In writing, rationalisation is everything. Having the reader accept and understand the why behind actions helps the reader suspend disbelief and stay connected to the story.
Early foreshadowing and plants of information mean that characters are able to act in a manner some might consider odd or in extreme cases too stupid to live. But because the reader understands the reasoning, they accept.
For example, in A Noble Captive, I needed a horn to be blown at the end in an attempt to summons the god Neptune. I also needed readers to be aware of its significance and what help was expected. And I needed the hero to have the knowledge and to be able to use it. So I had to weave it in through the story, but hopefully in not such a way that it was telegraphed.
One of the parts about Dan Brown's Angels and Demons that I disliked was how he telegraphed that the hero was going to need something. Little did he suspect that in a few days such information would come in handy... or words to that effect.
An example of a less telegraphed plant is in the movie Romancing the Stone, before the heroine Joan Wilder leaves to go to Columbia, her editor tells her that her books do very well down in those macho countries. Then later when Joan encounters the drug dealers, it makes sense when the man says -- the Joan Wilder. A throw away comment early on allowed the plot to move forward later.
Many times, planting ideas/abilities/beliefs in the early part of the story enables other things to happen later. These can be planted as you write the story. Or you can go back and weave it in. Sometimes when you are writing, you have to use backward logic. In other words -- ah, I need this to happen, but how can I make sure that the reader is not surprised or taken back or thinks the characters are too stupid to live (or the converse too intelligent to be believable).
Care should be taken that if you do plant something in the reader's mind that you use it in the story. The plants help define the story's world and its rules. If you make one rule early on, and then you decide to break it., you do need to give an explanation why. For example, if you have stated that your heroine never ever goes out at night without a torch in the beginning, and she does. You have to show the reaction, and the reasons why. Otherwise the reader is left scratching her head.
The key to plants is the reader remembers. Details are important. But they should be done subtley rather than hitting the reader over the head with it.
I am grateful to Swain and Creating Characters for reminding me of this fact.
An Impulsive Debutante* (M&BH Sept 08)*A Question of Impropriety (M&BH Nov 08)* Viking Warrior Unwilling Wife (Hh Dec 08)
website: http://www.michellestyles.co.uk * blog http://www.michellestyles.blogspot.com
Hey, Michelle, great advice
I love the emphasis you put on inserting logical plants so that they're neither too obvious nor too cloudy, but well-balanced. I also like the way you use the word telegraph. It forms a sort of mental picture in my mind, and reminds me not to allow myself (as the writer) to be seen in my writing as if through an invisible portal. I want only the characters and what's happening to them to shine in the story so that the reader forgets about me. If that makes any sense.
Something that I do to help me remember the details about my characters is to write down everything about them (as if they're filling out a questionaire!). I usually start out with their name, place of birth, age, favorite color, favorite food, hobbies, skills, unusual habits, and pet peeves, etc. In this way, they become like real people to me. This list is kept handy in case I forget anything. I end up knowing my characters well enough to insert tiny details into the story here and there, such as an allergy to flowers or a fear of heights. Later, I can grow these tiny seeds into something of more impact, such as being faced with the dilemma of receiving flowers (the allergy) from a long awaited lover, or of embarrassingly clinging to a date while stranded on top of a carnival ferris wheel (fear of height). In this way the reader will understand that the character isn't acting TSTL, like you were talking about.
This is kind of off the subject, but one time I was reading a book halfway through and noticed that the author changed a secondary character's hair color - and not because she dyed it! LOL. You'd think that the author would have a better visual picture of her own character than that, and also that the publisher would've noticed the discrepancy. It was NOT a Harlequin book, by the way! <gg>
Is Creating Characters a book? I'm always on the look-out for helpful writing tools and guides.
"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."
- Mark Twain