The Spec Fic Nerds Strike Back!
Two old Speculative Fiction Nerds met in a bar…
No. Really. We met in a bar and realised we had one major thing in common: words. Preferably wrapped about fantastic worlds like some insane crazy quilt.
JTH: Well, I must say, my introduction to the world of m/m romance (and we will talk about that ‘slash’ very soon, we will, preciousss) is really making me realise how many things I have always taken for granted, not only as a writer but a reader. Witness this recent phone conversation with my dear comrade-in-crime, Carole:
CC: …and so they wanted to know why I kept telling the story from the PoV of the other characters.
JTH: *drops mop and stares at phone* WTF?
CC: Yeah. That I squandered too many words and pages on those ‘useless other people’.
JTH: *looking at mop on wet floor, trying not to drop phone* W…TF??
CC: That I should only be telling the story from the two main characters.
JTH: *Ginormous Air Quotes of* W… T… F……?????
CC: Because, obviously, the only ones who count are the two guys doing it.
JTH: *snatches up mop* Bloody hell. Like two shagging protagonists would be reliable narrators?
CC: And then they’re griping because they didn’t understand the book.
JTH: Well, maybe if they HAD PAID ATTENTION TO THE OTHER CHARACTERS they would have done!
(And yes, we do talk on the phone whilst doing housework. Otherwise MY house would never get clean… though Carole’s would, she’s better than me at that stuff.)
CC: You wanted to say ‘more anal’ there. Admit it.
JTH: *whistles and refills CC’s margarita pitcher*
CC: Ah, see, if I’d had this during that phone conversation, maybe I wouldn’t have been quite so bewildered about the OMG WTF MULTIPLE POV AUGH! thing.
…Actually, maybe I wouldn’t have even noticed. 
JTH: So. As might be obvious, I was rather astounded that you were getting flak for the audacity of… having more than two points of view. Multiple Point-of-View (PoV) is not only a widely accepted way of telling a story in many genres, but in SF it is one of the trope-iest (and perhaps trippiest) Holy Mothers of SF Tropes.
CC: Well, before we wax rhapsodic about the many advantages of this particular Storytelling tool, let’s define Trope, via the O.E.D.:
–1. Rhetoric. A figure of speech which consists in the use of a word or phrase in a sense other than that which is proper to it; also, in casual use, a figure of speech; figurative language.
Or, to use the more specialised Cambridge definition:
–Something such as an idea, phrase, or image that is often used in a particular artist’s work, in a particular type of art, etc: human-like robots are a classic trope of Science Fiction.
You can also mosey over to the TV Tropes site, but prepare to spend an involuntary and inordinate vastness of time perusing the archives. You Have Been Warned.
We touched on expectations last month, which begins, in truth, upon the Road of Tropes. Each genre has its own set of tropes but there’s a lot of crosspollination too. And there are also some tropes that are common to one genre and almost unheard of in another. Multiple POV is apparently one of those tropes not terribly widespread in the Romance genre, but so universal in the Spec Fic genre that it’s almost expected. So, we should maybe start with why that is and how it can enhance the reading experience of a Spec Fic story.
*fetches JTH a fresh bottle of wine*
JTH: *glomps on it, then scowls* Goddammit, where’s my corkscrew?
CC: *holds up corkscrew, whistling*
JTH: I have to perform for my wine. I see how you are. All right, well… First: no one exists in a bloody vacuum. The most internal head-stuck-up-own-arse character might live in their own world, but unless they’re Robinson Crusoe, they aren’t in a vacuum. In fact, it can be gainfully argued that R. Crusoe isn’t in a vacuum any more than any other character, because what is occupying said castaway’s mind? Survival, natch, but also, getting back home.
Second–and this is extremely important–a secondary or peripheral PoV will usually be a dark glass in which to view the main character. And often a more realistic glass, because usually a main character is that because they are in some sort of mess. Which means they are likely not reliable witnesses at some point.
CC: And in the book referenced in the above telephone conversation, that second reason is exactly why I chose to write the story through multiple points of view. There is such a thing as Unreliable Narrator. And in that particular story, both protagonists were unreliable, both protagonists saw the events of the story through too-personal lenses, and neither protagonist could be relied upon to interpret the truth of the events for the reader, only their own skewed perceptions of them. And while those perceptions may have been entirely honest from the PoVs of those protagonists, it still didn’t make them the truth.
JTH: But it makes them interesting. There can be this amazing subtextual conversation happening around, betwixt and beneath Supposed Truth, if readers pay attention. And if writers are skilled enough to impart it.
CC: A lot of ifs. And a lot of people wondering, I’m sure, why bother? Why tell a story through an Unreliable Narrator in the first place? Why not let one of the protagonists be omniscient and always right, and make it easy for everyone?
JTH: Um… *scrutinizes wine glass* It’s boring? Like an empty glass… *makes sad eyes at CC*
CC: *snorts and tenders a refill* Well, I write what I like to read, and as a reader, I definitely find it much more interesting when the story and the characterizations aren’t spoonfed to me. But more importantly, Unreliable Narrator is just how things work in general when you’re dealing with human beings.
Think about it in terms of real life: Put ten people in a room, make them watch two strangers act out an argument, and see how many different stories you get as to what the argument was about, whose fault it was, what started it, who made the best points and who eventually won it. Know how many different stories you’ll get? I’m betting on ten. Know which one you’re going to believe? Yours. You’ll probably listen to everyone else’s opinions first, you’ll compare it to your memory of events, and you’ll probably even adjust your opinion as a consequence, but in the end, you’ll walk away from it with your truth, and that’s the one you’ll swear to in front a jury of your peers. Or your friends on Facebook. Whatever.
So, why would characters in a story be any different? Every character has (or should have) a different POV and interprets events based on that POV. You can’t know what the real essence of a complex plot is until the pertinent characters show you their POV so you can assess accordingly and decide for yourself what the truth of the story is.
JTH: See, to me that is what takes a trope from tired into brilliant. It’s the experiences being had, and the little connect-the-dots between those experiences that give a full, rich picture. When you’re dealing with well-written Spec Fic and its complexities of other worlds and realities, you need all the info. You will be soooo screwed if you don’t have the full picture.
CC: Yes! There are, of course, disadvantages to the Multiple PoV trope. As a Spec Fic reader/writer, I’ll confess I wasn’t aware that multiPoV is apparently not the done thing in the Romance genre.
JTH: Well now everyone knows how taken aback I was. And quite frankly, it’s not a must in Romance, either. The Thorn Birds, anyone?
CC: Well, that’s an older book, too.
JTH: Classic! Back in the days of novels that took me longer than two hours to read. Those *raises glass* were the days, eh? But now… it’s not done?
CC: It seems more common now that people like their PoVs drawn very tightly, and limited to one or two. Which is okay, don’t get me wrong—especially when the major arc of a story exists to answer the question of whether or not the two protagonists will end up together, as it generally is in a romance. But when it comes to Spec Fic, the keyword there is ‘limited’. And yes, in most Spec Fic you need all the info. When you’re dealing with detailed world-building and multifaceted plots, it’s unlikely that only one or two main characters can be personal witness to everything that’s pertinent to the story as a whole.
The thing is, when dealing with a multiPoV story, it is absolutely possible that the various opinions put forth by the PoV characters can confuse a reader, especially if the main character is an Unreliable Narrator. The reader isn’t given an obvious character telling them what to think, they’re not given an obvious character stepping forth to proclaim This is the truth, the only truth, the foundation upon which you should build your opinion. And some readers might object to that.
JTH: Well, perhaps Spec Fic designed as Spec Fic is not their cuppa. To each their own and all that. But you know, I think its the stakes that often make the crucial difference in how authors choose to tell a story. Another tropiest of Spec Fic tropes is the High Stakes Endgame. In this, the characters are often sympathetic, personal representations of a ginormous conflict, one often being waged on a land-wide, planetary or cosmic scale. You can’t figure the stakes if you don’t know the players–and there are, often, many players in such a game, each with a very valid PoV.
CC: And the players themselves can be understood through another trope that’s very important to the question of multiple PoVs: Archetypes. If you know them and can recognize them, find the Witness in the story and stick with him/her. That’s where you’ll generally find the truth.
JTH: Archetypes hit the nail on the trope head–they are the instinctual expression of experience. You don’t have to be a student of Jungian theory or read Joseph Campbell to know them (though I would recommend Joe Campbell’s Power of Myth tv series with Bill Moyers as Myth 101 to everyone, particularly writers), but even if you think you don’t know them, you probably do. Everyone recognises the Callow Youth, who with the help of a aged Mentor/Wizard is revealed to be the Chosen One who will lead his people. From Arthur to Moses to Luke Skywalker, it’s all there. There’s the Innocent who walks into the enchanted forest and literally falls into the Adventure, sometimes kicking and screaming. There’s…
Gah, I could go on, you know…
CC: *pats JTH* I know, dear.
JTH: I think my Freudian Slip of Myth Geekiness is showing. It needs more wine to lull it into complacency.
CC: *offers more wine*
JTH: But you were speaking of the Witness in particular. The Witness is not strictly a Jungian archetype, but s/he often slips into the role of Storyteller, is often a uncomplicated sort with an uncomplicated view, the Everyman or the Survivor. Archetypes can also be thematic, or situational. But we all put them into use, one way or another. Particularly when telling a story that nips the heels of myth. They’re our key to the enchanted lock of Story. Which means they are both the bane and boon of storytelling, If you don’t have a solid archetypical foundation, or you’re relying too heavily on a trope without broadening and personalising the experience?
The latter is kind of like George Lucas did with the Gawdawful Trilogy of Utter Crap Backstory. I really dig backstory, but that? *shudders* Give me The Empire Strikes Back, any day.
CC: People also have to be invested in the PoV characters. Precious few were invested in The Phantom Menace characters except the marketing wizards selling toys.
JTH: Just for that, you deserve another pitcher of margaritas. And cabana boys fanning you.
CC: Jen! You got me a cabana boy! Just what I’ve always wanted! Sentimental wench.
JTH: Drink makes me sloppy. And a bit chatty.
CC: Good thing we’re supposed to be chatting. *pats* Okay, I want to go play with my new present, so let’s start wrapping this up.
As we talked about last month, there’s an expectation in the M/M genre that every story should be a Romance. A tightened one or two PoV narrative suits Romance perfectly, because Romance is all about the two main characters and the development of their relationship. That’s not always the case with Spec Fic. Basically, I think what we’ve been dealing with here is the difference between a Romance with some Spec Fic elements, in which case the SinglePoV would be most applicable, as opposed to a Spec Fic with a subplot love story, in which case the MultiPoV generally works best. When you’re building a complicated world, and populating it with complicated people, and giving them a chewy plot to gnaw through on the way to their high stakes endgame, a SinglePoV can be more of a detriment than a favored storytelling tool. And while M/M Spec Fic can certainly contain romantic elements, that doesn’t make them Romances and they can’t be read as such.
JTH: Well, they can, but that seems, more and more, to end with a disappointed cadre of Romance readers. It disrupts the expected trope… only in some cases, the expected trope isn’t truly the one the story was aligned with. It’s what Joe Campbell would call a ‘mistaken reading’. And also, perhaps, mistaken marketing–but that’s a whole ‘nother can of sandworms…
NEXT INSTALLMENT…
We’ll deal with one of the more thorny tropes of Spec Fic: World Building. The ins and outs of cussing, of how anachronism aren’t–’cept when they are, how to groom a unicorn if you aren’t a virgin, and how Gay is often… not.
[And CC and I are often on opposite sides of the fence on these topics, so it should prove interesting. ]
In the meantime, Fair Readers, what is your favourite Spec Fic trope? What would you like to see discussed, or discuss with us?
Thanks, everyone. See you in the comments section!
Carole Cummings lives with her husband and family in Pennsylvania, USA, where she spends her time trying to find time to write. Author of the Aisling and Wolf’s-own series, Carole is an avid reader of just about anything that’s written well and has good characters. She is a lifelong writer of the ‘movies’ that run constantly in her head. Surprisingly, she does manage sleep in there somewhere, and though she is rumored to live on coffee and Pixy Stix™, no one has as yet suggested she might be more comfortable in a padded room. Well, not to her face.
J Tullos Hennig is suspected of having written since in utero. JTH was a professional writer 30 years ago, but Very Bad Luck prevailed so the publishing ground to a halt. JTH also tried to stop writing, but resistance is, yes, futile… and here we are. JTH has recently re-imagined the legend of Robyn Hood in a duology of Historical Fantasy; Book 1, Greenwode was published by Dreamspinner Press in January 2013. The second book, Shirewode is due out September 9th. JTH is presently working on finishing the introductory book of a Speculative Fiction series.
Filed under: Authors A-C, Authors G-I, Guest Post Tagged: Carole Cummings, J Tullos Hennig, Spec Fic, Spec Fic Nerds
