Peg Herring's Blog - Posts Tagged "reality"
Writing Real People
It's an ongoing controversy: Is it good/fair/popular/ to include real people in a novel? Those who know my work have no doubt of my opinion. Not only do I think it's good and fair, I love it.
As a fan of history, I have long believed that the novel is a great way to learn it. Not that the reader should accept everything in a novel as truth, but then, we can't accept everything in a nonfiction book as truth, either. It's a matter of the writer's motivation. The past is gone, and we cannot recapture it. What we do as novelists is attempt to recreate the feel of what it might have been like.
In order to make the past feel real, I like to include people who actually lived: Elizabeth Tudor, Macbeth, even Butch Cassidy. I read what is known about them, get a sense of the type of people they were, and then put them into a situation that, while not real, allows the reader to see them in action.
It's a popular trend in writing. I try to be fair. And I work really hard to make it good. If you ask for more than that as a reader, maybe you should stick with the encyclopedia.
As a fan of history, I have long believed that the novel is a great way to learn it. Not that the reader should accept everything in a novel as truth, but then, we can't accept everything in a nonfiction book as truth, either. It's a matter of the writer's motivation. The past is gone, and we cannot recapture it. What we do as novelists is attempt to recreate the feel of what it might have been like.
In order to make the past feel real, I like to include people who actually lived: Elizabeth Tudor, Macbeth, even Butch Cassidy. I read what is known about them, get a sense of the type of people they were, and then put them into a situation that, while not real, allows the reader to see them in action.
It's a popular trend in writing. I try to be fair. And I work really hard to make it good. If you ask for more than that as a reader, maybe you should stick with the encyclopedia.
What Novel Can Compete with "Reality"?
Mystery writers get together, and they talk. They discuss how hard it is to keep their books "real": correct police procedures, well-drawn protagonists, and non-stereotypical antagonists. We sweat, toil, and reread a thousand times to be sure the mystery makes sense, the ending adds up, and the world is set right at the end.
Then comes reality. People who should get no attention at all are splashed all over the media as if the lives they are leading make sense. I won't say the names (because the whole process makes me sick), but you can name five "celebrities" without even trying who are fawned upon by press and fans for their disgusting behavior. Come on! If you saw certain Hollywood/sports/rich-kid types in a downtown alley, doing what they do, (taking drugs, flashing their privates, ranting incoherently, etc.) you'd hurry away with a shiver. Yet when such things are done in a mansion, by people with more money than brains, too many Americans think it's okay, even entertaining. Oh, they laugh and say, "I just like to see what he/she/they will do next." They don't seem to realize that by providing an audience, they're encouraging, even paying for, bad behavior. If they read it in a mystery, they would think, "People would never go to a concert hall and pay to see a drug-crazed person rant on stage for an hour."
Then there's the question of what is real. Current TV shows depict "reality" in such bizarre ways that no one except a kindergartener should buy it. Maybe it's my years as a drama director, but the staging in those shows seems so obvious to me that I can't get past it. Still, we haven't caught up to the Romans yet, paying for the chance to see men die. Score a half point for us.
Then there's politics, where no one even knows what real is anymore. What we know is that telling the truth in the political arena is the kiss of death. It's all about spin. Given a little time, the public forgets what their opinion was, anyway. Leaders of other nations are our enemies, then our friends, then our enemies again. A pol who for years acted with callous disregard for the good of the nation writes a memoir, making himself look heroic. And one who intends to run for President in the next election claims he committed adultery because he cares about America, even though at the time he was harshly critical of the President's sexual behavior.
Could we ever get away with that one in a novel? I wouldn't even try. Reality is way less real than fiction. In my books at least, the good guys win in the end, and the egotistical, immoral pigs get what they deserve. I guess that's why writers like me like their reality better than the "real" thing.
Then comes reality. People who should get no attention at all are splashed all over the media as if the lives they are leading make sense. I won't say the names (because the whole process makes me sick), but you can name five "celebrities" without even trying who are fawned upon by press and fans for their disgusting behavior. Come on! If you saw certain Hollywood/sports/rich-kid types in a downtown alley, doing what they do, (taking drugs, flashing their privates, ranting incoherently, etc.) you'd hurry away with a shiver. Yet when such things are done in a mansion, by people with more money than brains, too many Americans think it's okay, even entertaining. Oh, they laugh and say, "I just like to see what he/she/they will do next." They don't seem to realize that by providing an audience, they're encouraging, even paying for, bad behavior. If they read it in a mystery, they would think, "People would never go to a concert hall and pay to see a drug-crazed person rant on stage for an hour."
Then there's the question of what is real. Current TV shows depict "reality" in such bizarre ways that no one except a kindergartener should buy it. Maybe it's my years as a drama director, but the staging in those shows seems so obvious to me that I can't get past it. Still, we haven't caught up to the Romans yet, paying for the chance to see men die. Score a half point for us.
Then there's politics, where no one even knows what real is anymore. What we know is that telling the truth in the political arena is the kiss of death. It's all about spin. Given a little time, the public forgets what their opinion was, anyway. Leaders of other nations are our enemies, then our friends, then our enemies again. A pol who for years acted with callous disregard for the good of the nation writes a memoir, making himself look heroic. And one who intends to run for President in the next election claims he committed adultery because he cares about America, even though at the time he was harshly critical of the President's sexual behavior.
Could we ever get away with that one in a novel? I wouldn't even try. Reality is way less real than fiction. In my books at least, the good guys win in the end, and the egotistical, immoral pigs get what they deserve. I guess that's why writers like me like their reality better than the "real" thing.
