EXERCISE: Where did she go?

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First posted 10 June 2007

Ho, ho.

My wife told me I wouldn't enjoy it, and she was almost right. It's one of those odd Japanese shows that I usually avoid. This one focuses on various people who have been separated from family or friends, usually for years, and brings them back together, or at least brings a note.

However, one of today's . . . you can't call them contestants, can you? People who are looking for a missing connection? One of the people on today's show caught my imagination. A young man, with a sad story of going to a bar . . . one or two nights a month, for a year? and falling in love with one of the bar girls. A waitress? No, let's call her a hostess, one of those graceful young ladies who helps you drink in a Japanese bar, listens to your talk, and then moves on to the next table.

Anyway, He said he was sure that she was also in love with him, although of course the bar rules prohibit consorting with customers. But then one day she disappeared. He proclaimed that he had offered to marry her, and then she disappears! And he really, truly would like to meet her again. So the show did their magic, getting a detective to track down the vanished hostess . . . and what does the panel recommend? Well, before even hearing his story, they were mostly against the meeting. Basically, they thought the hostess was probably just trying to get money, and that he would do best to forget her and go on. Then he protested, no, no, she wasn't that kind of girl! And the second vote? Still mostly against meeting.

And now, behind the door, there might be the girl, a note from her, or maybe nothing (yeah, we've had a few who simply refused to deal with the whole thing, although that's unusual). What do you think? [cut to commercial . . . they always have a commercial at this point, with the door just starting to open]

Frankly, at this point I was thinking about the exercise. Imagine, if you will, that young man and the hostess. Feel free to add in the bar owner or other customers, or perhaps his family? But focus on the story of him falling in love, discovering the disappearance, and his attempts to find the missing girl. Was she out to take his money? Did she disappear to save him from himself? Or was there something else behind her disappearance? I have to admit I heard the story and thought that she was probably more honest than people were giving her credit for. I thought she saw that he was falling for her, and left for his sake. After all, if she was really after his money, sticking around would have been easy.

Anyway, have fun with the vanishing hostess. Why did she leave? How can he find her? He doesn't even have a glass slipper.

You can also tell this from her point of view, of course. Or intertwine the two stories?

tink

PS. On the TV show, she was not behind the door. Instead, there was a note simply saying that for her it had been work, not love. She had gone on to another job and was very happy with her life. She hoped he would go on with his life and not try to find her anymore.

Do you think he will be able to forget her?

TECH: Meandering Our Way through Plot and Structure (3)

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Originally posted 11 June 2007

I'm slowly working my way through Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell. Right now I'm on page 8, with a section about the power of story. This is where Bell talks about "telling a story in a way that transports the reader." Let's face it, most readers want to get away from their world. They want an experience that is different than their normal day-to-day routine. Or as Bell puts it, "what the reader seeks is an experience that is other." A story gives the illusion of a different side of life events. And we want conflict, story, experience. The plot is a structure that helps readers get into the fictional dream and stay there. Okay? I don't think we need to pound this little two page section to pieces, but it is important to think about it.

Bell says we'll be going over it again, but his basic approach to plot is called the LOCK. Lead, Objective, Confrontation, and Knockout. Simple, right? Just four letters to remember to get a lock on your plots!

L is for Lead. I am pretty sure he means lead character, not lead pencils. So a strong plot needs an interesting lead character. "In the best plots, that Lead is compelling, someone we have to watch throughout the course of the novel." Not necessarily sympathetic, but someone that we want to watch. Okay? So that's our Lead, the L in our LOCK.

O  is for Objective. Where is the character going? He needs an objective, a want, a desire. Normally the character either wants to get something or get away from something. The story question is pretty simple -- will the lead achieve their objective? Note: the objective needs to be important to the lead. So now we have LO in LOCK, our Lead and their Objective.

C is for Confrontation. Opposition, obstacles, something gets in the way. Make it tough for the lead to get to their objective. Confrontation! That's the LOC in LOCK - a Lead with their Objective and the Confrontations on the way.

Last, but obviously not least, K is for Knockout. What Bell is talking about here is the ending. A clean finish, with one person standing and the other knocked out. It shouldn't be obvious, necessarily, but it should have a real knockout finale that makes the reader satisfied. Send the lead over the top, let them find a hundred yellow ribbons round the old oak tree,  blow the bad guys into little balls of juicy hamburger, whatever, but don't wimp on the ending.

And that, in a nutshell, is Bell's basics. A Lead, with an Objective, who faces Confrontations, and has a Knockout ending. LOCK that up and write!

Page 13? And there's over 200 in the book. We are going to be reading a while, aren't we?

Meandering through Plot and Structure (4)

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So let's see. Bell has talked a little about why a plot is important, given us the LOCK approach (lead, objective, confrontation, knock out), and . . . it's time for another session.

Next he has a brief look at some of the plot varieties that people talk about and how they compare to LOCK. For example, love has boy wanting girl, plenty of resistance, and the knockout ending -- he gets her or he doesn't. Internal or external objectives, physical, psychological, or social confrontations, and the LOCK covers them all.

He also talks a little about the difference between literary and commercial plots. At least according to Bell, literary plots focus on the inner life of a character, and are often little bit leisurely. Commercial plots are more likely to keep the action going. Sometimes people talk about character driven and plot driven. But basically it isn't an either/or but more of a continuum.

In regards to the charge that this is formulaic writing, Bell points out that the formula for an omelet is simple. However, the cook, the spices, and all the rest of it means that some omelets should be fed to pigs while others are high cuisine. Interesting point.

And here is where Bell plays with the analogy, pointing out that characters, settings, and dialogue are some of the spices that you use to make your writing unique. He ends the section with a suggestion that scene selection is one of the strongest spices. And as writers, we need to avoid the clichés. When you're looking at which scene to write, stop for a minute, make up a quick list of possibilities, and look for the one that isn't quite so obvious.

Okay. So that's Chapter 1, really focusing on introducing Lead with Objective faces Confrontations until the Knockout ending -- LOCK. Add the spices of characters, settings, and dialogue, and you're well on your way. Now let's see. Bell finishes with four exercises. You might want to try them.

First, he suggests taking 10 minutes and free writing your response to: "When readers read my novels, I want them to feel [fill in the blank] at the end. That's because, to me, novels are [fill in the other blank]." Free writing means just write it and don't worry about the details, let your fingers fly and your thoughts roam where they will. Of course, when you finish, go back and look at what you said. You don't have to show this to anyone else, it is for you to reflect on your own thoughts.

Second, he suggests taking some of your favorite novels and analyzing them using LOCK. Look at how they work.

Third, he suggests writing a quick plot for a current idea. Just use one line for each element in LOCK:

My lead is a [fill in the blank]
Her objective is to [fill in the blank]
She is confronted by [fill in the blank] who oppose her because [fill in more blanks]
The ending will be a knockout when [fill in the final blank]

Once you have the four parts in hand, the rest of his book helps you fill in around them.

Fourth, and final, he suggests keeping a spice collection! In other words, as you read, travel around the world, and so forth, keep track of:

Unique settings
Colorful characters
Dialogue that works
Scenes with tremendous impact

Think about what makes each of these things useful.

So there's chapter 1. 21 pages out of about 230, and a kind of simple template to help us build plots. Focus on the lead character, make sure they're going somewhere, make sure they have opposition, and provide a knockout ending.