Conveying a Character's Journey on the First Page of a NovelNotes on Good Grief, by Lolly Winstonby Bill JohnsonI teach that a story creates movement and the movement transport an audience. In many of the unpublished novels I read, I'm often 40 pages into a manuscript before I have any idea of a main character's journey. In some cases, I have to read to the end of a novel to understand that journey. This puts me (and readers) in the unfortunate position of needing to keep track of all the details about a character while I wait for some sense of purpose to become apparent. This makes reading a novel work.Lolly Winston's novel Good Grief has a structure that clearly conveys the stages of grief that a young woman goes through when her husband dies and leaves her a widow. This external framework communicates that the novel has a clearly defined beginning, middle, and end. From its opening lines, the story has a destination.Each stage of the main character's journey is divided into sections. The chapters in Part One are about denial, oreoes, anger, depression, escrow, and ashes. Each chapter that follows is about the main character's journey in dealing with her grief over her husband's death. The title, Good Grief, speaks to the narrator learning that there can be good grief (which revolves around passing through the stages of grief) and bad grief (getting stuck on the journey).A review of the opening of Good Grief conveys how a main character's journey is set out.The opening line: How can I be a Widow?The answer to this question comes in the opening paragraphs as the narrator sits in a grief support group. In a few paragraphs, the narrator explains why she's in the group. My name is Sophie and I've joined the grief group because...well, because I sort of did a crazy thing. I drove my Honda through our garage door.What's important about these lines is they show the narrator is not only in grief, she's being overwhelmed by grief. What set up the garage accident was an irrational thought that she needed to get into the house quickly to tell her husband something. Except he's deceased. She's in denial.Continuing in a few paragraphs: Maybe later I'll tell the group how I dream about Ethan every night. That he's still alive in the eastern standard time zone and if I fly to New York, I can see him for another three hours.The narrator tries to deal with her grief by going back to work, but she quickly finds herself overwhelmed. In the past, when she felt overwhelmed, she called her husband. The chapter ends with these lines.The cursor on my computer screen pulses impatiently, and the red voice mail light on my phone flashes. My stomach growls and my head throbs. But I can't call my husband. Because, here's the thing: I am a widow.She has started to come out of her denial about her husband's death. The first chapter is a clearly defined journey on her journey through grief.Each chapter continues that journey until the narrator has passed through good grief to being whole again.Highly recommended for writers who want to learn about structure from reading a well-written novel.*********************************************A fourth edition of Bill Johnson's writing workbook, A Story is a Promise & The Spirit of Storytelling, is now available for $2.99 from Amazon Kindle, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004V020N0
I came across Good Grief a year and a half after my husband's death. At the urging of a wonderful friend to watch my then young daughters for a day, I finally took her up on her offer and found myself list in B&N wandering the aisles of books in a fog. The cover grabbed my attention quickly. It reminded me of my own pink house slippers that I had almost refused to take off except for showering and honestly I recall some days I would have showered in them and my clothes just to skip the task of removing them. With a cup of coffee, and in a comfortable chair, I read the first chapter in B&N. I was instantly hooked. I desired to rmeet Sophie. I wanted to meet her. I already knew her , hell I was her. Suddenly, I no longer felt alone. While a figment of Lolly Winston's imagination Sophie was much more than a fictional character. It didn't matter. Sophie was a widow. Sophie was confused, lost and lonely. She had lost her best friend and her husband. I was feeling the same feelings as Sophie and I began to think I was Sophie as if someone secretly filmed my life for the last two years after my husband's death. Ironically, during those first years, I had a 19 year old girl move into my home as the "nanny" for my two young daughters. I had stolen her away from the "luxurious" yet secure job she held at the daycare I had enrolled my daughters in shortly after my husband's illness. After five years as a stay home wife and mother NOW I had to return to the workforce. I couldn't stand the thought of my girls at daycare so my master plan was to keep them at home while I continued to work. Whom better to be the "Nanny" than someone whom had known them for a whopping two weeks plus she had "experience". It was only after my husband's death that I asked her to move in full time. The 10 months that followed could be classified as "lost tapes" of Lucy and Ethel. Sophie is a true heroine. Even when arriving to sork in her pink house slippers and robe. Even during a meltdown of epic porportion and a carb feast /fest of the century--hot dog buns and honey, anyone? We widows have been there -- i have -- ill own it! Sophie weathered the storm, receiving some damage that could qualify for an insurance claim. Despite it all, love loss, career loss. and a loss of herself, Sophie made it out of the storm. Even stronger than before. There is no application for The Widow's Club. Those of us card carrying members are VIPs. Some or all of our friends and family have thought of involuntary commitment at some point. In the end, we manfage to pull it together just like Sophie, For some, we will eventually convert back to the "wives club", while other widows remain active members for years. Either way, we are NOT alone. Winston shares Sophie with us, and her deepest, darkest feelings along with the perfect balance of dark humor and laugh at loud moments to ensure us while we are grieving for our loss there is "good grief"
Do You like book Good Grief (2005)?
Este foi um livro que trouxe da biblioteca sem ter nenhuma referência acerca dele. Foi uma escolha totalmente ao acaso e não me arrependi.Sophie é uma mulher que de um momento para o outro vê a doença instalar-se na sua casa e "rouba-lhe" o marido com quem está casada à três anos. Confrontada com a morte, Sophie cai no abismo da tristeza e da solidão e dá início a um dos processos mais difíceis da condição humana: o processo de luto.O conteúdo é bastante fiel àquilo a que podemos chamar de processo de luto. Sophie passa pelas diferentes fases, ultrapassando problemas diversos e ganhando a força necessária para ultrapassar uma fase de grande tristeza. É um relato que apesar de trespassar a tristeza consegue, em alguns momentos fazer-nos sorrir e, no fim sentimo-nos satisfeitos com a evolução emocional de Sophie.A grande luta de Sophie foi perceber que fisicamente as pessoas morrem, mas continuam no nosso coração. Felizmente é um lugar que não permite despejos nem substituições. Uma vez alojadas aí as pessoas permanecem por tempo indefinido. Sophie foi percebendo isso... Fisicamente, o seu marido tinha deixado de estar presente, mas no seu coração haverá sempre um lugar para ele, mesmo que apareçam outras pessoas. Ao longo do livro é fácil entrarmos no mundo emocional da personagem, ficar feliz com as suas vitórias e conquistas. É como observar a cor surgir num lugar cinzento! Confesso que não gosto muito do título. À primeira vista parece um livro de auto-ajuda e isso pode afastar alguns leitores pouco fãs (como eu) deste género de livros. Um aspecto que também não me cativou muito foi o namorado que conquistou Sophie... Eles não têm nada que ver um com o outro. Não senti muita empatia com o senhor.
—Silvana
As I read this book I found myself alternately giggling or holding back tears, and nodding my head in agreement; uh huh, I've done that myself (wearing Kelly's clothes, being angry because he's not here, wanting to pull the covers over my head, etc.) The story is engaging, the author has a light touch, but it seemed almost too trivial in places,or perhaps contrived would be a better description, like the author is making sure all of the "steps of grieving" are included in the book. I wouldn't go out of my way to read it again, but I could relate to a lot of it, and it was entertaining. If it was a movie, it would most likely be rated PG-13.
—KyneWynn
I read this about a month after my husband died, and I remember thinking at the time how amazing it was that someone absolutely GOT so many of the crazy things that were going through my head. Some of the descriptions of grief and the crazy things you think, feel, and do are absolutely spot on...but after about halfway through the book it just traipses off into la-la, fantasy land. At 2 years now after my husband died, and having met a great number of young widows in those two years, it's absolutely idiotic that the protagonist would be doing so cluelessly well within a year of her husband's death. And I found the ending offensive, especially as a widow. For trying to describe grief and all its insanity, the author does an amazing job, but it's obvious that she is NOT a widow and is simply imagining what a "happy" ending might be like. So I give it 4 stars for its description of grief, the author's voice, and the narrative flow...but I give it about a 2 out of 5 for being an inaccurate depiction of widowhood. To anyone who's experienced widowhood at an early age, it's ludicrous and offensive to suggest that grieving is over within a year or that finding another man constitutes a happy ending, and books like this only help to reinforce that misconception. But...that being said, I loved the book, up to a point.
—Candice
