Story Unboarded: Being Genuine
I had a different post planned for today. It was going to be about Agile writing, but even after I finished writing it, it just felt… hollow. You know, like those corporate motivational things you are forced to sit through when you have an office job? It’s all about synergy, going above and beyond, working smarter and harder… most of it isn’t incorrect, per se. You do want to do a good job, as that will mean more success for you and the company. But there is always that impression that such material is all about squeezing maximum productivity out of workers while spending the least amount doing so. It’s not real, it’s not personal… it’s prepackaged, sterilized platitudes shoved down your throat.
I kinda felt like my initial blog for this week was like that. I believe in the concepts, but I just felt uninspired writing it. Like I was going through the motions. Sure, it would probably get a couple upvotes, and no one would really disagree with it… but I want to postpone it until I can write it with more feeling. And that’s the topic I’m going to replace this week’s slot with.
This is something I truly believe. If you create something uninspired, something pandering and designed for “maximum market appeal”… people can tell. Even in text form, a form notorious for being a poor indicator of tone, I think people can tell when someone doesn’t really believe what they are saying. It just becomes palpable. Far, far too many people say what they think people want to hear… and equivalently, too many people look for people who are saying what they want to hear.
I don’t always do the best job at this, but I always try to write my stories in a genuine manner. I try to pour as much personality into my characters as possible, as I refine them into something more than just the Hero, the Sidekick, the Big Bad, or the Dragon. They are characters, with motivations, desires, tragedies, good fortune, and a history. I don’t exaggerate when I say that, sometimes, I get a bit emotional when I have to put one of them through something traumatic, or even kill one of them. I know they are fictional, they aren’t real and I could write a horrendously tragic story with no real harm done in the real world… but it still gets to me sometimes. That’s partially why I dislike darker genres, because I hate to see a character suffer pointlessly. In fiction, where we craft the world and it’s rules, it feels sadistic to just punish the inhabitants without a larger goal like some kind of a despotic god.
But let me bring this back and wrap it up, before I start rambling… I think too many writers, especially newbie ones, are looking for that best seller. They see someone make millions off of a relatively short story with a relatively simple plot, and they want to do the same. They want to write a book that’s different, but the same; does that make sense? I mean things like the Hero’s Journey, the Three Act structure… a general template where they run some random name generators or mix up the letters of a word, create a plot with some unique adjectives and flowery language, and then just mail it in. Dialogue is characters making quips and fulfilling their character description, the hero is hailed as always right in their actions(or will later be redeeming themselves), the villain is always either committing bad or disingenuously doing good for the purpose of later doing bad. It’s formulaic. A mad lib plot progressing to the logical conclusion, or a shaggy dog story looking just to subvert your expectations by ending on an unfulfilling note.
None of that is technically incorrect. But I do believe that, if you write a story with the intent of trying to pander instead of being true to yourself, it will fall flat. Trend followers might still guarantee that it sells, as there are people who will buy anything that is recommended by some celebrity, but I don’t believe the story itself will stand the test of time. There are stories that have done that… and, even if I was to never sell any of my stories, that’s still the kind of story I want to write.
One that captures people’s imagination and takes them on a ride. One that makes them care about the characters and their problems, even if that character isn’t exactly a paragon. And most of all, one that doesn’t feel like I was just trying to reach a certain word or page count, and that I actually gave a damn about the words I was putting on the page.
(P.S. Before anyone gets any ideas: NO, this is not a passive aggressive attempt to call anyone out. This is more referring to corporate-esque writers, not anyone in the Minds community.)