“Faire la grasse matinée” means to stay in the thickness of sleep for a long time, or more literally, “I can do the ‘fat’ morning” – in other words, I can sleep late and just be lazy.
It’s a neat way of saying, “sleep in,” isn’t it? But it really emphasizes the “fat and lazy” aspect of it, which is perfect for my story’s hero when the reader first meets him at the beginning of The Last Train from Paris.
It’s perfect because Jean-Luc IS lazy. And rather complacent about it, frankly, even to the point of casually stating that he deserves a “grasse matinee” every morning. We come to see that as charming as Jean-Luc may be, he trades on that charm a bit too much altogether. Which is only one of several character blocks he’ll be forced to struggle against and overcome by the end of the novel.
Of course, there’s plenty to invoke a reader’s sympathy for Jean-Luc as well, but any story worth telling is a story of personal discovery, one way or the other. Right at the beginning, I wanted to frame the parts of Jean-Luc’s life that required his self-discovery and self-awareness. I wanted readers, if only subconsciously, to compare the opening and closing scenes of the novel and see just how Jean-Luc transformed.
And I think life imitates art that way (or vice versa), in that we often need similar events or settings, or points to take stock of change. It’s why we tend to reflect on the last 12 months at New Years, or why returning to a city in which you lived, or your hometown, or even to your old college/high school carries such a punch. It’s because you can’t help but contrast your situation upon the return with the last time you were at that place (or the first time you arrived there).
Again, we’re better at seeing the change through comparison than in seeing it outright. So as a storyteller – and aren’t we all storytellers? – what you want is to work with that tendency by making the comparison easy. Give your audience a mental version of “before and after” snapshots.
So what about you? Have you had a return trip or an anniversary date of some kind that was loaded down with emotional freight because of all the comparisons you couldn’t help but make in your mind’s eye?
What’s the most memorable experience of that you’ve ever had? And how have you used this technique in telling your story?
Very nice post I enjoy your blog carry on the great articles