I've always had a hard time writing happy moments. It's not that I don't know how to describe them, but more that I don't know how to make them interesting. I think in order to write a happy moment for a character, the audience must already be heavily invested in the character. We have to want them to be happy.
Imagine reading a book where the main character wakes up in a great mood, eats a tasty breakfast, and has a quick, traffic-free drive to work or school, where he is extremely popular and well-respected. After a few hours, his boss gives him the rest of the day off, so he drives to the beach with the top down in his convertible, and... well, you get the idea.
Now, imagine that this character found out a few weeks before that he has cancer, and although he's going to be starting chemotherapy, there's only a small chance of surviving. This is the last day before he goes into chemo, and he is determined to squeeze every little bit of joy out of the day as possible.
Suddenly, the happy scene becomes significant. Presumably, you've already had the chance to identify with this guy earlier in the story, and you want him to get the good stuff. And you know that the good stuff won't be forever. This creates drama even in the midst of the happy.
A good writer has to torture his characters. And one of the best forms of torture is to give them everything they want, then take it away.
By the way, I'm about to start chapter 42. That is the Answer.
19 November 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment