Imagine this:
You are standing in a white room.
The lighting is warm and soft. The temperature is perfect. It’s comfortable here. Safe.
Then…
You notice a streak trickling from the top of the wall.
It’s red.
That’s not supposed to be here, you think. This is the safe place.
The crimson trickle is joined by another 2 inches right. They slither down the wall, slicing your perfect white landscape.
You cautiously put your fingers to it. It’s not water, you realize instantly. UGH! The red stuff is reluctant to come off. When you finally do free your fingers, a stain remains.
You take 2 steps back, and pull your other hand up to cover your nose.
Does this stuff… Smell? It does. Sulfer
The trickle has become a steady drip. Streaks of red join together to become a waterfall. It’s thicker now. Less a slither. More a creep. An ooze. The blood of some ungodly creature.
The stream does not get wider, but it continues to pour. Though it only takes up a portion of your previously perfect white room, you have only one thought.
“Get that OUT of here”
For writers, the white room is their big idea.
The bold red strip is the opposing idea.
In order to stand behind your work, we need to see and feel your villain. Your antagonist. Your devil.
Context doesn’t matter. We just need to know evil is here, and it must be eradicated.
Many writers ignore the stark drama of white and red, good and evil. It’s more attractive to give the book “broad appeal,” pissing off nobody. The goal is to make the writing safe and secure. After all, you don’t want to hurt SALES do you??
Ironically, a “safe” book results in a milquetoast reaction from the market. Milquetoast reactions aren’t something to tell you friends about. When readers don’t tell their friends… well, you’ve got a dead idea, don’t you?
In order to make your idea “hit” harder, we need to know what it stands AGAINST. We need to hear it at the beginning. We need to hear it before page 5 of a book and before word 2 50 of a blog post.
A few examples of the “big red streak” to inspire you:
Yancey Strickler is one of the internet “nice guys.” He co-founded Kickstarter and now leads a harmonious metalabel (a publishing company that shares benefits with its contributors). Strickler wrote a book about an optimistic view of the future. Early in the book, he explains his “big red streak” clearly:
“Today the world is dominated by an idea I call "financial maximization." The belief that in any decision, the right choice is whichever option makes the most money.
We recognize that there are many valuable things in life… but we allow just one value, money, to dominate everything else.
Our potential for a more generous, moral, or fair society is limited by the dominance of money as the be-all and end-all.”
Notice the repetition of the word “dominance.” This is the problem. Not money, but the dominance of money.
Next example, from philosopher Soetsu Yanagi. This guy dedicated most of his life to comment on, literally, arts and crafts.
Wouldn’t speak a bad word about anyone, right?
Wrong.
“Look at the machine-made objects that inundate our lives in recent years, which have fallen victim to commercialism and the profit motive, usefulness shunted aside…
There are many that are nothing more than frauds and fakes…verging on the enfeebled and morally corrupt.”
For context, this dude is talking about cups and plates.
Still, his “big red streak” is still clear and shining.
Last example, from sweet Susan Cain, quiet champion of introverts.
This one from the book Quiet:
“It makes sense that so many introverts hide even from themselves.
We live with a value system that I call the Extrovert Ideal--the omnipresent belief that the ideal self is gregarious, alpha, and comfortable in the spotlight…
We like to think that we value individuality, but all too often we admire one type of individual--the kind who's comfortable "putting himself out there."
Sure, we allow technologically gifted loners who launch companies in garages to have any personality they please, but they are the exceptions, not the rule, and our tolerance extends mainly to those who get fabulously wealthy or hold the promise of doing so.”
I would have dialed up the direct sassiness in that last sentence, but still, the “big red streak” is clear:
“You know that bully from high school? He runs the world. Doesn’t that suck?
Read the rest of this book to beat him.”
A quick summary that might help to write down and post on your computer:
We don’t care what you stand for unless we know what you stand against.
P.S.
I’m hosting a free session tomorrow called “How to Inject Emotion and Drama Into Your Writing.”
One topic is how we make the “bad guys” of our world seem extra bad.
Starts in about 9 hours.
Grab a spot by clicking right here.
Much love as always <3
-Todd B from Tennessee