Writing Better Part 12

PROPS IN FICTION

You don’t directly tell the audience what’s going on. Instead you direct their attention to some item from which they can infer an emotional state. Props can be very useful for this. Anger can be shown by one character smashing another’s favorite possession, for example, or by a character driving recklessly.

Also, almost anything can be handled fumblingly to show nervousness, provided the item used is natural to the scene. A woman, preparing for a date, can nervously fumble her hairbrush when the doorbell rings. Objects can also be dropped, misplaced, or even chewed on (pens, pencils, fingernails…). The reason for the character’s nervousness can then be explained without the explanation seeming intrusive. This reason can then be used to show other emotions. The woman in the previous example might be in love, for example, or she might be afraid.

Props can also show other emotions, depending on how they are handled by the character. And they can show a character’s character… he might be tense, tender, sensitive, crude, thrifty, secretive, et cetera.

Another use of props is to build suspense. Lengthy descriptions of objects signal that the object is significant. Frequent references to it make readers wonder when, how, and/or by whom it will be used. Four quick tips:

01) Avoid clichés - cigarettes to show nervousness, for instance;

02) Use misdirection to direct the reader’s attention to one particular detail which illustrates the character’s emotions;

03) Know your protagonist - then you can usually find a prop to illustrate his most distinctive quality;

04) Props should be directly related to the story.

SEND THEM HOME HAPPY

Writing a book which readers can’t put down hinges on three key elements:

01) Cause - What is your character trying to do, and why? Ideally, this gets set up very early in the story; also ideally, the answer is a combination of character and setting;

02) Climax - throughout the story, motivations of individual characters are being explained. In the climax, these separate motivations clash;

03) Change - What changes have occurred in each major character? What has been gained or lost?;

In other words:

01) Make motivations clear up front and connect them to the nature of the character and the story’s setting;

02) Put the setting and the characters’ motivations in clear conflict;

03) Use motivations to set off a chain of events that thrust the story forward and keep readers involved;

04) Make the climax worthy of the events that caused it. Get every character involved, and don’t rush it;

05) Demonstrate that characters have undergone some significant change. Failing to do this trivializes the climax’s importance.

TIME TRAPS TO AVOID

Modern readers will not accept certain things which 19th century writers took for granted:

01) Coincidence - if a coincidental relationship is important to your plot, introduce it early on, and use it as plot set-up, not plot resolution;

02) Sappy endings - an overly sappy ending seems unreal, because life isn’t like that;

03) Characterizing names - a name which characterizes an individual sounds contrived. Instead, use a normal name and make a character’s actions characterize him. (PERSONAL NOTE: I would say a nickname would be an acceptable exception, especially if it furthers the plot, and most especially in a short story.)

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