Today on the Go Teen Writers Book Club, we’re discussing “Believability,” chapter fourteen of Story Trumps Structure by Steven James.
Chapter Recap:
Today’s chapter was about whether or not your story is believable, and if not, how you can make it so. Writing instructors often refer to this as “suspension of disbelief,” though Mr. James prefers the term “retention of belief” because readers come to books ready to believe what is between the pages, and we, the authors, must work hard not to lose their trust by writing things that are unbelievable. Because as soon as a reader stops believing that your story is possible, they will lose interest in your story and stop reading.
If you have a character behaving in an unbelievable way, you had better have a very good reason. Even if you don’t share it yet in the story, you need to know why your character is acting, well, out of character. Most often, characters only behave in ways that are very unlike them when they have no choice…or feel like they have no choice…or are forced to choose between a bad option and an even worse option.
Mr. James gives the following ten methods to rid your writing of coincidences. I feel like numbers one, three, and five are very similar.
1. Set expectations: Be aware of what promises you are making in regards to pacing, tone, and genre. Also, foreshadow early on anything you will need later.
2. Recast the scene to make it believable: Look for places where your characters are doing things that normal people don’t do in real life, then rework the scene to get rid of those things. For example, a character describing himself by looking in a mirror or talking out loud to himself.
3. Show skills and characteristics early: Similar to expectations, if you’re going to need a specific skill from a character, plant it early on. Show that character doing it in everyday life so that later on, it’s not a convenient surprise.
4. Remember cause and effect: Action happens, and it is followed by reaction. Keep the two in logical order.
5. Foreshadow important events: When rewriting, go back and foreshadow anything you can, especially important events like clues and red herrings.
6. Pace your transitions: Weed out phrases like “just then” and “just as we were” so that you don’t have situations that feel overly convenient. Instead, use transition phrases that show the passing of time like, “a few minutes later” or “after school.”
7. Have an expert refute your premise: Create character “experts” to point out how unbelievable something is in your story. That will give readers the feeling that it just might be plausible after all.
8. Make something believable by stating a little known fact: Using little known facts (that may or may not be true) is a good way to make readers think they must be true.
9. Present the chain of evidence that would lead to that inescapable conclusion: This is what many writers call smoke and mirrors. Share just enough real science on a topic (or medical knowledge or legalese or whatever topic) before jumping to the conclusion you want to make in your story, and your readers will believe it plausible.
10. Point out the problem to readers: Have a skeptical character logically come to believe the situation by comparing it to something even more outlandish. You can also use this to have a character point out that another character is acting unlike himself. This is one way to get away with a character acting out of character because if other characters think something is up, then your readers will be patient to see what is up. But that means you have to make good on that promise. There has to be something going on that is causing that character to do things he or she normally wouldn’t do. (See the second paragraph in the chapter recap.)
What Stood Out:
Mr. James asked us to remember three vital questions he discussed in chapter eight. In the parentheses beside each question, I’ve listed the skill the question relates to.
1. What would my character naturally do in this situation? (Believability and causality)
2. How can I make things worse? (Escalation)
3. How can I end this scene in a way that is unexpected and inevitable? (Twists)
These three vital questions are interrelated, and when used together, they can help you create a story that is believable and engaging.
Tip of the week:
“Ask yourself: Is this really the way this character would react, or are you just making him act this way because of something you need to have happen later in the story? An agenda to ‘move the plot along’ will usually encroach on the believability of the scene.” ~Steven James
Go Teen Writers Archived Articles to Help You Go Deeper:
Articles about suspension of disbelief:
Suspension of Disbelief
Suspension of Disbelief: Author Intrusion
Suspension of Disbelief: Story World Rules
Suspension of Disbelief: Intended Audience
Articles on other “believability” topics:
Writing the Action Fight Scene
Is It Better to Set Your Story in a Real or Fake Location
Worldbuilding for a Historical: Gathering What You Need
10 Examples of Realistic Siblings in Fiction
4 Tips for Writing Realistic Siblings
Writing Exercise: 4 Fictional Sibling Relationships
Questions:
• What stood out to you this week?
• Which of the ten methods to rid your writing of coincidences do you plan to work on most?
• Where in your story have you constrained your characters from acting naturally in order to serve your plot? Brainstorm three things your character could do instead that are believable to his character.
• Any questions?
I thought his perspective about readers going in already believing, and that their trust is ours to lose, was really interesting. I find that shift in perspective really helpful.
Me too! I like how he twists things around. It’s very interesting.
When I edit my book, there’s a lot that I’ll need to do in order to increase its believability. There’s a lot of foreshadowing that needs to be done, I frequently force characters to act a certain way to move the story along, and I have a lot of issues with the way magic works in my fictional world. The way I have it set up now, there are easier solutions to my characters’ problems. I don’t want my readers to say, “Why are they doing XYZ? If they’re capable of ABC, then they should be able to just 123, and then they’re all set. Work smarter not harder characters! Lives are at stake.” I need to create stricter rules so that those easy solutions become impossible, and the solutions that my characters do pursue really are the only way to go about it.
Also, I found points 7, 8, and 10 really interesting. It’s actually a bit humorous to imagine an expert character refuting elements if the story and having seemingly strange or impossible things be “little known facts”. I also think that having a character point out another character’s strange behavior is a great way to foreshadow future conflict.
I am totally that reader. =D It can be SO HARD to write books with magic! I can’t even imagine… Just keep at it! It’ll be worth it in the end.
Thanks! 🙂 Same goes to you with any difficulties you might be facing in your WIP.
Great self-reflection, Em. You seem to have a good handle on what you know you’re going to need to change. I found ideas 7, 8, and 10 interesting too! Never thought of doing it, but I can see why it would work.
I have the same problem in my story with characters who have magic. Most of my characters can do have magic so they can easily fix their problems using their magic. But I want it to be harder for them to fix their problems to add tension and not be able to snap their fingers and have everything is fixed. I have to try harder to fix this problem.
Hmm, sounds like you need to come up with some limitations. These could be physical, mental, skills-based, or maybe even laws against magic. I don’t know if that’s helpful at all. It’s always hardest for me to think up the limitations to my magic, so I feel for you.