The good host and the perfect guest

I have recently been taken in by a show on satellite TV here, on French channel M6. The show is called Un diner presque parfait, which translates to, A near perfect dinner. It runs for 5 days every week, in one specific region of France every week. 5 strangers, decided by the production crew, meet and invite each other for dinner every day. Each contestant is then judged by the remaining 4 guests on the food, the table decoration, and the ambiance of the dinner. The one with the highest average, wins.

Nothing complicated there, true. But what I like watching is the score sheets. Was the food actually related to what the menu proclaimed? Was there a theme to the food from appetizer, entree, main course and dessert? Was the theme respected in the decoration/layout of the table? Was the ambiance too in accordance with the theme? Did the host manage to wing it all together?

What my point, you may ask? Well, every story you write is akin to this near perfect dinner, and your readers are the numerous guests coming to sample your brand as a host.

T.J. stated on Tuesday that you need logic behind our mythology. What happens is that logic is primordial for paranormal mythology because you are stating about something that doesn't exactly exist and which needs to be conveyed to the reader. The same happens for fantasy (think Tolkien's world, setup, hierarchy) or urban fantasy (think Underworld, how the vamps and weres now exist in the world as we currently know it).

But, a big but here, is that logic doesn't simply apply to a world you are creating from scratch. Logic applies to every world you put across in your story.

Say for example, I am writing about present day London. London is vast, and the area of Walthamstow with it popular markets is very different from the classy areas of Belgravia or Hampstead Heath. How does logic play here? Well, the 'normal', everyday person goes grocery shopping, right? Asda, Tesco's - these are the common shops everyone goes to. But, an upscale snob will not go there. More like Harrod's for their shopping, even the basic stuff. So if you are writing about a modern day London snob who lives in Belgravia or Knightsbridge going out to pop into the nearby Asda that's just around the corner from the hottest spot of the area... Bleep!! That is not logical! A snob doesn't mingle with the commoners, and wouldn't be caught dead in a commoner's shop! Not to mention that such commoner's shops wouldn't be found in such areas normally.

Another example - you are writing a Regency historical. Your heroine is making her debut this Season, and the rogue hero has his eye on her from the minute she appears at her first ball. A waltz comes in, and he sweeps her into his arms and they twirl across the floor-- Bleep!! Wait a second, sugar. You don't dance a waltz so easily in Regency times, especially as a debutante. You need society's approval first, the voucher for Almack, and the old crones' permission to waltz, before you go waltzing. The easiest way to fall from grace would be to dance the waltz before getting this approval.
Here, the logic of the time applies. What makes sense to us today need not apply to a different era.

Now, back to out near-perfect dinner comparison. You write about either of the two scenarios above, and your 'guests' bring out the score cards (reviews, sales figures, word of mouth). You will not be in line with your theme in the Regency setting, the same kind of faux-pas of presenting red wine with fish and, on top, the red wine is chilled! With the London scenario, you strike the faux pas of your theme about, say, the richness of summer, but your table, with its red, green and white colors, striking as a festive table for Christmas.

Your genre is your theme, and from this theme, you present the dishes (your plot and story), the decoration (your setup, setting, your era's logic, your mythology), and your ambiance (your distinctive voice to bring it all together). Think logically around your theme, and it should all fall into place.

Any question, feel free to holler!

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural Romantic Fiction, With a Twist
Coming out October 2 - Light My World - Eirelander Publishing
Nolwynn Ardennes - the Promise of Fulfilment
Coming out in early 2010 - Storms in a Shot Glass - Eirelander Publishing

Aasiyah Qamar/Nolwynn Ardennes - Romance the world over
www.aasiyah-nolwynn.webs.com

Dimensions of the hero

Last week I spoke about the cultural hero, and what makes him and breaks him too in many cases.

This made think of another issue pertinent to heroes - the many dimensions involved in this word.

What am I getting at? Well, look at it this way.

What makes a hero?

In a mystery, he's the hero if he solves the puzzle.

In romance, he's the hero because he is a worthy man the heroine needs to fall in love with.

In fantasy, he's the leader, the one going for the quest.

In sci-fi, he is the commander.

All these men are heroes, but they are heroes in their own right.

Why? Because of the many dimensions of the hero.

We won't argue that there is a basic thing that makes a character a hero. He is inherently good, he gets the job done, he is worthy. Yes to all these.

But you cannot take this 'lumping' of characteristics, drop it in your ms and expect to have a hero.

This is where the archetypes play in (T.J's posts - archetypes, Creating a hero using archetypes, Back to basics: What breaks a hero) and where personalizing comes into play (Diana's post).

So now you've created a distinguishable hero for your ms. Good. Are you done yet? No.

A hero is 'different' for every genre. He 'looks like' something, 'acts' like something, 'thinks' like something depending on the genre of your story.

Let's take, for example, a mystery hero. A bloke you would've found in a Sidney Sheldon novel, for instance.

Looks - he can be gorgeous, average, non-descript. Every way he is, there is not much detail about his looks. You have a general idea but not a very clear picture. The hero here can be 'the kind of handsome man who has every woman sighing when he enters a room." We gather that he is handsome, but we don't know if he looks like Clive Owen, Daniel Craig, or Patrick Dempsey.

Behaviour - a mystery hero in a Sheldon book is often a man who isn't in the spotlight. He doesn't need to spotlight. He exists on a side fringe where you would probably not notice him without a second glance, and that too when you know what you're looking for.

Thinking - he is rational, logical, able to make deductions and has a terrific gut instinct. He needs all this to unravel the mystery.

Now, let's look at a romance hero.

Looks - he is usually handsome, and the more detail you give about his appearance, the better. Reading a romance, we know if he is tall or not so tall; dark or blond; square-jawed or not; well-shaved or sports a stubble; wears suits or jeans and a flannel shirt; whether his nose looks like Pierce Brosnan's nose or whether his voice resembles that of a crooner.

The reasoning here is - women need to fall in love with him. You cannot exactly fall in love with a man who could easily be mistaken with a hundred others in a crowd.

Behaviour - he is always honorable. He can be logical, rational, impulsive, headstrong, stubborn. He can do whatever he wants, as long as he can be redeemed/excused. He can be a show-off with a big heart, or he can be the loner who lives like a recluse. He is also a man who stands out of the crowd through his actions.

Thinking - he has the heroine's interest at heart. He wants to do right and do good. His motives are always pure. He can be a little warped (say he smokes like a chimney), but it's his heart that matters.

Am I saying that mystery heroes cannot make good romance heroes? No, and no for vice versa as well.

The point is, the same man has to be portrayed differently depending on the genre you are writing.

It's just like for an actor. The same actor can play 2 very different parts, but he will not be alike in the two movies. Think of John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever and John Travolta in Pulp Fiction. Same man, right? I'll leave it up to you to decide.

As always, I'd love to get your comments.

Aasiyah Qamar - Cultural romantic fiction, with a twist
With stories set amidst the rainbow nation of Mauritius, a multicultural island in the Southern Indian Ocean, author Aasiyah Qamar brings you tales of today's young women battling life on all fronts and finding love where they least expect it. Indo-Mauritian culture wants to stifle them in traditions, customs and antiquated morals while the world is opening its arms of modernity and globalisation. Where do these women belong? And more importantly, with whom?Find out more about her first release, The Other Side, here.