Advice on Handling my in-story wrestling matches

[Zoolander]

Okay I have this story which centers around this wresting show in my world. The story is told from multiple POV characters that are active in this wrestling show. Now the way i want to handle showcasing this wrestling show is dividing them into chapters. So for instance Chapter 1 would be the first wrestling show, i would label it Episode 1 instead of chapter 1 and that whole chapter would be just about the wrestling show.

What I'm afraid of is readers may or may not find the chapters showcasing the whole wrestling show relevant. They would only want to read about the character POV matches and move on.

But the way I'm writing my story, me showcasing the whole show is VERY important because everything that happens in the show will lead towards future events. So its basically like you watching WWE and you see different characters career in the WWE and the path they all went through before they became champion or on the path to becoming champion.

Cuz i feel like Readers will only want to see the Novel POV characters matches just like how i would think WWE fans would only want to watch RAW or SMACKDOWN to just see the champions on the show compete for they titles and not see any other matches that doesnt relate to the championships.

But as you know or watch WWE shows everybody is important because you never know what can happen and who can get a title shot.

So im basically doing my in-book wrestling shows like that. Your going to get the story POV characters matches but you also going to get other matches from characters who doesnt have a POV in the original story.

I feel like its important but like i said Idk if readers would find them important to read. So if anyone have any advice/opnions or if you like how im doing it. Pease inform me.

 

[soulsinging]

I've got no advice for you, because I'm not much of a writer and for some reason all I can think of when I think about wrestling is the Breakfast Club scene where Bender is teasing the jock about how manly it is to roll around with other guys in tights That said, there are a few forums around here for people wanting to bounce ideas off other writers, and you might really benefit from having this topic moved over there. Good luck with your story!

 

[The Judge]

The matches that don't involve the POV characters, how are you going to write them? Omniscient, or from a reporter's/spectator's POV? All other things being equal, the lack of a chapter/match involving the POV characters isn't likely to be a problem, but the way those other matches/chapters are written might be. Also, for me, the very fact that whole chapters are devoted to wrestling matches would be a big turn off by itself. Sorry.

Anyway, soulsinging is right. This isn't really a book/reading matter, but a writing one, so I'll move it over to GWD.

 

[Denise Tanaka]

My first thought, in reading your question, is that you'll need some kind of focal point for a reader to hang onto or you risk losing their interest. With so many characters coming in and out of view, the only thing binding them together is the championship title. What is their motivation? What is the end game? I think a ringside announcer type character is a very good idea, a Simon Cowell observer if you will, to be the one constant. For example, when George Lucas was writing the script of the first Star Wars movie, he chose to make the 2 'droids the point of focus to carry us through all the different scenes. The narrator is a tried-and-true device of ancient theater, all the way up through Shakespeare and such.

My other suggestion is to look for published books that have a similar structure and whether they were successful? Look beyond wrestling. It could be anything from martial arts to boxing to dance competitions, etc. What makes people covet the prize? What different choices will they make it trying to achieve the goal?

And... if it doesn't work as prose, perhaps it would work better as a series of graphic novels?

 

[Dan Jones]

I had to comment if only because of the brilliant thread title - how has this only racked up 4 comments!?

Ok, serious face on. The Judge is right. You've got to figure out from whose perspective the wrestling chapters will be told. Maybe you could have some sort of ringside announcer character - like a Greek Chorus :S - who can relay the action for us (just re-read the thread and seen Denise has already said this - apologies!).

In theory a whole chapter (how long is a chapter?) devoted to a match isn't a bad thing so long as it's done in a way that's exciting. The thing is, how can yo make it exciting when it's the non-POV characters involved in the bout? What emotional investment will the reader have in these characters? Why should we care? These are conundrums you'll need to solve to get this right.

 

[tinkerdan]

Though this is about a wrestling scene, I think the concept is important enough to fall globally into any novel where you introduce material that seems extraneous to the POV.

The dicey part is that you say the this is important to the story and I'll get to why it becomes dicey. But first::

What I would do is make each of these a POV ; such as close third to get close to the character and make the character interesting. You are going to be risking throwing your reader out of the story so each has to begin almost like the beginning of your entire story or novel. Some sort of hook to make the reader read it. It is not so much of a question of should I do this if they are important to the story; but it is a matter of how you will do it and make the reader read it. You can't lead the reader by saying you must read this section-well you can: but I'm pretty sure I'd be inclined to either skip it or skip the whole rest of the novel.

Now we get to that bit of it being important to the rest of the story. First and foremost make sure that it is. Right now and even when the reader has it in hand we only know that it's important to you that these parts be here. You have to find a way to make any resistant reader read these section-devour them-so that they get whatever it is that you need them to get. If you don't; then either they will skip, skim or stop (Unless they love wrestling-in this instance). If they do any of those you've lost them; because you have said that it is vital to the story so any of those three would kill the story for that reader. If there is no other way to get this to the reader then I again stress that you have to make these almost a story within a story that will draw the reader in deep enough that they won't have time to think about the relevance of it all.

It will remain extraneous information that creates a mystery that will only be solved when you finally reveal everything to the reader and only the diligent readers will get it. So your job is to craft a story that makes everyone a diligent reader despite themselves.