With Au Jus Sauce

Quite possibly the dumbest thing you can hear in a restaurant is a server saying that a sandwich comes "with au jus sauce". The problem here is that "au jus" literally means "with juice". So, to say that something comes "with au jus sauce" means that it comes "with with juice sauce", which is quite possibly one of the least appetizing things you can hear to describe a sandwich.

The major issue here is ignorance. People hear the term over and over again, but the only have a vague idea what it actually means. So eventually, somebody uses it incorrectly, but as long as an authority claims it, and it sounds kinda right, everyone goes along with it. And then you have "with with juice sauce".

I recognize that language is about communication. I know that as long as everybody knows what you're talking about, you're not really doing it wrong. But still, at least try out this exercise: when you try to use any word, try to explain what it means. Any word you can't explain, look it up in a dictionary. The same with words and phrases in other languages, too.

Spelling Out The Plot

I saw the World War Z movie with my mom. Without making this post into a movie review, I want to mention one thing it did. Movies in general have the awesome power to achieve the most classic advice: "show, don't tell". World War Z had a several great scenes where they did just that; something important happened, but you only knew it was important because you were paying attention to what had been said and done and shown earlier.

What annoyed me to no end was that as soon as they showed, they had an immediate scene where they told. Nothing was subtle. Nothing was cerebral. You simply do not need to see the movie twice because there is nothing new to pick up on a second viewing. Anything you didn't catch right away would be explained again very clearly in the next two minutes.

Is spelling out the plot like that a bad thing? Most people would say yes. It dumbs down the story, wastes time, and disrupts the pacing. But people who say that tend to be high brow critics. Summer blockbusters aren't high brow art, though. It isn't meant to be philosophical change lives. It's meant to entertain you, which you pay money to experience.

A movie that can't be understood by its intended audience is a bad movie. So when your intended audience isn't high brow art critics, maybe it isn't such a bad thing to spell out the plot.

This really goes to show how important it is to know which people you want reading or watching your story. It can deeply change how you tell that story. And to authors that don't like changing how they tell their stories, know that your style will attract some and turn others away. It is simply human nature.

Suspense Is Personal Torture

The idea behind suspense is that the audience is given an incomplete picture and is promised that they will be rewarded with the whole thing just by sticking around to the end. Suspense is exciting in its anticipation. You know you're getting a present. All you have to do is wait.

So we have to ask the question: why do people like suspense? There are pretty much two answers here. One is that people enjoy the intensity while waiting to discover the reveal. The other is that people enjoy the release when the big reveal occurs; at last, the picture is complete and all is right with the world.

Both answers are equally valid, but both are equally troubling, too. Those who like the intensity still need the release, and those who like the release need the tension to power it. So no matter which part a person enjoys, they need both parts to truly enjoy suspense.

What is strange to me is that people who enjoy suspense (both in general and as a genre), live in their own purgatory. They want story elements withheld, on purpose, just to agonize over when they will be revealed. No matter how good it may be, either the intensity or the release, it still sounds like a drug to me (and a bit like masochism, too).

Still, I know that some people enjoy the torture. So let them have what they like. As long as they enjoy your suspense, it means you must be doing something right.

Do Old Things In New Ways

I shaved in the shower today. It may not seem like a big deal, and in reality, it largely wasn't. But consider this: I normally shave over the sink. I've shaved over the sink since high school. I used to have in the shower back in high school, but that was pre-beard and pre-balding. That was also a decade ago. 

I have been thinking about trying a shave in the shower recently, and at last, I did it tonight. It was a little strange; many minor things I never think about had changed, like not having a mirror and not using the faucet to rinse the razor. Still, it was an interesting experience and I don't regret it. 

I realize, when thinking about it, that I do the same with writing. I need variety. I need to write in changing locations at changing hours and durations. It prevents mental stagnation. 

Some people do best with a rigid regiment. I do best when I do common things in new ways. As always, try both sides out and pick what works best. It's an individual thing. 

There Is No Right Path

Years and years ago, I was very upset with where I was. I thought I chose the wrong college, met the wrong people, that I was not going down the path I was supposed to. But I was stuck on this path, so I had to press on.

Over time, I noticed that I had grown up a lot. I'd become more personable, more social, had great conversations with cool people, and became vastly better at writing. And with that understanding, I started to think I had been on the right path all along.

But there came a day when I looked back at my college experience and I realized that, no matter where I had gone or what I had chosen to pursue, I would have grown up, met cool people, and become amazing at the study I chose.

In reality, there was no "right path". There was only the path I chose and all the paths I might have chosen.

This sometimes paralyzes me when I'm writing. Just like me, my characters could do absolutely anything. How do I choose what they actually do? Is it what they "should" do? What would that even be? I really don't know and I can't write another word (which is totally one way to understand writer's block).

Much like my own experiences, I have to trust that there is no "right" path, not even with my characters, not even in the story I am making up on purpose. Sometimes I simply have to throw them down a path and see what happens. Paths that make me cringe I do over. Paths that make me proud I keep. The one nice thing about prose as opposed to the real world is that I get as many do-overs as I need.

Jumping To Conclusions

I was having a good laugh today by talking about the '60s Batman movie. In it, Batman ends up with the weakest reasons imaginable in determining which villains are at work. He determines the Riddler because by piecing together all the other clues, he says that it seems like a puzzle to solve, so the Riddler must be involved.

Truly, this scene is so ridiculous that the only response is laughter. There is no evidence. There is no motive. There is nothing that remotely comes close to a good reason to suspect the Riddler. Even though Batman is right, he has no right to make the claim. He jumped to the conclusion.

Jumping to conclusions is exactly what it sounds like. People have a puzzle/problem to solve and they skip the evidence part and just jump to a conclusion. They have nothing but a hunch to go on at best. They might as well be using a random number generator.

The shocking thing is how common it is to storytelling. The surest sign that you have a horrendous mystery writer is that characters jump to conclusions and are right (or, at least, usually right). It means the author painted themselves into a corner and didn't know how to get out. It means that, rather than solving a mystery, they just gave a premise and then broke through it.

Don't let characters jump to conclusions. Smart characters are observant and keen. They put clues together, but the clues have to be there to see. Give us some clues to play with and let the character be smart enough to solve it. Otherwise it's a cheap thrill at best and terrible writing at worst.

Don't Reject Knowledge

When I was younger, I reached a point where I thought I knew everything. (I hear it is pretty common amongst children and teens, actually.) Every time people told me something, I already knew it. And when they said things that I didn't agree with, they were wrong.

It was a long time, probably about a decade, until my eyes started opening up again. I spent so many years in my own head. Nobody else mattered, especially when they didn't agree with me. In a sense, my growth is stunted because I wasn't learning over all that time.

I understand now that we must learn as much as we possibly can. Learn all the absolute truths you can. Then learn relative truths. Then learn opinions. Learn as many opinions as you can, and all the worldviews that create those opinions.

Don't reject knowledge. Knowledge IS power. The more you collect, the better you will be at anything and everything you ever do.