Monday, January 9, 2012

Motivational Monday


...BUT AS A READER AND A WRITER, 
I'M MUCH MORE INTERESTED BY ORDINARY PEOPLE IN EXTRAORDINARY SITUATIONS. I WANT TO PROVOKE AN EMOTIONAL, EVEN VISCERAL,
REACTION IN MY READERS.
(Stephen King)

If you look at King's characters, most of them are regular people living regular lives until wham! Suddenly, it's not about making dinner or picking up the dry cleaning or having a terrible day at work. It's now about taking a stand, making life-or-death choices, and learning something - sometimes good, sometimes not - about themselves and the people they care about.

And because these characters resemble us, our neighbors, our friends, etc., it becomes so much easier to ask, "What would we do?"

What would we do if the Super Flu struck and we survived? (The Stand)

What would we do if a rabid dog attacked? (Cujo)

What would we do if our buddies wanted to go see a dead kid in the woods? (The Body/"Stand By Me") 

So much easier to ask yet so much more uncomfortable to answer. 

Let's take our stories, our poetry, our art and make it as real as possible for our readers. Make it impossible for them to turn away, impossible for them to not ask themselves what they would do. Let's make our readers "uncomfortable" this week.   

12 comments:

  1. Hi Madeline,
    Great post!
    What a coincidence that you mention Stephen King. Just this morning I was reading my grandson's literature book, which also mentioned how Stephen King built his stories by creating characters and then placing them in a what-if situation.
    Donna

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  2. Thanks, Donna! I love the idea that SK and his writing are in school books. :)

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  3. This is so true. I love 'Salem's Lot because of how well King nails the life of a small town. My favorite scene in The Gunslinger is the most mundane one: Jake's pitch-perfect musings on school and painfully real parents. Forget the vampires and the sorcerers and the undead - I'm always most impressed by how well King gets ordinary people. What a great reminder to writers of any genre.

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  4. Jillian, I've always said that one of my favorite aspects of King's writing is his characters - and THE STAND, my favorite, is peopled with some of the best 'ordinary' folk.

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  5. Salem's Lot kept me awake in High School. I couldn't put it down because it was so good and because I was scared not to know the ending!

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  6. You always know how to inspire my Mondays. Emotional and visceral -- holy cow, Under the Dome was both in a BIG way.

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  7. Sally, I recently re-read SALEM'S LOT and it still scared me, all these years later. :)

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  8. Glad I can help, Milo. :)

    I liked UTD but I think I would've liked it more if there had been less comparison to THE STAND.

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  9. Madeline, I love using what if's. But sometimes I get carried away and have to be reined back in! :)

    Thanks for dropping by the blog too. Much appreciated!

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  10. You're welcome, Stacy!

    My problem with 'what ifs' is that they usually take a dark turn and my mind goes some weird places. :)

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  11. I love your Motivational posts, always so inspiring. And I'm a fan of King's work so I admire his approach to characters, I think these tips are a great thing to keep in mind. Ultimately I think the characters we identify with the most are those we can relate to for whatever reason. Great post!

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  12. Thanks so much, Julie! I'm glad these Monday posts inspire you. :)

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