Sometimes our writing is too sentimental, which means we tell a reader what to think and feel about our story; the writer does not trust readers to observe and to understand on their own. Essentially, the writer has forgotten how to dance with the reader and ends up dancing upon the reader.
I have definitely shared stories with friends who profess a yearning with my fiction. They want me to spoon feed them every conclusion to every thought, and wrap up the story with a nice clean bow. They want me to explain to them what to think. Perhaps they were conditioned to rely on the writer to do the thinking for them? Frankly, I prefer to test a reader’s capacity, and to release control. If you don’t get it, then you don’t get it. That does not mean no one gets it. My people will get it. My faithful readers will completely understand.
I prefer to make readers think about a story, an ambiguous ending, or a fractured dialogue, even if it leaves readers a bit uncertain. These are the moments when a reader will spend possibly years wondering what that line meant. I recall in the film, “Dirty Dancing,” Jennifer Grey had glanced back for a long silent mutual stare with Patrick Swayze; they were softly smiling. Nothing was said. Then they parted ways. I never got what it meant until I was much older. Years later, I realized that they both knew that they were in love. They knew they could trust each other. Neither one had to say it with words.
It is not until readers have more life experience that they can make sense of these confusing moments. This is precisely why some English teachers can be so useful; they simply understand more due to spending much more time on the earth.
Writers want to name the details and relay the conversations of the story, and trust our readers to come to their own conclusions. A reader’s empathy will kick in, and they will feel what the characters feel. The experience naturally becomes universal and relatable. A strong reader will know when something vague was intentional, meaningful, and noteworthy. Different perspectives from our readers only allows for interesting conversation, and Voila`! A Book Club is born!
