Truth is often stranger than fiction.
I have received countless promising submissions that I end
up turning down for this reason; the character encountered a situation, and
dealt with it in an unbelievable manner.
When questioning the writer about this part of their story
they often tell me, “But it really happened like that!” I have no reason to
doubt them. My own personal story holds many such incredible circumstances, but
they would not come across as believable by any stretch of the imagination to a
reader of fiction.
A writer must be willing to edit out the unbelievable. And
for some, that feels like they are being untrue to themselves. But if their
personal life experience brought them to a good story, it has served a grand
purpose and the writer needs to be content with this.
Cardinal Rule: A good writer must keep their reader in mind.
Remember: ALWAYS keep your reader in mind. And be willing to
cut those unbelievable segments of your story out.
Here is a list of articles a Google search supplied on
writing believable characters.
Read through a few when you have the time. There will
certainly be a nugget or two here that might, when applied, strengthen and
enrich your story and characters.
And be encouraged, Spring is around the corner!
2 comments:
Good point, Diana, about editing out the unbelievable in fiction. I've been working on a first draft of a recovery memoir, and there are things in it I could never include in a fiction manuscript because readers would roll their eyes and say, "Really?" And yet those things really did happen. Gotta love the truth in its proper place. :)
Blessings ~ Wendy
Enjoyed your post, Diana. I, too, have enjoyed a few incredible coincidences in life that no one would believe if I included them in a novel. The bottom line for fiction can't be adherence to the details of an actual incident, but adherence to quality story writing. Readers won't care whether a particular moment in a novel actually happened if it taints believability of the overall story. Blessings to you!
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