Dr. Sleep and the Believability Ratio

Just finished Stephen King’s Dr. Sleep.  Having posted about the three act structure and story structure, it struck me how King ignores it, and why he’s so successful. (OK, he does follow the three act structure, but in his own sweet time).

Typically, I don’t read horror novels.  Except for some of his middle books, I’ve always made an exception for Stephen King.  I skipped my first day of college to read Salem’s Lot, and several of my last days to read The Stand.  King clicks with me, despite, or maybe because of, my love of story structure.

In Dr. Sleep, the inciting incident doesn’t occur until several hundred pages in.  King has the longest first acts of anyone in the business.  And there’s a great reason why.  Let me first digress a bit.

I attended a screenwriting teleseminar using the new X-Men movie as an example.  I enjoyed the movie but describing the movie out loud makes it sound stupid (doesn’t help when the guy calls him Dr. X…).  Mutant powers and supernatural events sound silly.  We don’t believe them unless we’re given a good reason to believe them.  Movies have the luxury of expecting the willing suspension of disbelief from their audiences.  They come in ready to believe.  No so with a novel or a supposed non-fiction paranormal book.

There is something called a Belief Ratio (I know because I just made it up, but is sounds good, doesn’t it?).  In historical fiction, you have to avoid dissonance, things that don’t belong in your chosen time period.  If Marie Antoinette says, “Let them eat Pop Tarts” we’re going to be jarred out of belief.  All you have to do in historical fiction is provide accuracy in setting and dialog to avoid dissonance. 

Paranormal–that includes Christian fiction that includes the supernatural–requires more than that.  It requires greater grounding in the real and creating characters you want to see wade through the story elements.

King succeeds by sinking us into the truth of his world and staying true as they encounter scary stuff.  King’s character studies, and that’s what the first half of Dr. Sleep is, ring true.  Dan’s choices make sense.  His settings are real, people think and talk the way people really do. His narrative voice is comfortable and without airs. He grounds you in the real before exploring the unreal.

There’s strength in King’s claim that he doesn’t write horror, he rights ordinary people in extraordinary situations.  So first, he convinces you that his character is ordinary, just like you.  They might be smarter or dumber, but under the same conditions, you’d react the same.  His characters see the things you see and relate to the world the way you do, so you’re right there with him when he steps into the unknown.  (Probably, this is why I don’t like fantasy, I’ll never relate to a troll.)

The few horror books I have read go running down the hall before I’m willing to join them. King invites you into the parlor for a sit-down before leading you to the breathing door.

What kind of Belief Ratio is required for your stories?