1+1+1 = 10
Three weeks ago, I had an awful day. It started with an unexpected $10 bill from the city, an unimportant work project got canceled, and my day ended when a telemarketer woke me up at 1:00 A.M. These minor issues should have blown over, but they combined to put me in a bad place. I felt like I could not catch a break, no matter what.
We encounter all kinds of unexpected occurrences during our day, and must rise above the noise or be overwhelmed by life. Commercials pound us with body shaming, financial shaming, and the desire for products we do not need. People put us down for no reason, and our endless technology often fails when it is needed the most. Our social interaction is verbally aggressive, complex, and unforgiving. Even our entertainment contains extreme competition (sports), repression, horror, combat, and death. And why do we do it all? For money, and everybody knows how that turns out.
The only way we get through our day is to put on a brave face and ignore the noise. The problem is that facing the world with a smile occasionally fails.
I find it interesting that everybody understands this concept, but writers cannot use it. Readers/viewers must see the logic behind a character’s mood. Of course, it is safe to write, “A bunch of minor problems upset Bill.” The reader/viewer can fill in the blanks because they have experienced their own bad days. Yet, when a writer describes a bunch of minor issues, readers think, “Those problems do not seem too bad. Wow, Bill is a wimp.” We say this because our protective layers deal with a lot worse. Did I mention it was 1:00 A.M?
This writing fault has several origins, and the primary one is that our stories must be coherent. In other words, a character needs to have a clear motivation, and many minor issues do not constitute a bad day.
Readers/viewers are more knowledgeable and tougher than we used to be, which means a weak character will not impress us. Yet, some issues get unnecessarily magnified and then vilified on social media like a person throwing a temper tantrum about awful coffee. 1+1+1 = 10! Can we write a character like that? If an author did, book critics, media monsters, and readers would eat them alive.
What if we ignored this outcome? The resulting stories would not be as edgy or entertaining. Sadly, we have become so conditioned to accept so much bad news that writers must maintain a rugged appearance. And yet, this lower boundary opens up a vast entertainment spectrum of likable characters. It sounds like I might have uncovered the lower boundary of what is possible to write.
You’re the best -Bill
May 19, 2021 Updated November 15, 2025
We encounter all kinds of unexpected occurrences during our day, and must rise above the noise or be overwhelmed by life. Commercials pound us with body shaming, financial shaming, and the desire for products we do not need. People put us down for no reason, and our endless technology often fails when it is needed the most. Our social interaction is verbally aggressive, complex, and unforgiving. Even our entertainment contains extreme competition (sports), repression, horror, combat, and death. And why do we do it all? For money, and everybody knows how that turns out.
The only way we get through our day is to put on a brave face and ignore the noise. The problem is that facing the world with a smile occasionally fails.
I find it interesting that everybody understands this concept, but writers cannot use it. Readers/viewers must see the logic behind a character’s mood. Of course, it is safe to write, “A bunch of minor problems upset Bill.” The reader/viewer can fill in the blanks because they have experienced their own bad days. Yet, when a writer describes a bunch of minor issues, readers think, “Those problems do not seem too bad. Wow, Bill is a wimp.” We say this because our protective layers deal with a lot worse. Did I mention it was 1:00 A.M?
This writing fault has several origins, and the primary one is that our stories must be coherent. In other words, a character needs to have a clear motivation, and many minor issues do not constitute a bad day.
Readers/viewers are more knowledgeable and tougher than we used to be, which means a weak character will not impress us. Yet, some issues get unnecessarily magnified and then vilified on social media like a person throwing a temper tantrum about awful coffee. 1+1+1 = 10! Can we write a character like that? If an author did, book critics, media monsters, and readers would eat them alive.
What if we ignored this outcome? The resulting stories would not be as edgy or entertaining. Sadly, we have become so conditioned to accept so much bad news that writers must maintain a rugged appearance. And yet, this lower boundary opens up a vast entertainment spectrum of likable characters. It sounds like I might have uncovered the lower boundary of what is possible to write.
You’re the best -Bill
May 19, 2021 Updated November 15, 2025
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