by J. R. Kruze and S. H. Marpel
(Get the whole story here, why wait? https://calm.li/WalkawayBlues)
III
“That was exactly the point I ran into. I wanted to believe one side would win and when they didn’t, I got depressed. And then that side started finding all sorts of things bad with the guy who did win. But the media was spinning the data and slanting it so that their lies became presented as truth.” I stopped to let the waitress refill my cup and stirred honey into it as I watched it steam, just as John did to his.
“That’s exactly what a detective-mystery writer will do. The actual facts of the case are boring. Forensic science is incredibly dull and repetitious. So you leave out the boring parts and trim it down to just the key points that people want to hear. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was just like that. Not true at all. But people wanted to believe it was factual. Abolitionists were completely intolerant and forced the Southern states into a war they couldn’t win. Before that, everyone was mostly working to find a solution to the problem of slavery. We don’t need to go there — the point is that fiction is no better than any news reporting. Except that when it’s well done, you get some relief from the ‘real world’ for awhile. You know it’s all made up, and that’s what makes it fun. Good fiction will give you a good feeling — well, unless you’re reading tragedies or horror stories. But those are also emotions that get stirred up by fiction.” John paused to sip again.
That was my cue to jump in. “A good mystery, like a good romance, then has a pattern they follow to get the emotional result that reader’s expect.”
“Exactly. Westerns all follow a rough model, mainly that the hero wins in the end. Almost all good fiction has the lovers reconciled, the mystery solved, the evil is trumped by the good guys.” John said.
“So if you are getting a bad result from what you think is factual ‘news’ then maybe you’d be better off doing something else?” I asked.
“Certainly if you want to feel better. Ads don’t make you feel better, either. And a quarter of the time you are watching news, you are being interrupted by ads. Imagine how you would feel if out of a hundred page book, 25 of them were advertisements for stuff completely dis-related to the story?” John replied.
“Maybe getting my news off the Internet is a better idea.” I supposed.
“Only if you can test what they say. The next barrier is knowing what you are expecting.” John took another sip.
“Expecting? Oh — this is like knowing where the plot is heading.” I replied.
“Mostly. In that election, people so wanted their candidate to win that when she didn’t, they all got depressed. That was a bad story to them. And then people started running other stories like the election was falsified somehow and a fraud. But those new stories were more wishful thinking than anything else. So when those stories failed, they got even more depressed. And that let to more stories…” John trailed off.
“How does that solve the problem?” I asked
“Any author has to know what their character wants. And their flaws as well. Robert Cialdini chased back his own flaws to see how the store’s sales people told him made him buy stuff he really didn’t want. He narrowed it down to just six points in a book called ‘Influence’. And marketers seized on these as 6 points they could use to get people to do whatever they want.” John ticked these off on his fingers. “Like giving something away so you feel you’ve got to give something back — or buy something. Or getting you into the habit of buying a certain product. Social “proof” is another, which is where all these fake reviews come from. Smiling is a way people get you to buy from them, but that’s almost too obvious. Being an authority, or claiming someone else holds your opinion in regard.” Holding up the thumb of his other hand — “…and the tried and proven one — not enough to go around (a limited time offer.)”
“Do these work?” I asked.
“Just consider them. They are in every thing you buy. Pleasant waitresses get better tips. The front door has little stickers saying what credit cards are accepted here. Having only a single piece of cake left on display. Free samples of food with a discount coupon if you buy today — that’s a two-for. Look over your own habits and you’ll see how these are all ingrained.” John went back to his coffee while I thought this over.
“I can see you’re right in these. So they make what you say sound like it’s true?” I asked.
“Of course. You believe in the authority of that person and so what they say has to be true. But the kicker is what locks these in place.” John paused. Waiting for effect.
I nodded that he continue.
John put his cup down on the counter. “A guy named Levenson in the 50’s worked out that there were really only three or four elements that glued all these human foibles in as habits. Well before Cialdini worked his ‘Influence’ points out. Levenson said that the world revolved around needing or trying to escape from these: approval, control, and security. Singly and in combinations. You want approval for what you do, you’re trying to escape being controlled, and you wish you were more secure. And these three are especially show up in media and politics.”
I frowned at him. “But you mentioned a fourth…”
Part 2 of 4 — The rest are coming soon… Part 1 | Part 2| Part 4
(Get the whole story here, why wait? https://calm.li/WalkawayBlues)
Find more books (clean romance, cozy mystery) by J. R. Kruze
Find more books (cozy mystery, clean romance) by S. H. Marpel
And stay tuned for the finale — Part 4…