TECH: Psychological Depth in Stories (was: What is a story?)

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

original posting: Fri, 8 Jul 1994 18:35:01 JST

or: How Can A Story Convey Internal Struggles

Hi, all. Michael raised an interesting point which I have been pondering. It wasn't really central to his discussion, but noting his concern with portraying psychological depth and techniques of writing, I started to think about just what part the old theme of "man against himself" has in writing, and how the "standard techniques" present that struggle.

Grant me a thousand words or so (a picture and a half?) to pound that point into the dust?

[since I suspect many of you are still recovering from an extended weekend, you may postpone reactions for a while. I hope you enjoyed the 4th--and brought back memories of fireworks and hot buttered corn and all that jazz!]

I suppose I should start by noting that many discussions of literature attempt to loosely divide the set of possible conflicts into three major groups--man against himself, man against man, and man against nature (the book where I learned these wasn't up to modern standards--please feel free to change man into homo sap or whatever nonsexist term you prefer, and correct other sexual references as needed).

So I start with the recognition that psychological struggles--man against himself--are a very common playground for writers. In most cases, they use a variety of techniques to play out their plots.

Perhaps one of the most common is "projecting" the internal struggle onto external life, sometimes even converting the whole internal conflict into an "external" one. For example, Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde (sp?), most or all of Shakespeare's plays, Dracula, and many, many other "oldies" and even some "newies" clearly use the tired-and-true techniques as backdrops for this oldest play of old--man struggling with himself (check out the Bible and other ancient historical sources--cripes, even the mythologies are very little more than "external" projections of man's struggle with himself).

[or perhaps our best analogies and metaphors for what's going on inside are built from those outside ourselves? which one is the mirror, which the image?]

On considering the matter carefully, I'm not at all sure that there is any kind of story that does not involve the struggle of an individual to understand and deal with him or herself. Even the purest adventure-action story usually involves at least some minor (and often rather major!) internal struggle by one or more of the characters trying to deal with personality flaws, fear, hatred, etc.

There are a number of "plotting systems" that focus on identifying a "critical flaw" (or similar personality trait or problem), developing the conflict and rising tension to aggravate and display that internal problem, and then using a shift, reversal, or other method of resolving the external and internal conflict that has been constructed. Since these systems focus on the purely internal as the driving force underlying the entire plot construction and selection, it seems obvious that these are quite focused on internal struggles--even when the result is a hard-bitten detective madly chasing cares and dodging Freudian slips as they close in on the suspects...

Let's see--some of those old tired-and-true techniques:

Mystery--the presentation of parts and clues in an order which "teases" the reader into reading, then reveals the "hidden secret"--while it has obvious uses in almost any kind of writing, its appeal to the reader and challenge to the intellect seem peculiarly appropriate as a component of writing that deals with psychological conflicts and truths. After all, the depths of the mind (and especially those quirks of the unconscious, right and left brain, and other intrigues of the psychological world) are perhaps the most resistant of mysteries even to those of us who live with one all of our lives. We may be the foremost experts on that mind--and how mysterious it is!

[which is one of the delightful dilemmas of life--I must chose, yet I know precisely how little I know! and I thrash onward, struggling with that limited self I know too well...]

Suspense--the deliberate delaying of closure to maintain interest--also seems quite well-suited to writing that deals with internal thoughts, desires, and drives. After all, the tool is rooted in those desires and needs, and--when used to direct and heighten interest, or even in twisted ways to frustrate and mislead the reader--is one of the most psychological of writers' tricks.

Pandora, Love, Dilemma, Revenge...most of the old "tricks of the trade" seem rooted rather solidly in psychological caprice. The proper study of man is man--and seemingly that's what the writers have been up to for a long, long time.

Resolutions--lord, that's an on-going discussion. Join the confusion. For the nonce, let me just note that Randy's point about the basic need being the reader's psychological closure (versus resolving the conflict) is extraordinarily good (if I can ever pin it down enough to use it). Randy also made the excellent point that the end of the story and the resolution of the story are not at all identical, and can occur in various combinations (e.g. resolution before end, coincident, and resolution well after end). [points freely translated by me--if there are errors, they are mine]

[I have several files from Randy and Chris which I am still mulling over dealing with "endings" and "resolutions" and such fine points.]

I think Michael's point that most resolutions are not truly final may also provide some enlightenment for our continuing discussion.

Let me see - a quick checklist:

1. scenes - character, dialogue, action, setting
2. avoid narrative summaries - the narrator speaks
3. show, don't tell
4. let character emerge through action, reaction, and dialogue
5. limit flashbacks, analysis, and history
6. don't use dialogue or interior monologues to feed info to your reader
7. introduce us to the character through how they act and talk
8. 3rd person, past tense - except when 1st or omniscient or others do a better job
9. make dialogue show emotion, don't tell us
10. kill -ly adverbs -- use the right verb!
11. not "He wondered..." -- use "Why did he..." (more natural)
12. use beats -- little actions between dialogue lines
13. short paragraphs, scenes, and speeches
14. avoid repetition
15. watch proportion and balance
16. avoid cliches

hum--seems as though these old techniques are focused on bringing out character--that hidden psychological beast, with all its claws and varied furs, that hides beneath the external details and reveals itself in such maddeningly incomplete and fragmentary glimpses. Admittedly, it is not as simple and easy as sliding into the brain of the person might be--but most of us aren't telepaths anyway, and find even "stream-of-consciousness" writing to be relatively unfamiliar, not at all similar to the babbling brook that runs inside our cranium in the instants when we are not occupied with various disturbances outside and inside our skin.

Even when I look at attempts like Georges Polti's to categorize the various fragments out of which we "build" plots (or stories), the focus is on internal drives--sometimes being played out in the outside world--and the psychological thrashing of those conflicts. Polti makes a point of stating that one of the key ways to vary the basic building blocks of his 32 plot elements is to "collapse" two or more of his "essential characters" into a single person who embodies the inherent conflict and characteristics of those multiple "actors." I'd argue that one of the ways we can most easily display an internal struggle is to separate out the actors and give them at least fictional independence to "show off" their dispositions...

Perhaps this whole discussion really belongs with our recent notation that the writer's and readers' emotions are involved and "touched" by truly great writing. While not overtly identical, in the same way it might be said that part of the basic plot in great writing is always a human struggle with him/herself--coming face-to-face with the fact of our individual humanity in one guise or another, accepting it, and learning to deal with it in some way (note that being defeated by it is one way to deal with it--not perhaps the currently accepted mode, but quite common in older tragedies).

I did want to thank Michael for his quote:

- "Once upon a time, a man complained that the shoes he was trying on were
- much too tight. To which the seller replied: `You have no right to
- complain unless you yourself can make a better shoe.' So the man went
- out and found himself a better shoemaker..." --Pierre Elliott Trudeau--
- Canadian Prime Minister (1968-1979, 1980-1984)

Interesting quote. As I read it, it is talking to the craftsperson about making sure the product fits the customer--or in our terms, that the writing suits the audience.

Who is your audience? What do they expect? Nasty questions that cut to the core of writing...

thoughtfully,
tink

TECH: Scene and Structure Book Summary

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

original posting: Thu, 29 Apr 1993 18:32:01 JST

Please note that this is a summary of what I consider the important parts of Bickham's book. It does not reflect all the material in his book (you really should read it), nor does it contain a lot of my normal fascinating prose stylistics. Having said that - hope it gives you a few clues about a reasonably good craft book...

Scene & Structure
Jack M. Bickham
Writer's Digest Books, 1993

One point to make clear at the beginning is that Bickham is NOT prescribing the form of presentation. You should use your best dialogue, description, and other tools to drape and form the selected scene. All that he is describing is the bare bone structure that underlies your writing. How you doll it up is left to your discretion - whether you like scenic description, stream-of-consciousness inwardness, flashback fantasies, or some other way of covering the structure is your choice. He is definitely NOT providing a canned plot for you to work with, although you might use his tools to extract such a plot from your favorite book or two...

The main structural component described is the sequence of scene and sequel.

A scene starts with the goal of a viewpoint character, proceeds through conflict, and ends in tactical disaster for the viewpoint character. The reader responds to the goal by forming a scene question, which should be specific, definite, have an immediate goal and clear connection to the overall plot goal, and have a simple yes/no answer.

A scene consists of moment-by-moment action constructed using stimulus (internalization) response pieces. Stimulus and response must be visible, usually dialogue or action, while internalization allows the thoughts of the viewpoint character to be explained.

The tactical disaster ending a scene should be an unanticipated but logical development that answers the scene question, relates to the conflict, and sets the character back. The three possible endings are no (simple failure); yes, but... (conditional success - usually setting up a dilemma); and no, plus... (failure, plus new problems).

While scenes may be linked with a transition (simple change in time, place, viewpoint), the full element needed is a sequel, containing emotional response, thought, decision, and new action. In a sense, the scene acts as stimulus, which must be followed by sequel acting as response. If a sequel must be skipped (due to time pressure, etc.), there should be a later "flashback" sequel, completing the sequence for the reader.

A story (basically novel) begins with a significant change that threatens the main character's self-concept. This, in turn, causes the character to form an intention or story goal in response, which provides the reader with a story question. The end of the story occurs when the story question is answered. The story focus must be on material that relates to the story question.

To plan a story -

1. identify the main character's self-concept
2. pick a significant event that threatens that self-concept
3. determine the moment of change that you will start with
4. lay out the intentions/goals the character will attempt to use to fix
5. lay out a plan of action for the character to try
6. determine when/where/how to answer the story question

Bickham suggests the following major ways to structure the scene/sequel sequences:

1. scenes move main character further and further from quick attainment of goal
2. scenes develop series of new and unexpected troubles, although not obviously related
3. scenes require character to handle unrelated problem before returning to original action line
4. interleaved subplots
5. plot assumption puts deadline (ticking clock) into action
6. plot arranged so that options dwindle
7. plot arranged so that complications and developments previously hidden are revealed

One point should be made clear - a scene/sequel sequence is NOT a chapter. Bickham points out that "chapter breaks" are a relic of earlier publishing (when novels were published as serials), and you should never use a chapter break as a transition. Place chapter breaks at the moment of disaster ending a scene, in the middle of conflict, or some other point that keeps the reader reading. Bickham suggests that most chapters have more than one scene.

(my gloss - remember 1000 nights and a night and make each chapter break a cliff-hanger!)

The book also contains a large amount of material dealing with problems in handling scenes, variations you might want to try, and other fine points. There are plenty of exercises, annotated examples, and so forth to make this a useful study book.

-----------------------
Strategy Worksheet
    Main character's self-concept
    Significant event that threatens self-concept
    Moment of Change to start with
    Intentions/Goals to fix
    Plan of Action
    When/Where/How answer story question
    Scene Planning -
        Move further and further from quick path to goal
        New and unexpected troubles
        Unrelated problem that must be solved first
        interleaved subplots
        deadline (ticking clock)
        dwindling options
        hidden complications/developments revealed
-----------------------
Scene/Sequel Worksheet
Scene (consists of Stimulus - Internalization - Response)
    Goal:
    Conflict:
       Who?
       Where?
       How long?
       Twists (4+):
    Disaster (No!, Yes, but..., No, plus)
Transition
Sequel
    Emotion (description, example, discussion)
    Thoughts (review, analysis, planning)
    Decision
    New Action
-----------------------