Gossip - More Than Meets the Eye

 

“You do not know me, and rest assured, you never shall.” — Lady Whistledown in
Netflix Bridgerton

Today I want to examine gossip by exploring its link to storytelling. Yes, even Fantasy Fiction can utilize this age-old human proclivity to talk about others behind their backs. Some novels even have plots that revolve solely around the revelation of such unverified "truths".

For the purpose of this post, I am defining gossip as talking or writing about other people's business in a sensational, judgmental and/or unverified way. In writing, it's easy to see the usefulness of this tool, but the question is, why do we do it in the first place? What's the fascination? 

Why We Gossip

Samantha Holder from the International University of Florida says, "Gossip has served as a survival tool since prehistoric times. In fact, the citizens of Ancient Greece relied on idle talk and rumors to determine which members of their community could not be trusted."

René Magritte - at the Atomium in Brussels, Belgium

But why?

Evolutionary biologists tell us that, as humans, we are hardwired to connect with a social group of up to 150 individuals. From where I'm sitting it seems like a lot. I sure don't have that many people in my life. 

I mean, how would I keep track of such a large clan?

One of the ways our ancestors managed to connect with so many others was to know their business. In other words, to gossip about them. By doing so, according to research, earlier humans reinforced community bonds, stimulating the prefrontal cortex (our ability to form complex relationships). All this was done by sharing information and expressing feelings. The results was to better understand the current social order. 

Add to all this, gossiping can light up the pleasure centres in the brain. ie, it's entertaining and fun. At least, it can be.

Gossip in the Modern World

With nuclear families, isolation and city dwelling vs agrarian communities, contemporary humans are hard-pressed to feel connected to 150 important others, save through a wider, parasocial circle. This includes politicians and leaders, celebrities on the big screen, small, and heroes in the sports/science fields. 

And of course, there are content creators on YouTube to follow. :)

When we talk about or gossip about these others in our life, we are fulfilling our drive to stay connected to the clan. 

Basically, we gossip to survive.

Gossip in Storytelling

Given this history, it seems quite natural for fictional characters to gossip about each other. When authors write such scenes, it  can provide the reader with one of four things:

Information (What's happening)

Insight (Why it's happening)

Interest (Entertainment!)

Instinct (Who the character really is)

As Cynthia Ozick says in The Novel's Evil Tongue:  Gossip is the steady deliverer of secrets, the necessary divulger of who thinks this and who does that, the carrier of speculation and suspicion. 

In this capacity, gossip becomes one of the writer's best tools. 

By using gossip in dialogue and plot, authors can inform the reader of many things without bogging down the narrative in information and description. As well, this kind of dialogue can help readers draw their own conclusions as opposed to being spoon-fed the story one bite at a time. 

Alice Sun can turn invisible, and oh
the secrets she learns.

Gossip can also introduce topics and ideas about the plot and characters without the use of backstory. To top it off, gossiping characters show something about themselves without needing the author to spell it out.

Here's an example from Crown of Bones

From Marcus's POV, he and his company ride through the rolling hills of Palrio on a dangerous journey to the Isle of Aku. Belair, an unknown peer who has just joined them, strikes up a conversation with the reluctant Marcus. 

Note what you learn about all five characters discussed in this snippet without even trying.

***

“They’re adorable,” Belair says, nodding to Samsen and Piper as they ride ahead, out of earshot.

“I guess.” Adorable? Why are we talking about this? 

“There’s a story there, I’ll wager.” Belair sounds more than a little curious. “She’s older than him, right?” He asks of Piper, but his eyes stay on Sam.

“I... ” I’d rather discuss anything else, training on Aku, his warrior phantom, navigating these enemy lands. 

Ash, who rides on my other side, clears her throat. The sound is a familiar one. It’s her way of telling me to be nice to our new company member, no matter that I resent him.  

I nod my head toward the healer. “Ten years ago, when Piper was sixteen, she’d just earned her orange robes…”

“That’s young.”

“It is, and well deserved. Anyway, she was in the hills behind Baiseen, gathering herbs when a band of Gollnarians cornered her.”

“They were far from home.”

“A scouting party. She was badly outnumbered.”

His brows lift. “What happened?”

“Samsen, thirteen at the time, was hunting nearby. He heard the fight and sent his phantom in.”

“Form?”

“Golden eagle, talons like grappling hooks. But by the time Samsen reached her, his phantom was pinned under a Gollnar winged-demon, and Piper was at the bottom of a ravine, her snake chopped in half, going to ground.”

           “How did they survive?” 

“He doesn't like to talk about it, but from what I gathered, Sam stayed in phantom perspective, in spite of his wounds. Fought them off. Killed or cut up every last one. By then, he was bleeding so badly he nearly died.”

Belair rests his eyes ahead as his face reddens. “Truely bonded to each other then?”

“Truely.” 

          “Ahh,” he exhales as if impressed and disappointed at the same time. “So be it.”

***

This snippet of gossip doesn't just reveal more about the characters, but it helps Belair, the new member, catch up to his companion's history and adjust how he might fit in. 

Like gossip in the real world, it allows him to feel more connected. 

How about you? Have you noticed this aspect of dialog in any recent reading? 

And authors? Have you consciously used gossip to shed light (true or false) on a character or situation?

I'd love to hear about it! 

Let's gossip!

xxKim

***

Kim Falconer, currently writing as A K Wilder, has released Crown of Bones, a YA Epic Fantasy with Curse of Shadows as book 2 in the series. Currently, she is working on the third book, out in 2024

Kim can be found on  AKWilder Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. 

Throw the bones, read your horoscopes or Raise Your Phantom on the AKWilder.com site 

Styling Characters - More Than Meets the Eye

 

Costume and style can situate the reader in time, place and era.
 Mulan (Yifei Liu). Photo: Jasin Boland. © 2019 Disney Enterprises, Inc. 

 

Character Clothing as Depiction

Costume and style reveal much about a character and for many authors, utilizing this technique comes naturally. But in writing workshops and critiques, costume design is often overlooked. I thought it would be fun to explore the ins and outs of this topic today. There is definitely more here than meets the eye.

Think about it. If a picture equals a thousand words, then how much are those images created in the reader's head? It's the perfect opportunity to portray the character's personality, background, and place in the world. Also consider what they keep close to hand, a bag of bones, weapons, books, quills, and potions. All can say more about who they are, without having to tell a thing. 

When a character walks onto a scene wearing armour and backing firearms, we know
they are ready to fight. A Mandalorian and droid 

Rank and Power

In my Amassia Series, for example, savants who raise their phantoms wear robes, the colours of which portray their advancement and skill level. Marcus explains it like this:

        "Each banner represents a savant's robe color: brown like the earth for the potentials who come in hopes of raising their phantoms. Then comes blue for young students who stay on .... Green, like me, for those graduating to the next level. Yellow for the successful initiates who've made the journey to Aku. Orange for the upper echelons of mastery. And red for the High Saant who leads us all.... actually, not all. The black-robed Bone Throwers are a clan unto themselves..." - Marcus Adicio Heir to the throne of Baiseen.

With this hierarchy in place, whenever we meet a new character we know by just looking at them if they are savant or non-savant. If the former, we also know their level of training without adding another word to the scene. It frees up space to notice other significant aspects without getting into a long and heavy backstory about how they grew up and where they fit in.

Note how style here confers rank and level of confidence.
 Adjoa Andoh as Lady Agatha Danbury in episode 102 of Queen Charlotte:  Netflix

Personality and Mood

Depicting style also gives the writer an opportunity to utilize what the character is wearing from the start, and contrast it when necessary. So when heavy boots come off, fancy dress is replaced by pants and a button shirt tied in a knot at the waist, or a formal suit is exchanged for PJs, it is telling. Of I should say, showing...

You can also use clothing to portray a deeper backstory and set your character apart. In Curse of Shadows, for example, Ash, who is non-savant, is set apart when she busts out her favourite lavender and black-lace dress. Earlier Marcus recounts having it made for her because her guardian is too auster to consider it. Marcus hides the truth by saying it was left behind by a delegate's daughter and he hopes it will fit.

It's a little Easter egg that pops up later, something the reader knows but Ash does not. Not just a warm moment, but an insight into Marcus's heart as well.

Characters may dress differently for the same event, telling volumes about their intentions.

Foto: Divulgação/Netflix 

Contrast for the Win

Another example is how Netflix' Lucifer situates all the ensemble cast in the same workspace, an LA precinct, but each of them wears very different costumes. From human souls to angels to demons and the Devil himself, their get-up offers a view into the characters' goals, desires and means to achieve them. 

So writers, be sure you are giving your characters the style that most brings the story to life, and readers, I would love to hear your favorite costumes, from books or films. Costume design is, after all, one of the Academy Awards, an essential part of storytelling.

* * *

Posts in the 'More Than Meets the Eye' Series

Book Titles

The End

Backstory

Environment

Styling Characters

Desire

***

Kim Falconer, currently writing as A K Wilder, has released Crown of Bones, a YA Epic Fantasy with Curse of Shadows as book 2 in the series. Currently, she is working on the third out in 2024

Kim can be found on  AKWilder Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. 

Throw the bones, read your horoscopes or Raise Your Phantom on the AKWilder.com site 

Book Titles

Another in the More than meets the eye series...

Rabelais présente Gargantua - Wikimedia Commons

Francois Rabelais, a 16th Century writer, cautioned against reading too much into a title. He said, [A book’s] title is usually received with mocking laughter and jokes. But it's wrong to be so superficial when you're weighing [a writer's] work in the balance.’ Good advice, especially nowadays when titles sell books. It pays to consider them carefully. 

But if that's true why are there so many weird titles? 

We can agree that the purpose of the title is to attract, intrigue and compel potential readers to pick up the book and buy it. It’s the headline, the very first sentence and it needs to hook the reader. That said, it can't be clickbait where the title has nothing to do with the story. Titles want to sound good—to roll off the tongue—but not be overly predictable or clichéd. 

A good title can have double meanings, though it’s best to be careful there. For example, Mouse Work’s 1995 title, Cooking with Pooh is questionable. Catchy can work, like Big Boom’s If You Want Closure in Your Relationship, Start with Your Legs but that’s not quite the style speculative fiction readers are drawn to.

Other Considerations

 Now A Place of Magic

Titles have to fit on the book cover. I’m not sure how Crown got Charlatan: America's Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam squeezed together with the author, Pope Brock, and a billygoat (I’m serious - check the image!) but they did. 

There are definitely rules to follow for selecting titles. Some writers ignore them, to their great success: 

Rule one—don’t use a proper name in the title. Like, um, Harry Potter? 

Rule two—don’t use words like Bane, Barbarian, Bard, Battle, Book, or Crystal. Like Jenifer Fallon’s bestselling Chaos Crystal? 

Rule three—don’t use adjective-noun titles. Like Sara Douglass’ bestselling Twisted Citadel? 

Rule four—don’t use needless complexity. Like, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? As in, the bestselling SF by Philip K. Dick! I will admit that Blade Runner works better for the big screen.

Rules aside, there is a website where you can put your title to the test. This program generates the odds a title has of becoming a bestseller. If it’s accurate, my book #3 in the Amassia Series will sell a zillion copies! However the Da Vinci Code shows only a l4.6% chance of being a bestseller, so maybe take it with a grain of salt. 

The Working Title w/t

Working Titles (w/t) are often named organically, like pets. Book #1 of my Quantum Enchantment Series, The Spell of Rosette was just ‘Rosette’ for years. She got ‘The Spell’ as the story matured. Book #2, Arrows of Time was eventually named for the narrative structure, but for the first year of edits it was called The Winged Lion. A little bit like George Orwells book first called The Last Man in Europe. 1984 does have a better ring. More recently, Crown of Bones's w/t was Phantoms of Aku before that was nixed.

The bottom line is, no matter what you name your book as you write it, the publisher, you or marketing will likely give it another twist. For example, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter was firsts The Mute. Prometheus Unbound became Frankenstein. Catch 22 was first, wait for it, Catch 18. Treasure Island's w/t was The Sea Cook, and Gone with the Wind was Tomorrow is Another day. 

I asked my author friends to chime in on their title experiences and Merrie Defestano told me about one of her amazing novels. It's the one featuring Maddie MacFaddin (“Mad Mac” to fans of her bestselling magical stories). Maddie spent a blissful childhood summer in Ticonderoga Falls and that's where she wants to be when her adult life is falling apart... But is it really all so safe?

This title was first published by HarperVouyger as Feast - Harvest of Dreams, (see image above) but the latest edition is a revisioning of the story titled A Place of Magic released through Ruby Slipper Press. If you read the first paragraph, you will not be able to put it down. I promise!

Another author friend, Zena Shapter, has a title coming out in May
called When Dark Roots Hunt, but that was not always the book's name. Originally it was called Ruin of Shade. 

When I asked her why the change she said, "I decided the title was too abstract for readers without first knowing the world. I also then changed some terminology in the book to make it more accessible for readers. In comparison, the title ‘When Dark Roots Hunt’ both evokes the book’s exotic ‘other’ world, and hints at the action and menace to come..."

I love it, and totally agree! It's a fantastic read you'll hear more about soon.

Does anyone have a good ‘title story’ to tell? Is there one that particularly compels or repulses?  Comments welcome!

xxKim

Posts in the 'More Than Meets the Eye' Series

Book Titles

The End

Backstory

Environment

Styling Characters

Desire

***

Kim Falconer, currently writing as A K Wilder, has released Crown of Bones, a YA Epic Fantasy with Curse of Shadows as book 2 in the series.

Kim can be found on  AKWilder Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. 

Throw the bones, read your horoscopes or Raise Your Phantom on the AKWilder.com site 

 

The End - More Than Meets the Eye

More than meets the eye...

Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016) Wallpaper

Some of you may realize that we are approaching the end of an era: Pluto transiting in the sign of Capricorn. In a few short weeks, the most distant planet in our solar system (in astrology, Pluto is very much considered one of the major planets) will transit into the sign of Aquarius for the first time in 245 years. We can say, it's the end of an era, but in truth, it is the beginning of a new one. Just like in all stories, the end marks a fresh start. It's something to celebrate!

Welcome to the first in the 2023 series - More Than Meets the Eye

Over the course of the year, I will explore how this above statement may be true in fiction, through characters' motives and expectations, plot twists, styles and genres, writing and publishing trends, deeper psychological treasures buried within books we love and today, a look under the surface of endings.

I hope you will join me on this journey of discovery wherever it might lead.

Endings or Beginnings?

Some of these ideas and examples are taken from my 2018 post titled The End is Near.

Endings can be more than meets the eye, for multiple reasons. They have to measure up to a certain level of expectation for the genre or be criticized if they do not. They also need some level of acceptance and appreciation if the book is to be remembered in a positive light. You'd think that after 400 + pages of story, readers would consider the whole experience, but no. They walk away from the book, (TV series, play or movie,) thinking of those last moments constituting the end. They might be left pondering, cheering, crying or sneering, but The End is what often sticks with us.

For an author, a good ending means readers feel satisfied, even if profoundly sad or disturbed. They hope that they will talk about the book, passing on its intrigue by word of mouth. 

A bad ending is one where readers feel cheated, let down or worse, unmoved. They don't talk about the book or lend it to a friend. They don't even bother to throw it at the wall. It's that much of a non-event.

What Makes a Good Ending?

Feelings. Emotions. Whether comedic, tragic or fantastic, the ending needs to make readers feel. It can come out of left field at the time, but there has to be, on reflection, a sense of logic, of possibility. Good authors will seed the ending in ways readers won't see coming but later they find it makes sense. That is the perfect 'more than meets the eye' ending.

Which Kind?

There are many types of endings and some of them are tethered to a genre. Romance novels, paranormal or otherwise, have a HEA (happy ever after). Thrillers require an unsettling twist (Gone Girl). Fantasy may end with everyone receiving a medal (Star Wars) or with the goal reached, but with varying degrees of fallout (LOTR).

YA Lit is changing the rules. In the past, 'happy and optimistic' endings were considered the norm. Yet, the most important ingredient in a good ending is its honesty. It may come as a shock, but it needs to ring true to the story. I remember being disturbed by the ending in The Forest of Hands and Teeth. I didn't like it, but it felt right. 

An Eclectic Group of Endings 

Some endings lines summarize; others stun. Some come full circle. Some hang us off a cliff until the next in the series; others leave us guessing. Here's a mix of some of my favourites.

"Then she bade the white horse take her through the door, leaving the snow to close in behind them and winter to obliterate any trace of her passing. - The Heir of Night, Helen Lowe

"Later on he will understand how some men so loved her, that they did dare much for her sake." - Dracula, Bram Stoker

"He was soon borne away by the waves and lost in darkness and distance." - Frankenstein, Mary Shelley

"Are there any questions?" - The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood

"She looked down and for an instant it seemed she held a ragged teddy, torn and chewed with one button eye missing, but when she blinked she saw it was only Teg’s fingers laced in her own." - Journey by Night, Kim Falconer

"She opened the door wide and let him into her life again." - The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, Stieg Larsson

She closes her eyes again and I begin to sing softly:
'''V'la l'bon vent, v'la l'joli vent
V'la l'bon vent, ma mie m'appelle.'''
Hoping that this time it will remain a lullaby. That this time the wind will not hear. That this time - please just this once - it will leave without us." - Chocolat, Joanne Harris

"And then we continued blissfully into this small but perfect piece of our forever." - Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyer

"When they finally did dare it, at first with stolen glances then candid ones, they had to smile. They were uncommonly proud. For the first time they had done something out of Love." - Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, Patrick Süskind

"Hector turns and sees me and the world around us disappears. - The November Girl, Lydia Kang

How about you? I'd love to hear your most liked, or disliked endings.

xxKim

Posts in the 'More Than Meets the Eye' Series

Book Titles

The End

Backstory

Environment

Styling Characters

Desire

***

Kim Falconer, currently writing as A K Wilder, has released Crown of Bones, a YA Epic Fantasy with Curse of Shadows as book 2 in the series.

Kim can be found on  AKWilder Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. 

Throw the bones, read your horoscopes or Raise Your Phantom on the AKWilder.com site