How can I get readers to not become fixated on minor characters?

Ryan, this is not about what other people can write in fiction. It is about what you can write in fiction. You. Ryan Elder. You.

You, Ryan Elder, do not seem to be willing, or perhaps able, to apply logic to information that you gain from research, or from people that answer your questions. Because you are not willing or able to apply logic, you are not in a position to use information that is not part of your personal experience.

Other writers are willing and able to apply logic, and therefore other writers can write about all sorts of things that are outside their experience.

 

Well when I talk to police they say they have seen the most f###d up stuff there is out there, and my story does not come close to what they have seen in real life.

 

No. I do not believe that you understand anything that the police have told you.

 

Hey, Ryan. I've been reading this thread and getting more and more lost in the convolutions.

I'm assuming here that you are not a troll, and are genuinely struggling with a plot problem in your story. There is only one answer. You must work it out for yourself.

Attempting to brainstorm every little detail into perfection here on the forum, with other people providing infinite sounding boards for all your potential mistakes is avoiding the issue. You see a problem in your plot, YOU need to work it out and decide what is best. It's part of the joy of writing, actually. Creating a problem, and solving it. That 'eureka' moment when the solution falls into place. That 'why didn't I think of that before' feeling. That's powerful, and it only comes from within yourself.

You need to take the training wheels off the bike. If you are capable of discovering holes in other people's suggestions, then you are perfectly capable of seeing the holes in your own. Concentrate on plugging the holes you find, not arguing about them on the forum, or wondering if they are 'okay' to leave. Just plug them as soon as you find them.

Even if a fact is 100% true, if it doesn't SOUND true, readers aren't going to believe it. The writer's job is to make their story sound believable. Either here in the real world, or within the structure of an imaginary world. As an author, you can't stand somewhere offstage as your reader works his way through your story, saying : But that's what my research/police TOLD me was true. You have to believe it! If your story doesn't come across as believable, it won't be believed. So make it believable. That's your job as a writer.

HOW you plug plot holes and create believability is up to you. If you suspect your minor character might need a better reason to do what he does, then create one. It's simple. Just do it. On the other hand, if you want to leave things as they are and hope readers won't notice the believability gap, then do what you can to disguise it. You don't need our approval. Just do it.

And move on.

I'm not being nasty here. I genuinely believe you need to stop expecting others to feed you ideas and help you solve all your story problems and/or vindicate your choices by reassuring you that you're not making any mistakes. Writing is all about having ideas of your own and fearlessly putting them out for other people to share—mistakes and all—in the form of a finished piece of fiction.

 

@jannert I hope he listens to you. I said pretty much the same thing a long time ago and it was ignored, as is anything Ryan doesn't want to hear. A big part of the reason he's in this mess with the story is these incessant forum posts trying to work out every detail of the story by committee when that's what he is supposed to be doing as an author.

 

Here's hoping....

 

Okay thanks. I will do additional research. I feel I am going against the norm though, cause when writing screenplays, a lot of thriller movies, have cops and gangs going against the norm, and behaving in ways that are unrealistic, in order to generate suspense. Every movie I have watched for example, always has liberties put it in, to make the story go, where the writers wanted it to go. So I feel I am going against the norm, by applying real life circumstances. And lots of movies have stupid police as well.

One cop I have gotten a lot of info from said that no novel he read, or movie he watched, had accurate depictions of police work and it's all made up, and that I should take liberties as well. But if that's true, then why can't I have a gang that behaves unrealistically, or cop that does?

 

You have not understood any of what I have said.

 

Okay thanks. Some of the cops have pointed out inaccuracies, but not in the blood in, or laying charges without a victim specifically. So the part about the cop being unrealistic is being lured into the trap to get raped, right? Is that the problem with him?

 

Work it out for yourself, Ryan. It's got nothing to do with whether or not a thing can or can't happen. It's all about whether or not the readers of your story BELIEVE it can happen. Make them believe it, whatever it is.

 

Okay thanks. Well when it comes to the case not going to court at all, where as I wanted it to go to a preliminary hearing to get that courtroom atmosphere, I did some research and I found out that a preliminary hearing is only 15 days after the arraignment. That is quite short so maybe I could make it work, if it's that short.

 

So do it! And good luck to you. You've spent a lot of time and research on this issue. So be confident, and get it written.

 

This has been an entertaining read over my morning coffee. Entertaining and slightly maddening.

Ryan, I haven't read any of the other threads mentioned but as has been pointed out by other posters, who have the patience of Saints, you need to step back from posting on this forum and actually write some of your story. You can't expect to pester fellow writers to do research for you.

 

Y'know, I think that I just tipped over into the "you're deliberately trolling" camp, where I was undecided before. This post packs SO MUCH "I didn't read a word any of you said, nyah, nyah!" into such a small space that it's hard to come to any other conclusion.

 

Okay thank you very much for the input. I don't mean to argue, I just saw a lot of holes in the suggestions but I see what you mean now, as to why that is. Sorry for arguing. I guess I just need to create suspension of disbelief, like other screenplays do then.

I mean if I want the blood in to be fake, like in the in examples I have done before, I just have to sell it I guess. Or if I want the cop to be fooled, I just have to sell it, as well. I also did show the cops and lawyers the exact outline of the story. They didn't say if they thought it was good or bad. They just said what would happen legally in this, this, and this, so I made the changes according to them. But I did show them the whole outline, and the scenarios.

It's funny you say it is over-complicated cause the cops said it was overly simplistic and I left too many details out, that I put in later. Some other people said it was over complicated as well. But I find this strange, cause a screenplay, has to last at least 90 pages long, so I would need a situation that has enough meat in it, to last that long. That's the strange part. If I think of an idea, a dozen consequences could naturally come out of it, so why not have them, rather than deny them, I feel. But I will write it out more and perhaps post it later. When you say post excerpts, do you mean just scenes on their own, or will that be too tough to follow without seeing the entire thing?

 

Take note of the bolded passages. That is the core of your issue. As has been said ad nauseam, this is writing by committee and it will get you nowhere. I'll take one more stab at this.

Go write your screenplay. It's that simple. Just go write it. See what happens. Address whatever issues in revision. You've paralyzed yourself because you insist on letting other people write your screenplay for you. And, frankly, you've alienated yourself from a lot of potential help when (if) you do actually write this thing.

 

Well I thought the point of researching from the police and lawyers is to write what they say, cause they know better about it. When you say I have alienated myself from help are you saying that the finished product is now compromised likely, for receiving feedback on when it's finished?

 

Has it helped you to write your screenplay? It doesn't look like it has. It's just complicated everything for you.

GO WRITE YOUR SCREENPLAY.