TECH: Character-Driven Stories, Step-by-Step?

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Original posting 7 January 2009

(6x6 Saturday? That's like day after tomorrow? Hurry, hurry!)

The Logic of Emotion

Writer's Digest, July 2005, pages 28 to 31 have an article by Eric M. Witchey with the title, "The Logic of Emotion." Basically, this lays out an approach to character-driven stories. Now why would you want a character-driven story? Well, they sell faster, and readers like them. Why? Because readers get engaged in the emotional reality of characters. So what's that mean?

"The character needs an emotional foundation of motivations. Those motivations drive decisions, the decisions lead to actions and the actions create conflicts that the character can't walk away from. When the conflicts are resolved, the character enters a new emotional state -- and from those emotions flow new decisions, actions and conflicts. Emotion drives Decision drives Action drives Conflict drives Emotion -- ED ACE." Five components that work together to produce character-driven stories.

1. Emotion. What does the character feel at the beginning of the scene? Let the reader know! There are lots of ways to do that, and your selection of sensory details and subjective commentary will be unique. But make sure that your scene starts with the character's emotions.
2. Decision. With an established emotional state, let the character make some decisions. Make sure they are consistent, and that they show the reader what's going on. Explicit decisions, choosing an action that builds on characterization, character needs, and character history.
3. Action. Let the character do something. Whatever they do, it shows the reader what kind of person this is.
4. Conflict. Opposition! Self versus self, person versus the environment, or that old standby person versus person. Willful opposition builds tension and make stories come alive. Especially when the character has shown us their emotions, their decisions, and their actions -- and now they run into opposition.
5. Emotion. The conflict pushes the character into a new emotional state. Show that transition, the reactions and feelings. And start the cycle again.

"Reader engagement depends on a connection with character motivation and emotional change. You have to create a sense that your characters have lives filled with emotions that drive their decisions and actions."

An exercise? Well, take your work in progress, and look at a scene. Does the beginning clearly show how the character feels? Is there a decision by the character that moves us into action? Does the action run into opposition? And does the opposition create emotional consequences? If you're missing one or more steps, consider how to fill it in. And keep the rhythm going.

Another exercise might be to take two emotions, and work out what kind of decision-action-conflict chain could move the character from one to the other. Take someone walking into their house, smiling and happy looking ahead to the three-day weekend, and bring them to the brink of tears? Or perhaps to silent raging? You pick the emotions, and connect the dots.

And don't forget to write!

TECH: Harvesting Ideas?

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Original posting 9 January 2009

Turning Ideas into Stories

Writer's Digest, September 2005, Fiction Essentials column by Nancy Kress has the title, "From Idea to Story." The focus is on how to go from the germ of an idea to a more rounded or complex story. How do you turn things like:

• a Russian submarine captain decides to defect to the United States
• an aristocratic lady has an adulterous love affair
• scientists clone dinosaurs from DNA preserved in amber

into books like The Hunt for Red October, Anna Karenina, or Jurassic Park? Obviously, take one idea, add characters, plot, outcome -- stir well, and there's your story, right? Well, that does sort of assume that you know how to develop characters, plot, and outcome. But at least these four questions will help you put some meat on the bones.

1. Who will this hurt? Answering this question helps you decide who will be the protagonist and the point of view characters. After all, there are always lots of people who could be involved in your story. How do you decide who to focus on? "Pick someone who stands to be really hurt." Someone with an emotional stake. Someone who may be crushed by the story events.
2. What can go wrong? "Fiction is about things gone awry." Now that you know who your key characters are, list possible things that can go wrong. Think disasters, thinks surprises, think antagonism. List everything you can think of, and then think about what happens next and what goes wrong with that! Somebody got killed? Okay, what can go wrong with the investigation?
3. What larger issue is at stake? By picking main characters who will be hurt, you also have an idea about what's at stake for that character. Now back up and ask what's at stake in the larger picture. Think about theme or moral point. Think about big scope, giving your story more depth.
4. Who pays? In fiction, in particular, someone has to pay the price. Who is it going to be? And what is that price going to be? Usually characters are caught on the teeth of a dilemma, and the solution often requires that they give up something even if they win. "The basic rule is inviolate: somebody loses, and somebody pays." It's up to you to decide who and what.

So take that germ of an idea, and use these four questions to help turn that idea into a story. Who gets hurt -- there's your characters. What can go wrong -- that's a plot! What larger issue is at stake -- there's the theme to go with the plot. And who pays -- there's your outcome.

Go ahead, thrash those ideas against the questions, and see what you come up aswith.

TECH: Playwrite?

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Original posting 11 January 2009

The Play's the Thing

Writer's Digest, September 2005, in the Niches: Playwriting column by Christina Hamlett on pages 58 and 59, talks about using layers of plot and characters to give your work substance. It's written in terms of a play, but I think the lessons apply to stories and novels as well. There are a couple of sidebar exercises, too, and we'll take a look at those as well. Basically, the point is to help make the hero's journey a twisty turning one, complete with bumps, opponents, and plenty of past history. You want the conflict to be plausible and rich. So how do you get there?

1. Layers of Complication. The main way to build complicated plots is to have two coexisting objectives that may or may not be compatible. Start with the protagonist's  central desire or objective. That's the "A" line. Then cross that with the "B" line -- some other goal, some other motivation, some other drive that's pushing the main characters.
2. Layers of Collision. How many conflicts helps to decide what length is needed to resolve the collision between A and B. how much emotional background, how deep are the questions, and how much secondary change or self realization is involved?
3. Layers of Character. The third complication comes from the number of characters involved, and how much information each of them has about the situation, secrets, underlying risks, etc. Like a combination lock, the more tumblers that need to be aligned before the lock opens, the longer the key. "The ease with which the mystery is eventually revealed is dependent on the author's skill at keeping the right combinations from getting together and comparing notes."

So take A and B and cross them. Then decide how many collisions you want to have, and how many people are going to do this dance.

"The defeat or triumph of a character in conflict isn't what ultimately resonates with your audience; it's the believability of the battle itself that forges a common ground."

Sidebar number one: Complication and Collision

Story starter: "The completion of her family's backyard pool has Emily especially excited. By inviting the neighborhood's 'popular' girls over to swim, it's a sure thing that she can join their ranks in the fall. Emily's mom surprises her by inviting a girl from Emily's former school to stay with them for the summer. To Emily's horror, though, her mom issued the invitation to a total geek named Maude."

To learn how to apply complication and collision, consider these questions:

• what is Emily's primary objective? This is the "A" line.
• what does she need to learn? This is the "B" line.
• how do these two lines relate to Emily's mother, Maude, and the popular girls?
• how many obstacles are there between Emily and her primary objective?
• can a single scene or conversation solve Emily's problem?
• can the climax of the story result in both A and B objectives being satisfied, or does one have to be sacrificed?

Sidebar number two: Identifying Characters

Story starter: "Unbeknownst to her married landlord, Claire has been subletting her apartment to a gypsy family. One day, the landlord asks if he can borrow it for a romantic dalliance with a beautiful young woman. The young woman is none other than the gypsy king's oldest daughter."

Your problem is figuring out how many characters are needed, and who knows what. One trick that helps with this is to create a simple matrix with the left hand side listing each of the secrets and the top row listing each of the characters. To help you with this story starter, think about these questions:

• who knows that Claire is subletting her apartment? Don't forget Claire, neighbors, delivery people, friends, etc.
• who knows that the landlord is married?
• who knows that the landlord is cheating on his wife?
• which combinations are likely to keep Claire's secret?
• which combinations are likely to keep the landlord's secret?
• which combinations are likely to reveal the secrets?
• which resolutions create the least damage and the most?

Fun and fancy. Take two objectives, complicate, add characters and watch those secrets. Stir well, and write.