On the Shoulders of Giants

When I taught high school General Sciences and Biology back in the day, I remember showing a video to my Gen Sci classes that particularly covered great physicists in history.  The narrator stated offered a dramatic statement at the beginning and again at the close.  We students of the physical sciences stood on the shoulders of giants.  Thanks to the pioneering efforts of amazing minds such as Galileo, Kepler, Copernicus, and so on, we were able to build upon what they had learned and greatly increase our understanding of the universe.  The rest of the video was forgettable, I suppose, seeing as I have forgotten it.  But the idea of standing on the shoulders of these great scholars stuck with me.

That idea popped into my head again as I read Laurie’s most recent post on books that she loves and what she feels they say about her as a reader and writer.  I have, of course, read a lot of Laurie’s work and I think she sees herself with great clarity.  “Plot-driven” is the perfect term for her focus when she creates a new world and has adventures in them.  Naturally, this led me to wonder about my own focus and preferences. 

Rather than look to the books I read, I decided I’d have a look at which authors I gravitated toward.  Giants, definitely.  Jane Austen, Booth Tarkington, Helen MacInnes, and Mary Stewart occupy large sections of my fiction bookshelves.  More recently, I’ve added the likes of J. K. Rowling, Janet Evanovich, Rick Riordan, and Christopher Moore.  I’ll even admit to the absolute enormous collection of Nancy Drew mysteries (yes, I’ve even collected some first editions over the years).  Eclectic, my bookshelves.  Plenty of variety.  

But what does it say about me as a writer?  Good question.  These authors, so different in era, style, genre – well, in nearly everything, do share a trait in my mind.  These authors create characters.  Strong, vibrant characters with a great deal to say that extends beyond the compass of their stories.  When I look at my own writing, I can see that I aspire to that sort of power in my characters.

Now, as there are risks to focusing on the plot, there are certainly risks involved in a character-driven story.  Has anyone else heard the criticism that Jane Austen really never had a lot of originality in her stories?  I remember feeling outraged when I first read that.  But after a bit of thought, I realized there was some justice in the statement.  Austen’s stories rely on our connection with the women and men who populate her pages.  We have to care deeply about the Lizzies, the Janes, the Emmas, the Fitzwilliams, and the Edwards or none of it really matters.  What saves this is that we DO care about them.  

In the end, this is the story that draws me.  It isn’t that I don’t want tension and action and excitement.  But I really want to connect with the people.  I want to be drawn into their world and feel as if I know them.  I want it their emotions, actions, and well-being to really matter to me.  I want to care what becomes of them.  

Now, if I can just learn to paint a character that strongly…  Oh yeah, and not lose sight of the plot…  

Whew.

~Sandy