Friday, February 10, 2012

Using Serendipity and Co-incidence in Stories

I read a book some time back where the author had used heavy doses of  serendipity and co-incidence in the story to resolve certain tricky plot issues. As I ploughed on through the story, I was hopeful that the author would explain the reason why certain knots in the plots were being unknotted so easily and quickly.

But the reasons were not explained. Needless to say, I was disappointed and felt cheated that the author had simply used these devices as a cheap way to resolve a dilemma within the plot.

Both Serendipity and Co-incidence are unavoidable in fiction. But an excess of both provokes incredulity in the reader’s mind. The reader will wonder how and why the protagonist is getting lucky time and again. Excess of both can also lead to the story getting bogged down by being syrupy and sticky.

Many times I have used both serendipity and co-incidence to resolve issues in the first draft. I always make it a point to go over these and tweak them into scenes that  depend less on these devices. And if by chance I do overlook them, then I have my two amazing crit partners to catch my flaws.

 I feel if we writers follow the cause and effect theory we can turn both serendipity and co-incidence into devices which work in favour of our stories rather than against our stories. There has to be a reason for every action of the character. Relying on reasons we can dispense with incredulity. Even fantasy fiction has to have its basis in believability.  

Have you ever encountered serendipity and co-incidence in stories you have read? What have you felt about it? Have you personally resorted to using these devices? What is your opinion about it? 

17 comments:

  1. Great post. It's an easy (and lazy) way to bring things together in a story, and I think we're fascinated by it in real life. But it can also sometimes work for things to work out a particular way for no good reason. I try to avoid using it myself though.

    mood

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  2. Good post as always Rachna. This is something in novels I hadn't really thought about, however,I saw the film 'Serendipity', which I thought was a cheat because the couple were actively looking for the bank note and book so it didn't seem so serendiptious to me.

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  3. Interesting! I haven't given both a thought before. Do they work in a similar vein to a deus ex machina, where the coincidental/serendipitous event brings about resolution/salvation for the character's conflict? If it does, then yeah,it would feel like a manipulation of the story.

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  4. Unfortunately coincidence is how a lot of things gets solved or resolved, even in real life. If you have ever watched any of the cop/mystery shows on the History Channel and cable. The cops and investigators will spend months even years with no leads and then poof. Next thing you know they just run into each other at Disneyland.

    I agree however if an author writes themselves into a corner and uses it as a crutch to get out, then they should have revised the plot hole, or did a better job explaining the coincidence. However, don't be too hard on someone. It might have been explained or set up earlier in the book and the reader just missed it as not being important.

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  5. Mooderino, its easy to slip into laziness and find easy ways to resolve conflicts and tricky plot issues. We writers should avoid this.

    Madeleine, I have been thinking on these two topics for quite some time. I search for these two in the books I am reading and in my own stories.

    Cherie, not sure whether its similar to deus ex machina. I admit its difficult to avoid them but one shouldn't over do on them :)

    SBJones, even I have resorted to co-incidences in my earlier stories, and got away with it. Nowadays I make sure I have a strong reason for both serendipity and co-incidences in my stories. These two just cannot be avoided, but we can use them smartly :)

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  6. I avoid it at all costs, Rachna. Simply because I believe it is NO means to the end. I do not use it even in my first drafts, because I like for my draft to be fairly polished before it goes to CP's and betas.

    This was a great post, Rachna. *waving*

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  7. I definitely avoid serendipity and coincidence in my writing. Some genres do rely on it (like the really light and fluffy kind of romances) and readers know to expect it so it probably isn't bothersome. But there are many other genres where coincidence is just too easy and I do feel cheated when I read it! I wonder why the author couldn't, or didn't want to, be more creative without taking the easy way out.

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  8. I've come across it in a few stories. I don't like it much--I can accept one or two serendipitous meetings or developments, but beyond that it's clearly staged.

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  9. Serendipity and coincidence generally when used with discretion bring the maximum effect!Dan Brown makes the best use of this in his stories and books and is an all time favorite!

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  10. Yes. I hate it when a happy coincidence solves something important in a book.

    So no, I've never resorted to it in any of my stories. I came close, once, but I changed it in the rewrite.

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  11. I used a lot of this in some of my earlier stories and they can backfire. Readers think "this happened to easy" so now I use them very sparingly.

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  12. I don't like serendipity and coincidence in stories and actively try to avoid it in my writing. Bugs the hell out of me for some reason.

    Great post!

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  13. I wouldn't avoid them entirely since real life has these moments, but I think these devices should be used sparingly. I've also felt cheated as well when reading books or watching movies that heavily relied on coincidence and serendipity.

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  14. a very good tutorial on the way of story writing specially with serendipity and co-incidence..
    I don't think I have read any novel with these ideas as I have read only few and selected novels..

    nice post..

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  15. That's why truth is often stranger than fiction. I feel in fiction there shouldn't be any convenient coincidences.

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  16. Serendipity - as I understand it - has to do with us attaching significance to some random event. For example, we decide it's significant that for a blind date, we both showed up wearing a blue shirt. Whereas we might both show up for a blind date wearing black or white shirts, and we don't attach any significance to it.

    As a reader/movie watcher, I want things to make sense, and I want the hero(ine) to be solving the problem. Mostly, the use of serendipity and coincidence as a way to resolve the plot feels weak and unsatisfying, to me. (War of the Worlds - and then the aliens caught cold and died. The end.)

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  17. how do you come up with topics!! Maybe you can write a post about topics:) I'm always looking for inspiration.

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