A while
back I wrote about the vexing question of how to handle background detail in a
book, more specifically a mystery. The question the author has to decide is
whether such material slows down the book and annoys the reader or whether it
adds verisimilitude and atmosphere to the mystery.
As with
anything else in writing, a lot depends on the execution. A good writer can
pull off things that would send a lesser one crashing to the pavement. Still,
some of the reaction is bound to be reader-specific. Certain people just want
to get on with the story and really don’t want to pause for a digression, no
matter how witty or erudite.
In the
earlier piece I raised the issue because of feedback I’d received on my
mystery, The McHenry Inheritance. The
story involves a man who goes on a fly-fishing vacation and winds up getting
involved in some serious local intrigue, which results in a murder and a murder
investigation.
Had to Be There for a Reason
As I tried
to put that book together, I reasoned that since the protagonist was on a
fishing trip, I should have a couple of fishing scenes in the book, and that
they should be detailed enough to be real. It was also the case that the victim
was fly-fishing when killed, and the two key witnesses were fishing downstream
and out of sight when it happened.
Therefore,
I reasoned, fishing scenes would be as much a part of the book as wetness is a
part of water. And certainly if my character had been mountain-climbing or
bird-watching, I would expect to include descriptions of those activities. So I
put the scenes in and took considerable care in writing them and making them as
real and richly detailed as possible.
Reader
reaction, at least the reaction I’ve heard, was divided. Some people said they
really enjoyed the scenes and were intrigued to learn about something they’d
known little if anything about. Others said they got bogged down in them, and
some older readers in particular seemed to suffer because they felt they had to
understand those scenes before they could continue with the reading of the
book.
Try Harder and Punt
Aside from
trying harder to make sure the scenes would be as clear and understandable as
possible, I didn’t, until last week, have any ideas about how to handle this
issue in the second book featuring the same fishing character. Then it occurred
to me that a note to the reader might be in order.
Any writer
considering such a device has to contend with the reality of being unable to
top the note Mark Twain put at the beginning of Huckleberry Finn:
Persons attempting to find a
motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral
in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.
Still, you
can’t shy away from a necessary task because someone else once did it so much
better. With that in mind, I’ve decided to put this note to the reader at the
beginning of my second mystery novel:
This book contains several
descriptive and detailed passages about fly-fishing. They are there for the
benefit of those who fish, those who enjoy the outdoors, and those who might
want to learn more about this pastime. These passages are not germane to the
solution of the mystery, and readers who fall into none of the categories above
may feel free to skip past them, if so desired, without missing out on a vital
clue.
