Emotional Costs
In Magickeepers II, without giving too much away, there is a moment when it is revealed precisely what Nick was willing to give up to save someone. When I wrote the scene, which I had foreshadowed early in the book, I just clicked away at my keys, not really thinking about it. I knew the entire book was building to THAT moment. But when I was done writing the scene, I stopped. I could have continued on to the next chapter. But I really and truly had to catch my breath. I think my hands even shook a tiny bit. I thought . . . wow, this kid was aware of the cost and did it anyway.
In my work in progress, the couple at the center of the story lose everything--every friend, the creature comforts of society . . . everything that was ever dear to them. And then they come close to losing each other.
Call it stakes, call it cost, I am realizing more and more that the EMOTIONAL costs are what make a book tick for me. I suppose that is why there are certain thrillers, say, that I respond to much more than others. Save the world . . . okay. Great. I'll shake your hand and thank you. But save the world at the cost of your marriage or at great personal sacrifice . . . and sir, let me buy you a beer while you tell me all about it.
I think there are "set-ups"--emotionally wounded detectives, cops who have lost their family to the job, soldiers who have lost comrades, doctors who have lost patients--all before the book opens. And that's great. But then what MORE is the cost going to be?
What is the emotional cost in your story?
25 comments:
This is something I've thought a lot about with SCAR. I hope I'm doing a good job with it. I thought of it all as "walls," which shelter Trinidad from the horrors of his past and help build up his denial.
He loses his father figure, his brother, his church, his home, his brothers in the Order, his black-and-white notions of the world... Hopefully it's enough, because for him he's always been willing to martyr himself, to give up his life.
But I put that to the test too. Hehe, I plan on making him do that AFTER he has something to live for...
Torturing them is so danged FUN!
I think about this more and more with the Derek Stillwater novels. Not only does each adventure damage him more, physically and emotionally, but I am increasingly looking at what the emotional stakes are for Derek. In my WIP with him, he finds he has a son from a liaison a few years earlier and she is dead, and he's forced to come to terms with all of that, all while dealing with the terrorism events that are related to her death. And I wanted it that way, because I need it to be about more than just the plot, but about Derek and his place in the world and the prices he pays to do his job.
Starbucks:
Every scene I write with my couple, I am poignantly aware that it's all a build to losing it all.
E
Mark:
To me, that is truly what elevates a thriller. For me, it can't be all plot . . . I like to see the nuance of their emotions. I thought Nick Stone's Mr. Clarinet just floored me with some of the emotional stuff. Child 44. Maybe that's why there are a few in the genre that just take it (for me) to another level.
Good Question because I have no idea. I am aware there needs to be emotional costs but hmmm I'm still working out what his survival mechanism is. Does he react to stress with 'name emotion?'
Richmond:
I think of emotional costs as what you lose in the course of a book. Even, for example, someone who has a happy ending . . . may lose a tendency to be naive, or a bit of their trusting nature. They may lose a defense mechanism they previously relied on. They may literally lose something or someone and face grief. Their journey mirrors the human journey. I consider myself a happy person, but I carry with me many scars of deep grief, but that's . . . you know, the journey. Being human has a cost.
"Being Human has a cost"
How absolutely true! That's why I Believe writing for many people is something which improves with age. The more life lessons you have and LEARN something from, the more likely it is to be reflected in your written work.
The books which move me the most are those where deep grief is experienced due to the loss of a loved one. Jodi Picoult is a lady on my list at the moment. I have several of her books but have to pace myself to read something humorous in between or else....PHEW...they can be a bit too hard on my emotional state.
Thanks again Erica.
Hi Ann Marie:
I always say I didn't really become a writer until I had something to say.
:-)
I much prefer seeing the cost worked out in the story rather than having it "set up" in something that happened before the story begins.
Your first Magickeepers book made it clear that the children would be called upon to pay a cost. Even without this post, I would have read the next two books expecting to learn about the cost and its outcome.
I'm looking forward to Magickeepers II.
Hi again Erica - sorry to bother you but I forgot to mention before. If you have a spare mo pop over to Casey McCormicks Tues. Tip and maybe you might find a good idea for your memory lapses you mentioned earlier....er, guess who wrote it....
Cheers Erica!
Great post!
So many great books hinge on the characters having to make a choice between doing the right thing, which comes with a cost, or doing the wrong thing, which is the easy way out.
The heroes are the ones who pay the cost.
Joe:
I don't mind if they are a bit wounded to begin with . . . and then sink further. The Mr. Clarinet book I mentioned BEGAN with a very damaged man and he only got more damaged. The book is not for the faint of heart.
E
Hey Anne Marie:
I will pop over. :-)
jj:
Most definitely. And the same holds true for life.
E
In my WIP my MC is a major nerd and has no social life... no life outside of work really. He has to overcome having feelings for someone who he isn't sure that he can trust, and he has to overcome his dependency on technology (which he trusts) and sort of unplug himself from the digital world. He is reunited with his brother whom he was estranged form for most of his life and has to deal with that as well.
Great point and honestly one I never fully considered.
Absolutely true, I think. I tried to make every scene in Pocket-47 lead up to the emotional dilemma Colt faces near the end, intertwined with the physical climax.
ewoh:
That is a very interesting dilemma for him.
Travis:
Sometimes, I think middle grade has taught me some greater clarity in my writing.
Jude:
Very cool . . . I have to read the copy you sent me.
E
Erica--I'm here a day late (a dollar short? maybe) I'm not sure about the emotional cost to my character. I think it is growing up--does that make any sense? Have to make the hard choices no matter what the consequences. I'm not sure. I'll have to think about this...
Great post.
I think this is the stuff that wrings the hearts of our readers. When I read a book and miss the the characters when I'm finished I think the author has hit the mark. Some characters stay with us and that is because of the magic imparted by the writer.
If we don't have an emotional cost why should we care.
Hmmm, now I have to tweak the rewrite (with this in mind) again...and again...
Heather:
I think it depends on the novel, of course, but loss of innocence and growing up are often part of that child-journey.
Aimless:
When they resonate . . . yeah. I think of a book like Secret Life of Bees.
E
Ditto to what Travis Erwin said. Thanks for a good post!
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