The Other Side

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original Posting: Sun, 26 Jun 1994 18:35:02 JST

They say that one of the skills of the lawyer or debater is looking at the other side - knowing the arguments and rationales of the opposition inside out. I had a teacher who would sometimes have us switch sides just as a debate began, deliberately forcing us to know both sides.

Anyway, it seems to me that part of the writer's toolbox is that same ability to get inside the other side and consider how to work with or against those arguments. In an essay, for example, you're out to persuade and convince people who do not believe the same things you do - and you won't get very far by telling them how wrong they are to think that way.

Or in a story...

1. Pick a scene (or a complete story - at least a character!) and lay out the goals, complications, blocks, etc. that the POV character faces.

2. Now pick one of the opponents!

3. Write down their goal(s). How do they plan to get there? Why does this interfere with the "hero(ine)'s" desires?

4. Write up the scene or story from the POV of the opposition.

5. Now go back and re-construct the scene or story from the original POV. Does knowing what the "other side" is trying to do change the plot? Are there missing pieces or actions that don't really fit?

Writers almost need a bit of split personality in writing stories - they've got to develop at least two characters (in most cases) and often more in realistic ways... spend some time making sure the opposition is at least as well developed as the main characters, and your story will improve.

Roll-Your-Own? (The Meta-Exercise?)

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original Posting: Sun, 3 Jul 1994 18:35:02 JST

This is really a writer's exercise - for when they're being a reader.

Suppose you are reading along in your favorite book, and suddenly realize the author just made an exceptional swerve, took you right outside the normal everyday interactions, or otherwise did something you like. Aside from just looking at the mechanics of how they did that (you do look at mechanics like that, right? maybe even take notes, try it out yourself, and add it to your toolkit?), try this:

Imagine that the author came up with the idea for doing whatever it was in response to ... an exercise! or at least a question...

Now, what was that exercise? What was the question that pushed that author into doing something that really excited you?

Write it down. Remember that most exercises and good questions have more than one answer, so generalize - if the writer focused on how the expression of a single emotion could be so misunderstood by multiple people, your exercise might involve picking one from a list of emotions, making a list of ways to express that emotion, writing up one, and then considering how various characters could misinterpret that expression.

File it away. You may want to keep a part of your journal or an extra file folder just for these "personal exercises."

Then some day when you're stuck for an idea, trying to figure out where to start, what to fill the bare page with - pick up one of those exercises and do it. Don't bother trying to figure out what you were reading when you came up with it - treat it as if it was one of those quirky ones handed out without explanation in writers' groups, and go!

Sometimes you may want to write them up and post them here, too...

WRITE!

The Crucible

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original Posting: Sun, 10 Jul 1994 18:35:03 JST

Most plotting exercises concentrate on the conflict--the struggle that is slowly tearing these people apart. However, behind that, there is a crucible, a mostly invisible "wall" that is holding these people in the fire. For example, rivals for the same job obviously are forced together. Family members are held together by their relationship. Policeperson and criminal handcuffed together. People in a broken elevator, hostages, and so on, the list of situations or relationships that keep the characters in the conflict goes on and on.

1. Take a pair of characters, their goals, and the conflict(s) they are engaged in. (You can analyze someone else's work if you like or a new work you are considering).

2. Lay out the scenes, with all the rising conflict and involvement.

3. Now consider the settings or situations of each scene. How does this setting (or the relationships within it) block any easy escape from the conflict? In some cases, writers include one or more deliberate attempts to escape from the crucible--with the slide back in heightening the drama (the telephone lines have been cut! there is a flood across the only road out of the valley!...)

4. If necessary, mend the crucible walls and tighten up the situation. Did one character think rappelling down the walls would get them out of the mess? Then perhaps there is a sniper out there, ready to pick off anyone sticking their head out, or (even simpler) no ropes.

Make sure your crucible suits the personalities you are melting inside, and see if you don't end up with a nicely forged story...

Write!

Now You See It...

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original Posting: Sun, 17 Jul 1994 18:35:02 JST

Hup, one, two, three...Detail, HALT!

Part of the "trick" to finding camouflaged whatevers hiding is to carefully go over each and every visible piece in order, refusing to "skip" or let your eyes and brain fit the pieces into a whole. That's how you realize that could be a shadow from the tree, but it's also just exactly the right size and shape to be a...

So...

1. Pick one of the following settings:

farm building (e.g. barn)
country field
downtown street
shopping mall
high school
library
etc.

[fine it down... make it a specific location you know quite well.]

2. Make a list of all the bits and pieces a person would see. Do it systematically--start at one side and go across to the other side, or at one address and go down the block. Make it a fairly big list--at least 20 items, okay?

3. Now consider a character walking into this setting. Give them a particular situation or emotional bent (e.g. they've just learned their child was killed. they've just gotten married! they've just missed with their first attempt at assassination. they've just graduated! whatever...)

[a list of "life crises" you might consider: losing job, death, marriage, illness, accident, leaving home, graduation, retirement, changing jobs, changing homes. incidentally, these are considered the ten "most stressful" situations according to the book on stress reduction I got them out of. I assume they mean death of a significant person, not yourself, as death seems likely to be relatively free of stress.]

4. Go through your list and pick out the details the character would see. Write it down, using the words they would use given their situation. Don't tell us what has happened to them, but through their selection of details and method of describing what they are seeing, hearing, smelling, etc., make us feel the way they do. Weather, vegetation, flashing lights--you're welcome to change details of the scene to bring out the character.

WRITE!