David Farland’s Daily Kick in the Pants—Consistent Hobgoblins

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Category: David Farland Newsletter

Published on Friday, 07 October 2011 08:44

Written by David Farland

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Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote that “consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” I’ve heard some authors quote that phrase in an effort to forgive themselves when writing. They’ll create a world or a character, then shortly after they’ll change it. For example, a “terse and demanding” character suddenly becomes ebullient four pages later.

Well, we all have moods, and those are changeable. But some changes are unforgiveable. For example, if you tell me that Jonas has red hair on page 4, and then he has blond hair on page 43, and black hair on page 78, I’m going to lose faith in you as a storyteller.

When I begin reading, you as the author and I as the reader start with an unspoken contract which says, “Okay, I’ll go along with this fiction.” But when you introduce inconsistencies, you completely yank me out of the story.

Perhaps it would be wise to remember Emerson’s full quote: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.”

In short, it’s foolish consistency that Emerson derides. He recognizes that there are times when rules need to be bent or broken, and there are times when they shouldn’t.

One problem that I see with writers of fantasy in particular is that too often we fall into a trap of being inconsistent. Let’s say that you have a character who is a shaman named Jin Ge, a Chinese man who can travel about in the guise of a fox. Why does he have that power? Because he is of the fox-sprite tribe. All of his people can do it, or at least some of his ancestors passed this trait down.

The problem is, there are more-powerful forces in his world. There is a terrible cloud dragon that is out to destroy his village. The fox sprite is great at tricking enemies, but the dragon is wise and cunning. She needs to be overpowered. Jin Ge desperately wishes that he were of the legendary Dragon clan, so that he could battle the dragon.

Now, as an author, you’re tempted to say, “Well, I can’t see a way out of this mess. I guess he’ll have to turn into a dragon.” So you try to arouse a sense of wonder by having Jin Ge turn into a dragon during the climactic battle.

No one is going to say, “Wow, that was cool.” Instead they’ll feel cheated. Why? Because you changed the rules on them. You did the equivalent of saying that your character had red hair on page 1, then saying it was blue hair at your convenience.

Most readers won’t feel a sense of wonder, they’ll feel robbed. “I paid good money for that?”

In short, when you’re creating your characters and your world, you must remain consistent. If something changes, it has to be done slowly. You have to set up early that Jin Ge’s mother came from a land outside the village, that she was coy about her heritage, that there were rumors of dragons and gods in her lineage. Then you can perhaps pull off a proper reveal. Sometimes consistency isn’t foolish. Sometimes it’s wise and necessary.

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THINK Before You Blow Your Paycheck

If your goal is to be a professional writer, then you must be willing to invest in yourself to get there. This is your last paycheck between now and NaNoWriMo. What are you going to do invest toward advancing your vocation?

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7 Seats Remaining In Writer's Death Camp

To learn about the Death Camp go to www.davidfarland.com/writingworkshops.

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