Bernita says that the worst moment of the hero in fiction writing should not come unexpected. It should be well planned.
Perhaps, to make the scene more real, perhaps, to get the reader ready to the experience.Bernita and I have at least one thing in common: ursophobia, or fear of bears.
I can't imagine any of my heroes facing a bear, either.
Is it because I would be unable to handle the situation?
One day I might expose a hero of mine to it. When *I* am ready to overcome the fear.
I think many authors keep giving abilities to their heroes way far beyond their own.
What dou you think?
It is more realistic to write out of your own experience OR one can leave his/her own restrictions behind?
If someone posess an abnormal fear of bears for example, can one make a fighting scene between the character and the bear believable?
18 comments:
I think you could make it believable, if you can get through the scene yourself. Because it would be very emotional and intense. I know horror writers often advise new writers in the genre to write about what scares them.
You can write about your experiences because who will ask or who will know that it is your life.
Charles,
Oh yes, I think I could write a quite a horror scene that involves bears - it is just that I do not wish to live through such an experience, even if it's only virtual.
(On a second thought, as I'm getting older, I am getting further away from horror stories.)
Ropi the Emperor,
I also think the writer's own experience is an important fodder for his/her writing. Noone will ask whether it comes from his/her own experience...and if anyone does, it does not really matter.
It is the quality of writing that matters.
I corrected the spelling mistakes in my Hungarian essay but I handed it in this way. It made me scared that you said it was good as a joke.
Oh dear Ropi,
I did not mean to hurt you.
I did think it was some sort of a joke. I'm sorry :)
*still laughing*
Perhaps I read too many essays on poets and poetry in general; perhaps I'm too old...
*still laughing*
No, it IS my Hungarian homework and I corrected the mistakes during I wrote it into my notebook.
I agree with Charles. I also think that, maybe, writing the scene of a confrontation with a bear could help you overcome your fears by recognising them and facing them.
Certainly it is more realistic to write out of your own experience, because you can add details that strengthen the credibility of a scene, but what if this experience is limited? You have to turn to imagination then...
(A bear is not something I would like to meet in the woods without a weapon.)
I do think one's one experience should be used to create viseral realism.
If the character has an abnormal fear of bears ( or anything else), a confrontation with one makes an excellent 'black moment."
Ropi,
all right, I hope you're not feeling bad about my remarks.
Vesper,
I think you're right. Writing about a fear can prove therapeutic. But... perhaps the time is not here yet.
Bernita,
it would surely come as one.
Yeah, i feel bad about it but you don't have to deal with that anymore.
To answer to your first question is that the standard advice from writing teachers is always "write from experience." I have always thought that authors could go beyond the boundaries of their own lives, but perhaps at some primordial level, we still unconsciously are writing from our own experiences regardless of how far we think we are straying.
I don't know much about European bears, but American grizzly bears can be deadly, and black bears are very dangerous. Thanks to Theodore Roosevelt, who refused to shoot a treed black bear, deeming it unsportsmanlike (but who instructed others to kill it to put it out of its misery), an American toy company began manufacturing "Teddy Bears." Too many Americans (and probably people worldwide) have been injured because they see real bears as big versions of the cuddly toys. Your fear of bears is well-founded.
On the main point, I agree with Charles. You could make it believable, if you can get through it. But then, as one with spheksophobia, I can't imagine having my protagonist attacked by a swarm of wasps.
Ropi,
friendship sustained, then?
Billy,
I also believe that some of the writing we deny having come from experience still does. Perhaps, it is the experience of our ancestors.
Steve,
Thanks for reassuring my fear's reason to stay :)))
In Europe we have, or rather, used to have brown bears, which are in less then friendly terms with people. Perhaps one of my forefathers was attacked by a bear.
It is also interesting to hear about people having a fear of wasps.
Thinking about it, it does seem reasonable a fear, too.
I haven't decided it. Maybe yes, maybe no.
maybe you can make the hero afraid of the bear! or maybe make the hero likable to the bear, say the bear follows the hero like a dog...
Interesting situation! I have a fear of maths, so I have made some of my characters give maths exams :P really
Cheers!
N
Ropi and Nothingman,
I'm sorry for not answering!
Ropi,
well, sometimes I think I would be able to write quite a good scene between a character and a bear...the other time I don't even like the idea of writing a scene...
Nothingman,
you are brave!
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