Monday, April 9, 2012

H is for Hello



When I thought H, the first line of Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb came to mind.  "Hello.  Is there anybody in there?" and the song has been playing in my mind ever since.  The clip below is long, but so worth it.  The lyrics are genius, and the guitar playing is stellar.  I had the pleasure of seeing them in concert in the late 80s, but that was before anyone came up with the idea of giant flat screens for the people in the cheap seats.






The MC in two of my novels have problems connecting to people.  The difficulty in writing their stories is going to that place, that dark place where the door can close behind you while you're not looking and trap you inside.  And it's hard to type while you're crying. 

It's equally difficult to get people to like your MC when they roam in that dark and twisty place no one wants to visit. 

"I can't explain.
You would not understand.
This is not how I am.
I have become comfortably numb."



My MCs are uncomfortably numb, unable to connect, not themselves, not the people they want to be.  Both are lost in different ways, for different reasons, and can't easily find their way out of it to a happier, more normal place.  I'm working hard to find a way for readers to connect and empathize.  I think I'm close.


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If you haven't already, check out the A-Z Challenge.

32 comments:

  1. That sounds like an ambitious story. Good, challenging ourselves is important I think. I bet you make it awesome.

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  2. Sounds great. And that song and band are great. Its funny how I appreciate thier music now. I didn't when I was a teen. My taste for music back then was only for hip-hop and pop.

    Shelly
    http://seconhandshoesnovel.blogspot.com/

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    1. I never liked hip-hop, only rock and a temporary infatuation with disco when I was eight.

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  3. Never been a Floyd fan, but Gilmour is a great guitarist.
    My main character has trouble connecting to others as well - a lot. It was difficult to write.

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    1. I think their lyrics are amazing in The Wall in particular, but they definitely suck you in to the dark side.

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  4. At one time or another we are all 'comfortably numb'.

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    1. True. There's a line in another song about worms eating into his brain - probably most people don't go that far - my characters don't either.

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  5. Hi...I'm hopping over from the A to Z challenge. Lovely post...good luck with the challenge.

    Donna L Martin
    www.donasdays.blogspot.com

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  6. Love Pink Floyd.
    Mr. Waters is brilliant.
    It's hard to make characters connect but wonderful when you get it right.
    Great post.
    Heather

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  7. Pink Floyd is pretty cool. Good luck with getting your characters to connect. I'm sure you'll get it.

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    1. It's always fun trying - I'm trying harder to make the characters disconnect with out making the reader do the same thing. :)

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  8. Pink Floyd is beyond cool, and it sounds like you've got a some great characters going in your stories.

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  9. As a memoir writer, I am the mc. I suffer from social anxiety, so my exploration into professions that work with death was a way for me to step out of my comfort zone and face a fear. In the nonfiction world, there's all this talk about likable narrators. I think I've got that on the page because I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with death and my readers are glad it's me walking into the haunted house and coming back out and telling them what it's like.
    Love Pink Floyd. "No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun."

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    1. Great that you're working to face your fears.

      I there are so many great PF quotes. Love them.

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  10. You had me a Pink Floyd. "IIIIIIIIIIIII, I, I have become comfortably numb." Your MCs sound deliciously flawed. I love that in characters. Awesome post.

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    1. Mine definitely are flawed. One critique partner hated one of my MC's and wanted me to change her to make her more normal. But she's not.

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  11. Comfortably Numb is my favorite Pink Floyd song. I work with individuals with Special needs and their various disabilities make it hard for them to connect. Many times they can connect with gestures though, even if it is turning away when they are unhappy. There is more going on in their mind than we can see.

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  12. Pink Floyd, a great band. They wrote music and lyrics that made you think, made you feel a little uncomfortable.

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  13. Pink Floyd is one of my favorite bands and Comfortably Numb started that fascination.

    We all feel disconnected at some point in life. I think people will relate to your characters.

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  14. My roommate in college and I used to call them the trippy Floyds. We listened to that album so many times. Comfortably numb is among my favorites of theirs.

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  15. That's quite the challenge you've set yourself with your characters. Good luck with it.

    Erin

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  16. Wow, that takes me back to high school days.

    I think people like dark characters as long as there's something in there that leaves room for hope. Even if it's just a glimmer, it's something for people to hold onto. :)

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  17. we all can relate to disconnect---your story sounds really interesting

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  18. This is one of my favorite songs ever. Your characters sound fascinating to me, I can relate to the problems with connecting.

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  19. Thanks to everyone for making me feel more confident about moving forward with my MC's.

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  20. Great! Now that song is going to be stuck in my head forever!

    Best of luck with getting your characters where you want them to be! It's such a tricky thing. But that's what's so very awesome about revisions. You get to massage them until they're just how you want them! It sounds fascinating even the way it is now, though!

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  21. Great song! It's interesting that two of your main characters have problems connecting. You've taken on quite a challenge, as you said, finding a way for readers to connect to characters who can't connect. I hope you'll keep us updated on your progress.

    I found you through A-Z.

    Christine
    Coffee in the Garden

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  22. "...that dark place where the door can close behind you while you're not looking and trap you inside."

    Great line.

    Dave the Goof

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  23. A slightly older post, but I had to comment on the Pick Floyd song:

    David Gilmour is one of my all-time favorite guitar players. He's not blazingly fast or technically jaw-dropping, but man-oh-man, he can say so freakin' much with just one note! The artful bends, the rich evocative phrasing, the fabulous dynamics. Just kills me every time.

    As a whole, The Wall was a bit overdone in my opinion -- full of Waters' megalomania and Bob Ezrin's over-the-top production. But this song and the Gilmour solo on "Just another Brick in the Wall" were stellar and more than worth the price of admission.

    I'd also highly recommend David Gilmour's solo albums.

    Great blog, by the way!!!!

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