Saturday Discussion 19: The Paranormal Conundrum

My friend and I were recently talking about a book she'd just finished reading and how we both were a little disappointed with it. It wasn't a terrible novel but we expected more. We're both creative writers and when we talk books, we also talk craft. Where this led to was a discussion on what I like to call...

The Paranormal Conundrum (though in all honesty, it could be for more than paranormal)

What this is to me is, in a very broad sense, the hardest thing to get right when writing a book about something supernatural. The Paranormal Conundrum is the fact that the character is in a story about their life and something paranormal is happening to them. Which is really broad but I'm going to go into the meat and bones now so hang in there!

I hate when I hear someone complain about things being "way too obvious" and that they "can't believe the character didn't get the clue". The reason I hate this is because I feel like the reader didn't truly put themselves in the situation to gain the full prospective. As a reader, you know you are sitting down to read a book about someone else's life. But to the character in that book, it's their real life like we live everyday.

For instance, you are minding your own dang business one day and then some guy that sparkles in the sunlight appears and tells you he's a vampire. You're world is pretty much turned upside down by this because it doesn't happen in real life (and if it does, I want to know about it). As the main character in paranormal novel, the characters are in that exact same boat. They don't know they are in a paranormal novel. They only know that they go to school, put their pants on one leg at a time like everyone else and have a sister that steals their favorite hairbrush. If the author has done their job right then that's how it should be.

When the reader sits down with a paranormal novel, they know to expect something paranormal so it's so blaring obvious to us that new guy with the really hairy back is a werewolf because we're looking for that. But in my every day life, I don't go searching for werewolves among the crowd so my mind would automatically jump to Mr. Furry being a mooner. It's not the natural response. And if I did happen to every see a ghost or something, I'm going to deny, deny, deny. That's the natural response.So why should a character, who is suppose to be flesh and blood, do anything different?

Another thing about similar to this is when a character doesn't always make the right choices and people get angry with them. Again, if you apply this to real life then it makes so much since. How many times have you listened to a friend say something like "this girl at work is just really mean to me" and you give her/him good advice and they don't take it, instead doing something really dumb. It's because when you are actually stuck in the situation, the answer is almost never clear. So while a reader is on the outside looking it, it's very easy to pick the right answer (like with your friend) but if it's happening to you, well, you've got your feelings to deal with too.

That being said, there are definitely cases where The Paranormal Conundrum doesn't excuse things:

• After the character see said paranormal thing do something, well, paranormal and still refuses to believe them. I get really angry when a main character refuses to believe in the paranormal after witnessing several very clearly paranormal things.
• The character makes dumb choice while admitting there is a better option.
• The character makes the same dumb mistake over and over and over.

Here are a few books that I think handle this Paranormal Conundrum well:

Granted, this is with Shay but he still reacts well to the fact that Calla is a guardian. He sees proof of her guardianhood (I'm not sure what else to call it here) and instead of running and screaming, he rationalize it out and asks Calla about the parts her doesn't understand.

Normally, I'd call for the character to question things a bit more but I say, good for you Kat. She takes to the Stork society like a pro because it's happening to her and there is nothing she can do about it. She questions things as they come at her.

Grace accepts what Sam is with some questions but she doesn't refuse to believe in the paranormal even though she's a perfect rational girl.

 So that's my piece but I'd be interested to hear what you think about this topic!