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musings, thoughts, and writings of Barbara W. Klaser


October 9, 2005

Breaking the rules

Writers discuss breaking the rules of writing all the time, whether it’s the rules of grammar, of writing in general, or the rules of a particular genre. One rule of thumb is to learn the rules and understand the reasons for them, to understand whether they’re widely accepted and respected rules, or merely arbitrary. Once you know them, when you choose to break a rule you at least understand the possible consequences. Some say breaking the rules of genre is necessary to reach the bestseller list. Others warn it can prevent a writer from being published at all. I suppose that depends on which rules, and how one goes about breaking them.

But rules of writing aren’t the rules I’m concerned with breaking, at the moment.

What I’m puzzling over is how many rules a sleuth can get away with breaking within the confines of a mystery. Especially a sleuth who’s characterized as an honest, law-abiding citizen, as a particularly ethical person, or as a by-the-book law enforcement officer. I’m concerned about a sleuth I want to bring back in the next story in a series, rather than have him wind up in jail or out of work.

I have a dilemma. This character of mine is honest, sometimes to a fault. He’s a good guy, the kind you want your daughter to marry. But he may have to break some rules, in this story, and possibly tell some untruths. I find I have trouble even proposing that he do either. It’s something in me, perhaps, the part of me in which this character originates. I’m not a rule breaker. I’m a boring, goodie-two-shoes rule follower, and that trait may be in danger of keeping my characters too honest for their own good.

Now I’m picturing Adrian Monk, holding onto an assistant by the belt while the younger man leans as far as possible into someone’s home, to avoid stepping inside because they have no legal right to be there. That’s a classic illustration of how far rule breaking can stretch in a mystery.

The sub-genre makes a difference. The hard-boiled or noir sleuth can surely get away with worse behavior than a respected one in a traditional mystery. The question of drama comes into play, too. The noir sleuth’s bad behavior is expected, while the other’s isn’t. Some cozy sleuths seem to get away with almost anything as long as it’s funny.

The stakes are important, too. Elizabeth George’s Sergeant Barbara Havers threatened a superior with a gun—when a child’s life hung in the balance. She didn’t get away with this behavior without any repercussions at all, but we didn’t find her turning in her badge and standing in an unemployment line in the next book, either.

Clearly there are a lot of questions I have to ask myself before allowing my sleuth to break the rules, whether it’s her personal ethics or the law of the land:

What are the stakes?
How far out of character is this action?
What consequences—or lack of consequences—can I expect the character to face?
How will the consequences of this action affect the rest of the story?
How will they affect the character’s place in future stories?
How far will readers let me go before they can no longer suspend disbelief?
What rules have I established for the story so far, and how far do I already stretch reality?
What code of ethics does the character usually live by, and how does he justify breaking his own rules?
Do I need to raise the stakes?

This is the aspect of fiction writing that gives me a headache. Maybe I’m too honest. Maybe my character is. Maybe I underestimate the amount of conflict and drama this behavior will provide. Maybe the conflict and drama lie in the internal struggles more than in the actions that follow. Maybe the reader could care less whether a real person in this character’s place would do this, or could get away with it. They just want an entertaining story. Maybe I’m second-guessing myself too much. Maybe I should just sit down and write the thing, and damn the consequences.

— Barbara @ 4:27 pm PST, 10/09/05

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11 Comments

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  1. 1.

    Barbara, you’re in a far better experienced position than I to deal with this, but might I suggest reading about others in such a position, since it’s alien to your own nature. Look for example at the looting that took place during Katrina as a recent scenario. These are for the most part good people who either took from a need greater than their beliefs, or they justified it to themselves, or they took advantage of opportunity, or they lived later with guilt. On a simpler scale, pushing through that yellow light because you’re in a hurry. How do you feel?

    Comment by susan — October 10, 2005 @ 7:00 am

  2. 2.

    Susan, not that I mean to give the impression I think I’m some kind of angel. I’ve certainly had my lapses.

    I also get the feeling, more and more, that this is the character asserting himself, saying loud and clear, “I would never do that.” It’s possible I need to let him go ahead and do things his way.

    I think where I tend to feel stuck, it’s sometimes (maybe always) the writer getting in the way. I can overthink this process and get myself totally lost and off-track as a result. Sometimes I have to let the story happen. I find I’m intimidated by the most dramatic aspects of the story, the ones I need to just plunge ahead with. Writing fiction is tough for someone who avoids conflict at all costs in real life, because the conflict is so much a part of what fiction is about.

    Comment by Barbara W. Klaser — October 10, 2005 @ 11:42 am

  3. 3.

    I recently read a book by local author Randy Hicks – The Baby Game. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Randy combines mystery with humor and pulls it off well. The protagonist is an adoption lawyer and the sleuth. Throughout the book he is constantly breaking the rules – with his legal background Randy is especially aware of the laws his protagonist is breaking for the greater good of helping a friend who is in peril. It comes off very funny – and it all ends well. I can safely guarantee that Randy would never participate in such high jinks and that all the rule breaking is no reflection of his own character. I wonder if he struggled with integrity issues when he wrote? (If you would like to borrow my copy, let me know)

    Though I sometimes think I am stupid honest, you bet I would compromise to help or save a loved one. I go to extraordinary means for the sake of integrity. And yup, I’ve had some major boners in my lifetime, but I believe in karma and believe in accountability.

    My first novel handed me some struggles regarding a delicate issue of integrity for my protagonist. She makes a judgment call regarding the fate of a $12 million lottery ticket. She pretends to burn the winning ticket, which denies her rotten brother the bounty – and then anonymously donates the entire amount to a worthy cause. I struggled with that – because she ‘stole’ from her brother. Of course there is more to the story and the reader has no sympathy for the brother – but yet, I squirmed with tinkering with the protagonist’s integrity. Bothered me a lot, because her standards are so high.

    Writing is such an alter ego thing. It can be so delicious. I love the rough and tumble stuff. And after all, it is fiction.

    Comment by Reenie — October 11, 2005 @ 5:24 am

  4. 4.

    I think the only “answer” to this question is that the character’s actions need to be evaluated in each particular case and you’ve laid out a lot of factors that need to be taken into consideration. Mary and I have had this discussion relative to our detective, John the Eunuch. I fear there’s a tendency for writers to (1) want to give characters leeway according to what’s desired for the plot (2) judge characters actions by what the writer’s own actions might be. Neither one of these approaches really makes sense. It should come down to what the character would do. If you’ve written enough about a character you might find you’ve already answered the question. If you’re just starting to write about the character then you’re making a decision as what sort of character he or she is. John is pretty principled. Rather rigid actually. So he can’t just up and do something for plot purposes. I suspect he’d be a lost less likely than me to break rules. Well, I might not break them out of wimpiness while he wouldn’t break them on principle. I do think if you establish a character and then have that character do something totally out character that’s probably one of the beset ways to lose the reader.

    Comment by Eric Mayer — October 11, 2005 @ 10:10 am

  5. 5.

    Reenie, that’s so true: “Writing is such an alter ego thing. It can be so delicious.” I’ve derived a lot of enjoyment from exploring my “shadow” side in various ways while writing fiction. That’s exactly what this question has done-gotten me to explore my own values a bit and come to some realizations about myself, as well as where we’re all willing to cross the lines we’ve drawn for ourselves. I suspect any of us will, under the right conditions.

    Eric, you’re right about the need to decide. That’s always my sticking point. I take far too long to make these decisions. I get carried away arguing with myself.

    Comment by Barbara W. Klaser — October 12, 2005 @ 12:42 pm

  6. 6.

    I recently read a story in which the protagonist warps his karma by breaking a rule (for a good reason, but still…); I was uncomfortable as I was reading because it was clear that the character, a good man, was bothered by what he had done.

    However, near the end of the novel he restores his worth by doing something special, out-of-the ordinary, and in doing so finds his balance again.

    Which sounds a lot like real life to me.

    Comment by Sarah — October 12, 2005 @ 2:56 pm

  7. 7.

    Sarah, I’ve had that feeling of being uncomfortable with the character’s actions, and I see the value in a redeeming action to make up for them, provided the ethics bending doesn’t go too far. A nice balanced feeling at the end of a story can be a good thing. After all, I think that’s why people read mysteries, for that sense of justice we too seldom get out of real life.

    Comment by Barbara W. Klaser — October 12, 2005 @ 6:18 pm

  8. 8.

    Barbara, these decisions are tough. You must have to put yourself in your characters shoes and feel what they feel. So, does this feel right? If so, go ahead. If not, resist…

    Comment by violetismycolor — October 12, 2005 @ 7:02 pm

  9. 9.

    Barbara,
    I am not a very experienced writer like others on your list, but I just noticed this in a book I am reading now. In fact I noticed it just today before I checked your blog here. It is a cozy mystery, you know the cats that solve the mysteries; Koko and YumYum. Why I read the entire series of these books every year over and over again is beyond me!
    So L.J. Braun explains away Qwill’s actions (a lie) by explaining in parenthesis that (this is out of character but a ‘white lie’ to avoid hurting someones feeling is ok.) Not a direct quote but you get the drift I hope.
    So when I read this I thought, wow she is explaining his actions - how interesting that she would go to that trouble and it seemed so un-neccesary as I could see in his character that he IS honest, he is a good guy. It jarred me a bit out of the paragraph I was reading.
    Anyway, imho it seems if the protagonist is strong,then they can get away with it? If the reader can read between the lines that it is out of character? Because what she wrote her excuse seemed odd.
    And sleuths, they seem to get away with more then us mortals right? ;-)
    A few wrote about Karma, what a deep subject oh my!
    Love,
    your sis
    Helen

    Comment by Helen — October 12, 2005 @ 9:17 pm

  10. 10.

    violetismycolor, I’ve often thought of fiction writing as being a lot like acting, except it’s done on the page, rather than onstage or in front of a camera. I’m sure a lot of good acting is internal work, as I know writing is. In both acting and writing fiction it’s necessary to live the character’s life in the story, on some internal level, in order to be convincing.

    Fiction writing is by necessity an introverted process, and sometimes, even though we’re told “write what you know” it’s the experiences similar to those we’ve lived through in our own lives that are most difficult to capture and present to others, because they’re so personal. It’s a process that requires empathy and thinking things through, that’s for certain-even to create something as lighthearted as a romantic comedy.

    Hey sis, wow, that’s a classic example of author intrusion. Must’ve slipped past the editor somehow, unless it was left in on purpose. Braun does have a breezy style. I’ve enjoyed my share of Koko and Yumyum. They’re perfect to escape to when I’m stressed or just need something ultra-light, and I love those Siamese cats. Right after 9/11, my employer wanted me to take another trip where I needed to fly cross country, and I was terrified to. At the time, I found those HJ Braun books were the only books I could focus on, I was so stressed out. They were sort of a lifesaver, my only fiction escape at the time. Fortunately I didn’t have to take the trip right then—I finally did, months later.

    Comment by Barbara W. Klaser — October 13, 2005 @ 1:13 pm

  11. 11.

    Hi Barbara,

    I’ve found the best way to work my way through these types of questions is to go deep into the character and determine exactly what it would take for that character to break his rules and why. You’ll probably have to put him smack dab into the moral dilemma, full tilt, and squeeze. But then, that’s what makes really good fiction. Think of your story’s environment as the trash compactor in Star Wars and the walls are crushing in on your character. What are the walls in your story? What is moving, driving them ever more toward your character? How is your character been responding, how is he responding now? What forces will move those walls even closer and then how will he respond? Find the breaking point. Discover what he values even more and put that at risk. Then you’ll find it easy for your character to “do the right thing.”

    Good luck.

    Comment by vikk — October 21, 2005 @ 7:34 am

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