Thursday, September 9, 2010

The Subtle Details

I had a different blog planned for today, than Hal sparked some ideas for me with her blog yesterday. She was talking about Keep It Simple, Stupid. What I want to chat about it more how to avoid simple and explain subtle.

For example, I’ve been told a few times that my heroines aren’t realistic, don’t inspire sympathy. Basically, that there is too much distance. Sigh.

How to build a bridge across the gap I keep writing without needing to build a basic step by step bridge. I like my heroines to have some hard to pin down mystery to them. They aren’t obvious about their wounds, but they are definitely wounded.

Wounds are difficult to diagnose sometimes, and even more difficult to show as opposed to tell. If I could take the words and discuss Post Traumatic Stress Disorder…but I can’t.

In the public eye, PTSD has been sold as something very obvious. An extreme reaction to loud noises, a paranoia, a phobia regarding public exposure, aggressiveness…all fight or flight reactions. Hide out, can’t step outside into life…

When I was diagnoses with PTSD I did a lot of reading up on the disorder. And I discovered a third reaction. Freeze. Between fight, flight and freeze, most victims of PTSD hover. And over the course of months of therapy I came to understand that PTSD is mainly about protection.

For some, this means flight. Run like hell. Easy aspect to depict in a heroine. Easy to show a tendency to avoid and run when confronted with something threatening. (Can be harder to really communicate that what one person sees as threatening, another doesn’t see at all…but it can be done!)

For others, this means fight. Nails and claw, fang and fury. Oh, yeah. Great things to show. Anything threatening, scary, challenging and wham-bam-slam. I’ve added in some bits of fight. (Hard not to when dealing with post-apocalyptic worlds, for example!)



Now, freeze. Well, that was an interesting thing to read up on. Basically, we’re all gazelles and on the Serengeti there are lions. When the lions attack, we kick like a pissed off five year old. Or we run as if Beelzebub himself is at our heels. Or once those fangs touch us, we freeze. We play dead, we go limp. Part of the way instincts protect us from the inevitable crunch… But! Also the way our instincts try to buy us space and time. Maybe that lion will drop us, thinking we’re dead. Yawn, stretch…look away and maybe, just maybe, we’ll have a chance to dart to our speedy little hooves and get the hell off the plain.

Hard to really show freeze in a character. It’s a passive reaction. It’s also sneaky. And in humans, freeze can appear as floating. Floating above all the drama, all the decisions, all the self-examination that life can present. It’s all about how PTSD protects the individual from the reality of trauma induced difficulties.

I suffered sudden cardiac death and never had a real diagnosis. I had no idea if it could happen again. So, my body/mind threw up walls of defense. I floated. I floated through the implantation of my interior cardio defibrillator. I floated above my father’s death 10 weeks after my sudden cardiac death. I floated for months.

 

Until the panic attack. According to my therapist, the protective nature of my PTSD was breaking apart and the delayed reactions of the months before hit me. Instinct was kicking in that…maybe, just maybe, the lion’s attention had drifted? Seemed as good a possibility as anything else!

But, how does a writer show that to a reader? How does a writer show that the passiveness isn’t really about being passive? That it’s about protection and it isn’t deliberate.

I have characters that suffer from the freeze aspect of a mild form of PTSD. Trauma isn’t always blatant and everyone has a different tolerance level for traumas. Blatant trauma would be easy. Subtle? Not easy. And frankly, part of the difficulty is that my story flirts with comedy.

I admit, I do have aspects of my character that are deliberately passive. She’s a very go with the flow woman. She has never been one to challenge the status quo. She’s had few friends and skated through life content with what happens. She’s a bit of a follower. She doesn’t react, she reflects and then responds.

Sigh. These are not easy things to show in a MS! Without telling. Or without info dumping. I’ve considered a few elements I can insert. A few small examples…but I don’t want to hit the reader over the head.

Any suggestions? Anyone else every dealt with troubling subtle elements that are foundational to your character? And is this all too confusing for a Friday blog? Maybe we should all just have a drink… And celebrate the offer on my book. The book with the character I need to make more sympathetic. Oh, bother! ;-)

 

And huzzahs for the Bo’sun! Woman’s World is on the shelves with her story in it! Let’s all rush out and buy ten!

77 comments:

Julie said...

YES!
I Knew it was gonna happen any day!
So Lets celebrate the offer on yor book, Chancerooo!

2nd Chance said...

Thanks, Julie! I'm reserving details until things are firmed up. Let's face it, things could still fall through...but for now? It's all good!

Quantum said...

Many Congrats Chance!
Its time the public learned more of your talents!

On portraying the PTSD, I think you have to have been there to get the authentic feeling of utter desolation into your writing. Seems to me that you are as well qualified as anyone.

Catherine Anderson does a good job with it in 'Seventh Heaven'.

I'm off walking on Exmore for a couple of weeks now and Mrs Q has PILES of luggage waiting to be loaded!

I'll catch up on your news when I get back .... but I have no worries! :D

Hellie said...

Congrats, Chance!!

See, this sounds like a POV problem to me. Like you're not deep enough in her POV--if you're in someone else's POV, watching her, I think you'd be wondering what the hell is wrong with her. (Though you probably wouldn't ask...though you may be looking for clues that might tell you what's wrong with her.)

If you're in *HER* POV, then I think you need to make it a deeper POV. You're going to have to allow for some introspection, even if you think it's "telling" and even if you want to be mysterious. I've read books where the characters felt mysterious, but empathetic--and it danced around in introspection where their mind would think about something briefly and then bolt away and start doing something else. Where you understood the person was doing everything possible to not think about THAT, that what they were doing now was a protection from thinking about THAT.

I think you need more introspection, deeper POV.

You've been told (you discussed before) you have a more literary voice, which I think means you have a more author omniscient voice. Meaning when we read it, we are purposely kept distanced from the characters, like we're watching the play rather than part of the play. I think making a character more empathetic requires making your readers part of the play.

Doing deeper POV would change--I think--the author omniscient voice styling you have going on, so I don't know if that would change your voice and therefore change your mojo... *shrugs*

However, I don't think adding a little introspection to your character will lose all the mystery you're trying to protect.

Bosun said...

So excited about your offer. I can't wait until we having call story parties and release day parties and it's all so exciting!

I think Hellie is on the right track but I'll add I think this might be a case of less is more. Right now, you don't quite have enough, but maybe with one sentence here and another there, you can make this concept clearer.

Like if there's a moment where she should respond to something, but she can't. Then she can remain silent with a brief thought such as "I should say something, but I can't. Why can't I?" Then you keep going back to the action. The reader learns that her lack of response is not because you didn't write it, but that the character couldn't do it. And you reinformce that it's not something she can control.

I'd definitely stick with Hal's lesson from yesterday to keep it simple. This is one of those cases where the devil is definitely in the details. And the instrospection. :)

Hellie said...

Right now, you don’t quite have enough, but maybe with one sentence here and another there, you can make this concept clearer.

I agree. It doesn't have to be pages--or even paragraphs of introspection. Just SOMETHING.

Donna said...

Great post, Chance, and congrats again on your good news!

And great comment, Hellie -- I think the POV is a good way to handle this. I think most of us (including characters) can SENSE what we need to work on emotionally, even if we skirt around it. Or even if we don't know exactly what is going on, we can think, "what's going on?" or "why am I doing such-and-such?"

Also, I assume you SHOW your character freezing, and if she responds in some way that makes it clear she's reacting to an emotional trigger, even if she doesn't go into detail about it. . .

Does that make any sense? LOL It kinda does to me, but I'm blathering, not actually trying to accomplish it in a manuscript.

I'm going out today to seek out Terri's magazine. :) All kinds of good news in here today!

Donna said...

Chance, just listen to Terri and Hellie -- they've got you covered! LOL

And I'm with Terri -- I'm ready for all kinds of celebratory parties here!

Julie said...

Here is what I find rather fascinating about PTSD

A quote from Dr. Matthew J. Friedman, executive director of the Department of Veterans Affairs' National Center for PTSD

“…very solid research that there are alterations in brain structure and neurocircuitry is affected, etc.,"

Julie said...

You are changed mentally and physically.

Interesting.

2nd Chance said...

We'll miss ya, Q! And thank you!

Hellie - I'm going have to consider diving deeper. There has to be a way to present the 'floating' as a coping mechanism, not as a sign that she's flakey. For Emily, I don't see a trauma at the root of how she reacts, or doesn't react, but somehow, you're right, there must be a way to drop enough clues that she is aware of her reaction lag and is either content with it, or looking to change it...

I think I'm going to do some free-writing on this until I recieve actual editing notes...but I can get ahead of it by working on it now.

Thanks!

Bosun said...

Dude, you are up early!

2nd Chance said...

The reader learns that her lack of response is not because you didn’t write it, but that the character couldn’t do it. And you reinformce that it’s not something she can control.

Yeah, this is the ticket, I think. I use Deep POV in a more humerous way, but I can toss in enough to show she knows she's unusual. I think it's charming and part of her quirk, but I need to present it more to the reader so they can see what I am seeing.

Hmmmmm!

2nd Chance said...

Donna - I do feel like I've been fighting with deep POV for a long time. I finally reached a place where I had an 'aha!' moment and realize it doesn't have to be all pick-apart-her-soul POV... I think I'm on the first layer of it, where I can reveal one layer, but I haven't been able to dive deep enough.

But good opportunity to try it out!

I'm going to find that magazine today, too! And buy one for my Mom, and my sis and maybe my neighbor... ;-)

2nd Chance said...

Oh, yeah, Julie...it's a chemical thing. I mean, really. Panic attacks aren't all mental trickery, the body really does react as if attacked. Some trigger is pulled regarding sensitivity. My therapist diagnoses me as hypersensitive. I know when my heart does anything wonky (and all hearts do, perfectly natural) and if I don't immediately work on my brain side of things, or take an Ativan to cut off the instinctual freaking...I can work myself up into a real state of anxiety.

Which isn't good for my heart, ironically.

Most major emotional pivot points in our life set a chemical trigger in our bodies. Good and bad. Why some smells will make you feel comfortable...sitting on grandpa's lap as he comforted you, while he lit up a cigar and some scents make us crazy... If you had a nasty grandpa who wasn't comforting you...

The body is a fascinating thing! It remembers everything!

2nd Chance said...

Ter! I always get up early for my blog day. The Revenge is that important to me...on my blog day!

Julie said...

Also, I assume you SHOW your character freezing, and if she responds in some way that makes it clear she’s reacting to an emotional trigger, even if she doesn’t go into detail about it. . .

Show her freezing as the primary action, Chance, But while she’s doing that show some subtle secondary action. Something subtle, but intense. A more intense reaction than the situation warrants.
Something that shows that the character is having an internal struggle to control their external reaction to the situation.
You could have her bite her lip so hard it bleeds. Or have you character make a fist that turns her knuckles white & leaves her with bloody gashes from her nails on her palms. Make her face a mask of indifference , while she struggles to control the vomit rising in her throat. IE show a physical reaction that gets the reader thinking “Gosh, something more than the obvious is going on here.”

2nd Chance said...

Yeah, I like that, Julie. Find some physical clues I can lay down. As I said, the hardest part with The Kraken's Mirror is the lack of any overt trauma to make Emily this way. I'll need to dig a little deep and find something to explain...even if it's just a social background thing that you don't react until you have all the facts. Maybe give her an aunt that always got it wrong because she over-reacted...some convo Emily had with her mother about Aunt Selma...

More food for thought her.

Maybe she pics at her fingernails or wrinkles her brow, bites the inside of her mouth... Could even be a technique her mother suggested, so she wouldn't embarrass herself like Aunt Selma... Maybe!

Donna said...

I think in order to make a character sympathetic, you have to make the reader believe how important something is to that character. There's a really good reason for WHY they do what they do, even if I as a reader wouldn't do it.

For instance, Scarlett O'Hara isn't really very nice, but I sympathize with her actions because I know how important her home is to her, and even if I think, "Whoa, girl, you're going too far", I can see WHY she would go that route.

So it just sounds like if you have a little more WHY for Emily's actions/reactions, you're golden. :)

2nd Chance said...

I do like that idea. And the fear of embarrassing herself or being seen as volatile, etc as her Aunt Selma might do it. Just make it plain that Aunt Selma was shunned, talked about... Or even have some inciting incident where she was the victim of an Aunt Selma reaction, so she took it all very personally inside and swore to herself, she would never be that way...

I'll examine some why issues today when I free write. Which, since this blog is moving a bit slow...I may take off early with Bonnie and settle into Starbucks earlier than usual. And get by Target to see if the Bo'sun's mag is available!

Julie said...

So it just sounds like if you have a little more WHY for Emily’s actions/reactions, you’re golden.

Is anyone else hearing their characters sing
“Why Am-I an A(rse)? You got-to Say-hey Why Am-I an A-aye?”

2nd Chance said...

After all, it's FRIDAY!

2nd Chance said...

Julie...maybe if I knew the music... ;-) I'm off to walk the dog, crew. Be back in a bit! Please, raid the bar and work up some jollies!

hal said...

Excellent blog, Chance! This is one of those things that I'm struggling with too. But with it being Friday, I'm way more excited about raiding the bar.

So here is a hearty congrats to Chance for her offer and Ter for her story in WW! Such fun things to celebrate today!

Julie said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS9OO0S5w2k

Here, Chancey!

Julie said...

“Its fun to say Why Am-I an A(rse)? Why Am-I an A..."

Janga said...

Great news, Chance! Congratulations!

I'm going out later to look for the WW with Terri's story. This is an exciting day on the Revenge.

2nd Chance said...

Thanks! So, I tried out my Target and still has the old Woman's World. You don't want the one with the NASCAR cake on the cover. It's a cute cake, but it's not the one...

Julie, I'll haul out the headphones and listen!

Bosun said...

Once I clicked the link, then I got the tune. Cute, Jules. LOL!

Sorry, had a party planning meeting outside the office. (Yes, I hold my meetings at Cracker Barrel. What of it?)

Donna is on to something too. Though I'd have to say why is Emily having this reaction if you say she doesn't have PTSD? I can totally see a person dealing with crisis by freezing up. Some people just do that. I knew a guy that went from zero to panic in a crisis, and another who never lost his cool. People just are one way or the other.

Is there an opportunity to have a minor crisis happen in the beginning and she actually explain to someone that she tends to freeze up in these instances?

I went out and totally forgot to look for the magazine. Gah! Thanks everyone for hunting it down.

2nd Chance said...

Emily didn't have a major trauma...one that would easily explain the slow reaction time. But I think I can slip in something in reg. to a family thing where she developed the delayed reaction.

The thing is...The Kraken's Mirror is very light-hearted and I don't want to give her some massive thing. I mean, having faced the death of her husband with all the pets in a car wreck is traumatic, but her habit of staying still to observe is a learned behavior. I don't want it linked to the car accident...

I want the car accident to be something that instead pushes her to make some changes, which will include examining why she keeps herself so distance from events. From something in her childhood that once she figures it out, she can laugh at. And we can laugh with her.

Victoria Dahl did it, sorta, in her newest book with her hero. That occured to me while I was wondering Target, so I may see what I can come up with...

2nd Chance said...

I do have two other characters that come to my mind who definately suffer from classic PTSD and for them I'll work out a way to communicate this to the reader.

If the contract goes through and I'm revising for a specific editor, I'll wait and see what they think Emily needs. I think I know what is going on. But who knows? I could be totally wrong!

No mag yet? I'll stop at my local grocery store before going home. I think they update their mags faster than Target.

2nd Chance said...

CrackerBarrel...that's where that incredible chocolate thingamabob is, right? The one you were all ranting about a few months or more ago...

You get to pick the meeting place? Expensed? ;-)

hal said...

Cracker Barrel!! Did you get mashed potatoes with white gravy? (even if you didn't, lie to me). They have the most amazing white gravy ever. EVER!!

Bosun said...

Yep, expensed. LOL! And it is the home of the Coca Cola Cake, which is sitting here waiting for me to get hungry around 3.

Very smart to see what the editor says, but we're getting out some great tools to attack with. I can definitely use some of this. That making the reader understand the characters motivations is a big thing.

2nd Chance said...

Mashed potatos with white gravy, eh? Sounds like something Last Chance would dig.

Yeah, that Coca Cola Cake...well, you deserve a great big treat, Bo'sun!

At this point, I'm just gathering ideas. I'm not messing with anything until I know specifics. And I do think it would be hilarious if I were totally off the mark and they have a totally different idea of what needs to be fixed! ;-)

But I can use all a' this.

What was the meeting about? Planning the Christmas party again? ;-)

Bosun said...

Yes, it is that time of year. It's not like I needed a season off to get some writing done. *sigh*

This party is the motherload of all parties so I'll warn you all now, I may be a little crankier on certain days. Or absenter. *squints* That's not right, huh?

Bosun said...

Slightly OT - Okay, far OT - I really want this new little iPod Nana. I've filled up my 4GB one and the 16GB is only $179. My credit card is screaming for me to go for it. And it's touch screen. And would clip on so neatly. Which color would you chose - red, blue, or pink?

2nd Chance said...

Is this one of those random play ones or does it have a screen so you can pick what you want? And I'd probably go for red...but it depends on the blue. My old standby is a turquoise blue.

Bosun said...

Check them out.

http://www.apple.com/ipodnano/design.html

Bosun said...

I can let it shuffle or play only what I want. Just like the one I have now except it would hold more and it's slightly smaller.

2nd Chance said...

That is really nice! Mine is so old, the battery isn't holding much of a charge anymore. I like the size and I like the gold one!

Hmmm...there is an Apple store in the mall I'll be visiting next Wednesday...

Yer evil, Bo'sun, pure evil!

Bosun said...

I do what I can. I kind of like the silver and gray too, but not the gold. That one's not for me.

Julie said...

Eewwww verhah nice, Terri!

I def think that you need one to help you celebrate your publishing debut!

2nd Chance said...

Well, in the store, they'll likely only have a few of the colors...

Donna said...

I couldn't find your magazine, Terri, and I went to two places. The first one was dated September 13, but it had a story from someone else. The second store didn't have the magazine at all.

Grrr.

Oh well. I'm gonna celebrate anyway. LOL (I'll be out and about tomorrow so I'll look for it then.)

Scapegoat said...

WAHOO Chance! Just let me know if you have any questions and I can forward them on.

Now this blog topic - I have to agree with Hellie. I think part of it is all about POV and using the heronie's POV to best explain/show her freezing.

Congrats to Terri too!

Donna said...

Oh, and Chance, as for keeping it light and comedic, I'm the same way with my books -- I don't want to sacrifice that part, but I think you can still 'splain why she's doing what she's doing.

I definitely agree that you should see what the editor has to say -- it could be completely different than what you expect. :)

Bosun said...

Chance - That's why I'm going to order online. Whatever I want, no tax, and free shipping. Whoot!

No worries, Donna. It's so hard to know when they put magazines in the stores. Especially a weekly one like this.

2nd Chance said...

Hey, Scape! I know, I'm thinking what I really want to know...

Yeah, that deep POV, without being too introspective. I love introspection, but I don't want to write it for Emily. At least not in a serious fashion...

Hey, Scape? Did you read that Victoria Dahl we got from the Nationals? The way she was able to make the hero's phobia something to sorta smile at...that's sorta what I need to figure out.

Julie said...

Speaking of music ... or should that be musick? I had this interesting musical experiance today .

2nd Chance said...

When I worked at the bookstore, we got mags every Wednesday...but that was likely the distributor's schedule.

Yeah, I could order online, but I want to touch and get someone to show me how to work it. I'm dense that way!

2nd Chance said...

No more Village People, please! Thank God I'm in Starbucks and they are playing music to drive that earworm out of my head! :-)

Julie said...

Oooh this was worse. Much worse.

2nd Chance said...

Lalalalalalalalala!

2nd Chance said...

Fabulous, I'll read about it when I get back! You wretch.

Donna said...

I could start whistling "Rock the Boat", since I know how much you love that one, Chance. :)

2nd Chance said...

I'm taking a lunch break!

Bosun said...

Jules - I have a feeling Donna is going to comeback with "Been there, done that."

But that's just a guess...

Julie said...

Donna speaking of “Rock the Boat” you wouldn't like to do a duet with a guy sporting a mullet would you?

Julie said...

Oooh I don't know Terri. This really does take bad to a new low.

Donna said...

LOL -- that's not one of my "been there, done that" moments. But it's also not on my "bucket list" either, so I'll let someone else do the duet. LOL

Julie said...

Come on Donna. You only live once … unless you’re a cat …
Before you start singing though Donna, I have to know …
Do you prefer BJs or the real thing?

Julie said...

That’s BJ Thomas version or Elvis you naughty minded creatures. Jeez!

Julie said...

*dramatic pause*

Donna said...

Naughty, naughty! I am a HUGE fan of BJ Thomas -- love his voice -- which reminds me, I have a CD of his in the car. . .

Julie said...

Hey.
I'm a fan too. In fact I've been singing along with him allll afternoon!

Janga said...

Now I'm going to be singing along with a mental BJ Thomas playlist for the rest of the day. "Hooked on a feelin'/ High on believin' / That you're in love with meeeeeeeeee."

I couldn't find the mag either. The one I bought has the NASCAR cake on the cover, which grand #2 would adore.

I'm not ignoring the discussion. It's just that I can't talk craft today. If I try, I will emit little yips of pain like a wounded pup. I'm having one of those every-word-I-write-is-crap days.

Julie said...

Oh Janga-hugs-I'm-sorry!

I can't talk craft either. Not because it pains me. Because it would pain you. Since I don't have any ...

Donna said...

I'm best at talking about AVOIDING, since I seem to be doing that today instead of actually writing.

And one of my fave BJ Thomas songs is "I Just Can't Help Believing". Sigh. LOL

Bosun said...

I had a jewelry box that played Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head and I loved that thing. I'm going to sing that all the way home now.

Sin said...

Congrats on the offer Chanceroo!

2nd Chance said...

I've always loved Hooked on a Feeling...

*high on believing...

*that I'm in love with you-ou-ou-ou!

I found the magazine! Ter - I tried to send you a pic. Its got the newest Jenny Craig victim on the cover. I can't tell if they edited it a whole lot because it's been so long since I read the original. But it's so co-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ooool!

Julie said...

OOoh way to go, Chance. Where did you find it?

2nd Chance said...

Safeway!

Bosun said...

I found it at Kroger! That's Sarah Rue on the cover. She looks great! They edited the heck out of the story. Cut like a hundred words. LOL! But my name is at the bottom and I'll take it!

Donna said...

We don't have Kroger OR Safeway here (I miss Safeway, actually), but I'm going on a scouting mission tomorrow for sure!

2nd Chance said...

My Target didn't have it, but Safeway did. One of those big mondo superstores.