Or, put another way—
DO YOU BELIEVE THE
ARE NO COINCIDENCES?
There are those who think everything that happens (i.e. the
plots of our lives) are tied together in (or by) a mysterious force operating
beyond what we can see. They find proof of this everywhere.
That’s the school of No Coincidences.
Then, others believe everything is coincidental, and marvel
at what would have been had they made the slightest different choice at any junction.
That’s the school of charting on tabula rasa with meaning
coming out of choices combined with blind luck.
When we plot and tell stories, invariably our philosophical bias
on this matter comes through.
It was beautifully explored in the movie Sliding Doors. The film alternates between two storylines, showing two paths
the central character's life could take depending on whether she catches a
train.
*Spoiler alert!—
In that story, the surprise ending shows
that ultimately things turn out the same, though the road to that ending is
different.
This is my personal bias as well. The grand scheme is not coincidental;
the mini-turns along the way hold many different possibilities.
Writers are often reminded to tie the plot in a meaningful
way and never allow it to be a list of unconnected actions. This makes the bias
of a storyteller strongly leaning to the No Coincidences school.
Thus, writers tend to be the self-selected believers in
ultimate destiny.
Suits me.
7 comments:
I believe in a bit of both. Many things seem to be coincidences, but then something comes along that makes me wonder.
Love,
Janie
I love stories about alternate realities and Sliding Doors was done so well. My views have changed now that I'm Catholic--I'm discovering that everything really does happen for a reason, only I might not understand it. For storytelling, I think it's fair to have one coincidence but after that no more. Even though real life is messy and complicated, I like for stories to be neatly plotted for the greatest enjoyment.
I'm not sure what I believe, but weird, random stuff does happen. Hubby and I were hiking and naming certain trees and logs so we could remember them on our way back and so as not get lost. I named a fallen tree we had to walk under "Lola Bridgida. (Old Bugs Bunny cartoon joke). The next day Gina Lollabrigida died. Then, recently I was looking through some wrapped collectibles I had and came across a Goebel sparrow figurine I forgot I had. Next day, someone on a Facebook page posted that they found like 5 in a thrift store. Or when you think of a song and turn on the radio and it's playing. Weird stuff happens like that all the time.
This is such an interesting question. I do think that the trajectory of my life resulted from a lot of lucky instances. In some ways I made my luck. In others, being able to even make my luck was lucky. I'm sort of open to the idea that things happen for a reason if you pay attention and don't just drift through life.
Some things feel eerily coincidental while others come across as random. In the end, who knows? I think of the many other choices I could have made in my life and how it would have turned out in ways I can’t even imagine.
Fiction is satisfying for the reader because it has to make sense, while life doesn't make sense.
I think it's important for stories to have a logical throughline, unless you're writing existential literature. Whether or not you have a happy ending, whether or not you leave a few plot threads open-ended, it has to feel satisfying.
In Amy Tan's writing memoir, The Opposite of Fate, she writes that fate versus fate is a running theme in her life and many of her books. It's one of my favourite books and I highly recommend it.
"The grand scheme is not coincidental; the mini-turns along the way hold many different possibilities." Yes!
I hate the phrase, "everything happens for a reason" as if that implies good will come out of it. No, sometimes people do stupid things and get bad results. Sometimes people are in the wrong place at the wrong time. And the opposites are true, too.
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