On Creative Writing, Linda A. Lavid [read ebook pdf .txt] 📗

To beef up a book, consider adding another level of conflict for the POV character. Let’s go back to Mary and her mother Adele. Besides the dilemma that Mary has with her controlling mother, maybe Mary is also obsessed with a man she met online. Tossing in a secondary conflict adds a subplot. So how many subplots should you consider? Be careful. Each subplot must be resolved and shouldn’t overpower the main conflict.

Conversely, if your story is overly complicated and difficult to outline, focus on the story goal, reduce the number of characters, and shear down the subplots.

Are there twists? Turns in the story can happen in both small and large ways. Good storytelling is a fine balancing act, an interplay of what is known and not known, what is familiar and not familiar. An outline provides an overview of the story, and the more you know, the more you can surprise and delight the reader. Again, go to that favorite book of yours. How did the author keep your attention? What, if anything, made the story seem stale?

Does the end of your story resolve the story goal? If the story goal isn’t addressed by the end, there’s a problem. Nobody likes a bait and switch. It’s also preferable to have an ending that’s definitive and where there’s closure. I think endings are more directly correlated with reader satisfaction than any other element. Of course, the reader must get to the last page to have this happen.

“Enough,” you say. “Let’s get on with the writing.”

“Yes. Let’s.”

~ 3 ~

Tend the Bloom ~ Scene

I try to leave out the parts that people skip.

— Elmore Leonard

A written story is magical. And writers who write stores are wizards of the highest order. Here we sit, placing symbols on a page that somehow, remarkably, without actors or music or sound effects or even the spoken word, infuse a storyline replete with images and emotions into a reader’s mind and heart. How is this possible? Well, like magic it’s trickery, plain and simple. For a moment, let’s step back and remember our communal past.

I suspect most of us got the writing bug from reading other people’s stories. Stories that made our eyes fly over the lines, made us turn the pages, made our hearts pound, made us worry and wonder and laugh and cry. Such is the power of a story. It ropes us in, then wraps around two basic human traits: emotion and curiosity. When a reader feels or is desperate to know more, that’s when we have succeeded. Such a conjuring feat begins with the basics where the top hat and rabbit are Scene and Sequel and the wand is Cause and Effect.

Scene. Scene is the basic indivisible unit of fiction where the action plays out, where forces collide, where emotions ebb and flow. Delectably distasteful but true, scene is also a manipulation of the reader. To pull this off, the writer must be aware of that which is hidden, the purpose of the scene. With story goal in mind, the following questions will lead the way.

Who’s in the scene? When considering the number of characters in a scene, “Less is more” should be a constant refrain. Conflict is portrayed and heightened with more clarity and punch when there are two, and only two, opposing characters. When more characters are roaming around, the writer runs the risk of diluting the struggle or confusing the reader, fault lines that once rattled can stop the reader from reading.

What does each character want? This is where conflict plays out. While you may be in one character’s POV, it is important to know the agenda of each character, for then they can parry and lunge attacks. Conflict is an interchange where gains are made, then lost; a two-steps-forward-three-steps-back scenario.

How does each character feel? Whenever I write, I always identify how each character is feeling. Why? So I can change it. If a character is bored, by the end of the scene, I’ll have her engaged. If a character is happy, I’ll make her sad. This type of manipulation has tremendous payoffs. For one, it makes change occur. Change, a shift in the status quo, is essential in a scene. Secondly, emotional content hooks a reader and heightens the drama. The only caveat is to express one emotional state at a time. In other words, don’t make a character actively lonely and angry and revengeful. Decide on one emotion that then changes to another.

What’s the outcome? Resolution of the scene is the gasp. Here someone loses, usually your protagonist. When deciding an outcome, play around with a few options.

Returning to Mary and Adele, let’s do a scene outline of Characters, Objectives, Emotions, Outcome.

Characters: Mary and Adele

Objectives: Mary wants to stay home so she can go online and instant message a man she recently met. Adele wants Mary to go to church.

Emotions: Mary is anxious for her mother to leave. The computer is in the corner of the living room. Adele is angry that Mary won’t go to church. Adele also knows about the man online. Adele has planned to have Mary meet a man at church instead.

Outcome: Mary reluctantly agrees to go to church after Adele has a “spell.” Adele’s spells always occur when she feels there’s no other way to manipulate Mary.

Sequel. I first read about sequel in Jack Bickham’s Scene and Structure, a book every fiction writer should own, never lend out, and revere. We are not worthy. Sequel occurs after a scene. It’s when your POV character stands back, processes what has happened and decides on a course of action. By nature, a sequel moves the plot forward, tantalizes the reader, slows the pace and provides a transition. All are tools that will make your story controllable, interesting and seamless. A sequel can be as short as a sentence or as long as a chapter.

Move the plot forward. While scene is action, sequel is thought. Think of a day in your life. On your way to work, a car runs a red light at the intersection you are driving through. You slam on the brakes and close your eyes knowing impact is sure to happen. Remarkably, with your heart exploding inside your chest, the sports car speeds past. You are stunned but unscathed. So, do you simply drive away? Possibly, but not without thinking what a jerk that guy was, and your next course of action. Should you call 911? Follow him? Find out where he lives so you can move next door and torment him with chipmunk music twenty-four hours a day? It’s in sequel that you explore and expound on your protagonist’s reaction to a situation.

Tantalize the reader. Movies have trailers, those sound bites and clips that hopefully catch your attention. Sequels in fiction do a similar job. They give the reader a little tease of what’s to come. Suddenly, you take a hard left and follow the punk … then end the chapter.

Slow the pace. Sequel is telling. And telling slows the plot. Whenever you have a scene that’s particularly emotional, quiet it down with a longer sequel. In a sequel, you can have your POV character puzzle over clues, character’s motives, etc.

Provide a transition. Sequel provides a segue: a link between scenes. Sequels are connective tissue that can appear anywhere in the story when a character processes what has just happened. A chapter may have many scenes with short sequels between them. No need to rack your brain wondering how your protagonist is going to exit the room. Simply have her react, think, plan, then end the scene.

Consider presenting sequel in the order of emotion to thought to decision.

Emotion. How is your character feeling? Feeling is a gut reaction and usually comes before conscious thought. You can tell the reader how the character feels or you can describe his reactions. Description can also mirror feelings.

Thought. Once the feeling is expressed, what does your character think? A character’s thought can be expressed by dialogue, action or interior thought.

Decision. What does your character decide? What’s his next course of action? This can be shown by action, dialogue or thoughts.

A sequel for Mary and Adele may play out like this:

Mary followed behind her mother. At the front door she turned and looked back at the computer. Weak-kneed, she felt sick to her stomach (emotion). Would he understand that she had to go to church? Of course. If he loved her, truly loved her (thought). Mary glanced at the wall clock. The church service was only forty-five minutes. She could rush back while her mother stayed for cake and coffee (decision). Yes, he’d understand. She’d convince him.

End scene, then show Mary and Adele at church.

Cause and Effect. Scene followed by sequel illustrates the basic principle of cause and effect where your POV character reacts to what has just happened. Such causal relationships loop throughout the story and lend fiction believability. Unlike life, events in a story have to happen for a reason. No deus ex machina (acts of God).

But scene and sequel are just one such causal relationship. Cause and effect occur at every level of a story’s construction, from sentence to paragraph to page to chapter. A give and take conversation, an explanation of action, interior thoughts must all follow this sequence. When a story becomes confusing, it’s usually due to a cause and effect problem. And when a reader is confused, they stop reading, and when a reader stops reading, that’s a very, very bad thing.

Cause and effect is the internal integrity of the story, the thread that pulls the vivid, continuous dream through the eye of the needle. This concept provides a logical framework, forward motion, and continuity. No small feat for such a basic principle. But you have to be careful. It’s not so easy or so clear. In fact, cause and effect can become quite muddled.

A written story is comprised of lines of words that must follow each other in a one-dimensional medium. Therefore, when parts are left out or not in the proper order, the story fragments.

Problems occur when: cause has no effect, effect has no cause, the effect precedes cause, and last, but not least, there is simultaneous cause and effect. These problems can be found at every level of the story and are not something any word processing program can find. This clearly creates a dilemma.

Cause with no effect. A cause without an effect occurs when an event happens for no particular reason or when there is no effect. Naturally, a scene without a sequel would qualify, as well as tangential meanderings that stray from the story goal. But causal relationships also exist on the smaller scale. Consider this line: He flipped the switch and looked into her cold blue eyes. What is the effect of flipping the switch? Looking into her cold eyes? To follow cause and effect it should read: He flipped the switch. Light flooded the room. He looked into her cold blue eyes.

Effect with no cause. This scenario is usually the starting point for a mystery. A dead body is the effect of some unspecified cause, i.e., murder, suicide. But it also occurs when some critical cause or event happens outside the purview of the story. This is not a problem if your POV character is likewise in the dark. However, if your POV character is withholding information that is later divulged, this can lead to some nasty reviews. Artful manipulation of a reader is one thing, but playing him for a fool is quite another. Effect with no cause is the culprit when a POV character acts or reacts for no apparent reason. Sometimes the cause exists, but it is too far removed from the effect. Whenever