Back to the Sympathy Question

I hope your Christmas was merry. Happy Boxing Day! (at least for the Canadians and Aussies in our midst).

As promised, I'm meandering a little farther into that question of what makes a character sympathetic and when she becomes simply pathetic. A novelist friend told me she likes to put her characters "through hell" before she lets them have a happy ending. That certainly works -- sometimes.

As a popular example of what has worked, let's look at the Harry Potter series. When we first meet Harry, he's a 10-year-old orphan, turning 11, living under the stairs in an abusive situation where cousin Dudley is king. As the series progresses, we see him go through a variety of emotional and physical tortures at Hogwart's, in company with the Order of the Phoenix, and finally, in an all-out war. Surely Harry is put through hell before he gets his happy ending.

Of course along the way there are humorous, fun moments, discoveres of joyous wonder and delight, fast friendships solidified, and an array of successful, happy moments as well as the dark ones.

But what if we had skipped Hagrid and the trip to Hogwart's, Nearly Headless Nick and Dumbledore, and had spent the whole first book watching Harry suffer abuse at the hands of his reluctant relatives on Privet Drive? My guess? There never would have been a second book or the Harry Potter phenomenon that has enthralled the world. We want to see people triumph over terror and tragedy. Watching victims while they endlessly suffer is a different kind of torture, not an enjoyable reading experience.

Perhaps the question is part pacing (How much shall I let him suffer here before I cut off this scene?) and part balance (That torment she just went through was terrible. I need to give her a triumph equal to it before we move on.) I suspect it all comes down to knowing our audience: what they want, how much sad they will endure before a moment of comic relief, how much sorrow they can handle before we give them joy. It's a delicate balance, but well worth learning.

My Gratitude Journal: Strong Female Characters

Welcome to 11/11/11. I hope you are reading this at 11:11, too. ;-)

In my look this week at strong women in fiction, I've referenced a number of other people's lists of good books and I've mentioned some of the strong real women in my personal past. Today I want to share three of the strong fictional women who have also influenced my writing and my life.

One of the first non-picture books I can remember reading cover to cover was A LANTERN IN HER HAND. This book, by Bess Streeter Aldrich, told the story of a powerful pioneer woman on the American plains, doing much with little. I've admired her my whole life and she is influencing the character Eliza in my current work-in-progress.

As a young mother I laughed and wept with Anjuli, the heroine of THE FAR PAVILIONS. M.M. Kaye's masterpiece is set in Colonial India where any woman's life is severely restricted and Juli's is even moreso, and yet she makes courageous decisions, choosing love and loyalty over the easy way out and simply surviving when many would not.

Despite some of the really stupid decisions she makes in her personal life, I can't help admiring Scarlett O'Hara, the flawed but strong central figure in Margaret Mitchell's class, GONE WITH THE WIND. She also makes some tough right choices and helps others to survive during the grueling years of the American Civil War.

I commend these books and these women to you. May they ever influence my work in healthy, positive ways.

One Strong Woman

In my work I've often written about strong women. Sometimes they're even physically strong, mentally prepared -- you get the drill. One such example is my very first fictional heroine, Robin.

In BENEATH SIERRA SKIES, my first book now turned e-book, Robin and Brandon are stranded in the high Sierras after the crash of a small plane. In an attempt to get help, Brandon leaves the shelter they've created and takes off. Robin finds him, fallen into a hole, several hours later. Here is their conversation:

“I’m afraid I stumbled upon this little shelter quite by accident a couple of hours ago.”

“You’re hurt.” Fear numbed the pit of her stomach. A serious injury now could mean death for both of them.

“I think I’ve rebroken my collarbone, and maybe a couple of ribs. It hurts to breathe too deeply. I wrenched my knee again, too.”

“Ow.” Robin winced in sympathy, but her sigh was mostly relief at finding him. “You shouldn’t be allowed out without a keeper,” she said as she dug the large bandages out of her purse.

“That’s why I’m so glad to see you. I can’t get out of this hole. I tried for a while before I realized I was stuck. With this shoulder useless and my knee hurt, I’m...well, let’s just say that if you hadn’t come along...”

She shuddered. “But I did come along, didn’t I?” she said, not wanting to think about the alternative. “Here, crawl out of that thing and I’ll see what I can do about that knee. I brought the long bandage for a butterfly wrap, too, and I’ve got your sling.”

Brandon smiled wanly. “It’s a good thing one of us is prepared.”

Okay, I know: This isn't really physical strength. It's her intelligence, her preparedness, her... I get it. But it's also her physical rescue of him that saves them both -- and this is not the only time.

Right now I'm writing more strong heroines -- one an unwilling psychic, one a pioneer -- and I'm giving them their freedom to be as strong as they like.

Hordes of Strong Women

Today's view from the blog is going to take you into the world of fictional strong women, or perhaps I should say worlds. Follow me; you'll see what I mean.

Fantasy fiction is full of heroic female characters. Not coincidentally, fantasy fiction written by women leads that pack. For a quick overview, read the descriptions of a few of the books listed on the "Fantastic Females" Booklist. Conquering monsters in unknown worlds is right up there for fantasy fans.

If you are more interested in Young Adult fiction, you need look no farther than Katniss from the recent HUNGER GAMES series, or this list from the Serpentine Library. For strong women in children's book, check out this list from About.com.

No matter how different the worlds they inhabit or the audiences who read them, these women all share some traits with the iconic Western hero: they do the right thing for the right reason, regardless of the challenges, and they defend those who can't defend themselves.

Let's hear it for strong women -- on our bookshelves and in our lives.

Strong Women

First let me send out a shout to my first exposure to strong-but-sensitive men: Happy Birthday, Dad!

Now let's have a look at strong female characters. I heard (haven't been able to confirm) of an interview with Joss Whedon, the producer, director, writer, actor , composer, etc. who has contributed greatly to American pop culture. (Think Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly...) Supposedly the interview went like this:

Q: Why do you write such strong female characters?

A: Because people keep asking that question.

I think that about settles the matter. In my case, I write strong female characters because I've always been surrounded by strong women and because I've tried to be one myself.

My female ancestors crossed plains in wagons, raised large families alone after being widowed, argued for female suffrage, and generally stirred things up. There is evening a somewhat apochryphal tale of a great-grandmother who found a bobcat on her kitchen counter and strangled it to death with her apron strings in defense of her sleeping baby. Wow.

I also write women because, being one, I see better through a woman's eyes, and I make them strong women because women can be heroes too, and often have been throughout world history.

For purposes of my plots, the women don't have to be physically strong. They, like my strong male characters, are willing to do what they fear in the defense of what they believe is right, challenge established belief, and pioneer defend the weak and helpless around them.

A few strong fictional women are currently inhabiting my head. I welcome them.

Indomitable Spirit: a Lesson

It's said that we gather the best and worst traits for our fictional characters from what we see and hear in the world around us. If so, a little girl I know and love has recently given me cause to celebrate toughness and optimism.

Adelaide isn't quite two yet. In fact, she was more than three months from her second birthday when the incident I'm about to describe occurred. She was climbing out of a portable crib, not more than two-and-a-half feet off the floor, and her mom was encouraging her discovery: "You can do it, Adelaide."

Then came the freakish accident: a toe caught in netting, a drop to the floor, a one-point landing on her left arm with the arm pinned between her body and the base of the port-a-crib.

Adelaide came up shrieking. Mommy, immediately repentant, ran to her and cuddled, assuring her she would be all right, but it was clear from the sag in her left arm that the bones weren't doing their assigned job. A trip to the hospital E-R and a set of x-rays proved the truth: Adelaide had broken both bones in her left forearm, both snapped and separated.

The first evidence that our little girl is made of tough stuff came minutes after the accident when the screaming ended. Adelaide lifted her one good arm into the air and announced, "I did it!" Broken or not, she had climbed out of the port-a-crib all by herself, and she wanted to celebrate her victory.

Since then she's been impossible to slow down. Although the arm has been wrapped first in a fiberglass splint and then in a hard cast, both too heavy to lift without help, she still insists on climbing, jumping, playing and doing everything she always did. Now she just does it one-handed. Nothing is stopping her. And she's doing it all with very little pain medication, which doesn't really agree well with her tiny tummy.

I couldn't be much prouder of my little granddaughter, and I'm going to remember her indomitable spirit. Future heroines may have just a little more of Adelaide in them than they might have had otherwise.

Is there a real-life hero or heroine in your life?