Shouts From Down Under

Writer's voice; must have speakers. Plot? No - CHARACTERS!

This may seem obvious, but for some of us, clarity only comes with time. (speaking for myself here)

http://cindydees.com/plot-is-not-story/

Here's an example

If I told you a bunch of farmers decided to help other farmers - who were caught in a record drought - by bringing them hay, you'd probably fall asleep in a few sentences.

But what if it was Bill, Charlie, Carl and Judy?

What if you knew their names, knew what they looked like, their mannerisms, their faults, their humour, their generosity?

What if you shook their hand, felt their farmers' callused hands? How about if you saw what they wore, heard them laughing, helped each one wash their trucks, load the hay, met their wives / partners, patted their dogs, met their children who'd just arrived home from a long bus trip out from town, where they go to school? What if they invited you to stay a few days, showed you a room and bed to sleep, fed you farmers tucker, protested when you offered to help wash up, and treated you as one of them? (This wouldn't be an impossible situation)

Take it up a notch.

What if you sat down and heard each ones stories?

Bill. He's 54.

His farm is say 150,000 acres. A small one by WA standards. Maybe he's not too far from Perth? I'm not that familiar with the land over there. But I know enough about farmers to guess what comes next.
See, his Grandparents, or Great Great Grandparents taught the younger generations to help each other, whatever their status in life, whatever their ethnicity, their religion, their opinion, situation. You help them, son. You take care of them, daughter.

Charlie. He's still living in his parent's house. He's 21 years old. Old enough to have a semi trailer licence. He's leaving behind his fiancée, to drive across the Nullabor Plain and deliver hay, an emergency supply for station owners who have stock desperately in need.
He'll be away for some time. To give you some idea how far he'll have to travel;

"The Nullarbor Plain stretches from Ceduna (SA) to Norseman (WA). The Eyre Highway is named after John Eyre - the 1st European to make the east-west crossing. Back then it took him 5 months. These days, it'll take you roughly 13.5 hours by car. The distance by road betweeen Adelaide and Perth is 2700km and The Nullarbor crossing is almost half the trip. The longest distance between fuel stops is 200km"

http://au.totaltravel.yahoo.com/listing/1045322/australia/sa/eyre/streakybay/ced...

Carl's wife died a fortnight ago, from cancer, and the last thing he feels like doing is driving long distance to help someone. But it's not called Farmers Across Borders for nothing.

https://www.facebook.com/hayfromwa

He's a young and fit 27 years old, but it's not because he's physically able that he'll go.
He'll do it, because he's someone who knows what it's like to battle droughts. He's seen stock with their rib cages sticking out, their hips looking like a picket fence garden gate, seen kangaroos mired in the mud. He's already a hardened jackeroo, knows the ways of the land, knows his strengths and weaknesses. He knows what it's like to weep and not care who sees. That's Carl.

Judy is a woman doing a man's job. She's 35. Her husband became a paraplegic 2 years ago from a quad bike accident. He rolled the bike down a slope. The bike didn't injure him. But a kangaroo did, kicking him within an inch of his life.
So Judy drives trucks. Normally she drives for the mines, a Road Train of side tippers. They are called a Multicombination now days, but she's taken holidays to drive a B double semi trailer carrying huge car sized round bales. Judy didn't think twice before volunteering for this safari of saving grace. Judy is a large woman. She's a woman doing a man's job. And her nickname (out of earshot of course) is Heavy Judy. (Heavy Duty)

That's a quick 2 minute description of four characters. These people don't exist, by the way. I made them up just now. But perhaps it gives an idea of the difference between plot and story. Bland facts, and people's lives behind the facts. Empathy. Loveable, growing friends of yours the more you read.

Plot; taking hay from WA to Queensland.

But the real narrative? The colour? The interest? The compulsion to read the story?

That's the characters.



Sparky