Dear Fictician
Dear Fictician,
I am a writer of fictions as well. I am also an avid reader. I read, of Thomas Hardy, that “Hardy manages to merge the various factors of his tale–character, incident, and setting–into close co-ordination, thereby achieving a high degree of unity.” How important do you think merging elements into a united whole is? I rather like books with subplots that are not singular, blunt objects.
Sincerely,
Hardly Hardy
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Dear Hardly,
It depends on the point of the work of fiction. If it is a stand-alone book why the hell would you include an irrelevant tangent that connects to nothing? Co-ordination and cohesion are vital for a single volume. If the book is a part of a larger series any lingering subplots must relate to the larger whole. If character, incident, and setting do not work together, you must ask yourself why. If you cannot find an answer within yourself, you need to ask character, incident, setting, and indeed every other element of fiction, because they all must work together to function. To discover how closely aligned the factors are, you should put important elements of your story into dialogue.
Take this example:
Floor: hey, you’re stepping on me! Protagonist, get out!
(Protagonist steps more lightly)
Walls: I hear you approaching. Stop bitching, floor.
Floor: Bite me.
Walls: If I collapse you’ll find yourself right up close and personal with ceiling.
Ceiling: Leave me out of this.
Floor: But walls, you’d be crumbled. And all over me. I know it’s what you want.
Protagonist: I can suddenly see why authors limit this dialogue to the metaphorical sense. I’m the pro at talking. None of the rest of this shit should get an opinion.
Character arc: Now this is what we call a moment of revelation.
Protagonist: I guess it’s ok if it’s all about me.
Plot arc: Hurry it up. you always drag your feet and wallow in the moment. I want to get on with it. Bored with this scene.
Cliff Hanger: Little did you know that I’ve got some twists ahead.
Formatting: I recommend you actually look at some screenplays before you try to write like one.
Author: Nobody cares what you think. (Slight deleted.)
Action: Where am I? Do you know? Did you give me one minute of consideration?
Protagonist: Clearly I’m schizophrenic so I’m about to kill some people, right?
Research: Most schizophrenics have auditory hallucinations. You may be one of them. They often end up in mental institutions or as hobos.
Syntax: I heard a rumor that the word “hobo” went out in the 50’s. Tramp.
Political Correctness: Actually, I believe the only acceptable term to write would be “differently mentaled,” for the loonies, and “economically disinclined” for the poor saps.
Cliff Hanger: Little did she know that she would be soaked in hobo blood by the end of the day.
Target Audience: What the hell! Children are reading this right now and you’re exposing them to what kind of violence? Watch your topics!
Author: Ah, this is the internet. It is not a polite place. What kind of parent would allow their children here?
Quote: On the internet, no one knows you’re a dog.
Digression: It is difficult to compose a cohesive dialogue with this many voices.
Allusion: He do the police in different voices.
Protagonist: Police? Where?
Plot: Ah, knocking on your door with a search warrant?
Protagonist: Oh shit. Where’d I hide my gun?
Continuity: They wouldn’t be knocking on her door yet if she hasn’t killed the hobos.
Political Correctness: The city’s finest could well stop her before she has killed one of the financially disabled.
Walls: I don’t hear any police.
Floor: Good, they better not step in here with their dirty boots.
Syntax: Remember, dirty has two meanings. Double entendres are sometimes humorous but sometimes inappropriate.
Plot: They are distracting. You should be focusing on me.
Character arc: Like hell they should. If they are not thinking of me, and how charming I am, they will be focusing on you, and you’re full of holes. Always.
Plot: I guarantee they’ll get filled.
Syntax: Remember: too many entendres per page are indeed unnecessary and distracting.
Protagonist: (returning from the kitchen with a butcher knife and an apple. She proceeds to cut and consume it at the dining room table, sending nervous eyes at the door.)
Foreshadowing: Hey, not an apple, make it a blood orange.
Allusion: There’s a blood orange in the opener for Dexter.
Editor: You can’t allude to pop culture. It will make your work seemed dated in 2-3 years.
Style: Technically, you should write out those numbers.
Protagonist: Maybe I should learn how to write something that’s not dialogue. How about description? The Pro’s flowing hair swirled around her face in the sudden breeze. A talent scout, who had been walking fast down the street in a snappy suit, started staring, but kept walking. He fell hard. Into an open sewer grate. When he resurfaced he told her everything he owned was ruined but for his business card, and he would be honored if she would take the fast track to fame.
Author: You’re dead by chapter two.
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If the forces are this much at odds, you may want to more tightly focus your narrative.
Tags: advice, Dear Fictician, discussion