the craft. digital lives, real characters
In a previous newsletter, I mentioned Tayari Jones’ choice in An American Marriage to have letters as the main mode of communication for her characters even though it was a contemporary story. It helped that Roy was imprisoned, but we know even the prison system has upgraded means of communication in many ways. However, she found a way to make it work.
All of us who are interested in writing contemporary stories will be challenged with these choices in our work. No one is calling a landline, it’s likely that a new crush is texting instead of calling, and many of us still spend pointless hours scrolling through social media. But these things don’t always make for an interesting story. Stories need action.
The good news is that it’s the job of the writer to find ways to intertwine both the virtual and physical world for their characters. Here are a few things to consider when trying to weave these two worlds together in your fiction writing:
How the virtual world spills into the real (fictional) world.
I wrote Good Morning, Love in 2017, in the pre-Elon era of Twitter when it was still a place that people connected. It’s also my favorite platform, because, hello? Writer. But … It has also been a place where regular people and celebrities often intersect. Tau follows Carli on Twitter. So when he shows up to her show later in the book, it’s because she quite literally tweeted about it. This virtual aspect of the story then manifested itself into action. At another point in the book, when she doesn’t hear from Tau in her reality, she checks his timeline for clues.
The psychological impact of maintaining multiple identities.
Outwardly, Carli is nervous about putting herself out there, but she knows that’s what she has to do in order to be successful in her craft. We see in the book how she’s apprehensive to post about the show, but does it anyway. While she is timid in this area of her life, she is much more assertive and put together in her work at Garter. How does your character show up in their virtual world versus in their reality?
The specific virtual platforms/spaces the character inhibits.
Is your character a huge gamer? Maybe that’s a point of connection if two characters are falling in love. Is your character addicted to TikTok videos? Maybe they’re trying to save it from the ban. Who knows? The thing about it is, whoever you are making this person up to be, they will have certain platforms that make sense within their character arc. Carli was a writer, as a writer, we used to love Twitter. Again, pre-Musk. 😕
There are a lot of ways to utilize the digital world in a way that still develops and grows your character because that’s what it’s all about right? Maybe they’re short in text messages which is misleading to how they feel about the love interest. Maybe they refuse to engage at all in the digital world which makes a point of contention. Whatever it is, use it, to help tell the story.
In my humble opinion, these digital moments that are bound to happen are like a little seasoning. Yes, as the writer, we want to ground you in the reality of the time, but we also don’t want to take you too far out of the real life action within the story. Too much seasoning does not make for a good time for anyone, so I think it’s being conscious of small things like how long a text exchange may go on. Or how much gaming jargon you add. Of course, that’s if your book is not totally centered around these types of technologies. (ah-hem, Eric Smith’s Don’t Read the Comments).
The other reality here is that you do also have the option to skip it, but you should be able to justify why for the reader. Listen, I was drafting in 2020 and I refused to write a story that was centered in the pandemic. I did not want to have to go through the intricacies of masking, etc. So I skipped right over that timing into the future. LOL. You don’t have to be beholden to everything that’s happening in the current moment in order to remain a contemporary writer.
How are you finding ways to balance the digital and real lives of your characters?
Harpers Collins Canada is hiring a Sales Representative. Sales responsibilities and territory management for Eastern Ontario, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada representing all imprints; Harper Canada, Harper US, Harper UK, HCCP, Harlequin and Usborne.This is a remote position.
Shenandoah Literary Magazine is opening to submissions on Jan. 15th and will only accept 800 submissions. The open submissions window in January 2025 will be considered by Editorial Fellow Anes Ahmed for our December 2025 issue.
To honor the life and enduring legacy of beloved novelist Cai Emmons, who published three novels through Red Hen Press (Weather Woman, Sinking Islands, and Livid) and who passed away with dignity on January 2, 2023 after a hard-fought battle with ALS, Red Hen Press is proud to announce the Cai Emmons Fiction Award. They are looking for a fresh and original story of fiction with a minimum of 150 pages. The awarded fiction manuscript is selected through an annual submission process which is open to all authors.
