You know...as much as I really love to be challenged by the stories that I read or the movies that I watch...sometimes I can ‘feel’ the extra effort put in to make a story more than what it needed to be. And I realize that sounds a bit weird coming from me, when I’m constantly trying to inspire writers to dig deeper and fully flesh out their characters with more details that can truly captivate an audience with depth and layers...so I’m well aware of the pseudo hypocrisy of switching over to talking about ‘simplicity’ in your writing. But I also think that it’s important to recognize when the idea of a ‘less is more’ approach is the best choice for a writer to make with their fiction.

Everything doesn’t have to be an intricate web of metaphors and hidden meanings. There are times when working to complicate a simple message can end up hurting your writing more than it helps. Now, don’t get me wrong...if you have a more complex story to tell, where reader interpretation and literary nuance is core to the kind of story that you’re trying to tell, then by all means...go for it. And pursue your ideas in the way that you feel is needed for it to have the kind of impact that you want it to have. But it takes a true writer’s instinct to know when the excess isn’t wanted or necessary. And that has to be developed over time. Trust me, I’m still learning about this kind of thing myself, so it’s not something that happens overnight. But stick with it. It can help more than you know.

One of the things that used to bother and frustrate me most about some of my favorite movie franchises was this big push to keep creating sequels and adding all of these extra plot points and deeper meanings to characters and plots that were actually much more potent in their delivery without it. You know what I mean? A few examples that come to mind start with “Halloween”. Michael Myers was a serial killer. He wore a mask, and he grabbed a butcher knife one night, and he started killing people. To me, the fact that he didn’t really have any rhyme or reason for doing what he did was the most terrifying aspect of his character. It wasn’t done in anger, or for revenge, or because of a messed up childhood, or some sort of psychological defect really...he just decided one day to snap and start sinking his knife into the flesh of whoever he found alone. Think about that for a second. How horrifying is that??? Something about the simplicity in his motives and his actions is what made him one of the greatest slasher villains of all time. The fact that you didn’t have to be guilty of anything or a bad person...you were just there. What other reason does he need?

But...Hollywood’s gotta Hollywood. So more sequels were made, and they kept trying to add more to depth to his character. Family links, and some kind of supernatural senses, and then there was that whole thing with the ‘cult’...I mean, it kind of ruined the scary idea of pure evil for evil’s sake in my opinion as time went on. The simplicity of him as a character was compromised by trying to attach a legacy of unnecessary motivations and extra history behind him doing what he does. Why? It’s like...leave him alone. Why complicate him? It detracts from the story in a lot of ways and dillutes the impact.

And this has been done in many movies, over and over again. You can’t ‘fake’ depth of character. Sometimes they’re better off being a mystery, and just remaining a simple entity in your story while you spend your time and energy developing the characters that you’ve added to the story in order to deal with the threat that you’ve put in their way.

One of the greatest examples that I could use to demonstrate this point would be Ridley Scott’s, “Alien”, and the James Cameron sequel, “Aliens”! PERFECTION! I don’t know how or why this franchise went so far off track after those two movies...but I feel like it came from writers and creators trying to make the alien more than anything it was ever meant to be. It’s a creature. It kills, it eats, it reproduces, and it makes more aliens. That’s what made it so scary. So effective. So memorable. And the movies focused on the people who were there to deal with it, and ultimately survive the problem. However, in future movies, the writers were trying to attach emotions to the alien, dig deeper into the motivations, go back into their origins and their history...but, honestly...at the end of the day, do you really care? Does anybody? We don’t need to know where the alien came from or why it does what it does. It’s trying to kill the main characters, and the main characters are trying to kill it first. It’s a simple conflict and a simple story...but that’s what people came to see. If you’re a talented enough author to maybe add some wisdom or philosophy in there on the side somewhere, then awesome. Otherwise...leave it alone. You know?

The point of this article is just my way to guide you guys towards finding your focus, and keeping your simple characters simple. There have been so many times when I’ve seen characters and plot lines ‘overworked’ to the point where the natural feel and main interest that made the story so cool gets lost in the background. And that’s, obviously, never a good thing! Hehehe!

The first question that you need to ask yourself is...what is this story about? That has to be the North on your compass. This is what will guide you through the planning process and discover where you want to aim your spotlight when you begin writing. If you’re writing something like “A Nightmare On Elm Street”...what did people come to see? Now, the problem with this is...they came to see Freddy and the glove with knives on his fingers. But what a lot of writers try to do is expand and give more depth to Freddy’s character and his motivations, while still trying to create a main character to fight in opposition to his murderous exploits. This creates a conflict. If you’re putting too much thought into your protagonist, then Freddy’s story fades into the background and your main draw becomes nearly irrelevant to the plot. But...if you focus solely on Freddy and his origins and motivations for him doing what he does...then your protagonist ends up being just another faceless cookie cutter teenager who might as well get slashed and hacked up with the other nameless characters. Why not? And if you try to balance both characters out in a way for them share the spotlight...you just end up with two mediocre characters instead of one. What made the first movie so frightening was the fact that it focused on the main characters trying to figure out and fight back against a common threat. Freddy was a mystery. A danger hiding in the dark. He’s coming to kill us, we don’t know why, but we have to try to survive. Very simple. The story has flares and flourishes sprinkled throughout to complete the narrative and have everything make some sort of sense in the long run, but it’s the simplicity that allows the audience to focus once the uncomplicated part of the puzzle is out of the way. This is where you can use your individual writing talents to build up a bond with your main characters and your readers. Now you have room to make the audience care about the people who are facing this major disaster, so losing them becomes a bit more intense and a bit more memorable.

Watch some of your favorite movies and the sequels that followed them. What’s different? Can you feel it? Can you sense it? “The Predator” kills people like animals for sport, and then he keeps their skull as a trophy. Done. Why did that simple twist on Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game” become so complicated and weird over the years? When did “The Terminator” get so twisted up in paradoxes and future weirdness? Sometimes...simplicity and focus is the best route to take with your fiction. Being able to realize that, whether it be for the story as a whole or just for certain scenes (More on ‘Spotlights’ in a future article), is a key part of being a great writer. I think it can easily determine the flow and impact of any story as long as it’s done with confidence and a sense of what is most important and most constructive to the story you’re trying to tell.

Shave off the excess and choose a side. Is this about the main characters, or is it about the threat that they’re facing? Nobody is really watching “Ghostbusters” and wondering, “But why are they attacking? How did they die? Why do they look like monsters? What is their motivation?” That’s not the point. The point is our main cast of characters. Make them your focus, get everyone connected to them and the challenges they’re facing instead. The ghosts are just ghosts. Allow them to exist with a level of simplicity that doesn’t draw attention away from the main focus of everything that you were trying to do with the story. Otherwise, you end up with a conflict that takes away the potency of the mission to captivate your readers and hold them still. You know what I mean?

Every writer has a different way of achieving their specific sense of balance in their work...and it’s up to you to find your own. Try a few projects out where you attempt to play with the formula a little bit and find your own comfort zone. And remember that simplicity doesn’t mean deliberately leaving out important details or trying to downplay certain aspects of your story for the sake of just one character or plot point. It’s just a matter of fine tuning your instincts to think, “Maybe it’s best that I make this the most important part of my story, and I can leave a few things up to the imagination.” If that makes sense. Hehehe, I wasn’t quite sure how to verbalize that idea, but hopefully you guys get the gist of it.

Think of it the way you would watching a disaster movie. “Titanic”, “Deep Impact”, “2012”, “The Day After”…whatever. The point is, ‘Oh no! The world is coming to an end for us!’ That’s the star of the show, but it’s kept simple. The premise is set up, the inevitable destruction has been introduced...now take that spotlight and build your characters up. Too much focus on the impending fire and brimstone can’t completely take over the story without sacrificing the importance of the relatable characters that your readers are supposed to sympathize with. You can explain it, even in great detail if you feel the need to, but remember that your characters dealing with the showstopper is what should be really important here. Keep your focus there, and let the story unfold on its own.

Again...sometimes ‘less is more’. Build up your key players...and keep the rest simple. Complicated details make for complicated stories. And they’re generally less ‘fun’ for a wide audience. Cool?

I hope this helps! Just keep it as a tiny nugget of knowledge in the back of your minds for later. You never know when you might need it later on.

That’s it for this little go ‘round! I’ll seezya next time with more! Happy writing! And stay beautiful!