TECH: Nanowrimo Notes #2: Stacking Scenes

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

How are all the nanowrimowers today? Word count rising?

I thought I'd take a look at a list of "scene sequences" today. I know you may not be thinking at this level right now, but you might need to add some scenes as you're moving along. And our friend Jack Bickham in his book Scene & Structure has some suggestions:

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

So let's consider these possibilities.

Move the main character further and further from quick attainment of the goal? These are scenes that move the main character away from that easy goal. He wanted to have breakfast, but the dishes aren't washed. And someone moved the groceries around. And then he notices that they are out of dishwashing soap. And... pretty soon he's in a different county trying to explain that he really wasn't involved in the robbery at the 24 hour store, and he's still hungry. Try-fail cycles -- your hero never gets there the easy way. There are always plenty of things dragging him away from this straightforward accomplishment.

New and unexpected troubles, not obviously related. The ninja come in through the kitchen window, the phone rings to say that Joe hit a deer last night with the hero's car and needs someone to pay for the tow charges, and the lightning bolt hits burning out the electricity in the house -- and the electronic lighter for the gas burner. Anything and everything, from weather, earthquake, fire, flood, and other acts of nature that the characters can't control but must react to through all of the interruptions and tugs and pulls of social life down to the sudden realization that if he doesn't find a bathroom soon, his pajama bottoms are going to be damp -- your characters can expect curveballs around every corner (don't you love mixing metaphors?)

Unrelated problems that have to be solved before getting back to the real thing. The kid at the front door who insists on being paid for newspaper delivery right now. The flat tire that keeps the car from going anywhere. Uncle Bob on the telephone fretting about whether or not to go out with a new girlfriend. Does saving the world have to wait for all those other odds and ends? Well . . .

Interleaved subplots. You may or may not want to mix up the main character with subplots, but remember that many of your other characters will have their own agendas and plots running along. So while the main character is working hard to save the world, his sister may very well be getting ready for her dates and trying hard to talk with your hero about what's happening to the social whirl as the giant tomatoes eat the city. And what about poor Wimpy, trying vainly to borrow money to buy a burger for which he will gladly repay you after the end of the world? Go ahead, introduce their desires (Goals), the reasons behind them (Motivations), and all the stumbling blocks along their way (Conflicts) and lay out those subplots threaded through the main plot.

Deadlines and ticking clocks are often thought about as fodder for suspense or thrillers, but they can be useful almost anywhere. We make appointments, people tell us that they have to have things by a certain date or time, and then life gets in the way. Filling out the form and mailing it should only take a few minutes -- but getting a few minutes, finding an envelope, buying stamps, putting the whole thing together, and actually getting into a mailbox somehow ends up spread over two or three days? And you know if that form isn't in the county office, Harvey is going to have to close down the restaurant. Set the clock, then go ahead and put in the times -- then fill in what's happening against the relentless march of time. Tick, tick, tick.

Dwindling options. The real trick here is to think of it as your character having several possible options, perhaps even feeling that this is so easy, there are plenty of places to get lunch. And then they start trying to do them. The Italian place has the school football team meeting there today, and they have no empty tables. The Chinese place? There's a sign on the door -- it's New Year's Day? In what country? Anyway, they're closed. The Golden Arches on the corner seems to have a fire in the kitchen, and the ambulances and firetrucks are blocking everything. The policeman suggested riding down here, and behind the small woods, where the pet cemetery used to be, there's a strange new restaurant. . . start with a list of possible options and walk through them. As the character tries each one, you have opportunities for flashbacks and memories, interaction with other characters, and some evidence of how our hero deals with confusion, frustration, and change. Lots of fun.

Hidden complications and developments. The secrets behind the characters, their families, their friends, backstory -- slowly it all starts to be revealed, in scene after scene, with the protagonist and other characters reacting and changing and growing. How does the protagonist deal with finding out that his father -- his stepfather, really -- was a brick layer before he went into partnership with the mob. And his real father was gunned down somewhere over the Atlantic? Or once he gets the form filed with the county office, he has to pay the registration fee? There's always another secret, always more things to learn, to be revealed, to change the way that the protagonist and the other characters think about what's happening. Why did the redhaired man cross the street?

More about Scene & Structure right over here http://community.livejournal.com/writercises/54622.html

So there you have it. Seven suggestions about ways to keep the pot boiling as you stack those words into scenes and weave those scenes into a grand stew. Make the main character take the long route, add surprises, mix in puzzles and extra problems, weave subplots, set deadlines, walk down the options, and revel in secrets. And most of all, quite sincerely, keep writing!

(1090 words, more or less)
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