on 1/3/01 5:04 AM, M Davis <nausicaa@sprynet.com> wrote:
I liked the story quite a bit as well, because Deborah is a gifted writer.
But I do agree that things go relatively easy for her protagonist. It
reminds me of a book I liked very much, "The Thread that Binds the Bones",
by Nina Kiriki Hoffman... the book was very well written, with interesting
characters, and yet I read a review that kind of savaged it because the main
character never really faces any challenges that he doesn't easily handle.
In the same way, Ranko has a relatively smooth ride here.
This is something I tend to struggle with as well... I often identify with
my protagonist and fail to make things as hard for them as I ought. But
(generally speaking) making things difficult -- even seemingly impossible --
for your protagonist usually makes for a better story. Everyone wants to be
able to solve things easily, to always have an answer for every situation
(thus the typical SI fic) but everyone loves a story where the underdog
succeeds against phenomenal odds.
First of all, thank you very much for the kind comments.
I want to comment a bit on some of the issues you raised, just to illustrate
why I write the kinds of stories I do.
I got similar critiques for "Genma's Daughter." I guess it's a matter of
personal taste. I find a lot of the obstacles in some stories to be
painfully artificial, and I prefer characters on a human scale rather than
superhuman. I like Ranma best when he's being a teenage boy, rather than
when he's being Superman.
The thing I like when I write fiction is to show characters interacting on a
human, everyday level, and facing problems the same way real people face
them: making mistakes, not always knowing what to do. I don't think you need
fantastic odds to make an interesting story, but I think that is very likely
to be an issue of personal preference.
Maybe the reason the solutions to Ranma's emotional immaturity seems so easy
is that to me, I can't quite believe he's so dense to begin with. ;-) I
always had the feeling that Ranma had to grow up sometime; I have a lot of
trouble with stories where he's 85 and still being a jerk. I know there are
85-year-old jerks, but Ranma isn't a jerk because he's mean; he's a jerk
because he's immature and socially inept. I think he's actually a very
good-hearted person, but raised really badly. My view of what happens in
"Equal Halves" is that Ranko has just accelerated something that would have
happened naturally anyway. As Kasumi observes at the beginning, Akane and
Ranma are already starting to open up to each other. My thinking is that
even without Ranko they would have gotten there eventually.
I guess when I look at a story, I don't see problems to be solved, but
rather the texture of the characters lives, and whether they develop or
interact in interesting ways. I didn't start "Equal Halves" from the point
of view of "Let's solve their problems"; I started it from the point of view
of wanting to see how Ranko would interact with the canon cast. Helping
Akane and Ranma overcome one of their problems -- their inability to
communicate effectively -- was a side effect. It seemed to me that Ranko,
having matured emotionally for other reasons, would be very eye-opening to
Ranma, just by him watching her interact with Akane. I had a Confucian
saying in mind:
I hear and I forget
I see and I remember
I do and I understand
I think Ranma's been told over and over again how he should treat Akane, but
he just doesn't understand. Ranko doesn't so much tell Ranma what he should
do as demonstrate it. I saw Ranma's jealousy over the good relations between
Akane and Ranko as the primary motivation for him. So Ranko isn't really
solving Ranma's problems directly; after all, she just has the one talk with
him, and probably tells him things he's heard a zillion times before from
his mother. Rather, just the simple fact of her being there and being
herself is enough to cause things to happen. *Ranma* drives this. He is the
one who comes to say, "I wish I could get along with Akane as well as you
do." *He* initiates it. Ranko doesn't seek him out and lecture him; he seeks
her out.
Also, I don't think that any of the central characters has a smooth ride.
It's a difficult experience for all of them. Ranko has the constant fear she
may never make it home, she is terribly homesick, and all her loved ones see
her as this weird version of Ranma. The man she loves insults her and is
seeing someone else. The girl she loves as a twin sister treats her like a
leper to start with. She is under tremendous emotional strain, and breaks
down in tears multiple times. Akane is first frightened of Ranko, then comes
to love her, and is hurt badly when she leaves (as is Nodoka). Ranma is
forced to examine a lot of unpleasant things about himself, and has his
dirty laundry dragged out in front of everyone else. Sure, none of this is
as exciting as fighting a Herb or a Saffron, but on the other hand it's the
kind of thing that happens to real people.
I personally have a problem with the idea that fiction cannot succeed unless
it is centered on conflict with a clearly identified protagonist and
antagonist. I know most fiction fits that mold, and I know many readers do
not enjoy fiction that doesn't fit that mold. I'm not a big believer in
conflict, however -- quite the opposite -- and that is reflected in what I
write. I came up with a haiku when I received similar criticisms about
"Genma's Daughter", which I'll insert here:
Is a flower dull
Without a goat threatening
To nibble on it?
I'm not criticizing people who feel this way, mind you. As I said earlier,
it's a matter of personal preference, and the world would be a dull, dull
place if everyone liked the same things. However, if you're looking for
conflict and success of the underdog against phenomenal odds, you're
probably not going to find it in my fiction. I'm not trying to argue here
that the kind of stories I write are "better" in any way, rather that there
are many valid ways to write fiction, not just the classic
"protagonist/antagonist" approach.
There are paintings of battles or great events, and there are paintings of
people or landscapes. I guess my fiction is like the latter category.
Deborah