Author:
Blog About:
I had a user of the site (who I hope to see more stories from soon!) contact me about my last list of Rules for Non-Suck Writing and ask my advice about a couple of things. While I was talking to them I made an observation that stuck me as something that could be really useful to share with everyone else too, so I thought I'd add it here:
Rule 11: Every Character is Don Quixote
Not in a literal sense, admittedly. Or, perhaps, yes in a literal sense, since what I'm talking about is the difference between the way your character(s) perceive the world and the world actually is.
When talking about world building people always think about the hard facts of the location they're creating or working with, whether that be place names, key locations, religions/politics/etc. or even things as core to the world's form as whether magic is a thing or not.
What you don't see them talk about as much is how their character's interpretation of events and people reflects on their own vision of that world, despite the fact that this is, arguably, the version of the developed world that readers will spend most (if not all) of their time in.
Even when we read third-person accounts or fiction the character or characters we're following have particular views and reactions to the world around them that color our own reactions and understanding of that world. It's rarely if ever that we don't have this filter present when we're reading, since this filter -- let's call it the Perception Filter -- is an incredibly important tool for writers everywhere in helping to define the subset of rules their story will be following within its grander world. The Perception Filter is what gives stories ostensibly set in the real world their own personality and flair too, since often times it can be used to define a character's outlook on life without ever having to bluntly say it.
This is why every character is Don Quixote: because, for every character in literature, the truth of the world around them is far less important and far less interesting than their own interpretation of that truth, and it's that interpretation, that Perception Filter, that gives their world life and meaning.
Here are a couple of examples of the Perception Filter at work:
Jenny's Story:
Jenny grumbled as she trudged down the dirt drive toward the old farmhouse, each sharp-edged rock and rut one more tiny ache to remind herself just how far she was out of her comfort zone. Even the farm house itself seemed to be mocking her, with its wide covered porch almost laughing at her from its skull-white visage, the dead and decaying life around it mirroring the despair in her own heart. The chill in the air did nothing to make her more comfortable, and she pulled her too-thin cardigan more tightly around her shoulders against the whipping icy fingers of the wind as she began to walk up the incline to the house.
This wasn't her life. Her life was back there, in the city with its teeming masses, bright welcoming lights and cozy closeness to her friends. Not this... mockery. This isolation.
Just what did Johnny see in this place anyway?
Johnny's story:
Johnny grimaced at Jenny's melancholy mood as she dragged her feet ahead of him, but even her Debbie Downer attitude wasn't enough to distract him from the wonders around him. From the moment they had stepped out of the cab at the end of the drive his heart and mind had been filled with wonder at the world he found himself in. The crisp autumn air had seemed to whisper to him of magnificent secrets as they had traveled down the dirt drive, its pits and roughness speaking of treasures beyond rarely visited by others, and as they came out of the line of trees and onto the farm grounds proper he was greeted by the smiling, wisened visage of the house itself, keeping a watchful eye from atop its small hill over the lands around it.
This was what he had been looking for; an escape from the hustle and bustle of city life, the oppressively tight spaces and towering monuments to mankind's domination of the earth beneath his feet. Give him grass, and trees, and the sunlight any day of the week.
Looking back at Jenny, he just hoped that she could learn to see the same beauty in this place as he did.
Here it's clear just how much of a difference the perception filter can make in a reader's interpretation of a scene, giving us a deeper look into a character's state of mind and helping to create a world unique to that character alone. Two people, one location, two completely different interpretations of how that location -- and the world they live in -- work and affect others.
I've talked before about my mantra of "think, feel, do," and when building the world this mantra still applies. In the example above, Jenny thinks that there is nothing positive about going to the old farm house, she feels isolated and alone, and as a result she is dragging her feet and grumbling to herself as she tries to find all the flaws with the house and its surroundings. Meanwhile, Johnny thinks that the house is a great fresh start, feels positive about what this change of pace and location can mean for his future, and is therefore embracing what he finds, walking tall and looking forward to what is on offer. The house might not be a windmill or a giant, but it is more than just a physical location for both characters, and all thanks to their own interpretation of the world around them.
Melanie E.
NOTES: If you thought this was interesting or helpful, be sure to leave a comment. Or perhaps you have your own Rules of Non-Suck Writing and want to share those as well? I'm always willing to see what others think, and every idea helps all of us be better writers!
Comments
I've
Never seen anyone mention this before. Great post!
Thanks!
Liz
Limited Viewpoints
The difference in how characters view situations can extend to objective, factual issues. Characters make mistakes. They can be ignorant, obtuse, or even stupid about various issues. If such a character is the viewpoint character, the writer's description should include all those mistakes, and even express them as facts -- perhaps with hints (if done right) that the character is making a mistake.
Sometimes, the author might shift from limited view to objective view, and tell it as it is, or show situations unknown to the character.
On the other hand, it's a mistake to silently, momentarily slip out of the limited view to state something he missed or didn't think. (Someone caught me at this once. I first wrote, "It didn't occur to me that..." which, of course, goes out of "my" viewpoint. I had to change it to something like, "It occurred to me later, as I was in bed falling asleep, that...")
Here's an annoying practice that often illustrates the bias of the author: pretend that something is written from a character's viewpoint, but it's really the viewpoint of a ghost in the mind of the character, making his own comments on the character's thoughts and action.
-- Daphne Xu (a page of contents)
That leads to some deep thinking.
Philosophically, would this mean that whatever a character is written to do, say, think, is merely a ghost reflection of the writer writing about the character? And this means that the only time a character is in character, and true to his or her self, are the bridge scenes, no discussed in the story itself?
Simpler
No, if the author does it right, he displays the views and thinking of the character himself. If the author does it badly, he displays his own views about the character, even as he's describing the character's thinking -- that's the ghost sitting on the character. Sometimes the ghost makes sarcastic comments about the character, but usually it's describing the character's own views in particularly snarky or contemptuous tone.
I'm thinking of either "The Little Princess" or "The Secret Garden", one of which has a spoiled brat of a protagonist at the beginning. The writing is ostensibly from her viewpoint, but it portrays her as a spoiled brat, which would not be truly her viewpoint.
More recently, there was Ellie Dauber's "The Shower": http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/fiction/44592/bikini-beach-shower. Does the male protagonist really think like that before the shower gets to him?
-- Daphne Xu (a page of contents)