Current Project: Unnamed book
Status: still plotting
There was an article in The Week awhile ago entitled "They Lived To Tell The Tale." It was about people who met disasters that killed many others and from which they managed to survive. A man on a car ferry traveling from Estonia to Sweden, for instance. He awoke to a sudden bang. The ship was listing. Things got worse. He kept expecting the people aboard to panic -- they did not. In fact, many did pretty much nothing. They were pale and disorientated. He fought his way into a lifeboat and survived hypothermia to be rescued hours later (one of six out of sixteen in his lifeboat to make it.) In the end, of the 989 people aboard the boat, nearly two thirds didn't even make it off the ship.
The point of the article was why some people survive life threatening disasters and some don't. A man named John Leach, a leading expert on survival psychology, has developed what he calls the "Theory of 10-80-10." Loosely translated, it means 10 percent of us will react to a crisis with a calm, rational state of mind, 10 percent of us will go bonkers, and 80 percent of us will turn into zombies.
Amazing, isn't it?
One expert suggested applying parachuting survival tactics to every other crisis: 1. Relax. Stay calm. Loosening up the tension can free the brain to THINK. 2. Remember where you are. I.e., orientate yourself to your situation. 3. Never give up.
What's this got to do with writing? Tonight I happened to turn into the last few moments of Back To The Future III. Have you seen the movie? It's an adventure, so the last half hour is pretty much a race against the clock. It goes on and on. Usually, I get bored and tune out, but tonight I thought about the fact that the clumsy teacher loved the wacky scientist and was willing to risk everything to get to him before it was too late. She stayed calm, she stayed focused, she orientated herself to her situation and she didn't give up.
Titanic, the movie. The ship is sinking. Jack stays as calm as he can, he stays focused, he orientates himself to the shifting situations (as does Rose) and he doesn't give up. Star Wars. Raiders of the Lost Ark. Any love movie where the hero or heroine finally realizes their heart's desire. Like Everafter and Beauty and the Beast.
Wait. My last book. Not just my book. Your book. The hero and the heroine find a calm center despite their fear or terror or heartbreak. They focus on what is really important, on what will save them and the ones they love. And THEY NEVER GIVE UP.
As a nod to recent blogs and discussions I will add this (wildly paraphrasing as I go.) Bruce Springsteen, on the John Stewart show, responded to a question about audience expectations by saying that when he gives a concert he knows he's playing to many different audiences. There are the people who are coming to hear a favorite song. There are people who come to identify with his message, political or otherwise, and others who want to hear something new. The point is, there are many different audiences but only one performance. And that is true of us as writers as well.
13 comments:
As always, Alice, a post full of wisdom!
And wow the number of zombies in a crisis situation. I think though that plane going down in the Hudson had to have had more of the never give up than the zombies.
GREAT post!
Alice, you are a font of information. Great post!
What interesting statistics. I personally haven't had any crisis situations to deal with that would require a fight or flight response. Or that required calm decision making to survive.
I had a potential situation during a forest fire in my neighborhood, but the fire hadn't reached the critical stage when we were forced to evacuate. Ashes were falling on our deck, and dense smoke was billowing up from behind a hill side in the distance. We couldn't see the flames yet. So I had to decide what I was going to take with me when we evacuated. We had like five minutes to get the hell out of there.
Besides a suitcase filled with bare necessities, I chose a cooler (because it had handles) to pile in a variety of things. What sticks out in my mind the most is that important papers went in first, then lots of photographs. Aside from family pics, one of those photos was a cherished framed picture of myself and 3 writing pals taken during a retreat in the mountains.
That wasn't survival, but it was a test of my priorities. An interesting thing to learn.
BTW, the fire didn't take our house. It was stopped before it made it over the hill.
Paty -- I was pretty surprised at the big zombie number, too. I think it may have to do with people waiting for direction. Thrown out of their element with little time to situate themselves, they tend to look for a leader because someone who knows (or seems to know) what they're doing is a big deal when it's life and death.
You always kind of wonder which one you'd be...
Karen -- That is interesting -- you got to see what your priorities are without having to actually suffer the trauma of losing your home. I looked around the room here and tried to figure out what would make the cut -- the computer for sure. Since the lap top doesn't have everything in it, I wonder if I'd try to transfer data from the desktop or just take it with me?People do strange things in extreme stress.
In the end, it would be the animals, of course.
I've been in scary situations on the sailboat off the coast of Mexico, but I had the dh to lean on -- I often wondered how difficult it must have been for him with two children and a leaning wife -- who could he count on but himself? Well, at least I follow directions very well!!!
As always, fabulous post, Alice :) I think I'd fall somewhere in the lower 80%, toward the bonkers 10%. I just don't think I would do well in a life or death situation like a ship sinking. Zombie is my middle name.
I don't know, Lisa, you strike me as someone who would keep their head. I think you might surprise yourself if you were on a sinking ferry. (Let's hope you never have to find out...)
Alice, I know which one I'd be. I'm very calm under pressure. When I was in a car crash, I waited for the police, then crawled out of my car, and found the nearest phone to call my MIL to pick me up because I had kids to pick up from school. She picked me up, we got the kids, and took them home. The car was totaled and when my dh saw it he had a gut ache for a month thinking what could have happened. But my kids were picked up and safe and that's all that mattered.
When the dh just about chopped his finger nearly in half, his mother was running around practically shrieking. I told her ot take the kids in the house, ask the oldest to bring me towels and ice. I replaced his dangling finger, wrapped it, then put ice on it and wrapped it in a towel. By now he was pretty white. I put him in the car and drove him the hospital.
Oh yeah, I know which person I'd be in a crisis.
Pretty amazing statistics. But I think you're right Alice -- most people look for a leader in a time of crisis. I wonder what would have happened on that ferry if someone had stepped up and assumed control?
I'd hope that I'd react calmly; I think I would based on past experience. When the Loma Prieta earthquake struck, my husband and I were very close to the epicenter (within 3 miles). We both stayed calm for each other, I think. And there've been other times where I've been cool and collected and later wondered how I managed it. There's something that happens in a crisis/emergency -- like everything inside goes still and all the craziness around you gets blocked out -- that's hard to explain.
Yikes, if Alice blogged today, I need to come up with something mah-velous for tomorrow! Hmm...
Eighty percent zombies, huh? Guess I shouldn't be surprised as I discovered long ago that common sense isn't common. But it still baffles me. LOL!
Guess you can tell that I am calm and rational in a crisis. Though I usually dissolve into tears afterward--washing out all that adrenaline, you see. :)
Interesting point, though, about how this carries over into our writing. That a character you might not think would be calm and rational will be exactly that if it means life or death for someone they love.
Debbie, I wondered the same thing and also wondered about the nationality and thus the communication abilities of people. That part wasn't made clear.
Spending most of my life in Eureka, CA, Humboldt Co. right off a major fault line, I went through many earthquakes. One of the worst came when my son and I were sitting on a sofa in a room built on stilts (okay, it swayed) and we kept talking until my husband came running out the bedroom and told us to get (the ^&##@@!*) out the the house. We found the whole neighborhood out there. LOL
Genene, Yes, that's what I was trying to say. How these times of stress affect our characters and how true heroes and heroines NEVER GIVE UP!
Thank you!
And I bet you are calm in a crisis ... I want to stand next to you...
I love this post, Alice. And all day long (since reading it), the following movie line has been in my head:
"As long as there is injustice, whenever a Targathian baby cries out, wherever a distress signal sounds among the stars, we'll be there. This fine ship, this fine crew. Never give up... and never surrender."
--Jason Nesmith, Galaxy Quest
I don't know what % I'd be. I'd like to say the 10% that keeps a clear head...but I'm just not sure. It's sure nice to know I can create calm-thinking characters in the face of danger though.
Oh, Eli, I loved Galaxy Quest and that's a wonderful line!
Yes, that's right, we can create characters that have the benefit of (our) ability to think out the proper responses, not just
capable ones but dynamic ones, larger than life ones.
Has it ever occurred to anyone else that if Rose had gotten into the damn lifeboat when Jack asked her to, he could have gone forth and suffered the wreck and when he found that piece of flotsam he could have climbed out of the water and saved himself instead of saving her? Then they could have been united in the end.
I'm just saying...
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