Mad Max Fury Road: All Show No Tell

My characters tend to be emotional teens who are stuck inside their heads. When I was in high school, I had a hard time seeing the world outside of myself. I overthought and over-analyzed everything (probably still do). Because of this, when I write contemporary young adult novels, my characters tend to have the same self-reflection and existentialism.

Recently, I've been moving in another direction. While I still plan on making several contemporary, emotional YA books (A Criminal Heart, No Sugar Coating, and The End Diary), I am working on several fantasy and sci-fi titles. While these characters still have some introspection, the books revolve heavily around plot rather than internal turmoil.

So why Mad Max: Fury Road? Warning: Spoilers. Not only is the movie visually stunning, but there is virtually no "telling" at all. There are moments where the characters could explain a lot (through monologues and exposition), but they don't. Information is passed along quickly with characters interrupting each other as a natural ebb and flow of dialogue.

"The soil, we had to get out."
"We had no water."
"The water was filth."
"It was poison..."

This conversation takes a minute, but they (along with the viewers) come to the horrible realization together: there is no green place. Furiosa screams into the desert, heart-wrenched. We know how she's feeling, and it's done visually. No existential internal narration needed.

We never receive an explanation of the war boys, but we collect knowledge of this universe through context and dialogue. "At the end of his half-life" and the tumors growing on the side of Nick Hoult's neck. We know how hard it is to have a non-deformed child because the stillborn baby was "perfect in every way" (a grand announcement), and every single ruler has something physically wrong. This makes extra narration unnecessary.

This is hard to do when most YA books feature a teen at the start of their journey. With In a Blue Moon, my MC Effy stumbles down a rabbit hole into absolute chaos. She needs to ask questions, but only has limited time due to her deadly situation. Information is revealed as new questions arrived to avoid any long-winded info-dumps.

The story I recently started, Ferals (working title), features Wren, a teen who has grown up in this universe. She knows and understands the world, thus she doesn't need to explain it to the reader. I am taking a page from Mad Max and trying to show this universe is instead of explaining how it came to be. In the first 5000 words, there are two paragraphs of exposition. Two. The rest of the world comes through descriptions and dialogue between the seven characters.

By having an MC who is aware of the world, more work is placed on the reader to fill in the blanks. Mad Max: Fury Road unfolds the universe without explanation, while still providing viewers with enough information to draw conclusions. A good writer should be able to do this. I should be able to do this.

While film does rely on the inherent visual aspect, books can and should lean that way as well. Sure, you don't want your MC to sound like a robot prattling off X happened then Y happened. You need some flavor. You need descriptors and emotions. Incorporate all the senses. If you are writing in first person, you can have some internal reflection (heck, you can have this in third person too).

Instead of: I stuck out my hand, and he shook it.
You can have: I stuck out my hand--a stupid move I wanted to take back--but he still shook it.

The second gets you into the character's head. The MC is self-conscious around this guy. It keeps the focus on the visual aspects, but provides insight into the MC's thought process without a long-winded diatribe (though, there can be a place for that as well).

If anyone wants a refresher on "how to create a universe where your MC is aware of how the world works, but the reader does not... and how to clue the reader in without over-saturating your book with exposition," watch Mad Max: Fury Road. Analyze how they show the world and how they accomplish bringing you into the universe. The script might give you some good ideas for writing your next novel. Reflecting on this movie has helped me.

On death in books

There are some authors who pull off killing a main or side character flawlessly. Some authors have done it numerous times, with some successes and some failures. Others have tried to get it right, but have ended up missing the mark.

That brings up the question: What makes a "successful" death in writing?

Now, before I discuss the types of deaths, and how some have been successful, know that I am talking from my own standpoint. I am one person, one reader, and one writer. My opinions are my own, and mileage may vary. Also, I encourage you to comment on why a death worked for you.  Was it a reason different than below?

The Romantic
When the romantic interest of your main character takes a drastic turn for the worst, it needs to be gut-wrenching. The death should be a tear-jerker. As readers, we need to feel the soul-crushing hopelessness of the main character as the thought settles in--forever, without the love of your life. We need the horror, the disbelief, and the pain of the moment, all wrapped up into one emotional upheaval. Without it, this death might seem pointless.

The Martyr
This is one of the hardest techniques to pull off for both main and side characters. Rarely do main characters die in books, and it's because we, as readers, have such an emotional connection to them that we cannot imagine a life where they no longer exist. If you decide to make a character a sacrifice, you need to make us believe it. It's the hardest challenge, but if you can pull it off, your story will likely stay with the reader forever.

On the emotional side, the reader needs to feel disbelief. That feeling needs to become acceptance because the story was so beautiful it couldn't have happened any other way, or anger for the person responsible for the MC/side character's death. Oftentimes, readers need to blame someone. If you take away the beauty and the ability to blame a character, your readers will turn to the next person on their list--the author. I've seen this happen. If you can't pull off a martyr, your readers may turn against you. Tread carefully - it's a fine line between success and failure. 

The Friend or Family
Arguably, the friend/family is the most versatile character when it comes to death. It could be a sudden, unforeseen accident; an elongated illness; a brutal murder; or a suicide. All of these need to contain disbelief, yearning for answers, and even anger. Most stories that have done this successfully eventually carry some hope, like the main character's ability to carry on against all odds. Sometimes, the death of a friend or family member will begin a trial, where the MC will be tested time and time again. Grieving is encouraged, but they need enough resolve to keep going, even if it's just going through the motions.

The Villain
Should all deaths of enemies create instant relief? Not necessarily. If your "evil" character is well-rounded, there should be some redeeming quality to him or her, even if it’s just superficial. The death of your villain should be satisfying, but not overly so. The world is not black and white, and your reader should see both sides to your villain. And remember - death does not always equal justice. Just because X is dead doesn't mean everything is magically okay. To some extent, because X existed in the first place, some things will never be okay.

What it boils down to
There are obviously more categories out there. It boils down to the author needing to make the reader believe it. Forcing a character's death for controversy won't make readers connect with the demise of their beloved character. If you miss the emotional mark, your story might be less successful.

I encourage you, as a reader, writer, or movie lover, to comment on why a certain character's death worked for you. You can be vague or mention specifics, but remember to mark any spoilers, please!

On writing 9,000 words in a day

I know people have done this before, because people have written short length novels over the course of the 3-day novel challenge.

But let me be (probably not) the first to say that it's a lot of work.

Surprisingly, I got done a little over 3,000 words in an hour, so I can see where other people could accomplish a novel in a weekend.  But me?  I'm burned out.

When I get inside my character's head - really inside their head - and I'm writing from a hugely emotional standpoint (this whole novella has been one emotional trigger after another), I get my own gut wrenched.  I just spend the last thousand words sobbing as I brought my character to his emotional conclusions.  His resolve and the decisions that he has made for himself brought me to my own tears, as I know how I would feel if I were in the same situation.

And that's the thing:  It's every emotion at once.

Now that the 9,094 words are out of the way, I feel exhausted.  Not mentally, no, my brain can continue to pump out words for days.  But I'm emotionally hollowed out, my character burrowed a hole into my brain and I no longer have the emotional capacity for even myself.

Does anyone else get this emotionally invested in their characters?  I find that when I do cry, the words flow more genuinely onto the page, with true emotions and feelings.  The negative, well, I already said that.  It takes a lot of work.

I don't ever want to hear anyone say that writing is not a real job.

Oh - and now I have a fancy new Camp NaNoWriMo badge to show off in the corner.  Yay accomplishing goals!