Writing character reactions to shocking events is hard enough when you’re writing realistic fiction. But when you’re writing science fiction and fantasy, it can seem nearly impossible.
Sometimes I get impatient with a character who is processing a shocking event–okay, so you’re actually an alien with telekinetic powers, get over it! I also tend to dislike the “after scene,” in which the character does little more than sit around at home and eat something and Think Things Over.
It’s also a problem when a character doesn’t freak out quite enough (an error I tend toward in my writing). I think back to the scene in the film version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone when young Harry finds out he’s a wizard. The actor sort of gapes and says “I’m a what?” and looks rather dead-eyed despite his best efforts. But how is a person really supposed to understand how that kind of scene would actually play out? It’s hard to imagine the shock of such a realization.
So I ask you… how do you get into a character’s head in order to write a sufficient reaction scene? What novels or stories do you think have scenes realistically portraying shock?
Parker Peevyhouse has witnessed plenty of alien landings on The Twilight Zone.
Parker Peevyhouse
lindajoysingleton
Joni Sensel
Chris Eboch
Nick
Greg R. Fishbone
It’s really hard because there’s what the character would really, truly do, and what we, as rational readers and after having time to process the event and think on it, think that the character should do. I honestly think there is a huge disconnect here that as writers we have to cover as best we can.
This is a good question and something I struggle with as well. One thing I was thinking about was that usually when a character makes a shocking discovery, s/he doesn’t really have time to let things sink in. Often there’s a bad guy to avoid or an adventure to go on. In that way, the reality of it doesn’t sink in right away because the character is hit with a lot more non-reality.
I think part of it is character development as well. In Harry Potter, for example, when we hear about Tom Riddle first finding out he’s a wizard, he’s already set up as a character who knows he’s special, so the revelation doesn’t surprise him; it proves to him how special he is. Not that we have to make all characters evil…but if a character has an inkling that something strange is going on, s/he will probably be able to process the shock more quickly.
What a great question. I try to allow my characters to react as they would and not how I, the writer and master of their every move, would react. After all, I’m not the character. It’s not me in the scene. So if I’ve written or implied that my character tends to laugh in awkward situations because that’s how they cope, let them laugh, even though as the writer you may have this ideal reaction in mind. Be true to the character first and see what comes about.
Oh, I have a heck of a time with this. I am (and thus my characters are) clearly more accepting and blase about weird stuff that most people I know (or at least most of my critique partners). I’m just not a freaker-outer, but readers often want freaked-out reactions.
I like LaWanica’s answer about separating the characters and their reactions from me/mine. Now if only I could do it.
Great question. Crazy long response:
One way I might start would be to Google “shock,” the medical version — the physical effects, the causes, the short- and long-term issues — just to get my brain working on one possibility (actual shock). What is it? What are some physical reactions? Doing this just now, I read a first-person account of someone’s struggles with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Fascinating. Could possibly bring the book in a whole different direction — as, as an author, I was willing to go that way, if it was the story I wanted to tell.
I think if a character truly experienced something shocking, and I’d consider an alien spaceship just that, s/he might react in a similar way. Problem is, shutting down is not a particularly dramatic reaction and likely wouldn’t help the plot. But it’s an option worth considering.
At the same time, say you came across a shocking situation — people dead, horribly injured in a crash, bleeding — I think there’s a sort of switch that allows you to function in an immediate way. Perhaps a part of your brain takes over, pushes other parts of the brain to the background. I’d guess a true reaction could be very basic animal sort thinking, A, B, C, D and so on, without really cogitating on the deep implications. A survival reaction. In this scenario, I could see an instinctual reaction, like a prairie dog ducking into a hole without really dwelling out the deep meaning of that dark shadow overhead, beyond: DANGER –> FLEE.
I’d soon fall asleep. Not kidding, that’s how I deal with stress, just shut all systems down after overload.
When my son learned he had cancer, age 10 — which might be very similar to learning you are a wizard — he took in the information the best he could, then said he wanted to go play video games at his friend’s house. That is, he wanted life to go on EXACTLY as before. A sort of denial, I guess, or at least a postponement of the inevitable. (I wrote about that in “Six Innings,” btw).
As far as knowing how the character would respond, I’ve never really accepted that line of thinking. Just as I’ve never understood it when writers speak of stories that “write themselves.” As far as I can tell, I do all the work around here. So, sure, I’d try to make the character respond in a way that’s consistent with that character as I know him or her — unless, of course, I wanted him or her to respond inconsistently, which also happens in life. Are any of us ever truly consistent? I guess what we shoot for is something that rings true, that feels true to the logic of the story. But in some ways, however that character reacts — this is all artifice, remember, shit we make up — would inherently be true to that character. We are what we do, sort of behavioristic idea.
Interesting question; no real answers coming from me. A lot depends upon the kind of shock. Peter Parker (Spider-Man) handled it pretty well, and in a way that moved the story forward. So in that way, a characters reaction would need to be consistent with where you want the character to end up (fighting crime, defeating dragons, mumbling in a ditch, getting killed or surviving).
Nick’s reaction to the shock of cancer fit in with his survival: He basically ignored the enormity of it, did what he had to do, and moved on. A very practical response, which in turn became his approach to everything that came after. Acceptance and, strangely, denial — hand in hand. And in that way, the ideal approach, in that it worked for him. (16 now, doing great.)
Lastly — and sorry for going on at length — getting back to your basic question: as an author, I’d do the things I always do, for every sentence. Draw upon some research, things I’ve experienced, felt, and in the end I’d make something up (grow something fictional out of those “real” seeds).
Thanks for the diversion!
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