Shouts From Down Under

Power band, exactly, not too much not too little technique..

This is what I said in yesterdays blog;

"Tomorrow I'll talk on another writing topic, an intangible one that I feel I only partly understand. I battle to get this subconscious feathering technique into my writing and will battle to blog about it.

BUT, I know it exists

And it makes the difference in your story between something ordinary or at best somewhat interesting, changes it to being very exciting, emotionally engaging, perhaps I could even venture; life changing.

All because of something that I can barely put into words. I sometimes think some more courses in English etc are needed."

Remember the book you read years ago that still gives you the shivers? That novel whose characters still seem like people you spent a lot of time with, that you got to know well. What about the story that felt like the author was talking with you, like the writer was sitting across the table having a coffee, and you were chatting away pleasantly.

There's the books that remain vivid, and the emotions, feelings, resonance (thanks Heat Fivesixermiser for that word ) ,involvement
, value and even education that you gained from that book stay with you for years afterwards.

Does this happen by chance? Is there a reason why some books grab you and others are just books?

I believe there is a way to write that hits the exact spot of best response in us humans. Yes, just the right amount of accelerator pressing, just the right adjustment of throttle, just the right stoichiometric mixture to get the most energy release out of the fuel (our words) possible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air%E2%80%93fuel_ratio

We can say too much, or we can say too little. Sometimes I feel strongly that my blogs are way too rich (make that boring) in explanatory fuel, with not enough air, or free space to just let people think and work it out for themselves.

You know how it is, when someone explains something in every detail, and you've already got it half an hour ago, but they keep explaining as if you're a 2 year old.

Then there is the other extreme, not saying enough to the extent the reader is left thinking, this bloke hasn't a clue, or worse, they're confused, left feeling disappointed that your story trails off into no man's land of vagueness, weak plot, lazy writing effort, lame research and stilted dialogue. Your characters are artificial, your story grates, and the further they read, the more likely they will forget your story / book next week, if not tomorrow.

Bad enough and they'll close your book and at best say, "well, that was nice".

Don't we want people to retain a feeling about our story or book where they will remember it when they talk to their friends? They'll be enthusiastically recommending it without even realising.

"Oh yeah, you should read Joe Blogs' book about the XYZ conspiracy, or the 007 Robbery, or the Happy Ending love romance by Rosemary Summers! It's awesome. I'm going to Bugsy's books this arvo to see if he / she has written any more!" (Etcetera, etcetera)

I feel the way forward, a way to increase our understanding of this "baked just right" technique, is to think what audience are we trying to appeal to, or consider how educated the reader will be. Are we writing for quick witted, with it, modern, hi tech teens? Is our story targeting infants or very young? What if our novel is written with blokey blokes in mind? (not excluding women here ok?) I'm referring to westerns of course, or war action stories. These stories are written towards those reading them for the man / bloke / tough person thing in mind.
These readers may not want to read large complicated wording, or have to unravel complex romantic situations, or puzzle out a detailed technical, jargon filled thriller.

They want to hear about the gunslinger who came to town uninvited on sunset, drew his hog-leg from the low slung leather thong tied holster, and fired upon citizen, building, property and sky with wild abandon, shouting "I'm gonna kill youse all, you lying skunks!"

They don't want to hear that he rode carefully into the lovely town, alighted gently from his pony, cleaning his pistol before deciding it would be a topping idea old chap to perhaps take up his weapon and discharge said rounds illegally upon yonder village.

I'm not sure if I'm writing good examples or explaining this as clearly as I can see it in my mind. I'll try to simplify it into plain straight talkin'.

There is a way of writing sentences, dialogue etc, that is JUST RIGHT. I'm not talking punctuation and all that technical stuff.

I'm talking about writing so that the reader works it out. And not just the "show not tell" idea. It's a very fine line of just enough information that the readers mind is coaxed, or even very faintly prompted, to begin thinking something you want them to think.

A good whodunit mystery is an example. An expert author in these stories will lead you up several false theories, red herrings of things that sound almost right. You are convinced by this feathering of your mind to think someone is guilty, or someone else is guilty, and so and so is innocent. But really, the author has just carefully hinted on the wrong track, or the right one.

If you can master this technique, get it right in every story, I'm sure you'll enjoy a huge following of readers in a short time, once word gets out.

Here's a couple of photos that don't give any information about the surrounding conditions, but you can think for yourself, nut it out like Sherlock himself. But be careful! Things may not be how it looks. You might be making a false call, an incorrect judgement.



Sometimes a story has hardly any information about something. But the author just about makes your neck hair stand up. The writer does something with words that makes your skin crawl. The best writers do this without you even realising it. They never spell it out. They may not even hardly hint at the events, or incident, or people's intentions. Whatever it is, they'll have you reacting anyway.
They assume you are brainy. They make an assumption that the person who reads this book will be an astute, smart thinking, quick witted person who not many people can put one over on them.

The end result of this assumption is that while some may not get the book, there will be others who get it all right. They not only get it, but they feel then that they ARE that smart reader. They acknowledge that the author has written the story to motivate them into thinking.

And they then feel that the author is a great guy / gal, because he / she assumed them to have a lot of brainpower.

Ok, the last bit may be wishful thinking.

Am I imagining this phenomenon? No, I don't believe so for one minute.

There is a perfect balance of giving enough info and giving too much. Get that balance right, and you'll go far, your books will force a dramatic response from the readers, and you'll quickly have a reputation like the famous authors.

I'm sure of it.

Sparky

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