By Pam
Webber
A couple
of years ago while gathering research for my Southern novel, The Wiregrass, I ate supper at a small diner in an unknown town on an
unknown road in South Alabama. On the paper placemat was the saying “Some folks
never exaggerate . . . they just remember big.” Finding this unexpected wisdom in
this unlikely place struck a writer’s cord with me.
Isn’t this
exactly what most fiction authors do? Don’t we exaggerate characters, settings,
and themes to create entertaining and tension-filled storylines? Aren’t we
remembering big the unique sights, sounds, places, and feelings that help us create
and enhance meaningful stories? Can you imagine what the story of Tom Sawyer would be like if Mark Twain had
not exaggerated the characters of Huckleberry Finn and Injun Joe and remembered
big the sights and sounds along the Mississippi River?
Would To Kill a Mockingbird have become an
American classic if Harper Lee had not exaggerated characters like Scout Finch and
Boo Radley and remembered big the issue of social injustice? Remembering big allows
writers to bring lovable and unlovable characters to life while taking their readers
on a roller coaster ride of emotions, from laugh out loud funny to soul
crushing sadness. In the process, they create stories that stay with us for a
lifetime.
So how do
we go about remembering big the settings and characters in our novels? While
there are no formal guidelines, the following suggestions may help.
First, give the story’s setting the same
degree of attention you give the major characters. Can you imagine Tom Sawyer without the details of the Mississippi
River or To Kill A Mockingbird without
the suspense associated with Boo Radley’s house? Rich, detailed settings support
and surround the story, engage the reader, and advance the story line, and
they do it in a way the characters can’t.
Second, climb into your character’s head
and stay there. Singularity in point of view is important to the internal
consistency of a story and is what connects with readers. See what the
character sees, think what he thinks, feel what he feels. It was the single
point of view that allowed us to see Becky Thatcher through Tom Sawyer’s eyes
and Boo Radley through Scout Finch’s, and it is an important element of
successful stories.
Third, pull back the curtain on what moves
your character. Readers connect with a story because it has meaning to them,
and the only way to capture that level of meaningfulness is through the unbridled
emotions of the author. If you’re not laughing and crying when your characters
are then perhaps your story is more mechanical than meaningful.
In writing The Wiregrass, I remembered big the sights,
sounds, and feelings of a magical time in an ordinary place, filled with extraordinary
people, wrapped it all in a lot of imagination and faith, and prayed for the
grace of a good story. I hope as you write you remember big too.
______________________________________________________________________________
Pam Webber is a nationally certified nurse
practitioner and award-winning university-level nursing educator. She has
published numerous articles and co-authored four editions of a nursing
textbook. Pam resides in Virginia’s Northern Shenandoah Valley with her
husband. The Wiregrass is her first novel. Find Pam at
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoVdp4-pEhMdckNbZRhRmYg
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