Cheap Thrills

I don't know if I've mentioned Will Storr's interview with Joanna Penn, talking about how specific character flaws can really shape a story and other things. If this is the first time I've mentioned it, go read it. It's really good and full of useful things. However, one of the most useful things about it is the way it's started me thinking about the approach he didn't mention.

In particular in came up when talking with my mate Dan Jones. No, not that one. Now, Dan's a very talented author and I'd talk about his book Man O War more if it was fantasy rather than near future Sci-Fi thriller. And maybe if I did, I'd come to the realisation about other ways first. Because when I think about Dan's characters, it's not their specific flaws or deep inner lives that come to mind, it's that one of them found a near-real sex robot floating in the sea and it tore all their lives into pieces.

It's not that Dan's characters are dull or bad. It's that when recalling the book, the conceit, the plot, the scenes, that come first. And in that respect, he's not much that different to Le Carre, Forsyth, Clancy, and probably a lot of other stupidly successful authors.

Now, even in those books, the characters matter and talking about how to build characters is relevant. They may even be pivotal to the way the writers build the books - but they're not to how they're enjoyed.

Like most people who talk on writing, I usually talk a better game on no true way than I play. By the simple nature of curating the advice I take in and pass on based on my tastes, I pick a way and don't show the others. I don't necessarily talk about how to do a book like Le Carre or a story like Line of Duty, for all I do talk about that show on occasion. I pick at ideas of them but the idea of committing hard to that thriller? No. Which is ironic because my first finished manuscripts were a military sci-fi and a fantasy murder mystery. 

So. Point One of this is to always keep looking for ideas and not let get comfortable with your one idea of a story.

But Point Two is to remember what people remember. Remember what fans actually rave about. Yes, sometimes the theory is necessary to get to that, but ultimately when people rave about Star Wars, it's about lightsabers and spaceships and wookies. Does character matter? Yes. See Han Shot First. But the characters are no deeper or greater than many other speculative fiction characters. They're simply in a story where the conceit and aesthetics wow. Which is why Han Didn't Shoot First doesn't affect the story going forwards. His main importance is his part in the aesthetic, no more and no less. It's easy to forget this sometimes.