From the Fiction Desk

A writer sits down to work on a fictional piece. They spend hours, days, weeks, months, and even years working on a carefully crafted plot. So, why is it that when they start putting words on paper and living in the universe they have created things change?

It is an interesting phenomenon that exists in writing, and to be honest I am not sure if it effects all writers. If you are a writer and are reading this, please tell me if this happens to you. This will not be a scientific poll, but it would be curious to see the outcome. Personally, it happens to me quite often. I have spent time thinking on the causes of this phenomenon and I have come to a personal conclusion. I could write this conclusion in complicated formula that would make any academic formula writer’s mouth water. I won’t.

Instead, let me relate story writing to online dating. When you are looking at someone’s online profile you see the person for who they want you to see them for. This is the same as the characters when you first put them on paper and plot out their stories. You have an idea—vague or what appears to be crystal clear—as to whom they are, what they want, how they will behave, or even where the story will take them step by step.

The actual writing of the story is like going on a date with this person. You take what you thought the person was and now you see them in the real world. No longer are they just a name and description on the computer. They are moving and (regretfully sometimes) talking. As time goes on, you begin to peal away the layers of the façade they have placed on themselves for you to see. You learn to see them for who they are and learn that the idea of who and what they are may have been too grand or fallen short of the real person. This is true of your characters and how they interact in their universe.

Of course, you can force the character to conform to the description they gave you when you plotted your story. It is an easier chore than trying to force a person to live up to their online profile, but just as fake. When I read myself doing this or I read another author’s work and see that they are forcing their characters and universe to conform with their preconceived ideas the world becomes a chess board, the people merely pawns moving as automatons rather than having depth of character or desires of their own.

It is dangerous to believe that a plot line must be adhered to as if etched in stone. Many writing teachers of creative and non-creative writing that I encountered force this on their students. There is a reason for the plot or outline, as it is a guide to get the writer from point A to point Z. It is not an exact recipe that if not adhered to will cause the meal to fail. It must allow for the genius of the mind to be flexible and discover as it goes.

Thank you for reading and please visit www.davidalanlucas.com for up to date information on the articles, blogs, novels, and short stories that I write.

Fred called out, waving with his yellow flashlight beam.
The yellow Porsche skidded across the rain slick tracks missing the oncoming train.
The yellow flower grew among the weeds fighting for yellow sunlight.

This blog is not brought to you by the color yellow. It is a discussion that I have often with myself and believe many other writers have as well. We color something a color. We describe it maybe in shades of light, dark, bright, or faded. Yet, let’s face the truth. A color is a color is a color . . .or is it? It gets boring to the reader and to the writer to constantly describe a color of something the same way. It gets frustrating to describe a color only in simple terms—at least in the second draft. After all, how do you describe two sets of light brown eyes in two different characters?

The answer is not as hard as I have made it over the years. The answer is as simple as simple as going to an art or paint store and getting a book with all the colors in it. Not quite so simple as my recent experience has proved, but it is worth it. A writer may have better luck at an art supply store than a paint store—at least I did. Now armed with the color book I can begin to truly explore the visual and the physical effect of colors and enliven my fiction and non-fiction writing.

The idea of a paint color book should not have been a surprise to me. Painting and writing are both art forms. I think I blocked the idea out of my mind because I am unable to paint or draw. The lesson learned is simple: Never stop expanding your horizons—look outside your known universe for the solutions to your problems—in writing or in live.

Thank you for reading and please visit www.davidalanlucas.com for more on the articles, blogs, novels, poems, and short stories I write.