To Storm or Not to Storm

The news this morning is all about Hurricane Sandy.  There are maps and figures, sound bites and dramatic footage.  Mostly there are a lot of predictions about what is likely to happen.  Add the ordinary person to the picture, and you will find the unworried, "I'll ride out the storm" to the well prepared, "I'm playing it safe and leaving with my kids," or "We've bought our water and our batteries, and we hope we'll be okay."  

I have mixed hopes for the next few days.  I truly hope that people are safe and that there is no loss of life.  I hope that people don't lose their homes and especially their memories.  I hope the storm is not as bad as they are predicting.

But part of me hopes the storm is exactly as bad as predicted.  (Don't judge me yet, hear me out.)  It is not, as you may think, a "rubber neck" response.  You know, how we all want to see the accident when we pass by.  Just how mangled were the cars?  No, it's not that at all for me.  My hopes for this storm are much more long term.  If this storm is as bad as it is being forecast, people will learn to take the warnings seriously.  Many already do.  But there are those that think it's just "calling wolf."  And if the storm doesn't deliver, next time more won't take it seriously.  One of these days, if that keeps happening, loss of life will be much worse than need be because too many people stayed in harm's way, causing damage to themselves and also their would-be rescuers.

For this same reason, I don't like it when media become alarmists and make dire predictions that just aren't realistic.  We have lived in areas where some local TV stations loved to put the scare on.  I believe that is more harmful than helpful.  In our current area we commonly have tornado warnings, but we also have a weather person who explains calmly and without panic.  She firmly warns when needed, and educates to diminish fears.  She is just who you want in your corner.

She is exactly who you don't want in your books.  If you are writing (or reading) a book of suspense, who wants to be calmed down?  Don't you want to be jacked up, sitting on the edge of your seat?  In books we want "storms" to be as bad, probably worse, than anticipated.  Readers should take writer's threats seriously!  If a book is anticlimactic will you read that author again?  I think not.   If a story "appears" anticlimactic, but then holds a surprise around the corner, then all is probably forgiven.

You may or may not agree with my concerns about Hurricane Sandy, but it's probably safe to say that in a work of fiction it's okay for things to be bad for awhile.  There is no risk to "real" human life, no "real" memories are being disheveled.  I suppose that's why I like writing fiction.  I can pick any ending I want, and any pathway to get there.

In all sincerity, may everyone out there in the "real" world be safe today and in the coming week.