May 7, 2008
Promises, Promises.
A couple of weeks ago, our transit union went on strike. They’d been in a strike position for weeks, and the contract negotiations had been going on for weeks before that. But one thing the union promised was 48 hours notice before a strike came into effect—giving time for peeps to make other arrangements.
Little bits of news would leak out about the negotiations, but nothing that was gaining the union much sympathy amongst the general public. Eventually it came time to give that notice; one local news channel had hourly updates. The deadline came and went, then an hour later we heard an agreement was struck. *phew*. Dodged that bullet, now to have the union body vote.
Can you guess what happened next? The majority of workers rejected the agreement and…. *without further warning they went on strike.* We’re talking 12am on a Friday night. Folks were stranded where ever they were. Can you say bone-headed publicity move? They promised us 48 hrs notice before a strike. The deadline came and went, so another 48hrs notice was needed.
Yes. I am going to tie this into writing, right now. An author needs to keep whatever inherent or implied promise made to the reader. Is this a romance? Make sure the HEA or HFN is there. That’s the promise of a romance. Do not have the hero falling off a cliff, the main characters parting after a sharing a last kiss and an ‘it’s been a slice. Seeya!’ Sorry, an HEA in book 4 with a second hero after the first hero dies at the beginning of book 1 doesn’t work either. Show a gun in chapter one? Someone better get shot before the end of the book. You break the promise, you piss people off.
Now I’m gonna look at this from a different angle. Remember I said earlier about details leaking out after the 48hrs notice was given, that weren’t bringing anyone over to the strikers cause? During the wildcat strike, more details came out, like concerns about job security, which did elicit empathy. If you could get past your rage.
If you couldn’t get past your rage, all you heard was the voice of Charlie Brown’s teacher.
If those pertinent details had come out before hand, while folks might not have been any happier about the strike, they might have been more patient/understanding.
So point number two: If you’re going to have your character do something that just might tee off your reader, you need to give good and plausible reasons for the character’s actions. Before the ‘questionable’ action takes place. And when I say give good reason, I don’t mean some heavy handed declarative statements. You can ‘show’ or imply the reasons. Just make sure they’re there.
amen!
I read a book–granted it was not a romance but still so unexpected–where the heroine gets married in about chapter 3 and in the last chapter the villian kills her brand spanking new dh
this was a series, why I thought she’d get to keep the dh, dunno–but I hafta tell ya, I launched that book across the room–hit the wall (only a teensy dent).
it also sorta reminds me of the Plum books. The author, IMO, had the heroine break up w/ her bf long enough to sleep with the other guy and then that was it. I think she did it so folks wouldn’t revolt that she cheated… but that was almost worse because it felt so contrived!
You must have read my lastest work.
Okay, I’m kidding, but I did botch the Black Moment horribly. There was no working up the reader to the inevitable. My Betas didn’t understand why the heroine had to do this particular action. So, I had to go back and weave in the reasons. Hint at why there was no other way for her to do what she did.
Needless to say, I completely agree.
Dennie, I have a couple of books that I love… up until the point of the author breaking the ‘promise’ to me. I’ve actually kept those books, because I love the parts of them that didn’t piss me off. I still don’t know how they end. And I’m not sure I care. Something tells me, I’ll eventually send them off to Goodwill.
Melissa, again, I’ve read books where the reasons became clear *after* the action. It helped somewhat, but not as much as if those reasons had been at least hinted at, leading up to the moment.
BTW, there’s a typo in my post, it shoud be : “Sorry, an HEA in book 4 with a second hero after the first hero dies at the beginning of book two doesn’t work either. “ Which I hope makes a bit more sense. I literally wrote this in a panic late last night when I realized I didn’t have a post done for today. *g* (Needless to say, just as I’m still ticked about those books I haven’t finished all these years later, I’m still irked about the strike.)
>>If you’re going to have your character do something that just might tee off your reader, you need to give good and plausible reasons for the character’s actions.
I think this is just the reversal of the “Gun” rule–if you’re going to do something drastic at the end, you really REALLY need to lead up to it. This is where Grisham’s The Appeal worked (sorry for semi-spoilers) because it didn’t have a happy ending but there was enough lead-in that while let down, you (I) weren’t (wasn’t) SURPRISED and didn’t go OMFGWTF Grisham you Crackhead–because you (I) saw it coming.
Durn good post, and oh so true.
Yup. I can take a tragedy, a little bittersweet, a few tears toward an ending if you’ve laid subtle–and I prefer SUBTLE–hints along the way.
But lead me along the garden path and then mug me and I’ll never ride the transit–er, trust you again.
But lead me along the garden path and then mug me and I’ll never ride the transit–er, trust you again.
Snort.
And yeah, Vanessa I’d done the explaining AFTER the action. My muses had to sit me down and tell me, “you know if you don’t give fair warning your book will hit the wall.” I still can’t say if I handled it right. (I was still hesitant to spill the whole cup of beans. spilling the beans is the character arc, yada, yada)
But I know what it felt like to go “WHAT! Oh, for the love…”
Moral of the story, don’t piss off your readers.They are liable to
I couldn’t agree more! I call these surprises cheap tricks, and most of the time it’s due to lazy writing more than anything else. I can deal with anything as long as it’s built into the book, but anything else makes me rip the tome apart.
I call these surprises cheap tricks, and most of the time it’s due to lazy writing more than anything else”
Word.