On the surface, it would seem humans have nothing to gain from spinning a few yarns, but the same could be said of stargazing or deep-sea diving. We're curious by nature, interesting in good and moving stories.
With all that waxing poetic aside, studies show that certain elements of prose hold our attention. Keep these things in mind when you're writing your masterwork:
- Readers have trouble following more than three emotional states simultaneously. Four is difficult, five nearly impossible. On the flip side, two is generally considered boring, although as any writer will tell you, tension between characters can really move a story along. Still, people respond most positively to three characters in a scene, each with their own motives and emotions.
- Readers like when characters misinterpret another character's intentions or statements. They like enjoy watching characters misread signals while they themselves are in the know. This form of literary voyeurism or knowledgeable oneupsmanship might explain omniscient narrators or the desire for first-person narrators to say, "If I only knew then what I know now..."
- Readers like a point of view that presents the author's omniscience through a character's viewpoint. That is, when we, the readers, are inside a character's head but in a scene controlled by the author. Similar to Number Two in many ways. Jane Austen introduced this approach, but others have certainly mastered it.
- Readers like morality in their tales, even altruism. One character must have moral certitude, or the story must contain an ending that justifies his moral struggles. Think of it as immorality meets the immovable object.
Good points to subtly present in an outline before committing them to the written page. Solid writing will always engage a reader, but so, apparently, will certain tricks that evoke a visceral reaction at a very deep, biological level.
P.S. As regards point Number One--scientists also believe that people can naturally count to four. Even many animals can keep track of four objects, and yet, intelligent, well-read individuals can't keep track of our emotions at the same time. In other words, maybe reading and writing really is harder than math and science. (I have included this postscript to make Kay feel better about her math skills...)
2 comments:
John,
I found the post very interesting and will work on developing/exploring some work with the info. However, Kay's math skills aside, looking at a current member's long running work Zack usually only has 2 characters interacting in a chapter.
Now the mix of characters makes it seem like a wide variety of viewpoints as you keep reading. Would you consider that Virgil or the machine are almost a defacto character even when not present?
-Sandy
Zack generally does use two characters in tense situations, arguing, etc. which keeps the story moving and makes it easier to follow. An author may prefer two characters -- easier to control, write, deal with -- but readers prefer three. Something to keep in mind, and I'm glad you are!
I think Virgil is a character in The Dead Machine even when not present because he is mentioned so often and serves as the motivation for so many other characters. The machine may ultimately become that, too, as we get deeper in the story. I would caution against switching viewpoints (though many authors have done it very effectively). Try telling everything through one person's pov without telling the story in first person. We the reader can know everything about that one character but suffer or enjoy her miscalculations and misinterpretations of others. I hope this clears things up a bit. I hope.
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