Making Good Use of Irony

Do you intentionally use irony in your stories? Or does it ironically happen on its own? I suppose that may depend on whether you're a plotter or pantster, but it never hurts to begin marinating the notion that our stories deserve irony where we can pull it off.

Why? It's satisfying to the reader to notice these ironies, and often, the more subtle, the better. Irony adds a special flavor to the story, much like that tangy lemon I squeeze in my butter before bathing a succulent crab leg into it.

As a plotter myself, I try to add irony into my plotline before ever drafting. For instance, in Butterman (Time) Travel, Inc., the main character, Bianca Butterman, is a futuristic version of a goth-glam girl, who's also somewhat of a control freak. Being as that she's also a time-craft pilot, she has to be. So where is it that the last place an eighteen-year-old futuristic goth chick who spends more time on the web then with real people should end up?

1969 Woodstock ... with free love, drugs, and music, man. Flowers, hugs, and community weed.

And she is 150% uncomfortable. It's why Bianca ended up being the way she is. I knew she'd end up at Woodstock, so I needed her to be the opposite of someone who'd fit in there.

The result is so much fun, and so ironic.

How about a few of these stories and their use of irony?  See if you can name the book, movie, or TV show:

1.  A ruthless serial killer who skins his victims ... and has a cute and cuddly little toy poodle named Precious.

2. A genius diagnostician sought by sick people from around the world for his incredible ability to solve medical puzzles ... and who's addicted to pain pills to the point of being self-destructive and harmful to others.

3. A self-righteous professor who treats students like criminals and inflicts bodily harm on them as punishment for insubordination ... and who has an affinity for sweet little kittens, which she has decorated her entire office with.

4. A recovering alcoholic who owns a bar and serves other people drinks for a living.

5. A single dad whose wife left him, and who also happens to be a divorce lawyer with absolutely no faith in romance or happily ever afters ... and he falls for a beautiful girl right out of fairy tale who sings to animals and who has never said a harsh word to anyone in her entire life.

6. A young scientist with an IQ off the charts, devout atheist, and fully sold on the theory of evolution ... who grew up in Bible Belt, USA with a mother who is even more devout Christian than the Pope.


Some of these are obvious ironies, others more subtle. The point is, they're so much fun, they really give the stories a special twist.

Next time you're plotting or drafting, ask yourself how you can twist it up a little bit and make good use of irony. Try picking it out of the next book, movie, or TV show you watch. The more we notice it, the easier it is to use it in our own work.

So tell me, can you identify these stories? Do you practice using irony? If so, do you have a special technique? If not, what's holding you back? Please share ...   

Emotion through Music

Imagine taking a morning walk outside, beside a beach. The day is clear and bright, the salty air, fresh. A breeze kisses your cheeks, and in the background is the soft lull of crashing waves, gulls calling to one another.

Nice, right? Simple and enjoyable.

Now take the same scene, only add in some New Age music. Suddenly that enjoyable experience becomes richer, deeper. Emotional.

Or how about looking outside your window on a stormy day? Dark clouds are gathering, thunder rumbles in the distance. It has a dreary, dismal feel, right?

Now add in a soft classical melody, and the moment becomes soulful and stirring. Tears burn the backs of your eyes, it’s so hauntingly beautiful.

Using music to evoke emotion in our scenes is a tried and true writer’s technique. We all know that in order to connect our readers with our characters we have to make them feel. More than words that tell, we need visceral emotion from our characters.  Have you ever stopped after writing a scene and asked, “Is that intense enough?”

I do all the time. And usually when I have to ask, it’s because I haven’t evoked the emotion the scene needs. Sure, it may pass as okay. But we don’t want okay—we want riveting.  

                                                        Photo Credit: GeEditing.com

Not everyone can write to music, and I get that. Sometimes I prefer silence, or simple background noise like Naturespace. But when I’m struggling with the right mood for a particular scene, I dig into my musical library and sometimes take a good hour to find just the right song, then write the scene with that music playing.

It makes such a huge difference. I have my go-to songs for amping up emotion, whether it be angst or stress or heartfelt moments. And then sometimes a new scene requires something different, and I have to search all over again for just the right one. To me, it’s worth it to take the time to do this, especially when I need to nail a scene. For a scene in Butterman (Time) Travel, Inc., I had a best friends’ moment that really needed something other than a tune that suggested romance, yet I wasn’t evoking the right emotion by writing it in silence or with background noise. I finally found a random song off the Lost soundtrack and played it over and over til my scene was complete.

It gave me exactly the emotion I was looking for.

Ever notice in movies when you’re totally wrapped up in a scene, that it’s the music that’s carrying it? Happens all the time. Usually when I notice this, I make a note to buy the soundtrack, because it’s powerful music.

We can do the same with our stories. When we’re stuck on a scene or just not feeling the moment, we can find the perfect song, listen with our fingers poised over the keyboard. Let the music pull us in and go with the flow. Don’t worry about grammar or spelling, just feel the moment. Corrections can come later.

I prefer instrumental music usually, but there are a few songs with lyrics that have worked for me in the past. Don’t be afraid to experiment. A few of my faves come from these soundtracks:

Legends of the Fall

Gravity

Ender’s Game

Life of Pi

Robin Hood (Prince of Thieves)

Braveheart

How about you? Do you have any favorite go-to songs for evoking emotion in scenes?