Understanding Writing.

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

How to write books are pretty useless. I own most of them, and theyve never helped me much cuz understanding writing is really all about following a recipe and constructing metaphors/analogies you get (generally based on your experiences).

Lets take two writers...say...Le Carre and George V. Higgins. Both are excellent writers but Higgins couldnt do subplots to save his life. Le Carre does them well.

The trick to doing subplots is tying everything to one major player. When this happens everything naturally stays focused on the one character. Another analogy is: When Le Carre wrote he chummed the water with a chunk of meat and all the sharks came for the meat. When Higgins wrote he scattered meat over hill & dale and in the sky and everywhere; it was all tangential and filled with loose associations....when he used subplots.

I understand shark fishing, maybe you dont; but I can relate shark fishing to subplots, and it helps ME write better. So find what helps YOU understand the process.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Confounding is a writing principle writers dont get. They know that they should flip the ending in some way but dont know how that works, exactly.

Confounding is simply what we call the null hypothesis, an alternative explanation for your pile of evidence. The reader discovers the most likely explanation for what happens in your story, then tunes out other explanations. Your job is to make the other explanation the real resolution of your tale.

Confounding requires lateral thinking rather than logical thinking. And all lateral thinking is, is moving a rung or two away from concrete labelling inorder to see other possibilities. Few of us think of garden tools as cooking utensils but Hoe Cake was originally cooked on the blade of a hoe or spade. Freeze a turkey leg and use it as a club.

 

[lovecraft68]

Confounding is a writing principle writers dont get. They know that they should flip the ending in some way but dont know how that works, exactly.

Confounding is simply what we call the null hypothesis, an alternative explanation for your pile of evidence. The reader discovers the most likely explanation for what happens in your story, then tunes out other explanations. Your job is to make the other explanation the real resolution of your tale.

Confounding requires lateral thinking rather than logical thinking. And all lateral thinking is, is moving a rung or two away from concrete labelling inorder to see other possibilities. Few of us think of garden tools as cooking utensils but Hoe Cake was originally cooked on the blade of a hoe or spade. Freeze a turkey leg and use it as a club.

So "confounding" more simply put is a bit of misdirection. Let the reader think they are clever and they have it, but in reality they do not. I am doing that in my series with 2 different subplots. The answer to both is literally in the same chapter however with one specifically I all but give it away but then add something later that appears to dismiss it. The following chapter reintroduces the same theme from another perspective and it replants the seed. Hopefully at this point however the reader is "put off" and searching for more far fetched answers. Think that is the kind of thing you are referring to no?

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

You got it! Lead the reader astray; make them think theyre very clever then toss the dead cat into their sanctuary. In hindsight they see the logical path but cant see it looking ahead. Thats the lateral thinking path.

 

[lovecraft68]

You got it! Lead the reader astray; make them think theyre very clever then toss the dead cat into their sanctuary. In hindsight they see the logical path but cant see it looking ahead. Thats the lateral thinking path.

Essentially play to their ego. They finish the chapter with that sense of satisfaction at their own cleverness. You know the thing is when it ends and they realize they missed it that half of them will always claim they knew it all along anyways. Have to love self deceit it's like people who saw sixth sense for the first time and said they knew Willis was dead all along. Yeah right maybe one out of 20 if that. (I personally did not catch it first time as there were incredibly clever misdirections, however watching the second time it was obvious)

I know I'm rambling but as an example I have two series that are tied together; Siblings with Benefits and SWB Lex Talionis. In SWB proper during the flashback chapters I describe how Mark who had been severely abused "goes away" in his head all the time won;t speak for hours just is sort of day dreaming. He also although extremely intelligent sometimes talks a bit slowly or hesitates between answers. In chapter 17 he gets in a fight and when his opponent is beaten "goes away" for a moment and after cocking his head breaks the guys jaw just in an eye for an eye move (the guy had said his sister loved to suck cock so Mark's answer was that if the guy wanted to talk about his sister's mouth then maybe he shouldn't be allowed to use his)

Now in Lex Talionis which is written from Mark's pov (SWB is Megan the sister) it is revealed he is a paranoid schizophrenic that has a "voice" that he listens to that helps him with things (and eggs him on) I had a reader contact me saying "bullshit" where di this come from blah blah blah. he at least left an e-mail and I listed all the clues. He e-mailed me back with oh yeah, wow now its kind of obvious.
Good times.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

6TH SENSE is an excellent example. I suspect everyone is pulled in cuz the shrink role is so compatible and plausible with the kid's problem. Its only obvious at the end what the real deal is.

NO WAY OUT with Kevin Costner is another example of the switcheroo.

 

[lovecraft68]

6TH SENSE is an excellent example. I suspect everyone is pulled in cuz the shrink role is so compatible and plausible with the kid's problem. Its only obvious at the end what the real deal is.

NO WAY OUT with Kevin Costner is another example of the switcheroo.

Haven't seen that one. Another that wasn't as good as 6th but did have a similar trick ending was with Richard Gere and I think it was called primal fear.

M night' also had another one with Willis but the name is eluding me i want to say "The color of Red" where in the end he discovers the suspect and his "sister" are one and the same it was pretty good.

 

[Loring2]

6TH SENSE is an excellent example. I suspect everyone is pulled in cuz the shrink role is so compatible and plausible with the kid's problem. Its only obvious at the end what the real deal is.

NO WAY OUT with Kevin Costner is another example of the switcheroo.

I was in Britain not long ago and chatted with an old friend named John Cornwell about the very crux of this string. I know John as Gary and I've known him since the mid to late 50's when both of us were stationed in Munich.

He worked for MI6 and I was working for the USAF Intelligence. Oh both of were just what might be discribed as clerks, somebody has to keep records you know;The spies are seperate.

Anyway, we've sort of kept track of one another and I was in Britain and I having a cognac with him at his home and we chatted about cabbages and kings and writing and things and we concluded much the same as you have in this string. You've found the proper way to write a mystery novel and you've discribed it to a tee.

We sat side by side looking out over the moors, musing; old men never look into each others eyes. Higgin's name even came up because he writes very readable books; He holds your attention. LeCarre wasn't mentioned.

It was hard, leaving Britain this time. I love Cornwall in September and the whole of England is a part of me but I am approaching December.

JELoring

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

LORING

I suspect good spies and good mystery writers lay trails used by as many routes as possible; like the stretch of city street used by Route 19, Route 98, and Route 27 simultaneously. That is, the reader or spy chaser is frequently forced to make choices when he comes to forks in the road. I suspect that sensitive readers and spy chasers have an aptitude for imagining future moves the spy can make, and the best readers & chasers find the next prime number (I call it) or real path to the spy, killer, cheating partner.

 

[Miss_Pixie]

Hmmm, good advice JBJ. Thanks.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Most of us learn to read people, from the time we're babies, till we die. We acquire the skill the same way we learn anything. But the learning isnt a conscious process like learning to fuck is (if youve ever confronted pussy closed like Fort Knox or as open as Mammouth Cave, you know one size doesnt fit all).

But if you wanna depict whats going on between a character's ears you need to think about the physical signs we signal each other to express feelings and sentiments and thoughts. Frogs croak, crickets chirp, the preying mantis eats her lover's head.

How do you know when someone's hot for you, or hostile, or jacking you around? Writers have to articulate the signs for the reader.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

What we call 'consciousness' is a rather limited way to experience life. Think of it as a filter that limits the amount of sensory information coming in from the world outside, and a filter that limits the amount of information coming over from your right brain. Consciousness lets you focus and concentrate and tune-out irrelevant sensory and mental noise, so to speak, so you can read or study or write etc.

What we call the unconscious or subconscious is the stuff the conscious blocks. Think of it as a DVD or CD player that lets you go backwards or forwards or float along, but you cant do all at the same time.

So whats this gotta do with writing?

You can make requests for information or action and define the filter that lets the info/action into consciousness. Like...THE OPENING OF MY STORY REALLY SUX, MAKE ME SOMETHING THAT'S CERTAIN TO GRAB THE READER'S ATTENTION AND HOLD IT. And an hour or day or week later the info pops into your mind, though it may require fine tuning, UH, TAKE OUT THE CLOWNS AND ADD SOME NAKED GIRLS PLEASE.

Or you can alert your unconscious that it has a date with you in the AM to do some writing, I GOT A COUPLE OF FREE HOURS IN THE MORNING TO WRITE, SO LETS GET TOGETHER AND GET SOMETHING STARTED.

Its that simple.