And when the prank was sprung?

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Rather simple, actually. Over at http://us.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/worklife/03/31/fool.pranks.work/index.html
there's a list of work place pranks. Your task is simply to pick one and put it in a real - well, fictional - work place. Imagine the people, the office, the work and of course, the prank.

And the aftermath. What happens next? And then?

Let's see. In case the page is gone, the pranks are:

1. Put a pair of pants and shoes in a stall in the toilet to make it appear to be in use.
2. Send a fake love note from one coworker to another
3. Have all the women in the office tell the boss in strictest confidence that they are pregnant.
4. Call the electric company using a coworker's name to tell them that the person is moving and ask that the electricity be shut off.
5. Fill the soda vending machine with beer.
6. Rig the boss's chair to drop during a meeting
7. Place a sign on the toilet door saying "the company ran out of toilet paper, please use your own resources."
8. Page a coworker over the loudspeaker telling them  to report to the CEO immediately
9. Shrink-wrap everything in a coworker's cubicle
10. Put a "house for sale" ad in the newspaper for a coworker's home

Incidentally, the article suggests that faking resignations, gluing office supplies to desks, and covering cubicles in aluminum foil are common pranks. It also suggests that almost one-third of office workers are on one end or the other of April Fool's pranks.

So - pick a prank, and tell us how it works out in that office, right over there in the office building in your mind.

Write!

When we write, we let others imagine.

Plot #7: The Riddle: 20 Master Plots

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original posting: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 10:07:16 EDT

[Based on the book "20 Master Plots (And How to Build Them)" by Ronald B. Tobias. ISBN 0-89879-595-8.]

Master Plot #7: The Riddle

Riddles, puzzles, brain teasers, conundrums. Surely you have heard of them?

[want to see a collection? try http://www.faqs.org/faqs/puzzles/faq/ ]

"A riddle is a deliberately enigmatic or ambiguous question." The answer should have both surprise and cleverness.

This has evolved into the mystery. "A challenge to the reader to solve the problem."

(p. 113) "Your mystery should have at its heart a paradox that begs a solution. The plot itself is physical, because it focuses on events (who, what, where, when, and why) that must be evaluated and interpreted (the same as the riddle must be interpreted). Things are not what they seem on the surface. Clues lie within the words. The answer is not obvious (which wouldn't satisfy), but the answer _is_ there. And in the best tradition of the mystery, the answer is in plain view."

Clues! Not too obvious, and ambigious ones do well...avoid the red herrings, the clues that don't add up, the throw-away clues...work on clues that must be understood _correctly_. Give the reader a chance.

The Purloined Letter--with a thoughtful protagonist, with all clues revealed to the reader, and the riddle clearly visible from the beginning. Will the reader solve the riddle first, or will the protagonist?

Frank R. Stockton's The Lady or The Tiger--the unresolved paradox! Where the reader learns something about themselves in considering which way they would resolve the dilemma.

So what are the phases, the drama of the riddle?

Phase one -- introduce the problem, the riddle. Who is the victim? What is the crime? Who is the protagonist that will try to solve the crime? Who are the major players? In general, pose the question--Who Killed Cock Robin?

Phase two--specifics! as good bloodhounds, let us sniff at the clues, and follow paths...camouflage information and let the readers read right past those critical clues. Action, lights, cameras...keep us squinting, keep us blinking, and make us wonder just who really is telling the truth.

Phase three--solve the riddle. confrontation and chase. maybe a mob scene, with your very own detective first making us think it was the butler, then the maid, then the victim...and the son of the victim really did it, didn't you, Alfred? Who would ever have suspected that you had come back after twenty years in the sewers? Don't forget that somewhere in this scene we need to find out that one piece of the puzzle is upside down or backwards, the key to understanding the whole deadly picture...

Note: Kafka and others have explored another flavor of riddle, the open-ended ones which are impossible to solve. These are sometimes called "symbolic" riddles, which challenge the reader to think about a situation or event outside the ordinary. Be aware that these are not usually considered mass market pieces.

Checklist!

1. Is the core of your riddle cleverly hidden in plain sight?
2. Is there a tension in your riddle between what seems to be happening and what is really happening?
3. Does your riddle challenge the reader to solve it before the protagonist does?
4. Is the answer to the riddle always in plain view without being obvious?
5. Does your first dramatic phase lay out the generalities of the riddle (persons, places, events)?
6. Does the second dramatic phase lay out the specifics of the riddle (the details of how persons, places and events relate to each other)?
7. Does the third dramatic phase provide the riddle's solution, explaining the motive(s) of the antagonist(s) and the real sequence of events?
8. Have you decided on an audience?
9. Does your riddle clearly choose between an open-ended and a close-ended structure? (open-ended riddles have no clear answer; close-ended ones do.)

I think I shall cheat! Pick a number from one to six, if you would?

[no, don't sneak ahead without picking a number...I saw that. Pick your number, then read on. That's better....:]

1. A human diplomat is found murdered in an alien embassy. Seventeen aliens are present. Each claims to be the sole murderer, and because of their psychological makeup, each passes a lie detector test.
- Are any of them telling the truth?
- Why was the human killed?
- How do you question aliens who are congenital liars?

2. An alien whose planet is at war with Earth turns up in one of our embassies, claiming sanctuary. The embassy is staffed with only twelve humans, all loyal to earth. Before the alien can be debriefed, it is found murdered in its quarters. The embassy's state-of-the-art security system has been circumvented, and what should have been a clear holograph of the killing is nothing but a three-dimensional black blur.
- Who killed the alien?
- How was the murder accomplished?
- Why was it killed?

3. A wealthy alien falls ill on Earth, and is taken to a hospital. The orderly in charge of it gives it a human-normal oxygen tent, and it dies, as it cannot handle such a dose of oxygen. The orderly claims that the alien requested more oxygen, and that he was merely catering to its wishes. Further investigation shows that distant members of the orderly's family will gain control of many of the alien's holdings upon its death.

Was it incompetence, negligence, or murder?

4. An alien, visiting Earth, takes out an ad offering a huge sum of money to the man who can solve its murder--and, sure enough, it is killed within hours of the ad appearing.
- How did it know it would be murdered?
- Given its foreknowledge, why could it not avoid its killer?
- Who killed it, how, and why?

5. An alien, here to study our native animal life, is killed by same. To people who know animals, the attack may even have been justified. A detective from the alien's race now arrives on Earth, determined to prove that this attack by unthinking animals was murder. The men in charge of the animals--game rangers, lab scientists, whatever--must prove to an alien who cannot even differentiate between a simian and a human that their animals are innocent.

Handle it straight or funny, as you wish.

6. Mood piece. A private eye is hired by a wealthy family to find their daughter, whose arranged wedding to a man of comparable wealth and position is pending. Far from being kidnapped, she is living with an alien male. A sexual relationship is hinted at but never explicitly stated. She explains that she is happy here, and that she is of age to make her own decisions. The private eye must weigh this against the fact that he took a fee to deliver her...and must make a decision. (my note: feel free to rearrange the sexes in this last one as you please...)

[Scenarios taken from Whatdunits, edited by Mike Resnick, Copyright 1992 by Mike Resnick and Martin H. Greenburg, DAW books]

How did I cheat? These are six of the mystery "seeds" used in this anthology (and More Whatdunits, the second in the series) written by Mike Resnick. He handed out these little fragments to authors, and they wrote...

So I know that these can be the seeds for successful mystery stories!

All you have to do is add the details, the scenes, the little things.
Come on, you know you want to...

[Quick start?

The first body was behind the door when we opened it.

This sentence is available for starting your story with, if it strikes your fancy. Avoid being stuck with a blank screen--start with this sentence, and go on to the end!]

Go ahead and make my day--
WRITE!

Plot #8: Rivalry: 20 Master Plots

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

original posting: Fri, 9 May 1997 23:53:22 EDT

Based on the book "20 Master Plots (And How to Build Them)" by Ronald B. Tobias. ISBN 0-89879-595-8.

Master Plot #8: Rivalry

(p. 125) "A rival is a person who competes for the same object or goal as another. A rival is a person who disputes the prominence or superiority of another. Nowhere else is the concept of deep structure more apparent than in a rivalry. Two people have the same goal--whether it is to win the hand of another or to conquer each other's armies or to win a chess game--and each has her own motivation. The possibilities are endless. Whenever two people compete for a common goal, you have rivalry."

"A principle rule of this plot is that the two adversaries should have equivalent strengths (although they can have different weaknesses). ... The point is that whatever the strength of one party, the other party has a _compensating_ strength that levels the balance."

May be the classic struggle between good and evil, or both parties may be deserving. "The tension comes from their opposition. Whether it's a pitcher facing a batter or two politicians squaring off to run for office, two people cannot occupy the same space. One must win, one must lose (with all its variations of winning and losing). Rivalry is competition." (my note: what happens when one party reframes the struggle in a win-win framework, expanding the possibilities into both gaining?)

That great classic, the Love Triangle (coming to a book near you everyday!), often embodies a rivalry plot, at least from two of the positions in the triangle...

First Dramatic Movement: "The two rivals have a common ground. They meet and are perceived as equals." Don't spend too much time on this (you might even want to do it as a flashback), because there is no conflict here. Go on to:

Introduce the conflict, and pit the two against each other. I.e., the rivals take sides, and the stage is set.

A catalyst here often helps turn the posturing into real action. "One rival moves to gain the advantage over the other. This is a struggle for power. One rival acts to overcome or overwhelm his competition."

One rival moves up the power curve (becoming more powerful, gaining advantages) while the other moves down. Typically, the antagonist takes the initiative and makes the protagonist suffer.

Second Dramatic Movement: Events occur that reverse the descent of the protagonist.

Once the protagonist has fallen, they are able to learn, to study, to gain power to challenge the antagonist.

(p. 128) "The antagonist is often aware of the empowerment of the protagonist. (It heightens the tension if the antagonist continually looks over his shoulder, anticipating the inevitable confrontation.)"

until "The stage is set. The empowered protagonist's motivation is morally justified. The antagonist prepares to defend." and...

The Third Dramatic Movement: The Confrontation

In most cases, this is the climax, the short, fast, action-filled scene where all the blinders are removed, all the trickery fails, and the two are forced to face each other in deadly reality.

(p. 129) "If the basic premise of the rivalry plot is what happens when an immovable object meets an irresistible force, you should structure your characters and situations along those lines."

Establish two conflicting and competing characters who vie for the same goal. Give them equal but different strengths. "Then create circumstances that test your characters according to their strengths." Make sure both characters win some, and lose others--make the reader really wonder who will win.

This is a plot about human nature. Make sure you know why both characters want to overcome the other--is it anger, jealousy, fear, or what that motivates the ambitions? Then give the reader a real sense of the depth of their obsession, and where it springs from.

Checklist:

1. Does the conflict in your story come from an irresistible force meeting an immovable object?
2. What is the struggle for power between the protagonist and antagonist that fuels the rivalry in your story?
3. Are your adversaries equally matched?
4. Does each rival have compensating strengths to match areas where the other is apparently stronger?
5. Does your story start with the point of initial conflict, or have a fast demonstration of the status quo and then move rapidly into conflict?
6. Do you have a clear catalyst scene, where the antagonist begins moving against the will of the protagonist and the action starts?
7. Do your characters move up and down "power curves" during the story, with one rising while the other falls?
8. Does your antagonist gain superiority over the protagonist during the first dramatic phase? Is the protagonist clearly at a disadvantage, suffering from the actions of the antagonist?
9. Are there moral issues involved and clearly tied to the different sides?
10. What brings about the reversal of fortune and stops the protagonist's descent on the power curve?
11. Is the antagonist aware of the protagonist's empowerment? Does he take steps to block it, or does he simply laugh it off as inconsequential?
12. Does the protagonist reach a point of parity on the power curve and then issue the challenge, or does something make them rush the challenge? (a favorite theme is the spunky challenger, coming back from defeat, apparently not ready...and with a surprising twist, they win!)
13. Is there a final confrontation between rivals? (the third dramatic phase)
14. How does the protagonist restore order for himself and his world after the resolution of the confrontation? (Note: there is often some "balancing" that needs to happen to straighten out the events of the first phase, when the protagonist was losing right and left.)

And let us get to work. Can you select a number from one to six?

1. The person in the middle (a desired friend, or perhaps just a dreamed-of meeting of souls passing at midnight?)
2. The desired job (position, etc.)
3. The desired prize (you decide the contest, you decide the rules--this is your world!)
4. The chance for glory
5. The desired recognition by others
6. The race (goes not to the swift, but to the steady...) A competition, by any name...

There you have a very broad clue at a possible goal for our characters to strive for, to act as the fuse for their rivalry. Take a few moments and refine this. What is the prize that will be pulled and yanked between the two?

While you are considering that, go ahead and sketch out (at least in your mind) a little about the characters. Remember, they should have roughly equivalent strengths and weaknesses, and be a good match for the struggle ahead. Make sure that they each have solid reasons for pursuing that goal.

Drop back a moment and consider a number from one to six. You will find your selection below:

1. Competitions are for horses, not artists. Bela Bartok, Saturday Review, Aug. 25, 1962

2. Every advantage has its own tax. Emerson, "Compensation," Essays: First Series (1841)

3. Against great advantages in another, there are no means of defending ourselves except love. Goethe, Elective Affinities, (1809), 23.

4. The folly which we might have ourselves committed is the one which we are least ready to pardon in another. Joseph Roux, Meditations of a Parish Priest (1886), 4.84, tr. Isabel F. Hapgood.

5. The turning point in the process of growing up is when you discover the core of strength within you that survives all hurt. Max Lerner, "Faubus and Little Rock," The Unfinished Country (1959), 4.

6. There is no reality except the one contained within us. That is why so many people live such an unreal life. They take the images outside them for reality and never allow the world within to assert itself. Hermann Hesse, Demian (1919), 6, tr. Michael Roloff and Michael Lebeck.

Allow yourself a moment to consider that quote. You have your two characters, the unifying goal which will drive them apart, and a little quote. How does that quote play with (or against) your thinking?

Now stretch all of this against the backdrop of that archtypal plot for rivalry, and the questions in the checklist. Lay out your scenes, and consider: How are you going to introduce the rivals? How about the point of conflict that will bring the rivalry into focus? Who is going to fall first, and why? How do they try to recover? And then...

Go on to the end, revise, polish, and don't forget the foreshadows. Don't even forget the deep dark backshadows.

[Quick Start?

Yesterday they had been friends. Tomorrow, one of them would be dead.

You are welcome to use this as a beginning if it helps you.]

WRITE!