The Genius of "The Green Mile"...

I have said this before, and I will most likely repeat it; the older I get, the more I appreciate the works of Stephen King. Not so much his early works but his post-cocaine, post-alcoholic bender works. Even more so, his post-road-waffle works. There is something about his sober and mortal works that make them even better than his early stuff. Don't get me cliched; his early stuff is great. As I age, put down my own vices, and look both ways before I cross the street, I think there is a deeper understanding of the mechanics in his books.

I was watching the green mile the other day, and I suddenly remembered how good the books were. Originally they were released as a series of books, a parcel if you will. I looked forward to each and every one of them. In the end, I collected and read them all, then packed them away when I moved- to my dismay, I still haven't found them. But I can remember how good they were, but now that I am older, I think back to the plots of each one, and I come to the same revelations. Stephen King's plots, for the most part, are not what makes his books good. 

I've talked about this before. Books like "It" really don't have strong or interesting plots. The headline would read; A giant pan-dimensional spider steals fear from the children of a small town in Maine. If I were to sum up, "The Green Mile," it would read something like this; "Really big innocent black man on death row has magic, can heal people, and dies at the end." However, that's not what makes them so good. That is not even remotely why I love the works of this author. That is nearly to illustrate that emphasis on the plot will not make your work great.

The Green Mile is a recommended reading for those seeking to bring the reader into the mind of all the characters in a book. And let's face it, that should be one of your primary goals when you write a story. You should want to draw the reader in and let them experience something they never have before. The Green Mile should be part of your study work. The story has a way of showing you the perspectives of all the players, even the baddies. This leads to authenticity in a person's work. And unlike many other books that take place in prison- the guards, the prisoners, and other characters are not portrayed in black and white, or good versus evil, if you will. They are portrayed as the goddamned multi-faceted and complex characters that they are, just like the rest of us people here on this planet. This simple fact is one of the most important things to remember about character development. I will even fourth-wall this shit right below this paragraph:

People are never black and white, so why should the characters in any work of fiction follow such a shallow and predictable formula?

When we realize this and implement it into our work, the characters become more human. They transcend fiction and become something everyone can identify with. When people identify with your characters, they can think, act out, and understand their motives. Even better, they can feel what the characters are going through, and that, my friends, is where the magic really happens. When the reader can see into the characters, they can empathize and sympathize and then be transported into the fiction. They can escape into your work. A good author can make the reader enjoy their work. A great author makes the reader fall in love with their work. 

The green mile was open of the first books that did this for me. I highly recommend it. Shit, I recommend the movie if you haven't seen it. 

 (Image provided by Mathew Henry)

Cheers, and keep on creating!