INSPIRE: Today's Quotations

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original posting 11 July 2008

A new occasional feature from the mad capering crusader! (What, you mean a caped crusader and a capering crusader aren't the same? :-)

"You're dealing with the demon of the external validation. You can't beat external validation. You want to know why? Because it feels sooo good." Barbara Hall

"Take chances, make mistakes. That's how you grow. Pain nourishes  your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave." Mary Tyler Moore

"Self-respect is the fruit of discipline; the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself." Rabbi Abraham Heschel

"I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult." Rita Rudner

Quotes courtesy of http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3

So there we have four insights into the human condition. Specifically external validation, growth through opposition, the fruits of discipline, and poodles!

Your task, should you choose to accept it, is to think about it specific ways that each of these insights might be revealed in a scene. It doesn't have to be just one scene, or even the same characters, although it's more fun if you do it that way. For example, how could Jimmy learn the hard lesson that external validation is such an easy demon to become addicted to? And what are the costs of such an addiction? What about Mary Tyler Moore's advice? How can Jimmy learn those lessons? And where does discipline, saying no to oneself, come into the picture? And of course the poodles -- will Jimmy learn that strange haircuts are not enough?

Story, poetry, musings about these insights and their relationships, whatever you need to write right now -- write it!

FILL: The Oracle's Dilemma

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Original posting 12 July 2008

Someone had suggested the title "The Oracle's Dilemma" and I was contemplating what one might do with that. This is some of the thoughts.

The Oracle's Dilemma

Nowhere near a story yet, but let's consider a little bit. Off the top of my head, I remember

1. Cassandra who told the truth about what was coming, but was never believed
2. The tradition of oracles who give predictions in riddles, that are not figured out in time
3. Must oracles always tell the truth? If one could lie, why might they do so? To protect themselves or others from what would happen if they told the truth? What about the problem of small tragedies versus large tragedies? If the Oracle told the person asking the truth, they would be saved but many others would die, should the Oracle lie?
4. There's the short story by Heinlein, with a gentleman who has a method of measuring when individuals will die. Among the problems he runs into is how to convince people, what to do about someone whose death is near, and the reaction from insurance companies who have a vested interest in people not knowing when they will die.
5. Thinking about the person who gets the oracle's prediction, they have to decide whether they believe the prediction, and may run into what is recommended by the song, "Live like You Were Dying," by Tim McGraw. The point they raise is that knowing that we may die soon sometimes acts as a call to action, so that we express ourselves, try things, etc. "like tomorrow was a gift and you got eternity you think about . . . "
6. Dilemmas? I've got a few . . . if we need to, we can google dilemmas and get a list from the net.

Okay? So there's a little bit of thought about what might be in The Oracle's Dilemma.

How about taking a wander over here (http://storytoolz.com/generator/conflict ) and see what random conflicts it coughs up. I got murderous adultery, adventure, rivalry, metamorphosis, and enmity of kinsmen. To these relate to a dilemma for an Oracle? Well, from the Oracle's side, how do you answer the jealous spouse whose wife really has been cheating? Encouraging murder doesn't seem like a good policy, but neither is letting the situation slide? Adventure? Always fun, but . . . set that aside for a moment. Rivalry? If we have rivals asking the Oracle for help, does the Oracle take sides? Or pose a task for them to solve that will help resolve their rivalry? Metamorphosis. An obvious point for a Oracle to have trouble with is when the visions start to fail. There's the initial point when the visions start and all of the disbelief and hoopla associated with that, but what does an Oracle do when everyone expects guidance and there is less and less to give? Enmity of kinsmen? Those feuding clans, eh, and what does an oracle bring to that battlefield? Can the oracle find a pair of youngsters to heal the breach, and guide the whole thing to success instead of tragedy?

Or perhaps the story idea generator? http://storytoolz.com/generator/idea gives me [wo]man vs. the environment, maturation, and the necessity of sacrificing loved ones. Hum? So we're going to see some concern about humanity versus the environment (global warming, anyone?), growing up, and sacrificing loved ones. Might want to poke a bit at who is going to be sacrificed, and how do the predictions of the Oracle influence that? Or even the notion that part of what growing up means is to take charge of our own life, to stop accepting direction from the Oracles in our life, and to be responsible for our own actions. What about the old culture that required a human sacrifice to appease the volcano or some other environmental threat? The priests -- the oracles of that culture -- would tell everyone that failing to make the appropriate sacrifice meant disaster. The dilemma, for the sacrifice, the sacrifice's friends and family, and even for the run-of-the-mill member of the society is whether to believe or not.

I'm running out of time, so let's consider some random quotations from http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3 and then let the whole mix stew for abit.

"The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear." Aung San Suu Kyi

"A child becomes an adult when he realizes that he has a right not only to be right but also to be wrong." Thomas Szasz (hum, wasn't there a growing up or maturation theme somewhere up there?)

"The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of." Blaise Pascal

"Work and struggle and never accept an evil that you can change." Andre Gide

"Our lives improve only when we take chances -- and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves." Walter Anderson

"What does it matter how one comes by the truth so long as one pounces upon it and lives by it?" Henry Miller

Which for some reason reminded me that there are people who try to live their life by the fortunes given in various formats. Could those guidances be a dilemma? What does someone do who expects the newspaper (or other) fortune to enlighten them when the newspaper fails?

Enough for now. The Oracle's Dilemma? What do you think about this little title tossed into the arena? Are your lions ripping at it? Or at least the puppies growling and sniffing around the edges?

The thrill of creative effort grows from the mud of spelling and grammar.

TECH: Make a Scene #12: The First Scene

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Original posting 13 July 2008

TECH: Make a Scene #12: The First Scene

We're about to start into Part Three Scene Types of Make a Scene by Jordan Rosenfeld. In case you're just coming in, we've already gone through the functions of a scene, including a mixed salad of complex characters, a point of view, memorable and significant action, meaningful dialogue, plot information that advances the story and enriches the characters, conflict and drama, a rich physical setting, and a bit of narrative summary here and there. We've talked about launching the scene, complicating the middle and raising the stakes, and scene endings full of emotional weight.

Then we looked at an array of core elements, including setting, senses, character development and motivation, plot, subtext, dramatic tension, and scene intentions. Which brings us up to date as we plunge ahead into the first scene.

The first scene opens the significant situation of your plot. It has to introduce your plot in the form of the significant situation, introduce the protagonist, establish the setting and evoke the senses, and set up dramatic tensions that suggest complications and conflicts ahead. The best first scenes have an air of mystery, pose a question or problem that needs an answer, or plunge the protagonist into a crisis. Through action and plot information, the first scene needs to compel the reader to keep reading without getting confused without backstory or narrative summary.

"Your significant situation should happen within the first couple of paragraphs. If you force the reader to wait too long for the event that they hope is coming, you stand to lose them before ever getting to it." Where does your first scene start? In media res, in the middle of the action, or at least so close to it that you fall into it immediately. Or should I say the protagonist, the main character, falls into it, dragging the reader along with them?

Successful first scenes involve:

• a significant situation that challenges the status quo of the protagonist
• a catalyst with whom the protagonist interacts
• a quick introduction to the immediate intentions of the protagonist
• a glimpse of the personal history and personality of the protagonist, suggesting motivation
• a decision or action by the protagonist that leads immediately to more complications

So how do the core elements stack up in the first scene? I'm glad you asked, because Rosenfeld has some answers.

-- unless setting is a dramatic part of the significant situation, keep the setting light and suggestive. Subtle details, not great swatches of descriptive prose, no matter how much fun they may be for the writer. Sometimes you can unbalance normal expectations with an unexpected significant situation in a familiar setting, so that the setting and the action play off each other.

-- subtext and dramatic tension. Don't overdo, suit it to your readers and the genre. Set your tone, and suggest the plot direction and themes. The first scene should make the readers worry about the protagonist -- raise the dramatic tension by showing that things can go wrong. Then keep the potential for conflict and consequences open.

-- the pace of the first scene should match the emotional content. Typically they start with a bit of an emotional bang, simply because you want to let the reader know what is happening. First scenes usually move fairly quickly, with actions and introductions to get the reader hooked. Later you can slow down and fill things in.

(Interesting. Rosenfeld didn't run down the whole list of core elements. And I don't exactly recollect pace being in his list of core elements. Oh, well, consistency is a hobgoblin, right? Onward!)

Ending the first scene. Leave the reader with the feeling that trouble, conflict, crises, or a dilemma has only just begun, and you help the reader move on into the next scene. Four ways to do this are [1] to leave the consequences unresolved (the police have just found the protagonist standing over a dead body -- do you want to know what happens next?); [2] end the scene before a major decision by the character, or possibly just after a bad decision; [3] let your protagonist find out something disturbing that could change everything (you mean you've been working for the CIA all these years?); and [4] let your protagonist react without thinking through the significant situation, so that the reaction makes everything more complicated.

Rosenfeld's checklist for first scenes

1. Are the protagonist and the significant situation introduced immediately and clearly?
2. Does the pace match the emotional content?
3. Do thematic images foreshadow the outcome?
4. Does the setting unbalance reader's expectations? Does it play against the significant situation?
5. Keep the pace. Too much exposition or description slows things down, while long passages of dialogue or action may push too fast.
6. Does the scene end with the protagonist in trouble or at least uncertain?

Next, suspense scenes.

The fun part here is to take something you've been writing or a book that you are reading and look at the first scene. How well does Rosenfeld's prescription work? Are there things that you want to change in the scene? Are there parts of Rosenfeld's guidelines that just aren't quite right for you? Go ahead, put this description of a first scene and the pieces and parts to work. See how well it works for you, and make the changes that you need to make.

The thrill of creative effort grows from the mud of spelling and grammar.