Writing - An Act of
Magic
robparnell.
You have thoughts.
You write them down as words. Later, others read them and your thoughts become
theirs. Spooky, eh?
I’m sure it was
once, when the Druids roamed prehistoric
I imagine the
illiterate masses looked on with awe and not a little fear,
convinced these markings the magicians called “words” had power in themselves.
It’s interesting
that the echo of the magical context of writing is still with us, contained in
the word “spell”, with its double meaning.
If you think about
it, the question, “How do you SPELL that?” literally means, “How do you conjure
that image with symbols?”
The science of
semiotics is a broad subject – one that is way outside the scope of these
lessons, but I want to share with you its basic premise:
Ahem. The human
brain needs to NAME something before it becomes REAL.
The idea is that,
before something is named, it doesn’t really exist because either our awareness
of it is too dim to understand it, or, if we haven’t noticed it yet, it might
as well not be there.
BTW, I’m not making
this up, honest, this is Major level philosophy!
Anyway, the
important thing is that once named an object can then “exist” to someone who
hasn’t actually seen it!
This is a pretty
neat trick, unique to the human race, but also one we take completely for
granted.
It’s only words that
make this possible.
And it’s also why
writing works.
Your job as a
fiction writer is to place invented objects, images and emotions into other
people’s heads. Do this well and your career will prosper.
Good writing is a
form of hypnosis. You use the rhythm of words to put your readers into a kind
of trance, so that they are more receptive to your ideas.
When a reader is
happy to experience this, they are said to be in the “fictive dream”.
In order to keep
your reader “entranced”, there must be nothing in your writing that might
startle them out of this dream.
Your reader must
trust you and be able to give over their imagination to you. You, in turn, must
honor that trust by playing by the “rules” of good storytelling.
I cover the “rules”
in detail in “The Easy Way to Write a Novel” but in general terms, anything
that jars the reader out of their dream is bad.
There’s one
technique in particular that can destroy a reader’s confidence in your
storytelling skills.
“Authorial
intrusion” is where you express a personal opinion about a character, situation
or scene. Or where you describe anything your characters could not be aware of.
Although you, the
author, is considered to be an omniscient viewer and recorder of events, you
must also be seen to be objective – and invisible. Though it would seem to
contradict common sense, the reader should be unaware of you, the writer.
I’m sure you’ve
heard of the phrase, “Willing suspension of disbelief”. This is the state of
consciousness you’re after.
The reader “knows”
that they’re being told a story but, because, they like and trust you, they are
willing to make a slight shift in their minds and accept what you’re saying as
the truth - for the time being.
Therefore, during
storytelling, you must never break the spell - that word again – by offering
witty asides, stating your views or commenting on the action.
Of course, rules are
made to be broken. There are times when authorial intrusion does work.
Some authors use it
as a way of introducing a story but quickly retire to the sidelines. A
technique as old as storytelling itself!
Others use it at the
end of a story, to wrap up events like some movie voice over. It works
sometimes - as long as you don’t sound over smart or condescending!
But if you really
want your reader’s trust, keep them in the fictive dream. Let them live the
characters and situations without distraction. Let them enjoy the feeling of
being swept along by a story and taken out of themselves
for a while.
They’ll love you for
it.
Ó2003 robparnell