Ever hear of a trained singer who can hold a vocal tone until it shatters a wine glass?  It’s not black magic, but resonance; two things connected by energy. 

Developing as a writer, the novice often neglects the useful tool of resonance.  Resonance tells a receptive writer how to plot his characters, it hooks the reader, guides in the use of setting and mood, and in the release of filler--background information that can come off as narrative intrusion if not handled well. 

Plotting Resonance: in determining plot, resonance between writer and main character is essential.  Plot is what happens in a story-—a problem faced and resolved by a character.  You don’t decide on the events, then grab up characters--like action figures--and force them into roles.  Respect your characters.  Let them be real to you. 

Good characterization will create plot.  You should ask yourself, “Given these circumstances, what would this character do?”  When there’s resonation in play, the answer will be obvious to you.  That will be your plot. 

Occasionally, your story needs a character to do something they wouldn’t normally do as you build toward a climax.  When this happens, the easy fix is to introduce a new element, an X factor, coercing the desired behavior from your character.  Characters can deviate from their “normal” responses if you provide a motivation. 

How many times have we seen a movie or TV show where characters do things that aren’t realistic, that don’t make sense, and we know the only reason they did this was because it was in the script.  This is what you want to avoid.

Sympathetic Resonance: a major concern of the writer should be to create a bond between the main character and the reader.  The reader needs to see something in the character that resonates with their feelings, their human condition, their hopes and dreams.  The main character ought to have a flaw or two.  The perfect hero gathers little sympathy.  He’s seen as too good to be true, arrogant, even boring to some.  People find scoundrels far more interesting than saints.

A villain’s more than a disruptive element we hate, he or she’s someone we LOVE to hate.  But villains need resonation too, at least one redeeming trait.  People ought to be able to say, “Sure, he killed his mom and dad with a frying pan, but he’s kind to dumb animals and he recycles his garbage!” 

Resonance needs to be in full swing before the main character gets to the climax of a story.  If we don’t identify with the character, we won’t care if he wins or not.  The climax won’t matter.  But when we care, the climax becomes sharper, gaining importance.  A story that doesn’t engage the reader may not be finished.  The writer wants to craft a story that compels reader’s attention and faithfulness.  Resonance is the key.

The Enhancements Of Resonation:  When resonance is present, other elements become enriched. 

Setting isn’t just location, but an actual character in the story.  Setting acquires personality, an infusion of mood. 

In a Louis L’Amour western, the savage wild country is a mirror of the soul to the main character who is shaped by the land.  The character resonates with the setting.  They are two sides of a coin.  To understand one, is to understand the other.  Setting then becomes symbolic, useful in giving the reader insight into a character.

A setting that’s too strange will lack resonation, unless the writer can find familiar elements the reader can identify with.  When showing the strange, include elements of the familiar.  To intrigue with the common, show elements of the strange. 

Resonace requires balance, timing.  A good writer will know when to highlight setting, and when to let him leave the stage.  Sometimes you don’t want a constant sound.  Beats of silence in music enhance sound when it returns.

Down In Front: a common problem area with new writers is the tendency to have the narrator stand up, point at things in the story, and explain things to the reader.  This is like someone who stands up in a theater, a shadow between the audience and the screen, interrupting the show.  Our resonance to the action, flow, and characters is broken and has to be reestablished.  Narrative intrusion prevents intimacy between reader and main character.  It is never a good thing, even when necessary, and it’s not as necessary as most writers believe. 

Ideally, when we’re in the head of a character, the narrative shouldn’t tell us any more than our character already knows.  We want to experience events along side the character, finding things out at the same time. 

Some writers construct elaborate worlds and background profiles.  Sometimes, there’s more information in the research phase of a book than in the final product.  ONLY THOSE THINGS THAT ARE RELAVENT TO THE STORY NEED TO BE ALLOWED IN.  Avoid overkill.  More is less.  Anything that breaks intimacy—-resonation--needs to be brought in a different way or not at all.