Stories are stories. It's writing in which you can do whatever you want, write about anything you want, and create anything you want. So for Heaven's sake, please stop playing it safe!
Sometimes, we're afraid to delve into the realms of irritationality, discomfort, and pain. It has been taught to us that all things from rape to murder are terrible, and should never be committed. Society tries to form us into these sentimental, passionate beings despite us being selfish and violent in nature.
When you write a story, drop it all. Drop what you've been taught, drop the rationality. Drop the bunnies, the rainbows, the good endings, the pretty girls, the cute guys. Drop it all. Let all societies flaws pour onto your page. Give your book a murder or rape scene. Give it some kind of Oomph; give it something that only the mature minded can understand.
The aim I'm trying to get at here is to get away from the Literary Safe Zone: A place where everything is happy, everything is equal, a utopian society that is most obviously inexistant. No reader, and I mean NO reader, will want to see a book with no problems. Why? Because it isn't a story! There's no plot and no theme and no lesson. All it is is a jumble of happy go lucky scenes that end happy go luckily.
If you cant seem to leave the Literary Safe Zone, try this exercise:
The Puppy
Take out a piece of paper and get a pencil. Write "The Puppy" at the top.
Now visualize a puppy under a bridge. Think about a type, a color, perhaps a smell. Think about how the weather was that day (or night), why the puppy was there in the first place.
Now write a story about the puppy, and how it got under the bridge. Write about why it wasn't with its owner, how he got that tiny scar on his back.
Create another paragraph, and write the absolute WORST thing you can do to this puppy. Something possible mind you. Create a scene in which the puppy dies in the absolute worst way. Make the story first person, as if you're the one committing the deed. Write something that you know you will never do in a million years. Be graphic if you want to, or scared, or on the verge of crying.
When you're done, examine how you are. Is your heart beating rapidly? Do you feel dizzy? Do you have this inner feeling of guilt, that you actually killed the puppy? If you feel any of these things, then perfect. A writer and a reader think the same way, so odds are they will feel emotionally attached to the story.
Now if you must, add in a happy ending somewhere. Or just an ending. Perhaps the puppy doesn't actually die, and instead escapes limping and huffing through the pouring rain. Perhaps the killer decided to gouge his eyes out, and the dog ran into the middle of the street and got hit by a car. He survives - though barely, and it gets him away from the killer.
Or you don't have to have an ending. But it's all up to you.
I know most of you are probably thinking I'm a sick, twisted individual by the time you read these words. But you have to understand that your story NEEDS conflict, it NEEDS this sense of madness and immorality. Unless you write for the creators of Barney, your story needs to run on violence, on angst, on a type of emotional conflict. Why? Because it gives your story a sense of importance. Your readers will want to know if Pamela escapes the rapist who all of a sudden barges into her house.
And while you're writing, you'll cry, you'll sweat. You'll feel all these things that not even a movie can make you feel. But when you end it - with a scene when Pamela gets the frying pan and jams the end of it inside the dude's head - then you will feel like it was worth it.
And consequently, so will your readers.
May your joy in writing lead you to happiness (with a hint of emotional discomfort)
Jay
No comments:
Post a Comment