Zestful Blog Post #294
Exploitation Works
Exploitation is a thing, and it can be used. I wrote about this a few years ago, but want to give you some more specifics here. There are
successful authors who appeal to the deepest-held beliefs / prejudices /
yearnings of their audiences, once they’ve found them. Exploitation feeds on and
encourages the time-honored us-versus-them dynamic. That’s not a comfortable
dynamic for everyone all the time, but it resonates somewhere in every human
heart.
A simple example might be a young adult book wherein a
brave, outrageous cadre of students overthrows the mean old teachers, showing
them they’re not so smart. The teachers learn from the students! Something that
doesn’t often follow is the answer to the question: Now will the new rulers be
kindly overlords? George Orwell’s Animal
Farm explored this question, and as we might remember, things don’t look so
great at the end of the story, which is a new beginning for the animals on the
farm.
Exploitative stories often rely on stereotypes, which
themselves represent a fascinating subtopic. To whom does the stereotypical mean
Republican appeal? A hardcore Democrat might say, “That’s no stereotype! That’s
simply reality!” To whom does the strong-but-dumb boyfriend stereotype appeal?
How about the lazy immigrant? The suffering artist? The kind-hearted criminal?
The trigger-happy cop? The angry-yet-somehow-perfect-in-every-way revolutionary?
It’s not by accident that more male readers enjoy (and buy) thrillers
with strong, brave protagonists who win in the end. Not by accident that more
women like romances where the plucky protagonist gets the handsome swashbuckler
in the end. With a big, perfect wedding.
Novelists, filmmakers, religious leaders, and
politicians have learned exploitation works. It’s button-pushing, and for what
it is, it can be effective. There is, of course, the danger of exploitation
backfiring on you, making you seem like a vindictive, unimaginative boob.
[Ivan was definitely Terrible]
But seriously, look closely at the novels you read and
see if you can figure out where the exploitation is. Not all of it is
heavy-handed; you can find subtle examples all over the place, and you can
learn from them. Key into your emotions as you read: Why does some character or
plot twist appeal to you? Why does another make you uncomfortable?
Our challenge as authors is to reject cheap, obvious exploitation,
but embrace the good kind! Don’t be afraid to be conscious of what you’re
doing; don’t be afraid to calculate. We want to dive deep to engage—and,
really, control—our readers’ emotions. The best way to do this is get to know
your characters really well. Respect them, and look for their complexity and
depth. Then think deeply about your ideal reader.
Is your ideal reader a 40-year-old divorced airline pilot?
Well, you can certainly create a main character who happens to be a 40-year-old
divorced airline pilot. Wouldn’t just about any guy or gal like that want to be
a hero in the air? Yes! It’s easy. You don’t have to make your pilot bring down
the plane safely while killing all the bad guys with a ballpoint pen, but you
might make your pilot do something hard and satisfying, like navigate around a
mountain in the fog without instruments. (Can pilots do that? I don’t know, but
you’ll research it.) And hey, your ideal reader might have a secret desire to
do something really bad—like enter the underworld of drug smuggling. Well, your
character can do that, and you will make sure they’re supremely successful at
it! You can dream up all kinds of good ideas from this perspective.
Play matchmaker between your readers and your characters! Be
shrewd! Make exploitation work for you. Your readers will love you for it.
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