The plausibility test
Like many writers, I suspect, I sometimes read works in progress out loud to the cats. (Most usually, to one cat, since the Grey One apparently only appreciates works of Serious Intellectualism and Lots of Footnotes that require Chin and Belly Scratching on Her Schedule, Not Yours, Thank You Muchly.) This is partly to hear the flow out loud, but also in hopes that the cat will tell you, does this meet the probability test? Do you think this could actually happen?
The cat usually responds by yawning, putting out a paw, heading off for intense bird watching (this is discouraging) or sometimes by burying his little face in his paws. Sometimes he purrs excessively, although this tends to happen, I must admit, more based on his position (leaning against me or entirely on me) and whether or not I'm simultaneously scratching his little cat head while reading out loud. In other words, not entirely helpful.
But I digress. The plausibility test. The truth is, things happen in real life that are more implausible than anything in fiction (keep reading, keep reading, and much thanks to
simplykathryn for the link). SERIOUSLY, people ask, when I explain that the most unexpected thing with the trike was finding that it was irresistible to 15 year old middle schoolers with a sex addiction issue and a tendency to steal cop cars. 15 years old and still in middle school? That can't be right. Look, I say, the dude was stealing cars. I'm guessing academics wasn't his chief priority.
My own life has been filled with improbable things (getting rained on at Masada, the desert citadel by the Dead Sea that went three years without a drop of rain once, and even now gets about .2 inches of rain for the entire year, all when I just happened to be there, the one that comes to mind now, more will come, doubtless, as the coffee hits and stirs up improbable memories) enough to the point that I don't always know what the plausibility standard is. Part of why I write more fantasy/science fiction these days; things like "It never rains in Masada!" "But it did!" can be waved off with "We have a mystical/scientific rain making thing!" and so on.
But characters still have to act, as we say, in character, by which we mean, plausible. The problem is, humans, as a group, have a tendency to act irrationally and do things that you would not really believe they would do, like, for instance, choosing to allow small furry predators to make critical judgements about their work. It means creating characters who have reasons to do the improbable, misguided, illogical, unthinking things that people do in real life, so when that happens, it can be believed. Whatever a cat might think on the subject.
Which is all a long way of saying that I have some rewriting to do. Because right now, none of you would believe this. Even if I have to believe the most incredible things you say.
The cat usually responds by yawning, putting out a paw, heading off for intense bird watching (this is discouraging) or sometimes by burying his little face in his paws. Sometimes he purrs excessively, although this tends to happen, I must admit, more based on his position (leaning against me or entirely on me) and whether or not I'm simultaneously scratching his little cat head while reading out loud. In other words, not entirely helpful.
But I digress. The plausibility test. The truth is, things happen in real life that are more implausible than anything in fiction (keep reading, keep reading, and much thanks to
simplykathryn for the link). SERIOUSLY, people ask, when I explain that the most unexpected thing with the trike was finding that it was irresistible to 15 year old middle schoolers with a sex addiction issue and a tendency to steal cop cars. 15 years old and still in middle school? That can't be right. Look, I say, the dude was stealing cars. I'm guessing academics wasn't his chief priority.
My own life has been filled with improbable things (getting rained on at Masada, the desert citadel by the Dead Sea that went three years without a drop of rain once, and even now gets about .2 inches of rain for the entire year, all when I just happened to be there, the one that comes to mind now, more will come, doubtless, as the coffee hits and stirs up improbable memories) enough to the point that I don't always know what the plausibility standard is. Part of why I write more fantasy/science fiction these days; things like "It never rains in Masada!" "But it did!" can be waved off with "We have a mystical/scientific rain making thing!" and so on.
But characters still have to act, as we say, in character, by which we mean, plausible. The problem is, humans, as a group, have a tendency to act irrationally and do things that you would not really believe they would do, like, for instance, choosing to allow small furry predators to make critical judgements about their work. It means creating characters who have reasons to do the improbable, misguided, illogical, unthinking things that people do in real life, so when that happens, it can be believed. Whatever a cat might think on the subject.
Which is all a long way of saying that I have some rewriting to do. Because right now, none of you would believe this. Even if I have to believe the most incredible things you say.