Welcome to Darynda Jones!

Today we welcome as our blogsitter, the uber-talented Darynda Jones, whose debut release First Grave on the Right about a wise-cracking grim-reaper is now on the shelves. Without further ado... the Divine Miss D!

The Reactive Mind (Joss Wheddon Style)

One thing I’m learning as an observer of this thing called life is that it’s not necessarily what happens to us on a day-to-day basis, but how we react to the events surrounding us. Reality TV, anyone? As a writer, this is important. I had to learn that it’s not what the heroine does or doesn’t do in any given situation, but how she reacts to her environment. It’s not what the hero says, as if his statement were a disembodied fragment of thought floating in the air, but how he’s responded to the stimulus provided. If you’ve ever had something you’ve said taken out of context (and looked like an idiot because of it), you’ll know what I mean.

So why is this important? Will it change the way you react to bad news? Good news? To a strong hand resting on the small of your back, guiding you as you enter a restaurant? Probably not, but it might make you more aware of what appeals to you and why. And from a writer’s standpoint, trust me, this stuff is gold.

Let’s say that our hero and heroine are tearing into each other, their lust too strong to hold in check. We can only hope this is in response to an attraction that has been growing inside each of our characters and the tension has been building for some time. But what if instead they’re at a quiet table in a nice restaurant? Same attraction. Same unabated lust. But because of their environment, they can’t act on it. Think about how much stronger a subtle glance will affect the other, a soft touch. If he reaches across the table and runs a fingertip over her wrist, how much more will she feel it because she cannot react openly?

Or perhaps they’re being chased through a jungle, running for their lives because they have the antidote to a deadly virus that has been unleashed on the world. They can save hundreds, possibly millions, and the bad guys want to stop them for reasons I can’t go into here. Let’s just say they have issues. But the bad guys are gaining ground and our heroes know they are going to lose. Maybe the hero stays behind to slow them down so the heroine can get the antivirus safely to the good guys. His reaction is courageous and will have all the girls swooning, but it’s not really all that much of a surprise.

This is where Joss Wheddon comes in.

In Joss’s world, the opposite reaction thrives as he presents twist after twist of the unexpected. Yep, the unexpected. It’s what makes him great. In Joss’s world, you look at your characters, think of the best possible scenario and quite often the most predictable, ie, the hero sacrifices himself to save the world, and you do just the opposite.

The hero and heroine are running through the jungle. The bad guys are gaining ground. The situation is impossible, so the hero turns to the heroine, offers her an apologetic shrug, and trips her to make a clean getaway. Of course, what we don’t know is that the hero has a plan. Heroes always have plans. By tripping her, he’s bought himself some time. He knows that the head bad guy is in love with the heroine and would never hurt her. So while the bad guys stop to see if she has the antivirus, he slips into the jungle and loses them. And then we get to the good part. Now he has to make it to the village, deliver the antidote, and go back to save the girl with stealth and mad, special-forces skill. All of which he accomplishes, naturally. The question is, does the heroine fall into his arms when he saves her, or does she kick him in the shins to teach him a lesson? Like I said, the good part. Whatever you think she’ll do, have her do the opposite.

The stimulus-response paradigm is hardly new, but if we think in terms of the reactive opposite, the unexpected like Joss does, we will have our readers on the edge of their seats trying to figure out what we’re going to do next.