as in if you can't decide how to advance the plot next, remember Chandler's Law: "When in doubt, have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand."  This can be literal or figurative.  If your hero gets stuck in a corner, throw in a complication, a bit of action, a disturbing piece of news, a new question that redirects the plot and gets it moving again.  This, too, can result in a cliffhanger.  

The key to a compelling story is to keep the reader turning pages.  Mostly, this involves giving the reader a reason to do so.  Look at the beginning of your story.  Have you given the reader a reason to care about your character(s)?  Look at the ends of the chapters.  Is there a reason for your reader to keep turning pages?  

Need not Want

[The quest: source]

I've been blogging on writing in a more literary fashion.  Recently, I've been hearing youtubers talk about what does and what does not work about certain recently released movies.  One point that stuck out to me was something I'll need to watch in my own writing.  It's that a good story needs to be driven by needs, not wants.  It's not enough for your character to want to win a contest, find love, or whatever other goal your character might have.  Not only that, but if your story is just a series of happenstances in which your character is just there, just happens to be where the plot needs him/her for the story to happen, your reader won't be sufficiently engaged.  If your character is not truly invested in the quest for whatever it is, not truly driven by their need, your reader won't be, either.

[source]

For instance, think of MacBeth.  The protagonist feels a driving need to become king, to kill whomever he needs to kill to gain power.  Whenever he flags in his commitment, his wife is there to push him through the sheer force of her need.  The reader may not love MacBeth or his wife, but audiences and readers for centuries have found the story compelling because of this all-consuming need.

Hamlet is pushed along by his late father's need for vengeance.  Because of his equal need to be sure of every step before he takes it, his story becomes a study in what not to do.  He's torn by two equal and opposite needs.  A character with a clear motivation, a driving need, fascinates and compels the reader forward.

[source]

Meanwhile, a weakly written book or movie might just feature a character who is and always feels like a puppet of the narrative.  He makes no choices, feels no real motivation, but moves forward because the story--not any internal drive, fear, passion, etc.--pushes him forward.  Such stories are forgotten as quickly as they appear because we feel no connection to a character that, himself, is not connected to the story.  It doesn't spring from his need, his fear, his loss, or anything reflecting the human condition.

Readers want clear motivation.  They identify with strong passions.  If your character's passions and weaknesses push and pull the story, answered by their mirror or foil in an opponent, your story will hold together and stay strong.