Horror Factor - Suspending Disbelief.txt

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Horror Factor - Suspending Disbelief

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Suspending Disbelief by Vicki Hinze

What does a writer do when a novel contains an element that requires aserious suspension of disbelief? How exactly does the writer incorporatethat element so that the reader buys into the premise?

The element itself goes a long way toward helping the writer decide thebest means for incorporating it.

All storytelling, in some way or another, requires a suspension ofdisbelief. Writers must convince the reader that the characters are realpeople, that the events the writer says are happening are events that


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could happen, that the place where this story occurs is a real place, andthese events and these characters are apt to happen and to be in thisplace.

How do we do that for a novel without an atypical or unusual element?

In a word, details. We convince readers characters are real by giving them

attributes typical of many people: Appearances, attitudes, emotions,motivations, and goals; universal emotions (ones we can all understand)and unique traits that single them out as individuals. Three-dimensions:physical, emotional, and spiritual. Then readers have things in commonwith characters, which means they can relate to them. These common bonds,related through details, assists in making characters "real."

We convince readers that events are real by using details, testing themfor plausibility and testing the events to assure the reader that they are

a natural outgrowth of the preceding novel events as those events relateto these specific characters.

An extreme example: A writer wouldn't write a horrendous snow storm inFlorida. In Maine, this would be plausible, possible, and apt to occur.It'd be a freak of nature to occur in Floridaunless the writer prepared a

foundation that made it possible.

We convince readers story settings are real by anchoring our settings,giving details common to similar places. Small towns, cities, suburbs allhave rhythms, definite ways of life, and the writer taps into them, whichgives the illusion that his/her setting is real because it mirrors similar

known places.

Example: Ice cream socials are still popular in small towns and ruralcommunities, like Calallen, Texas. But I haven't seen or heard of oneoccurring in New Orleans for many, many years. Now that doesn't mean youcan't use an ice cream social in New Orleans, only that if you do, and you

want the reader to believe it, you'd better have the characters set up one

for a specific reason that is essential to the plot.

Some writers use indirect methods for gaining the suspension of disbelief,

and others hit the reader with the unusual element straight out.

The indirect method is to slowly build a case for the suspension, and topile on proof (details) that the unusual element is fact. Often, this isdone through the observations and testimonies of secondary characters.It's widely accepted as fact that a reader believes what one character

says to another far more readily than the reader believes what an authorsays to them.

The direct method is one where the writer states a bald fact, and thereader either jumps on board and believes, or s/he doesn't.

An example: Direct Method.

Blessing or curse, she could hold back time. Not forever, but for moments.


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Amanda discovered she had the gift at age three. A candle on her birthdaycake had tipped over and threatened to burn her favorite cousin, Carly.Amanda had thought time into stopping, moved Carly's hand, and thenwatched the candle fall into the frosting.

No one had said anything, or even noticed. So, Amanda had supposed,holding back time wasn't anything unusual and everyone could do it.

It wasn't until much, much later that she discovered they couldn't. Shestill remembered the nauseating shock of discovering that, the confusionand then fear. Cold, icy fear. Her grandmother Slade had been differentand Amanda had no desire to be different, too. People are mean to you when

youre different.

But that nightthe night she made her shocking, sickening discovery thatshe was exactly like Grandmother SladeBilly Manson had drowned and Amandabecame known as the freak of Carlson County. At fifteen, she had learnedthe gift that had helped her save Carly from a bad scar would now be thecurse that killed herand there was nothing Amanda could do to stop it.

Okay, thats admittedly rough writing on the example front, but its offthe top of my head yet I think it covers the point. The writer doesn'ttell you how, or why, or do much explaining reallythough she might or

might not later on in the book. She just dumps the way things are outthere and you, the reader, can acceptor reject them.

Now, one thing I want you to notice. Holding back time is the curse/blessing. Isn't it something we have all wished we could do at some timeor another? And it can be used for good or bad, which allows for conflictanduncertainty.

Note that she's had this gift since she was a little girl. If she'ddeveloped it later in life, then there probably would need to be anexplanation of the inciting incident to encourage the reader to suspend

disbelief. Note that there are those who consider a freak because she hasthis gift. (Perceptions that tug at the emotions are powerful proofs ofreality.) Lastly, notice the birthday cake and how she used the gift.

Birthday cakes are relatively universal, and protecting another from harmis completely universal. We can relate and identify, and theseoh-so-normal events do help us to suspend disbelief because they mix theknown and normal with the unknown, diluting the abnormality in them.

An Example: Indirect Method.

"You did swear to tell the truth, Mrs. St. Germain. Do you really expectthis court to believe that this woman, the defendant Amanda Slade, can

hold back time?"

"Believe what you will, Mr. Crass." Millie St. Germain narrowed her gazeon the stuffy prosecutor. "I saw what I saw and I know what I know. Thatman--" she pointed to a man sitting behind the defendant "--ought to bedead and he ain't. The bus was barreling down on him, and she--" Milliepointed to Amanda "--dipped down her chin and stared at it, and that busfroze right where it was. Then that Ms. Slade hurried on over and movedthe man back onto the curb, where he'd be safe. Then the bus moved again,it's horn still blowing and its brakes still squealing and spitting smoke


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up the street." Millie lifted her chin high enough to park a teacup on it.

"I ain't saying what the lady did or didn't do. I'm just saying what was."

"And why do you suppose you weren't frozen, too?"

"I couldn't say. Maybe the good Lord knew there'd be a fool like youquestioning a miracle and He sent me to keep you from making an idiot ofyourself." She sniffed and looked down her nose at him. "Course, I doubtthat's all together the truth of it, since you're here being foolishanyhow. Regardless, I ain't of a mind to question what God does or don'tdo. He gave Ms. Slade the power to stop time and save that man's life.That's the way of it, and if you object, I reckon you ought to take it upwith God and not me, since He's in charge of handing out special gifts and

I ain't."

Again, rough writing but I think you get the point. Millie acts as acommentator, a relater who has seen this unusual gift in action and shares

her perception of it and of the characters. It's a gift and she doesn'tsecond guess gifts.

So through her and her reaction--since we like her and we don't like the

pushy, snooty prosecutor and since Millie considers the gifted Amanda alady--we readers are more apt to ally ourselves with her and herperceptions than with the prosecutor.

We suspend disbelief because Millie saw and believes and is a blunt andforthright person. See how her emotions, spirituality (frank, forthright)all play into this? We are more willing to believe because she believes.

Note in this method that the writer doesn't tell us, the readers, anything

direct. S/he relates what s/he wants us to know through the charactersinteractions with each other. Both methods are effective and either isacceptable. As with almost anything else in writing, some stories are

better served by one or the other.

This is where you let loose your creativity and try both to see whichworks hardest for your story. Remember, it isn't only suspending disbelief

that you must do here. You must maintain that suspension of disbeliefthrough the course of the novel. To do it effectively you simply mustconvince the reader that the element is real. And to convince the readerthe element is real, you simply incorporate proofin the form of details.

Copyright Vicki Hinze. All Rights Reserved.

Dr. Vicki Hinze is an award-winning, best-selling author who routinelyshares her expertise at national writers' conferences, online, and through

her writing guides. Her latest non-fiction book is ALL ABOUT WRITING TOSELL, from Spilled Candy Books for Writers. This 589-page ebook coverseverything you need to know about the craft of writing, the publishingbusiness, and the secrets to getting published. ALL ABOUT WRITING TO SELL


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is available at www.SpilledCandy.com as a download or disk.

Or you can visit Vicki's author site at www.vickihinze.com

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Horror Factor - Suspending Disbelief.txt

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