You have probably heard variations of the 7-38-55 rule.
Effective communications is 7% verbal, 38% vocal signals and 55% body language.
Do those things recommended for all fiction, start with a change that any stranger would empathize with.
Well what about our little ole’ black globs of ink on white
paper?
Print isn’t as good as verbal because we can’t literally
hear print. So, let’s cut print communication down to 5% (at best) and suggest, for
writers, that they need to develop the other 95% using words to describe a mix of body language,
verbal signals, emotions and action and never, never simply tell the story from the beginning (mix in a lot of show).or you'll never get off the ground. How can you show the other
95% given a 5% medium? You can’t. At least not immediately. You’ll need a
stranger’s imagination and cooperation to start with. And.
Picture this: a stranger calls you and says blah, blah,
blah. You don’t know where he/she is coming from. You might even hang-up the
phone (as in closing the book forever) or suppose you get junk mail (worse).
Compare that to your best friend: she calls you and you practically breathe in
each other’s intent. You have a history.
Assume you are writing to a stranger and aren’t 99.9% of
your readers, strangers in the beginning?
You know they’re about to (hang up the phone), i.e. close
the book. I guarentee it. Put your foot in that door, point down at your new shoes, tell them
how your sweetheart has just jilted you, show them your pain. Hand them your
soul.Do those things recommended for all fiction, start with a change that any stranger would empathize with.
You’ve done your job, now you write the second book in a
series and suddenly there are readers out there that already identify with your
characters. They’re pre-sold. They’ll buy because your characters are like
their friends, the reader can breathe in their intent but you still need to
write for the new strangers.
As an example, at Christmas time, we hear so many songs, classics and the
not so good. Once in a while, somebody adds to the classics with a song strait
from the heart. It immediately catches with us strangers. We’re friends now,
because we want the same thing. We want to know she'll get her wish.
“All I Want for Christmas is You," by Mariah Carey, 1994
Interesting idea.But I don't know if I'm clever enough to tell a story with only 5% words.Or did I misunderstand? Have a Merry Christmas.
ReplyDeleteHi Phyllis,
ReplyDeleteNo, I meant 100% words, 5% effectiveness in communicating. Thanks, I've just made that more clear. BTW, you, as far as i can tell, are doing every thing right. You don't need my idea!
Bob