The Bent Page

For the most part, I’ve talked about big structures and natural phenomena as they relate to creating atmosphere. This time I’d like to go indoors for just a minute. Here is a photo of a corridor in the place where I stay in Madrid, Spain.

 The warm yellow light may make this hallway feel inviting. Or, perhaps the narrowness of it is claustrophobic. It’s up to the novelist to bring out these traits. Put two or three people in this space and they’re bound to collide, figuratively and literally. There might be whispered secrets, or looks exchanged, or the presence of one or the other ignored.

I like to put my characters into these situations. They have no excuse but to act and that action not only develops who they are but also drives the plot through which they are moving. At the same time, there has to be a reason for bringing them together. I don’t appreciate “luck” or “accidental” occurrences in fiction. Good characters have reasons for what they do. Putting them on a collision course means creating a situation where two or more will logically meet. For me, it has to be believable or at least likely that this will happen. If not, I’m jarred out of the story and find it hard to continue.

One of my favorite crime writers is James Ellroy. He creates the atmosphere of 1950’s Los Angeles, and the 1950’s and 60’s of the United States in general, like no other author I know. He has the diners, the movie-sets, the back rooms down like no one else. He also puts his characters in the path of history, up against odds that would be daunting to the toughest person you know. No matter, they evolve through the course of the story to become more than you would ever expect.

Do you have a favorite author who does this? Let me know.