I had a dream last night. I don't always remember my dreams, but I woke up in the middle of this one so it stayed fresh in my mind. At one point in my dream we were at a summer camp and the director felt it his obligation to scare us in the middle of the night with skeletons and ghosts. I was somewhat disgusted and told him we didn't need the scare treatment.
Okay, so you're wondering where I'm going with this. It's quite simple really. In books we want suspense and surprises. I recently read an article that suggested when writing a book there should always be tension. This was coming from a screenwriter who knows what makes a good movie.
And it's true. We want books to spur us on to the next page. I have stopped reading boring books, but continued to read books that kept me guessing. I have even kept reading books I didn't really like just to find out what happened in the end.
However, I don't know of many people who want unending tension in their lives or constant surprises around every corner. I'm not sure why we think we are "escaping" into a book when so often it is not a life we would like. In fact, our boring lives may seem pretty good after reading about the stresses our fictional heroes are under. Maybe that's the point.
No comments:
Post a Comment