Writing: Characterization and Reader Expectations
WG last night was a good study break, interesting discussion of POVs and worldviews when writing fiction that takes place in the past, yet within memory of the author and reader.
What 'conventional wisdom' says about Vietnam and the US in the late 60's today, for instance, is not what 'conventional wisdom' said about those places and times then. Also, how does frankness and voice of a letter-writer change from a letter to mom vs a letter to friends?
And, given that there was no *universal* experience - that it was a different war from year to year as well as from person to person - if the author's intent is to present a certain POV, how closely must the author cling to the current 'conventional wisdom' POV of the era, or else risk losing reader acceptance of that POV, if the character strays too far from what the reader *expects* the character to feel/express?
Sometimes, perhaps, the reader expects certain things of a type of character - based on profession, age, etc. Lawyers are smart and somewhat arrogant. Older people are reserved, younger enthusiastic. And while it might certainly be possible for an Oklahoma-born, Chicago-raised Cherokee who is currently a sophomore at Berkley to have passionate beliefs supporting the divine right of English kings...that's not what the reader expects to be the driving force behind that character's life. How the Cubs did in the World Series would likely not trip any alarms, though.
A novel could be written, I think, that wraps such a web of influences into a coherent and emphatic whole. (The Life of Pi, f'xample, used a character that was very alien to the Western reader, placed in a situation that was even more alien, and kept the suspension of disbelief at bay - for me, at any rate.)
But it would be hard to effectively use such a character in a short story - particularly as one of an ensemble cast.
(The character we were discussing last night was nowhere near as inconceivable as a Berkley sophomore supporting the divine right of kings, I'm just making that up.)
The current XMen 'powerswap' challenge has me thinking along somewhat similar lines. (For an example that I have not read but point to without fear that it will suck tremendously, see andrastewhite's Secret Weapons (spoilers for X2. sort of.))
In my mind, a person's personality - what sort of things they fancy, what sort of things they are likely to do or not do - is to some degree a result of their past experiences. Which include 'what skills a person has' - whether a person is good with people, or with animals, or tools, or has trouble reading, or talks with a stutter. So, to me, I would expect a Logan who does *not* have a super-immune system to be somewhat less callous and more cautious than the version we're familiar with. A Rogue who *can* touch other people might very well be less needy than the one who feels she can't get close to anyone. I think there's a limit to this, but I wonder how realistic is to change *just* powers and not the resulting personality.
Me, I'd think if there was an Ororo who grew up on the Cairo streets as a pickpocket, could ride the winds, and was an African in America and *male* would be closer to the 'template' Ororo than a female (same life history) who could manipulate light, as did, say, Dazzler.
But that could be just me. For what it's worth, the powerswap challenge does specify 'changes as a result of the power change', but I'm wondering how fundamental those changes would be.
What 'conventional wisdom' says about Vietnam and the US in the late 60's today, for instance, is not what 'conventional wisdom' said about those places and times then. Also, how does frankness and voice of a letter-writer change from a letter to mom vs a letter to friends?
And, given that there was no *universal* experience - that it was a different war from year to year as well as from person to person - if the author's intent is to present a certain POV, how closely must the author cling to the current 'conventional wisdom' POV of the era, or else risk losing reader acceptance of that POV, if the character strays too far from what the reader *expects* the character to feel/express?
Sometimes, perhaps, the reader expects certain things of a type of character - based on profession, age, etc. Lawyers are smart and somewhat arrogant. Older people are reserved, younger enthusiastic. And while it might certainly be possible for an Oklahoma-born, Chicago-raised Cherokee who is currently a sophomore at Berkley to have passionate beliefs supporting the divine right of English kings...that's not what the reader expects to be the driving force behind that character's life. How the Cubs did in the World Series would likely not trip any alarms, though.
A novel could be written, I think, that wraps such a web of influences into a coherent and emphatic whole. (The Life of Pi, f'xample, used a character that was very alien to the Western reader, placed in a situation that was even more alien, and kept the suspension of disbelief at bay - for me, at any rate.)
But it would be hard to effectively use such a character in a short story - particularly as one of an ensemble cast.
(The character we were discussing last night was nowhere near as inconceivable as a Berkley sophomore supporting the divine right of kings, I'm just making that up.)
The current XMen 'powerswap' challenge has me thinking along somewhat similar lines. (For an example that I have not read but point to without fear that it will suck tremendously, see andrastewhite's Secret Weapons (spoilers for X2. sort of.))
In my mind, a person's personality - what sort of things they fancy, what sort of things they are likely to do or not do - is to some degree a result of their past experiences. Which include 'what skills a person has' - whether a person is good with people, or with animals, or tools, or has trouble reading, or talks with a stutter. So, to me, I would expect a Logan who does *not* have a super-immune system to be somewhat less callous and more cautious than the version we're familiar with. A Rogue who *can* touch other people might very well be less needy than the one who feels she can't get close to anyone. I think there's a limit to this, but I wonder how realistic is to change *just* powers and not the resulting personality.
Me, I'd think if there was an Ororo who grew up on the Cairo streets as a pickpocket, could ride the winds, and was an African in America and *male* would be closer to the 'template' Ororo than a female (same life history) who could manipulate light, as did, say, Dazzler.
But that could be just me. For what it's worth, the powerswap challenge does specify 'changes as a result of the power change', but I'm wondering how fundamental those changes would be.