The Fragility of Story

The suspension of disbelief.



I remember first hearing this phrase in high school literature classes while studying various forms of fiction.  It is the willingness of the reader to believe something he knows cannot be true, in order to enjoy a story.  This is particularly important when reading fantasy, but I would say the premise is valid with any type of fiction.



Now, how is this important to us as writers?  Very.  As writers of fiction, we are creating a world that does not exist.  Our settings may be real places, but the accounts in them are not.  Our characters' names may have been changed to protect the innocent (or not so innocent), but even if they are based on our grouchy neighbor, they are still fictional characters.  So every word, phrase, and dialogue we write must support this fictional world we have created.



I like to think of it as a fragile bubble.  We are holding up this story for our readers and they are willing to look into it and admire the complexities, the nuances, the rhythms of the plot.  But if I make a wrong move, the bubble bursts, and they are suddenly and violently pushed out of that world.  Sound a little melodramatic?  Perhaps.  But has it ever happened to you?



Examples:



Someone is going fishing at the lake and catches a whopping grouper!

~Hang on.  Grouper is a salt water fish!































A main character in a story set in the 1800's pulls the buggy out of the driveway. 

~Heh?  They had driveways back then?









Your main characters are sent on a mission to Lisbon, Spain.

~Whoa.  I thought Lisbon was in Portugal.





























Embarrassingly enough each of these mistakes are my own.  (And I am so grateful for friends who are not afraid to call me on them!)  Some, as you could see would be harder to miss than others, but any one of these had the potential to create doubt in the reader's mind, and therefore ruin their willingness to "suspend disbelief" and enjoy the story.



So, as writers, we must be careful with our words.  As in past posts, make sure you know your "stuff" before adding it to your story.  (Obviously I am not a fisherman, and had just thrown in the name of a fish haphazardly.  But for my friend who knew the difference, it was a big turn off.)  If you are writing in a certain period, do your research.  Know how those people talked, how they interacted, how they lived.  And for goodness sake, don't send your characters to a city in the wrong country!  Can you imagine trying to read through a story where the characters were at the Grand Canyon in South Dakota?  It's those little details that help build our world for our readers.  Let's build them believably.



Let's not burst their bubbles:)



Happy writing,


















Lonely Hearts ~ a sweet Christian Romance
The Price of Trust ~ Christian Romantic Suspense
http://www.booksbyamanda.com