How much disbelief are you willing to suspend?

Roxxsmom · May 2, 2013

Mr Flibble said:
That I would believe. Soldiers and policemen do it a lot -- it helps distance them from the shit that is going on. (Apparently morticians are the worst, so my embalming friend tells me). Gallows humour.

Doctors do it too.

But this ties in with creating a character and situation where it is believable. Someone unused to blood and gore who just saw a horrible accident probably wouldn't.

I second the statement that a lot of what I buy depends on how much I like the story. Also, authors earn a certain amount of credibility as I read. if they get some of the small things I'm knowledgeable about correct, then I trust them more something seems off but I'm not completely sure.

guttersquid · May 2, 2013

A problem arises when the reader knows something the author does not (quicklime's nine-shot .357 revolver). A problem also arises when the reader does not accept an author's fact (lolchemist's mom and the red hair).

One of my stories involves a young woman who is struck by a car and is paralyzed from the waist down but still retains control of her bodily functions (if you know what I mean).

Almost all the feedback I received started by saying my premise was flawed. "If you're paralyzed, you can't control your peeing and pooping. Your character would have to wear a diaper."

I did extensive research to make sure my character's condition is real (it is!), but many readers don't want to be swayed from what they believe to be true, even if confronted with facts.

Lissibith · May 2, 2013

etv78 said:
nj-I recently changed the physical make-up of a character, and I wonder if readers would call BS on me.

I'm curious about what this actually means, because its possible it'll throw me for a loop. Though for me, I'm more likely to be thrown out of a story but impossible and unwarranted awesomeness out of an MC than I am about character details.

Though sometimes, small things can set me off. I remember reading "Feed" and being unable to take things seriously when they suggested that blogs were the first place to report on the zombie outbreak. And I was thinking... no. No, Twitter would have it first. And Facebook would. Instagram. Tumblr. Social media would blow that up like no one's business. Blogs might get it a little ahead of the websites of print/TV/radio media outlets (who, unlike in the book, would also in most cases print the actual truth about the walking dead - why would they rehash a CDC presser when there's video of zombies they could put on their sites?), but they wouldn't be the lead.

It's a tiny, silly thing, but I was unable to engage with what was otherwise a pretty good book because of it. So... there's no magical recipe.

etv78 · May 2, 2013

Liss-Here's exactly what I'm changing: Originally, one of my peripheral characters (not the MIT student, she's my MC) was quite busty, in my revised vision of her, she's more modestly busommed, yet I left her weight on the plump side. My question boiled down to: can chubby girls be average bustiness?

Research I'm doing/have done is helping with my MCs

quicklime · May 2, 2013

etv78 said:
Liss-Here's exactly what I'm changing: Originally, one of my peripheral characters (not the MIT student, she's my MC) was quite busty, in my revised vision of her, she's more modestly busommed, yet I left her weight on the plump side. My question boiled down to: can chubby girls be average bustiness?

Research I'm doing/have done is helping with my MCs

couldn't that be answered with like a ten-minute scan of the random people at the mall?

(yes, they can.....chubbiness does not guarantee DDs)

katci13 · May 2, 2013

etv78 said:
Liss-Here's exactly what I'm changing: Originally, one of my peripheral characters (not the MIT student, she's my MC) was quite busty, in my revised vision of her, she's more modestly busommed, yet I left her weight on the plump side. My question boiled down to: can chubby girls be average bustiness?

Research I'm doing/have done is helping with my MCs

I have to agree with Quicklime. I've seen flat-chested chubby girls and very, very busty skinny girls (I feel sorry for them).

Real life aside, I am willing to believe almost anything for the sake of a story if it's good.

etv78 · May 2, 2013

Yeah, you're probably right. I have the "overthink" gene in spades.
kat-Hopefully my story is good enough.

Howard Beale · May 2, 2013

etv78 said:
Liss-Here's exactly what I'm changing: Originally, one of my peripheral characters (not the MIT student, she's my MC) was quite busty, in my revised vision of her, she's more modestly busommed, yet I left her weight on the plump side. My question boiled down to: can chubby girls be average bustiness?

Research I'm doing/have done is helping with my MCs

I've done lots of (cough,cough) research in this department and I can confirm that women come in all sorts of wonderful shapes and sizes.

As for suspending disbelief; I agree with many that it's the small things that I struggle to come to terms with. As with most things though it all boils down to context.

Personally I like disbelief. I just suppose some people can't see the angel in the marble.

Roxxsmom · May 2, 2013

guttersquid said:
Almost all the feedback I received started by saying my premise was flawed. "If you're paralyzed, you can't control your peeing and pooping. Your character would have to wear a diaper."

I did extensive research to make sure my character's condition is real (it is!), but many readers don't want to be swayed from what they believe to be true, even if confronted with facts.

Sounds like the old adage of never letting an annoying fact get in the way of a good story.

There's certainly a lot of stuff that "everyone knows" that is actually not true, or at least not always true.

Mr Flibble · May 2, 2013

Roxxsmom said:
There's certainly a lot of stuff that "everyone knows" that is actually not true, or at least not always true.

In the UK, there's a program that deals with that exact premise (QI, well, okay it's about Quite Interesting stuff but if you say the obvious 'everyone knows' version you lose points if it's wrong, which it normally is)

Used to get my son into so much trouble at primary school.

'So, class, today we're learning about the moon'

Son: 'Which one miss? There's five* or two, perhaps only one, depending.....'

*in a later series, they get poor Alan again by asking how many moons there are...after new research had turned up more

njmagas · May 2, 2013

etv78 said:
nj-I recently changed the physical make-up of a character, and I wonder if readers would call BS on me.

You mean, half way through you suddenly decided that a character looks entirely different? Is this rationalized anywhere else in the text?

ETA:

OK, just noticed the replies. No one is going to call BS on you for how a character looks. People come in different shapes and sized. Keep her description consistent. It shouldn't matter that much anyway. If she's just a peripheral character, you're not going to be spending that much time describing her.

rwm4768 · May 2, 2013

I can suspend my disbelief quite a bit. I love fantasy and science fiction, and I don't care so much how magic or technology work as long as I'm enjoying the story. I even accepted China Miéville's cactus people, among with many other weird things in his books.

tko · May 2, 2013

there is no such thing

Things that are impossible a good writer can make seem possible.

That's that are possible a bad writer can make seem impossible.

onesecondglance · May 2, 2013

Mr Flibble said:
'So, class, today we're learning about the moon'

Son: 'Which one miss? There's five* or two, perhaps only one, depending.....'

Brilliant!

blacbird · May 2, 2013

I can buy into quite a bit of impossibility in exchange for a good story. What drives me crazy, though, is internal inconsistency in a story, and ridiculous anachronisms.

caw

Lissibith · May 3, 2013

etv78 said:
Liss-Here's exactly what I'm changing: Originally, one of my peripheral characters (not the MIT student, she's my MC) was quite busty, in my revised vision of her, she's more modestly busommed, yet I left her weight on the plump side. My question boiled down to: can chubby girls be average bustiness?

Research I'm doing/have done is helping with my MCs

As someone whose best friend is plump with a modest bosom, I think you're fine.

I got the mistaken impression at first that the character was undergoing some physical transformation during the story.

theaceofspades · May 3, 2013

It depends on the genre, when in the story I'm being asked to suspend disbelief, and on whether the story is internally consistent or not.

Obviously, if it's realistic fiction that takes in a real-world setting, I'm expecting real-world stuff. If it's high fantasy, then there's a lot more that I'm willing to accept.

Also, for realistic fiction, I'm much more willing to accept something (that fits!) if I've been reading for a little bit, and I don't get something implausible tossed at me in the first sentence or something.

But I think the most important is internal consistency. If all of a sudden your mild-mannered character is cussing everyone out for no reason, for example, I'm not going to buy it. If suddenly some part of your fantasy world's setting (history, magic systems, belief systems, etc) suddenly gets tossed aside because of something happening without a good enough explanation, I'm not going ot buy it.

How much disbelief are you willing to suspend?

Roxxsmom

Raised by Wolves

guttersquid

I agree with Roxxsmom.

Lissibith

On target

etv78

quicklime

all out of fucks to give

katci13

creative genie

etv78

Howard Beale

Mad as Hell!

Roxxsmom

Raised by Wolves

Mr Flibble

They've been very bad, Mr Flibble

njmagas

rwm4768

practical experience, FTW

tko

just thanks fore everything

onesecondglance

pretending to be awake

blacbird

Lissibith

On target

theaceofspades