The Extraordinary Ordinary

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Storyworld, whether we escape via reading or writing, is a magical place in a familiar yet unwalked dimension. As much as we like to paint these beautiful broad strokes outside the lines there are, in fact, boundaries that confine us. See, that’s the thing about fiction (okay, most fiction—Fantasy, Paranormal, Speculative aside). It has to find a believable root in reality. People want to read about characters they can relate to. Characters who, despite being different than you and me, come alive on paper and walk a path we can understand. We become sympathetic to their plight, we fight, we root, we cry, we ride off into the sunset as if becoming someone else for a few hours of make believe.

We re-live falling in love another way. We overcome loss we’ve never known. We find strength we never had to have to survive.

But do we walk away inspired? Entertained? Unaffected? Changed?

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There are times when stories can become too . . . ordinary. Okay, that sounds kind of harsh but it’s true. You survive the journey and you move on. You may have chuckled here and there. You might have riled some enthusiasm for a happily ever after, but ultimately you close the book and say, “Next.” Or, “Well, those were hours wasted.” Or even, "Wow, I'm so glad that's not my life!"

Why? Where is that sweet spot of believability and fantasy?

The magic in story doesn’t simply lie in the escape but in where it takes you. I have read books that took me to a dark place, and even despite a happy ending, left me there. I have read books that putter along very safely on cruise control, but never change lanes at high speeds, never once let the wind chase through the open windows or never dare to mash the pedal to the floorboard. Stories that could just be any combination of beginning, middle, and end.

For example, I'm a very safe driver, of course, I usually have little blonde passengers, but I gotta tell ya, I get pretty stinking excited about a high speed chase or a joy ride on the back of a motorcycle on the page. Not because it's impossible or totally far-fetched. But simply because it's currently beyond my reality. And my comfort zone. But in storyworld, I'm free to experience it without consequence. I'm exhilarated!

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But more often than not I find myself wondering...Where is the charge? The spark? The insatiable page-turning force?

The thing, yes I’m still talking about that elusive “thing” is what makes the ordinary extraordinary. The things that makes us cling to the pages and live vicariously. Stories that, despite the struggle, let us enjoy the entirety of the journey. Few stories have actually changed me. Stories that gripped me so deep in my own reality that I still walk through those pages from time to time without even opening the book.

I know you were hoping I had the secret formula… well, I don’t. Sorry, don’t storm off. The truth is, the sweet spot is different for everyone. It’s precisely why one person loves a book another could barely tolerate. And frankly, I’m happy we have a variety for the simple pleasure of finding that perfect match between reader and story that turns ordinary words into something extraordinary inside you.

Have you ever read something extraordinarily ordinary? And what ingredients do you add in your writing in hopes of achieving this beautiful balance?


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Amy Leigh Simpson writes Romantic Suspense that is heavy on the romance, unapologetically honest, laced with sass and humor, and full of the unfathomable Grace of God. She is the completely sleep deprived mama to two little tow-headed mischief makers, one pretty little princess, and wife to her very own swoon-worthy hero. Represented by the oh-so-wise and dashing Chip MacGregor of MacGregor Literary Inc.