tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8849561.post7605730700545170511..comments2024-03-24T12:54:09.148-05:00Comments on Kevin's Corner: Guest Post: Romantic Suspense Author Kris Bock In Defense of “Too Stupid to Live” Kevin R. Tipplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04170714419133752724noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8849561.post-87337083068338810322016-03-11T17:50:12.464-06:002016-03-11T17:50:12.464-06:00Ach! Ye dare to contradict moi?! (LOLOL) I know ...Ach! Ye dare to contradict moi?! (LOLOL) I know that some plots simply would not work without the detective being careless, inattentive, or uninformed at some point. I'm just sayin' that I think we as authors could often set this up better, as you've said.<br /><br />One time I believe TSTL characters DO work? The Chrissy Snow ("Three's Company) character, who is a classic airhead and does boneheaded things, but always has a convoluted thread of logic to justify why she was right, and thinks she's smart. You have to set this one up to be lovable for it to work--she can never, ever be nasty or make caustic remarks or try to get someone else in trouble just for fun. The Gracie Allen ("Burns and Allen") character who is ALWAYS getting it backwards, but it usually works out palindromically because that turns out to be just the thing to do. This character is a lot tougher for me to like; I can only take just so much of Gracie herself on the old re-runs of their show. But when it works, it works. The secret is to have foils like Bea Benaderet and George Burns who can spin the situation and make it hit "jackpot" anyway. Gracie never knows she was ever mistaken, confused, or wrong.<br /><br />There are other sidekicks who are like this. Aha, sidekicks! That's the detail I left out. A sidekick character can often be TSTL (Deputy Barney Fife, as played by Don Knotts, comes to mind), but there MUST be a main character with wisdom who can rescue him and save the day. That's another time TSTL can work for me.<br /><br />In my novel NICE WORK by Denise Weeks (winner of the 2011 Oak Tree Press publication contest and out on Amazon and for the Kindle and Nook, pluggity plug), I needed my sleuth Jacquidon to do something kind of dumb and call her former boss to leave a message on his machine. I got her drunk. Without her realizing it, too: she was exhausted and her blood sugar was down from the trying events of the day (she's a new diabetic and isn't used to recognizing the signs), and she reaches into her fridge for what she thinks is a SmartWater or Snapple or what-have-you. It turns out to be a bottled wine cooler her sister had left in there the last time they had a little dinner get-together. Combine this with the low blood sugar tendency already, and the diabetic's judgment goes out the window. Trust Me On This (as Donald E, Westlake's title begs us--great book, BTW, get it). My normally rational mother once drank wine and had a sugar crash, and she started being a unicorn in the middle of one of my dinner parties. The person who slipped her the wine was subsequently subdued. . . .<br /><br />So you CAN take a normally rational character and catch him or her off guard. The love interest has just broken up by email; the power goes off in the building while they're snooping; they're unavoidably distracted. It's really tough to do, though, and if the author does it more than once in the same book, I will shout, "Too Stoopid To Live!" and the book might hit the wall. I have such low tolerance for actual dum-dum things like sorority/frat hazing (who would want "friends" who'd do this sort of thing to make you earn your place in their silly club?!) and certain political figures with their rallies that I'm really mean about this.<br /><br />If you're Too Stupid to Live and you go out with a flashlight to search for a known killer in the bushes at 3 AM . . . well, it was natural selection at work! (LOL)<br />Shalannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05503978745207805622noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8849561.post-68741000161266897932016-03-11T15:31:17.261-06:002016-03-11T15:31:17.261-06:00I agree with the foregoing comments, in that it ba...I agree with the foregoing comments, in that it basically comes down to how well the writer has set the situation up. If the writer can convince me that a seemingly "stupid" action is actually in character for that particular character, then I can buy it. It is the writer who fails to attend to the details of providing enough background on the character to be convincing that grinds my gears.<br /><br />However, I have read stories where the protagonist does something totally stupid, which comes back to bite him or her, and yet it is totally understandable owing to the set up provided ahead of time. <br /><br />And, yes, once in our younger days, when our two daughters were wee ones, husband and I had turned in for the night. I heard what sounded like someone attempting to get into our house from the back, and my husband arose, completely unclothed, grabbed a baseball bat, and headed off to investigate. Fortunately, it was apparently an animal. Either that, or the sight of my then-skinny husband in the altogether with a bat in his hand was just too much for any miscreant to bear!<br /><br />Good post, good points. It probably does come down to the fact that not every book is for every reader.<br />Karen Packard Rhodeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07641711434283636830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8849561.post-23429239409803398332016-03-11T08:43:38.105-06:002016-03-11T08:43:38.105-06:00Thanks, you two! Love the imagery, Lala. That coul...Thanks, you two! Love the imagery, Lala. That could work in a comic novel. My husband has been known to get dressed and retrieve a gun from the gun safe before investigating a noise outside, even though in our neighborhood it's most likely to be a cat, fox, or skunk. On the other hand, if we hear rustling in our bedroom, we simply know one of the ferrets didn't get put back in its cage before bedtime.<br /><br />Execution definitely counts, Jeanne, but the reaction still seems to depend on the reader. Another sign that not every book is for everyone, I suppose. And that the world is full of wonderful variety, with all our different experiences, instincts, and opinions.<br /><br />– Chris a.k.a. Kris BockKris Bockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16217265282250089583noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8849561.post-30690284994331587402016-03-10T11:06:58.772-06:002016-03-10T11:06:58.772-06:00Love this post! Dead on!
Except I have the husband...Love this post! Dead on!<br />Except I have the husband that sleeps through the burglar alarm, and then, after nudging him, gets out of bed to go find the source of the trouble, stark naked, and with his Rolex on. If I were to write about him no one would believe it!Lala Landhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07556557458644309684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8849561.post-38045343942583730062016-03-10T09:04:43.777-06:002016-03-10T09:04:43.777-06:00Hi, Kris,
Great post!
I do understand your points ...Hi, Kris,<br />Great post!<br />I do understand your points and have thought about them. For me, it's more a matter of "selling" the action. We as readers sometimes deal in what I think of as "hyper reality," less forgiving of coincidences for example when coincidences are a staple of real life. Sure, we've all done stupid, dangerous things in our lives, not understanding the danger, but in a book I'm far more critical because I know I'm watching a disaster waiting to happen. On the other hand, I have also read books where the heroine does something impulsive or foolish and the author has managed to convince me that she could do nothing less and I'm fine with it. For me, it's all in the execution... no pun intended. A good writer can convince me of a lot of things, including the necessity to go alone into a house in the middle of nowhere. <br />JeanneBPL Refhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07206148409183653691noreply@blogger.com