A sort of lit-crit analysis:

I've been thinking about DomLuka's writing recently, and realizing that Dom has set himself a formidable task, in terms of writing craft. He's presenting stories written exclusively form the point of view of a passive protagonist. We only know of the story's universe through the eyes of one character (Owen, Rory, Quinn). We know only what the protagonist experiences or thinks, and any other input has to come through what the protagonist is told (perhaps in conversations with others) or reads (like Rory's Mom's letter).

The peculiar problem is that all of Dom's protagonists are so damn passive. They wait for information to be given to them, and that makes us readers far more aware of the situations that the protagonists. It's why Dom's readers continually want to give the heroes a good swift hit upside the head, proclaiming "Don't be so dense!"

Perhaps the problem is most acute with Rory, who is not only passive, but perhaps one of the least curious characters to come out of any author's pen since someone invented George W. Bush. He grows up for a decade and a half and never asks the basic questions; Where do I come from? Who was my father? It's rather odd for a kid to never ask those questions. When he gets to Ari-fri-kin-zona, he doesn't ask basic questions about his new situation: who are you folks and how are we related? Even when Rory gets over his anger at Eddie, he still doesn't ask him questions about his history. When he goes snooping around Jason and Eddie's rooms, it's shocking, not so much as a breach of etiquette, as that it's the first sign of curiosity we've ever seen in Rory.

The effect of all of this passivity and incuriosity is that the readers continually try to fill in details. We as readers know so much more than the protagonists and are impatient with the slow pace of the stories. Perhaps this uncertainty in the face of passivity what Dom's writing is all about, but it's also a great source of frustration for us readers. I've never seen a group try to influence future story plots as much as the Domaholics. We've filled pages and pages (well, screens and screens) in these forums with our attempts to predict further developments.

Bob and Ray had a great comedy routine about a man representing "the Slow Talkers of America--that's the S.T.O.A., not to be confused with the F.T.O.A.--that's the Fast Talkers of America." Bob and Ray's "Slow Talkers of America" at http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/nprshop/racd6000_cd2_17.ram [Not the best rendition of the routine they ever did, but downloadable and on-line.] To replicate the routine, the preceding quote needs to be spoken as slowly as possible by one person, with the other one filling in the obvious conclusions of the sentence as quickly as possible with great impatience. That's the way Dom's readers react to Dom's slow story telling.

Having offered this analysis, I don't think there's anything to be done about it. Dom's cluelessly dense protagonists gradually coming to realizations about their situations is what his fiction is all about. The choice of a single point-of-view makes additional omniscient revelations impossible. And the eagerness of impatient readers needing to finish his sentences and stories is an inevitable reaction. So I'll just wait impatiently with everyone else for Dom to spin his yarns.

--Rigel

Good point, Rigel. Especially about Rory. Not only does he seem like the least curious person ever, but he's the character I spend the most time yelling "Are you stupid?!" at. It's so unbelievably obvious to us, the readers, that everyone else is gay. Before there were even any clues to lead you to that conclusion, you started assuming Eddie was gay. I guess without the characters being so dense, the story would only be a page long. I can understand being afraid to ask certain questions, and not wanting to know the answers, but not so much the lack of curiosity. That said, the stories still work, and I'm waiting impatiently right along with everyone else.

Val

I have to agree that when I think of frustrating characters I think of DomLuka land. Rory and OwenI’d put in the same category. They’re both entirely dense and sometimes it’s frustrating that we as the audience know things before they do. (Owen not seeing that Aiden is gay, Rory not seeing what is right in front of him.) However, while Dom’s characters deserved to be bitch slapped half the time, I don’t know of any other author that could pull off telling a story the way that Dom does.

In most of the stories I’ve read the protagonist knows exactly what’s going on, therefore, as a reader, I know what’s going on. I believe that part of the reason I keep coming back for more of Dom’s stories is that he has a way of letting the audience in on a few things that the protagonist is clueless to. I also like the way that his stories seem ‘backwards’ to almost everything else out there. In his stories, his characters don’t go looking for trouble. The trouble finds them in a way that comes off as believable, making his characters seem real.

With Rory it might seem strange or even unrealistic that he wouldn’t be curious about who his father is while growing up, but if any character could get away with being THAT dense, it’s Rory. Dom’s made him completely self centered. Why would he care about a father who isn’t in the picture when he has a mom who is his ‘best friend?’ They were happy. To Rory, RORY was happy, so why should he care about anything else? When he moves to AZ there are the obvious questions that should have been asked, yes. Too bad Rory is feeling sorry for RORY and doesn’t think it’s necessary to ask many questions beyond ‘when can I go back home?’ All because RORY isn’t happy. Dom has created an almost unlikeable, self centered personality for him, and for me, that is what makes his character believable. I do have faith that we will see him grow as a person, though. I think that’s the biggest thing that keeps me coming back for more. The process might be slow, but we see his characters grow as ‘people’ and that is what attaches me to them and their stories. I think Owen from TLW is the best example of this. I can read chapter 1 of Owen’s story and then chapter 26 and almost see a completely different character in each of them. There are only a few other stories I can say that about. Where I’m concerned Dom get’s an A+ in character development.

Hugs,
Ann

Yes, I am also waiting impatiently

Excellent analysis Rigel!

I would however have to respectfully disagree that the Domaholic's want to influence future story plots. We have fun trying to predict what may happen, but I don't think most of us want to actually influence where Dom's stories go.

At least from my experience, our discussions on plot are more an excuse for us to communicate and commiserate with fellow fans while we both patiently and impatiently await the next 'fix'.

Unlike you & Val, I am waiting patiently for our next fix

Vic the Domaholic

Rigel,

You definitely provide a unique perspective on Dom's writing. Stretch it out a bit with a bunch of quotes and stuff and it would make a good Master's thesis. That sound byte on slow talkers was just priceless. I had visions of myself throttling the president of SLOA.

Now, pick one: However, But....

I don't agree that the 3 protaganists are passive. I believe they are stressed out. I believe they are in overwhelm. I see them as coping with the cards they've been dealt. There is no one way to be. There's definitely no one right way to be.

Rory has lost his mother and discovered that he has a father.
Owen was hospitalized after being beaten by his own father.
Quinn is coming to terms with his own sexuality.

Had one of these characters committed suicide, would that have been a passive act?

Conner

Great analysis Ann!

I don't believe you, lol.

But didn't you see the smilie with the halo over his head? That means I'm telling the truth

Umm hmm, when I used the halo smilie to assure you all of my innocence you didn't believe me, so by that reasoning I'm allowed to not believe you, lol...that's how it works

I cannot speak for Rigel, but as a newcover to Dom's stories I thought I would step in to express my own viewpoint. I really think, if anything, you're arguing Rigel's point for him, because you simply list reasons why they are passive without refuting the original claim that they are indeed passive.

Obviously, it would be totally inaccurate to simply label a protagonist character as completely passive. However, I think it is a fair judgment to state that Rory, Quinn, and Owen all display major passive characteristics, regardless of the reasons. Rory refuses to ask questions about anything--his surroundings, the sexuality of those he lives with, his own feelings towards his mother and father--even when prompted by those around him. The defintion of being passive is to be unresponsive to an action directed toward you--how many times has Rory been faced with a question or truth and not responded in the obvious manner? Typically, he shuts down or runs away.

I mean, the kid is the poster child for "Passive Aggressive." And his father ain't too different, himself.

Owen and Quinn exhibit many of the same qualities, though I believe to a lesser degree because as they develop as characters they become less passive and more of an active participant in their own lives. Quinn in a somewhat irrational, schizophrenic manner. The result is a dramatic tension that slips opportunisticly into melodrama at the appropriate moments. And that's not bad. There's nothing wrong with a passive character, but by nature a passive protagonist is in many ways problematic because the protagonist traditionally moves the drama forward instead of being moved forward by it.

Which is often the case with Dom's writing.

For me, and this is also open to tonal intepretations, it creates a tension on the page (or screen) between the reader and the main character because of what the character knows and what the reader knows, even though they are looking through the same pair of eyes. Which is interesting, when you think that Dom has managed to create a quasi-omniscient reading through a limited, first-person point-of-view. Which creates a subtle undercurrent of irony through the entire work because the protagonist's actions often seem unrational because what we as the audience know is so much more substantial than what the protagonist knows.

The reverse current, though, is what Rigel identifies in his original post: the feeling of stasis and/or hubris that develops around the main character as readers wait chapters for the action foreshadowed far before. Which heightens anticipation, which often spills over into downright frustration as a reader. Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily. But the constant expectation is exhausting at times. I myself will admit to skimming (and I usually go back to re-read because of my acute sense of literary guilt) because my mind already knows the mental state of each character during said scene, and I'm ready to move on to the inevitable climax (or climaxes, as the case may be).

And so there comes a moment where you want to reach through the screen into the imaginative beyond, grab young Rory by the shoulders, and yell, "Wake up, man! Do something!" Thus, you've literally been sucked into Dom's world, which is authorial genius. He just runs the risk of the reader eventually feeling like there is no one DOING anything and not reading any more.

I mean, think about the disjoint between when the reader realizes that Eddie and Jase are a couple (with the original photo) and Rory figuring it out--not on his own, I might add. Seven chapters! Seven chapters of not even asking a question. Of not even going to his father's bedroom (or the attic, which he has yet to visit). And after all that anticipatory drama, one has to wonder when we'll slip into the realm of an anti-climatic literary climate. At the end of the day, it's Dom's story, but there are problems with just about every literary angle with which a story is pursued. You just have to mitigate the minefield, is all.

In the publishing world, that's why we have editors. (And no, I'm not stating Dom needs an editor, but I will say that it probably wouldn't be a bad idea just for the inevitable typo.) That's what this forum does on the Internet--or should do--collectively back edits a body of work. The only problem (or perhaps the best thing) is that the original work still sits there, uneditted and unfinished for future readers. Pretty interesting stuff to think about, really.

I hope you don't mind if I call you Jon, for short. Not too shabby for a first post I might add.

So Jon, I see your point. Yes, in the context you provide the word passive would be apt in describing our darling three.

But what's the purpose? I guess that's what I'm missing. If you're saying it's some sort of literary device, well I must yield to your opinion. Otherwise, it's like calling an obese person passive. It's a behaviourial characteristic or symtom of the underlying condition. It doesn't add to my understanding of the character. I'm being told the obvious.

I can see a 450 lb. person sitting on a couch and he can't move on his own without going into respiratory arrest. So I ask him what's he's doing to get help with his disease. He says nothing. Yes he's passive - physically, emotionally and mentally. So, he'll either die sitting there or the people in his life who care about him will intervene and get him help. Should he be more active in dealing with his obesity? Of course he should, but I understand why he's passive. It is not an irrational response to his condition. It is a human response. Are there other ways of responding? Yes, many others.

Rory is grieving his mother's passing and dealing with a father who was never there before. Furthermore, he has discovered that his mother, whom he loved and trusted without question, deceived him in a most grievous manner. Rory is barely holding it together. He seems incapable of helping himself. Yes, that qualifies as passive.

By calling him passive, the implication is that he should be something else and that's where I'm having the difficulty. He's human like the rest of us.

Hugs,
Conner

Good post Jon!

I think you're right and we often see others moving our protagonist forward (Jude with Quinn would be a good example). Sometimes I find it frustrating because it seems that Dom's characters are almost TOO flawed, but the fact that he's attracted such a following and kept them entranced validates his style. Even if he doesn't win an Academy Award, he'll get the People's Choice.

I see your point, but I was simply supporting the original poster's observation that Dom's protagonists are passive, regardless of why they are that way. They are human, true... but there are all types of humans. Passive and non-passive. I'm not, however, saying Dom needs to change his characters. He may choose to try to adjust his style to speed up his narrative, but that's his choice.

I think where I failed to make the connection in my argument is that Dom chooses passive protagonists--no matter how he constructs them--for stylistic reasons. I'm just discussing why that (a passive protagonist, that is) can be problematic from the standpoint of a writer and how a writer (including Dom) gets around them. And what I feel the implications of those choices are on his style of writing.

For instance, Dom spends a LOT of time building strong secondary characters, so they can be used to advance his more passive narrator. Which is great because we feel like we know the other characters, but it's also frustrating because it takes a lot of time to build up characters that may only be transient or serve only one specific purpose in the protragonist's life.

It's a trade off, and when you choose a first-person perspective I think that makes it even tougher... to develop secondary characters where your reader feels like they know those characters OUTSIDE of the perception of just the main character. And being able to do that attests to Dom's skill as a writer. I'd like to know if that was taught, gained from experience, or wielded through gut instinct if I ever get the time to talk to Dom myself.

If you've ever noticed, a lot of writers resort to multiple first-person narration when they come up against the wall of character development.

And Dom hasn't.

And I haven't even started talking about what effects I think a chapter publication system has on the work of an author publishing on the Internet. It's just... I guess what I'm saying (or defending) is that by discussing the why certain stylistic choices are "problematic," doesn't mean that the style being problematic is a negative. Does that make sense?

Because with all types of character development and with all types of characters... there are unique problems and different ways to deal with those problems.



I absolutely agree. He's not a perfect writer (and as someone who has written myself, I'm sure he knows that far more acutely than anyone), and any good writer should be open to constructive criticism. But if I didn't feel that what he was writing had any value... well, I wouldn't be wasting my time writing a short literary criticism of his work.

jontd--

Great post! You've expanded upon my original ideas, giving word to thoughts that were going through my head but which I had left unexpressed. In some real ways, you ARE speaking for me, in that I can endorse almost all of what you said.

Conner's reaction to us is interesting, because he's treating "passive" in a different way than you or I. Like many other Domaholics, Conner is concerned with motivation as an explanation of characters' actions and therefore further plot development. I actually share that love of analysis of motivations, and passivity isn't necessarily a bad trait. I too love reading Dom's stories; it's why I'm here. (I actually grew up fighting with passive-aggressive techniques, and someday should write a manual about it, preferably in the form of a nice fictional story with characters who act out detailed techniques--if Dom hasn't given away all the secrets first.) And passivity is certainly one of the motivational forces of many of Dom's characters. But that invests discussions of the plot with whether characters have acted well or not in terms of morality and ethical behavior. Are they good people?

But my original post was to step back from the story itself to look at the writer's craft. "Passive" here refers to the ways in which characters interact--or fail to interact. No moral judgment is intended, only literary categorization. Have the characters acted well in terms of bringing along the drama of the story? Even a character who is an asshole or a slut serves a literary purpose in terms of bringing the story along.

Dom's iinherent understanding of the world of passive-aggressiveness and his ability to delve into it is perhaps also why he has been able to create an interesting series of love-hate interactions between Owen and Dennis Gordon. Two characters that can simultaneously battle each other with hostility, and yet seem to care about each other... It's quite a literary accomplishment to pull off that paradoxical relationship in a believable manner.

--Rigel (enjoying this discussion immensely)

BLASPHEMY!

Just kidding johtd.

Your posts are excellent reading and the critical analysis you provided brought about many points I had not thought about. In particular your point about other authors using multiple first-person narration for their character development was quite an eye opener.

Thanks,

Vic the Domaholic

I concur. This whole discussion is intriguing.

Or if Dom published more than one chapter a month.

i just wanted to say that i also can see the risks dom takes with his style of writing and even if it can be frusterating he is still making it work and that is why we are all here. i dont think it would work if he was not able to put so much emotion into his characters. a lot of them go through what real people go through.

on a sad note i wrote dom a few days ago and asked if he would ever publish something maybe he is not a perfect writer but he could be so great and i would buy his work. too bad he will not try to make a career out of this.

I had forgotten where I had seen this explanation as to why Dom never planned/desired to be published.

My gosh! I must say I was quite surprised to see this thread. Mostly because it made me feel like I was missing something, lol. It looks like it was started in my "lurker" days prior to joining (about a month later), but then the reason I joined was because I eventually wandered into the forums, read something, and wanted to post. Before that I just read the stories. Anyway:



what happened to this guy?! LOL, I think we'd have gotten on famously! (actually I think I do remember him vaguely)

Thanks for the bump, Vic, I enjoyed this series of essays, and I hope we can replicate them in our current posts.

Take care all and have a great day!
Kevin

The passive protagonist thing is so true! BUT WT and protagonist Nelson are contesting this trend. i love it!