Essay--The Slow BurnSubmitted by Paul Elard Cooley on Mon, 03/29/2010 - 17:59 |
Some thoughts on "slow burn" fiction.
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Different hooks
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Paul, I know this is a bit late....but I wanted to get back to you on the issue of slow burns. As you said, a slow burn is a really good way of building a tension, interest or character connections in a novel. Closet Treats is a wonderful example of using the slow burn to do just that.
You had mentioned the use of little and somewhat larger explosions along the way to keep the reader interested in the storyline and hold that interest until the massively explosive ending. I think for some people, okay maybe just me, there are other "hooks" along the way that will also keep someone interested in what's coming next.
One hook that caught me completely by surprise was when Carolyn was reminiscing about Trey's first break when he was seemingly attacking the furniture on the deck. While I had been wondering during the first episodes "WTF, is this guy just a nut job?", or is something else going on? Trey's seemingly extreme abuse of the patio furniture and conversing with an unseen person pushed me towards "Definitely a nut job!" But then Carolyn said or actually thought something that completely hooked me, shook me and made my hair stand on end at the same time "She could see the expression on his face, the blood flying from his hands as HE PROTECTED THEM FROM A MONSTER ONLY HE COULD SEE.
At that point I realized that all Trey's strange behavior and actions had only one focus. The safety of and the protection of his family. Now I was like holy shit! The story took on a whole new dimension for me. Trey went from nut job to a man completely and utterly obsessed with doing everything he could to protect his family from the perceived and then later revealed real menace, the Ice Cream Man.
A lot of words just to explain the results of one sentence. I hope I was successful in getting my thought across.
Excellent writing and use of the slow burn In Closet Treats my friend!
Thank you, sir
Madness can manifest itself in many ways. I know one of the reasons CT can strike a nerve with certain people is because Trey is a dad. He's a man who suffered abuse at some point to set off his mental problems. While that abuse isn't the only thing that caused the problem, it is a large part of it. But the challenge of writing this kind of character is making him more than "a nut job." A parent who's had bad family experiences or some kind of trauma as a child will hopefully be one that attempts to ensure that doesn't happen to their own children.
I like this about Trey. He's very protective of both his son and wife. And regardless of his own psychosis, he would rather die than see them come to harm. I'm glad it worked for you, man. I know it took a while for the story to get around to that, but seems as though most people hung in for it. :)
LOVE the Slow Burn
Great topic man. The slow burn rocks, and I would agree that Closet Treats seems to be that . . . and so far in a good way (I don't have the e pub. . . so I don't know the end yet).
Some of my favorite books (and movies) are ones that you spend the ENTIRE time thinking "what the hell is going on?" Recently I have been reading several books when I literally think to my self, "awww man. . . he gave it up too fast!". Some answers are MEANT to be witheld.
Of course we BEG for the answer. . . but we don't REALLY want to know until it is meant to be revealed. It's like that show "Moonlighting" . . . how much did it suck once Bruce Willis and what's her face finally got together? EVERY week you are thinking "why don't you guys just get together!" . . . and then when they do, there is no more reason to watch.
The slow burn rocks, because it teases our senses just like really good. . .[ahem] . . well, just like like anything else that is fun when it teases our senses. And let's face it, we LIKE TO BE TEASED.
On a random thought, I figured I would shout out the last "slow burn" I saw or read that I liked. It may not be the greatest, but it is the most recent. Let's go with. . . "Memento". Not that recent, but I did SEE it again recently.
www.abidigitalsolutions.com
Giving it up
like a whore on dollar day is what most authors/writers do when they're afraid they're boring the shit out of their audience, or they can't a find a way to keep cultivating the expense. Therefore, suspense gets sacrificed for action. The slow reveal is a very difficult trick to pull off and some stories just plain shouldn't have them. Others suffer when they don't have it.
I understand the frustration that goes along with it too. Imagine what the "X-Files" would have been like without the sexual tension between Scully and Mulder? Imagine what "The Honeymooners" would have been like without the sexual tension between Ralph and Ed? Or Sesame Street without the same from Bert and Ernie? (Yeah, I know, I've gone too far...)
In some ways, the original idea of serialized novels ( going back to Dickens here) was to parcel it out and keep readers coming back to buy the next copy of the mag with the latest episode. Really, same thing in comic books and such. Some television series actually accomplish this from time to time, but the vast majority aren't the 22-24 episode variety.
So yeah, I think "The Slow Burn" is very difficult. If you fuck it up, you've totally fucked up the story. So it's tough, very tough. There are a few tricks, though, sleight of hand. And with any luck, I have pulled it off. With any luck.
Cheers.
Back on topic...
I finished reading Closet Treats last night, and I sure think you met all the criteria for a successful slow burner. The characters were rich enough to keep me reading and wanting to know more, despite wondering "where the hell is this going?" the whole time. The relative normality of Trey & his family's lives made the strange stuff even stranger. And the end... holy shit, man. I think that having Trey and Dick holed up in a shack, then get blasted by the Mexican Army in their token last stand might have been a little too similar to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, but in a twisted way, it totally worked.
Seriously though, loved it.
Changes...
Thanks, Chris. Beware--I'm still making changes to the manuscript, and that's why the podcast version includes some things the epub version didn't have. Regardless of the number of resulting changes, I guarantee the ending and the events leading up to the ending will be the same. For those of you have already received the epubs, you'll be getting the "final" version when it's availalbe. Essentially, ya'll got the fifth draft. I'm hoping the 7th draft will be the last. And soon as it's available, all those who donated will get the final version with the personalization/autographs and additional thank yous.
Very glad you enjoyed it, man. Keep listening. More to come!
Slow Burn
I dig the slow burn, with movies and books. You're right; what makes it work is when the characters are intriguing enough to make you care. Of your fellow pocast authors, I think Phil Rossi has that shit down pat. If you look at Crescent, Eden, and Harvey, there's really not a whole lot of big stuff happening until the end, but the characters and settings are rich enough that you never get bored. Harvey is especially like that... the whole time you're going, "Where the fuck could this possibly be going?" then you get blown away when it gets there. Another thing I think Phil does really well is leave loose ends for a sequel without making you think "Hey, what about that, and that, and that..." and without it being obvious that he set it up for a sequel.
I'm taking a lot of lit classes, and my biggest problem with college literature is that it seems like the writers are going for a slow burn, but you rarely get interesting or sympathetic characters, and nothing ever ends up happening. It ends up just being slow.
Which books?
Now I'm intrigued. I have a degree in English focused on literature and creative writing. I want to know which books you're reading so I can see what's up. :)
Books
Two shitty books I read last quarter were Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata. Things Fall Apart doesn't have a single sympathetic character, and Thousand Cranes is the worst book I've ever read. They're both translated from different languages, so I forgave the awkward flow of both, but there's just not story substance.
Both are written like "this happened, then this happened. Then this guy did this. Then this happened, and this happened..."
Haven't heard...
of either. Is this a foreign lit class? The two that I took in college were awesome, but that's because the professors were awesome. They chose books that displayed the differences between American culture and European thinking. Especially when comparing early 1900s lit from both places. Great stuff, if you have a decent prof who picks great books. Sigh. Sorry to hear your class ain't doing it for you, bro.