The majority of my writing will be in the genre of fiction, so it might be assumed that I will be making stuff up. To a small extent, this is true. I can create an environment that does not exist, I can create characters that inhabit it, and I can create the situations that they face. But if I wander too far, I will lose my readers.
Come on - this is fiction, anything goes! No, anything does not go. As writers, we want people to be able to follow our storylines. If they are confused about a storyline, or are simply not drawn to it, we have lost them. They won't want to finish the book that they are reading, and they will have no reason to purchase our future books.
My current WIP has its basis in the 60's and 70's. My major characters are remote viewers that have the ability to change, to some extent, what they see. They work for a private organization that is global in nature, and were recruited right out of college. They are charged with protecting the cultural assets of all nations, and their work is clandestine by nature.
Given the nature of my WIP, which is a mystery, and not science fiction, I need to do the research that will make it sound credible - less James Bond and more John Q. Public. Our stories, to be accepted, need to reflect daily life. After all, we do want to sell books! As many boundaries as we push in our stories, they need to make sense. The excitement generated in our stories comes from our readers believing that these things can really happen, and that there are consequences for what happens.
Personally, I am tasked with making the use of metaphysical powers seem real, and available to everyone (which they actually are). I will need to show how my characters came into these powers, and how they affected their lives. How a son who never knew his father has inherited his tendency towards evil on steroids.
Where is your writing taking you?
(c) May 2019 Bonnie Cehovt
Reproduction prohibited without written permission from the author.
