Although I wrote my first novel about a baseball team, much of my reading (and movie watching) is of epic fantasy and science fiction. Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia and Star Wars would be some of the most well-known examples.
I've found that these stories, told on a grand scale throughout the world or several worlds, appeal both on the marco- and micro- scale. There is a compelling tale about what is going to happen to everyone everywhere, but there is also an interesting story around each individual character.
Middle Earth must be saved, and Frodo must complete his quest. Narnia needs good kings and queens, and Peter needs his faith restored to see the lion Aslan. The Empire must be defeated, and Luke needs to redeem his father. None of these epics would be the same if they were only about the big picture or only about the little picture.
This is not true for every story, of course. A romantic tale may need only two characters, without any consequence on the world around them. But when I wrote The Pride of Central, I wanted to have a big-picture and a little-picture type of story.
Again, this is another reason why I put my story in the framework of a baseball season.
Baseball is a team sport. It naturally lends itself to story lines that golf, tennis and boxing would not. A story about a baseball team will have to have a larger cast of characters, even if some of them are are only mentioned sporadically. Part of the tale will be about what happens to the team. Will Central have a winning record? Win the county title? Win the state championship? Qualify for the national tournament?
But baseball has an emphasis on the individual too that is not as strong in other team sports. In basketball, a team can keep setting up its best player to take nearly all of the shots if they want. In football, the star running back could carry the ball on every play. In soccer, every scoring chance could be designed to set up the same superstar to score.
That cannot happen in baseball. If it is not your best hitter's turn at bat in the last inning, the team cannot choose to change the lineup and have him come to the plate. Whoever's turn it is at that moment has to be the one to succeed or fail. It doesn't matter if it is the leadoff hitter, cleanup hitter, or the very last hitter – there is no way to pass the ball to a teammate.
As a result, The Pride of Central or any story about baseball can be both about the large picture (what is going to happen to the team?) and the small picture (will Central's shortstop ever get that big hit?).
But there is more to it than that. In addition to the on-field successes and failures for Central, I wanted my story to be about their lives off the field as well. Ultimately, I wanted the story to be about the redemption of the team, both as a group and as individuals. I don't want to say much more about that now, for the benefit of those still reading the book. However, I did think that using a sport where both teamwork and individual effort were so important would help emphasize the corporate and individual dramas taking place when the games were over.
Again, this may not apply to the story that you are writing. A boy-meets-girl story or a drama about a single mother raising her three children does not need to show how dozens, hundreds or millions of people are being affected. But if you are envisioning both the grand scale and the small scale in your mind, be sure to give both their due in your manuscript. In all likelihood, your reader will not come to like one storyline over the other. Instead, the reader will come to love both so much that she will not be able to imagine the story without either one.
Next week: A Blessing for others, not yourself
Comments