NEW PARIS BOOK IN PROGRESS IN 2024: WOMAN IN A HOLE – Blog # 6.
American novelist Kurt Vonnegut said, “nobody ever lost money telling the story of a man in a hole.” Maybe I ought to consider Vonnegut’s advice as I start planning my New Paris Book – a semi-autobiographical novel.
Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007) was known for his satirical works with dark humour, such as Slaughterhouse-Five (1969) and A Man Without a Country (2005). He did write about his own writing style in his 2019 posthumously published book Pity the Reader: On Writing with Style with fellow writer Suzanne McConnell. In it, he advised:
“Write like a human being. Write like a writer.”
In today’s terms, it could be advice against using artificial intelligence!
Anyway, back to the man in a hole. In my story’s situation, it would be a woman in a hole. Vonnegut says that there are five basic elements, or rhythmic beats, in a ‘woman in a hole’ story: comfort zone, trigger, crisis, recovery, and better place.
Comfort zone: the comfort zone is not a bad place – it is the place where things are known, such as a routine or order, where friends and family are stable and work is ticking on. But, after a while, something seems missing or a feeling of restlessness or boredom might come to the surface. Perhaps some potential is going to waste.
Trigger: Then something happens that shakes up the status quo, or knocks down the hero. Or luck changes. The trigger usually appears as something negative, sudden, abrupt, startling, unexpected …
Crisis – in a hole: The trigger pushes the woman into a hole. It could be a deep, dark hole or a shallow but uncomfortable hole – maybe she has a broken bone, trauma to the mind, or some other tragedy. In a hole, the hero experiences, finds, or learns something new, something valuable. Perhaps something so profound that it changes her life.
Recovery – out of a hole: Applying the learning – acting on advice or the new-found discovery – the hero puts it to good use. She starts climbing out of a hole. It might not be easy; it might take several attempts; it might be a gradual recovery.
Better Place: Towards the end of the recovery phase, the hero is older and wiser, and more familiar with her location, its culture, and its language. There might be further setbacks, but they won’t put her in a hole again – or at least not one as deep.
Is this ‘nobody puts the hero in a hole again’ really a ‘nobody puts Baby in a corner’ iconic moment – like the 1987 movie Dirty Dancing in which Patrick Swayze’s character (Johnny Castle) defends Jennifer Grey’s character (Frances ‘Baby’ Houseman)? In the movie, Johnny hints that nobody has the right to silence Baby and her convictions. His comment comes after a moral dilemma for Baby – she defends Johnny from her father’s accusation that he stole money when she admits that they spent the night together so he couldn’t have possibly been out thieving. Her admission is potentially damaging to her reputation.
This is a teachable moment, and one in which all of Baby’s positive and strong characteristics are revealed – she protects another woman, and she calls out inequality. Wham! What a movie moment!
I’ll need to consider my own story in terms of Kurt Vonnegut’s and Dirty Dancing’s woman in a hole, woman in a corner moment.
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Photographer: Martina Nicolls
