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Well, I call it a characterization ramble, but it's really an examination of my creative process.
A conversation I had yesterday sparked a writing dilemma. We were discussing a story (unmentioned, unlinked because I wasn't being kind). The other person was being nice, and said she bought Joe having random songs on his iPod because he has wide music tastes (not her exact quote).
And that's valid way of looking at it. Very few people are so rigid that their musical tastes stick to one genre. In fact, it's kinda unsettling when you do hang around someone like that. And with personal devices like iPods there is a higher percentage of random Shit I Like verses CD collections in which the buyer had to like the music enough to drop 20 bucks. So I buy the idea of real people having wide-flung song selections on their iPods.
But I can't (for the most part) buy it in fiction. Fictional people are like fictional dialogue-- close approximations of the real thing, but way more polished and purposeful. I saw the random music selection as missed opportunities: for characterization, for flavor*, for theme. Leaving Joe the blank-slate owner of a McGuffin didn't hurt the story, but giving him an dash of life could have enriched the story in wonderful ways. Same with the song choices, random choices didn't hurt the story, purposeful choices could have made it Holy Shit!.
Okay, so mocking tepid writing is the easy part. Creating good writing is where it gets difficult. I put myself, aka Miss Smartypants, to the task. How would I handle randomocity in fiction?
Answer. It likely wouldn't occur to me in the first place. Not because I'm so unbelievably smart or better or anything like that, it's just that I'd be much more likely overthink iPod music choices to the 9874587521586315th degree. I'd likely have a particular song in mind and I'd create a theme around it-- all bands from a particular year of Ozzfest or bands who have covered Duran Duran songs or bands in which an original member died, and I'd believe myself oh-so-clever for coming up with the theme, and I'd echo it thematically in the story and the title would elude to it, and I'd sulk like a spoiled kid when no one "got" it.
I'd also try to characterize the iPod owner through his music because I usually operate on the premise that in never hurts to write even the tiniest aspects of a story as interestingly as possible. I'm all about the layers and oh-so-deep meanings and undercurrents and putting 2 and 2 together to get the sum of the character.
But! There's a fine line between enriching a story and bogging it down with needless extras. At what point is there diminishing returns for the effort? Obviously, Joe's purpose in the fic is to lose his iPod so that other characters can have adventures while trying to return it. The story doesn't need him to be more than that. Stories I like to read and write, however, want him to be more than blank-slate. I like stories plump full of amazing tidbits.
Where I stumble on this idea is in the over-thinking and in prioritizing. I get carried away by minutia. It's difficult to for me to hold the story's main purpose above all other aspects. When a minor character is crafted to shine, the main characters have to burn like a thousand suns. That's hard, exacting work. Often times well beyond my skill level.
So anyways, I overthink and overwork my characters and story. How do you handle fictionalizing the randomness of people and events?
* I will admit the author did use one song semi-effectively as an intro to character backstory. Though, it still felt way too random, and read like an author-centric dislike of the song rather than an organic dislike by the characters themselves /snootiness.
Edit: To phrase a thought better.
A conversation I had yesterday sparked a writing dilemma. We were discussing a story (unmentioned, unlinked because I wasn't being kind). The other person was being nice, and said she bought Joe having random songs on his iPod because he has wide music tastes (not her exact quote).
And that's valid way of looking at it. Very few people are so rigid that their musical tastes stick to one genre. In fact, it's kinda unsettling when you do hang around someone like that. And with personal devices like iPods there is a higher percentage of random Shit I Like verses CD collections in which the buyer had to like the music enough to drop 20 bucks. So I buy the idea of real people having wide-flung song selections on their iPods.
But I can't (for the most part) buy it in fiction. Fictional people are like fictional dialogue-- close approximations of the real thing, but way more polished and purposeful. I saw the random music selection as missed opportunities: for characterization, for flavor*, for theme. Leaving Joe the blank-slate owner of a McGuffin didn't hurt the story, but giving him an dash of life could have enriched the story in wonderful ways. Same with the song choices, random choices didn't hurt the story, purposeful choices could have made it Holy Shit!.
Okay, so mocking tepid writing is the easy part. Creating good writing is where it gets difficult. I put myself, aka Miss Smartypants, to the task. How would I handle randomocity in fiction?
Answer. It likely wouldn't occur to me in the first place. Not because I'm so unbelievably smart or better or anything like that, it's just that I'd be much more likely overthink iPod music choices to the 9874587521586315th degree. I'd likely have a particular song in mind and I'd create a theme around it-- all bands from a particular year of Ozzfest or bands who have covered Duran Duran songs or bands in which an original member died, and I'd believe myself oh-so-clever for coming up with the theme, and I'd echo it thematically in the story and the title would elude to it, and I'd sulk like a spoiled kid when no one "got" it.
I'd also try to characterize the iPod owner through his music because I usually operate on the premise that in never hurts to write even the tiniest aspects of a story as interestingly as possible. I'm all about the layers and oh-so-deep meanings and undercurrents and putting 2 and 2 together to get the sum of the character.
But! There's a fine line between enriching a story and bogging it down with needless extras. At what point is there diminishing returns for the effort? Obviously, Joe's purpose in the fic is to lose his iPod so that other characters can have adventures while trying to return it. The story doesn't need him to be more than that. Stories I like to read and write, however, want him to be more than blank-slate. I like stories plump full of amazing tidbits.
Where I stumble on this idea is in the over-thinking and in prioritizing. I get carried away by minutia. It's difficult to for me to hold the story's main purpose above all other aspects. When a minor character is crafted to shine, the main characters have to burn like a thousand suns. That's hard, exacting work. Often times well beyond my skill level.
So anyways, I overthink and overwork my characters and story. How do you handle fictionalizing the randomness of people and events?
* I will admit the author did use one song semi-effectively as an intro to character backstory. Though, it still felt way too random, and read like an author-centric dislike of the song rather than an organic dislike by the characters themselves /snootiness.
Edit: To phrase a thought better.
