Sunday Musing

I was thinking about the things I miss from my younger days and the 26 episode seasons of TV shows popped into my mind. Yes, can you believe it? Every new show had 26 episodes! You got to know the characters, learned how they ticked, where they were vulnerable; you became almost intimate with them. I miss that.

I don't watch new shows anymore. Why bother watching a show that you suspect is going to disappear after only one, two or three episodes? Most of the time, I wait for the shows that succeed to air on the cable networks - then I get to know them.

I think that's one of the reasons people don't like flash fiction. It's there, then poof, gone. Nothing or no one to invest your time in. Some readers look at short stories in the same way. But with shorts, you've got the option of using a few words to endear your characters to the readers, a paragraph or two to make them real. You have the option, when you write, to make the reader care about what happens to your character. And as a writer, that's what you want. To make the reader care enough to keep reading.

And, of course, I have a link. Over at the Mystery File blog there's a 2007 essay about character versus plot in detective fiction written by Bill Pronzini. http://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=2078 The only thing a writer actually has any control over in this business is the story. You can make it plot driven or character driven but, either way, you ultimately have to make the reader care enough about the story to keep them reading.