My favorite thing about crime fiction is that it's a genre where the majority of characters are centered around self preservation. The number one priority is to walk out of this situation with the upper hand, or at the very least -- alive.
There are certainly characters who are bound to duty, ideology, and what-have-you, but one thing crime fiction really captures is the primal sense of self-preservation at the center of each human. If confronted with a gunman, most people would give up any loyalty or ideological bent, and do/say whatever it takes to walk out of that room alive. (Better yet if you can find a way to procure means of future survival -- i.e., money for food and shelter.) People who will actually die for loyalty and ideas are few and far between.
And to tie this back into the article, all crime fiction deals with liars to some extent. People lying to cover their asses, or cover the ass of someone they care about. Especially if life or money is on the line, you're better off assuming characters in crime fiction are lying. Everybody has something to hide, after all.
Love it. Thanks for this, James. I think it was Saunders who said what he does is take a character and applies pressure. So yeah, it is totally about what you do when gun is pointed at you... then your true character comes forth.
I see this in literary fiction, too. But something about those crime stories... like, what would you do if man-eating tigers were let loose on a boat?!!
Of course! Also, talking about Justified again, that's a show that really captures this essence -- especially in the fourth season, where they more or less ditch the "villain of the week" format and go with more paranoid backstabbing.
Just your weekly reminder to watch the rest of that show, haha!
I wouldn't say we (writer/characters) are lying, per se. It's more "make believe" and when you do that, the line between true and untrue gets very fuzzy.
The bedrock of story is truth, but it's often a singular kind of truth that's hard to grasp without the context of a story to make it accessible. How does loneliness twist the soul? How does love drive us to do the unthinkable (both good and evil)? How does obsession create our inner monsters?
These can be DECONSTRUCTED by psychology or philosophy or just a drunken night around a fire. But to truly UNDERSTAND them, we have to go on a journey and stand witness to them. The story is the fiction, but the truth is the truth.
By the way, this is also why the same truth can be told again and again and again in every genre and what we witness are the different aspects of the journey that may or may not matter depending on the circumstances. It is how outcomes often dance on a knife edge and can fall on the horrific and heroic with equal likelihood.
I am most interested in how these insights will affect your future writing. from the Sayulita Sucker excerpts I've seen you've upped the ante. There must be an underlining Truth or I find myself not caring about the characters or their situation. It is what keeps me thinking about a character long after I've returned the book to the shelf. Truth and reader inclusion.
My favorite thing about crime fiction is that it's a genre where the majority of characters are centered around self preservation. The number one priority is to walk out of this situation with the upper hand, or at the very least -- alive.
There are certainly characters who are bound to duty, ideology, and what-have-you, but one thing crime fiction really captures is the primal sense of self-preservation at the center of each human. If confronted with a gunman, most people would give up any loyalty or ideological bent, and do/say whatever it takes to walk out of that room alive. (Better yet if you can find a way to procure means of future survival -- i.e., money for food and shelter.) People who will actually die for loyalty and ideas are few and far between.
And to tie this back into the article, all crime fiction deals with liars to some extent. People lying to cover their asses, or cover the ass of someone they care about. Especially if life or money is on the line, you're better off assuming characters in crime fiction are lying. Everybody has something to hide, after all.
Love it. Thanks for this, James. I think it was Saunders who said what he does is take a character and applies pressure. So yeah, it is totally about what you do when gun is pointed at you... then your true character comes forth.
I see this in literary fiction, too. But something about those crime stories... like, what would you do if man-eating tigers were let loose on a boat?!!
Thanks for reading!
Of course! Also, talking about Justified again, that's a show that really captures this essence -- especially in the fourth season, where they more or less ditch the "villain of the week" format and go with more paranoid backstabbing.
Just your weekly reminder to watch the rest of that show, haha!
Dammit! Yes, I need to!!!
I wouldn't say we (writer/characters) are lying, per se. It's more "make believe" and when you do that, the line between true and untrue gets very fuzzy.
The bedrock of story is truth, but it's often a singular kind of truth that's hard to grasp without the context of a story to make it accessible. How does loneliness twist the soul? How does love drive us to do the unthinkable (both good and evil)? How does obsession create our inner monsters?
These can be DECONSTRUCTED by psychology or philosophy or just a drunken night around a fire. But to truly UNDERSTAND them, we have to go on a journey and stand witness to them. The story is the fiction, but the truth is the truth.
By the way, this is also why the same truth can be told again and again and again in every genre and what we witness are the different aspects of the journey that may or may not matter depending on the circumstances. It is how outcomes often dance on a knife edge and can fall on the horrific and heroic with equal likelihood.
Keep it up, my friend.
I am most interested in how these insights will affect your future writing. from the Sayulita Sucker excerpts I've seen you've upped the ante. There must be an underlining Truth or I find myself not caring about the characters or their situation. It is what keeps me thinking about a character long after I've returned the book to the shelf. Truth and reader inclusion.