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| The author, Dane F. Baylis |
OH, YOU LIE SO SINCERELY!
OR
WRITING FICTION CAN BE JUST A TAD SCHIZOPHRENIC!
You've decided to become a teller of tales, a writer of great (or just entertaining) fiction. A professional fibber. You have entered the realm of the maker-uppers! Okay, that was pushing it a bit, I know, but, essentially, that's what we all do when we become fiction writers. WE LIE! But it's okay, because now you're lying for a living, or hoping to before the rent's due. Of course, in some circles, that's called running a con, but you're a writer and that's what you do. Which could be either a step up, down or laterally, I'm not really sure which.
When you make up characters your audience wants to believe in them. They want them to be true to their nature. As a matter of fact, if they were food they'd have to have the Food and Drug Administration's seal of approval for purity. Lucky for us reading material isn't covered under those regulations, or being a writer would mean never getting anything past inspection. Why? Does the ditty, "Liar, liar, pants on fire!" bring it back to you?
So what the heck is with this paradox? Well, when we make up our protagonists, the readers expect them to be strong, honest, faithful, brave. A little inner conflict knocks them down to human size and makes us able to smile knowingly at their moments of doubt. But, for the most part, we expect the good guy to come with a white, or slightly off white hat, depending on the season and his/her accessories.
The same goes for our antagonists. They are there to be sneered at. They should be arrogant, conniving, brutal, and never say "please" or "thank you"! They might carry a riding crop, wear a monocle, and have a life time subscription to Better Towers and Dungeons. (Or was that your last therapist?) However, they should have some redeeming quality. It might be a back story about how they started out all sweetness and light but were turned by events into the total poops they are. Or they may have a soft spot for kittens or daffodils. Whatever it is, it should be there so that we almost get attached to them. Still, the sight of that well blocked black fedora should always be there to remind us of who we are dealing with.
It's a tight rope walk of wonderful delicacy. At first you'll be tempted to make up heroes and heroines, villains and villianesses, (Don't you love that word! Almost makes you want to check the Personal Ads.), who can't live up to their own image. The reader will soon vote with their feet because, like it or not, the good guys aren't even that good in holy scripture.
They also won't tolerate to much hocus pocus and moral chicanery. A twist here and there is okay, but even the conversion of Darth Vader to the dark side took more than one movie. Better to let pro's be pro's, and anti's be anti's, and mix things up with a little soul rending but overcomeable inner conflict. This is the pillow talk of fiction writing and how you eventually seduce your audience and get them to hang around for more. At least until they figure out that the typewriter gets more of your time than they do.
Just another helpful hint from your Uncle Dane.
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STICK BALL
by
Dane F.
Baylis
"This one's
over the freakin' line!"
"Your ass is
over the line!"
"So's your
mother's."
"Hey! Don't be
sayin' shit about someones mother!"
The rules were written
In sunshine
blasted strips
Between the
blocks
Of deep
tenement shadows
In the side
streets
Off the busy
avenues
In clean white
t-shirts
Stretched over
hairless chests
In the sound of
life
In the
neighborhood.
"Hey, Diane! Those yours or d'they come with the
sweater?"
"Screw you,
Ricky!"
"I can only
hope."
"Play the game,
scumbag!"
Tight blue jeans
Filter
tips
And a six pack
of Bud'
Under the
bushes
The sweet taste
of
Impending
manhood
Girls in
knots
With slender
tan legs
Dancing short
skirts
Their smiles
swirling
Noon sun on
windshields.
"Hey, Angie! Dance at the K of C on
Friday?"
"Can't do it,
Sean."
"Your ol' man
still pissed?"
"He's gonna
kick your ass!"
"Yeah, yeah,
yeah."
In spray paint
On school yard
pavement
In the hot
sun
On rooftop
tar
In the sweat of
young bodies
In secret
places.
In promises
And
lies
And hidden
tears
And dreams of
getting
Out of
here.
"Jacky...!"
"John T. Devlin!"
"In a minute,
Ma!"
"Right now,
Young Man!"
"Throw the ball
ya lame-o!"
All of it
Written in the
sting
The palm
buzzing vibration
Of a stick ball
bat
Your heart
racing
Chasing that
half-ball
In a
clean
Long
Hard driven
arch
Out over the
freakin' line
Because your
dreams
Of sports
cars
And houses on
the North Shore
Are out
there
Beyond the
second manhole cover
In the home run
zone
And are alive
in the brag
That hides the
knowing
The not
knowing
If it was
you
Or just the way it was written
In the
rules
In the sunshine
blasted strips
Between the
blocks
Of deep
tenement shadows
In the side
streets
Off the busy
avenues.
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Any of my work
I post here will be archived in the MY WORK/ MY LOVE Section of the blog, just
as other writer's work is kept in the YOUR WORK/YOUR LOVE Section.
Meanwhile...live, love, write.
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leave comments in the form below. I can be reached directly at dbaylis805@gmail.com .
You can also find links to some of the sites I visit from time to time on the
right. I'm also looking for submissions to the Your Work/Your Love page. Authors
retain all
rights.
Tomorrow,
Dane F. Baylis
Author.
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