WIP Wednesday: A few things I've taken from LOST.
There are a few things I’ve learned while watching ‘LOST’ the TV series-things I can only hope my fiction can achieve.
First, I want my characters so real-so dimensional to the reader that the characters actions are almost-but not quite-predictable. Like a friend they have known for so long. And even when the action of the character is a surprise, it is still believable. NO SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF with character actions!
Second, I want my characters to be capable of both good and evil, just like the living and breathing. This yin and yang not only makes the world go around, it makes us entertaining as hell. Flawed, funny, beautiful, broken, brave or cowardly it is in all of us. When all is said and done, it is all about our choices.
And in the end, after wowing the reader with great and believable characters, story twists and turns, suspense, action, humor and angst I want heart be what the reader takes with them.
At present I can’t clearly define what allows one story to have ‘heart’ and another story to thud along numb and cold. Maybe its people making mistakes and letting the reader see it all in every painful detail. That goes for the victories too. Or maybe seeing a character have regrets and irrevocable flaws, but still strive to do better. Maybe it’s seeing a character through not only the traumatic or triumphant acts, but the odd little day to days. I DO know that how others treat one another factors into a story having a heart beat. Having human beings making human connections with one another and laughing and suffering through it all at the same time. Maybe it’s the gifts we give ourselves and others-not the tangible, but the lovely intangibles. The giving and taking of trust and forgiveness and of course love.
I saw these things while watching Lost, but I have been lucky enough to see a few of these things in life. I can only hope to trap some of these story points and lovely intangibles in my own work.
First, I want my characters so real-so dimensional to the reader that the characters actions are almost-but not quite-predictable. Like a friend they have known for so long. And even when the action of the character is a surprise, it is still believable. NO SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF with character actions!
Second, I want my characters to be capable of both good and evil, just like the living and breathing. This yin and yang not only makes the world go around, it makes us entertaining as hell. Flawed, funny, beautiful, broken, brave or cowardly it is in all of us. When all is said and done, it is all about our choices.
And in the end, after wowing the reader with great and believable characters, story twists and turns, suspense, action, humor and angst I want heart be what the reader takes with them.
At present I can’t clearly define what allows one story to have ‘heart’ and another story to thud along numb and cold. Maybe its people making mistakes and letting the reader see it all in every painful detail. That goes for the victories too. Or maybe seeing a character have regrets and irrevocable flaws, but still strive to do better. Maybe it’s seeing a character through not only the traumatic or triumphant acts, but the odd little day to days. I DO know that how others treat one another factors into a story having a heart beat. Having human beings making human connections with one another and laughing and suffering through it all at the same time. Maybe it’s the gifts we give ourselves and others-not the tangible, but the lovely intangibles. The giving and taking of trust and forgiveness and of course love.
I saw these things while watching Lost, but I have been lucky enough to see a few of these things in life. I can only hope to trap some of these story points and lovely intangibles in my own work.