TECH: Save the Cat!

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

[I know, it's long, but... I thought you might want it for your Halloween writing pleasure! Don't forget, we've got a contest running! So you might just be in the mood to write a story -- and Blake has some advice about how to do that.]

Blake Snyder, in his book on screenwriting with the title "Save the Cat!" describes a process for writing that you might find useful. This is my summary. For more details, of course, read the book. I think you'll find it worthwhile.
 
1. What's it about? Summarize your story in one line. Blake suggests that great loglines -- one line summaries -- have four key qualities. They're ironic, meaning they hook your interest. They create a compelling mental picture. They tell you who the audience is. Finally, they have a killer title. That's right, a one line summary plus a killer title!

2. What genre is it? Audiences want the same thing only different. The way you do that is figure out what it's like. Now Blake doesn't recommend the standard genres -- romance, western, and so on. He's got 10 that he thinks covers things pretty well. You're welcome to come up with your own, or use his.

  1.        Monster in the house: a confined space, somebody did something wrong, and there is a monster loose!
  2.        Golden fleece: the quest! A hero, their search, and their internal growth.
  3.        Out of the bottle: a wish fulfilled, and then...
  4.        Dude with a problem: an ordinary guy in extraordinary circumstances.
  5.        Rites of passage: growing up and other crises at any age
  6.        Buddy love: the odd couple learns to like it (romance fits in here!)
  7.        Whydunit: crime and digging into the hidden side of ourselves
  8.        Fool Triumphant: the underdog beats the institution
  9.        Institutionalized: the group versus the individual
  10.        Superhero: the extraordinary person in an ordinary world

3. Who is the main character? What is their primal goal? Who's the bad guy? What do they want? Use adjectives to let us know who these people are.

4. Fill out the beats. Blake uses 15 steps as the structure. I know, I know, that's so mechanical. But you can always start with these 15 points and then change it to suit yourself. Again, you'll need to read the book to get the details, but here's a short list:

  1.        Opening Image: the starting point
  2.        Theme Stated: someone poses a question or makes a statement that is the theme.
  3.        Set up: introduce the main characters, show what's missing, get ready
  4.        Catalyst: the life-changing event that makes things happen
  5.        Debate: the hero waffles. Do I really want to do this? Ask a question.
  6.        Break into two: the hero takes the step across the threshold
  7.        B Story: the love story, the other line.
  8.        Fun and games: the good stuff. Show off the idea and enjoy it.
  9.        Midpoint: up or down, the hero is at an extreme. Raise the stakes, and get set for all is lost a.k.a. false defeat.
  10.        Bad guys close in: the bad guys start to win.
  11.        All is lost: opposite of the midpoint, false defeat, everything has gone wrong. Often with a whiff of death, even in comedies.
  12.        Dark night of the soul. The main character really struggles.
  13.        Break into three: but maybe... The B story, the hero thinking it through, there is a solution.
  14.        Finale. The hero triumphs, the bad guys lose, and the world is changed.
  15.        Final image: usually the opposite of the opening image, shows that things have changed.

5. If that's too complicated, try this one. Blake suggests using a cork board and cards. 4 rows -- act one, act two, act two, and act three. Yes, act two gets split into two pieces, before the midpoint and after the midpoint. And there are five key parts -- the opening set piece, the break into two, the midpoint, the all is lost point near the end of the second act two, and the break into three. Aside from that, you can put about 10 cards on a row, 40 cards altogether. That's for a two-hour movie. Obviously, for short stories, multivolume epics, and other variations, you might have fewer or more cards.

Oh, and on each card besides a short description of the scene, you need two notations. One is the +/- notation. This is the emotional change in a character that happens in this scene. Second is the >< notation which is where you indicate the core conflict of this scene -- how are two people butting heads in this scene.

6. With those five, you're ready to write. So go ahead and write it out. Now in Blake's chapter 6, he suggests some helpful rules to consider:

  1.        Save the Cat: early in your story, have the hero do something so that the audience likes him and wants him to win.
  2.        The pope in the pool: exposition, infodumps, backstory are boring, so bury them in something funny or exciting.
  3.        Double mumbo-jumbo: audiences only accept one piece of magic. One incredible coincidence. Two times is too much.
  4.        Don't lay too much pipe: too much set up before you turn on the water
  5.        too much marzipan: too many great ideas spoil the broth
  6.        watch out for that glacier: slow danger is
  7.        covenant of the arc: every character must change
  8.        keep the press out: keep it cozy, not a worldwide mess

7. Last, but not least, revise your draft. Take a look at these questions

  1.        Does my hero lead? Strong goal stated, works to get information, active, tells people what to do?
  2.        Do I "talk the plot" or do the actors do things?
  3.        Is the bad guy bad enough? Does he challenge the hero?
  4.        Turn, turn, turn -- do things go faster and more intense as we move along? Are there more and more revelations, changes, and twists?
  5.        Emotional rainbow: mix it up!
  6.        Do you have flat dialogue? Take the names off and see if you can tell who's talking.
  7.        Take a step back: does the hero grow? Start far enough back to let the hero change.
  8.        A limp and an eye patch: even minor characters should be memorable. Speech, look, manner -- make them stand out.
  9.        Primal urges. Do your characters act out of primal, basic desires? Love, survival, protecting family, revenge?

That's it. Simple, right?

Now sit down and start writing.

TECH: Do you have a half hour?

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original Posting 6 Oct 2011

Okay! Hey, you don't have an idea, and that contest deadline is breathing down the back of your neck? What, nanowrimo starts in hours, and you don't know what to write about?

Do you have 30 minutes? Just a half-hour?

If you do, you have time to outline a novel! (Or a short story) Here's how.

You'll need a kitchen timer or some other 3 minute alarm (cell phones and iPods and things like that often have one -- poke around in your tools, take a look at the clock app, whatever. Get something beside a clock, because you should NOT be looking at the clock).

Take a look at http://www.sff.net/people/alicia/artout.htm for the original article. Alicia Rasley explains how to "Outline Your Novel in Thirty Minutes." And... here's what you do. Set your timer, and write for 3 minutes about each of the following questions. When the timer goes off, reset it, and write about the next one. KEEP GOING!

A key part of doing this right is to just free write about each question. Don't try to pick up the best idea, don't even try to pick one idea, just keep writing. Read the question, answer with whatever pops into your head, read it again, write some more. You may be surprised how long 3 minutes is. Just keep writing.

All right? Got your timer, your computer/pad of paper/whatever ready, and you've taken a deep breath? Then... get set. GO!

1. At the start, what is unique about your protagonist? What sets them apart from other people? What is their strength and how does this strength get them in trouble?

Set that aside, reset the timer, and go! Next question!

2. When the story starts, what are they just about to do? Why do they think they're going to do that? What does this action represent to the protagonist?

Got it? Good. Reset your timer, go.

3. What external situation forces the protagonist to participate? How does this connect with the opening action? Does it help or interfere? Is there a deadline or ticking clock?

Talk about clicking tocks -- or ticking clocks. Shake your hand out, reset your timer, and go on to the next question.

4. What is the protagonist's goal for the time of the story? Is this connected with the external situation, or is the external situation a diversion? Why does the protagonist say they want to achieve the goal? Is there a deeper motivation that they don't want to know or reveal?

You say you want a revolution? All right. But for now, reset your timer! Go!

5. What problem or external conflict does the external situation present? How can the protagonist resolve that conflict?

A tidal wave in the middle of Omaha? Wow! Reset your timer. And here you go again!

6. List at least three obstacles to the protagonist resolving the conflict. Make at least one an internal obstacle/conflict.

How many obstacles did you get in 3 minutes? Very good. So, reset the timer, and on to the next question.

7. How does the protagonist grow in confronting these obstacles?

Growth, change, personal development, all that good stuff! Ready? Reset your timer. Go!

8. What do you want to have happen at the end of the story?

So that's what's going to happen? Very cool. And reset that timer. Here we go.

9. What has to happen or what has to change for the protagonist to make your ending happen? In particular, this should be something that the protagonist doesn't want to do, admit, reveal -- it's got to be hard for them.

Aha! One protagonist, over easy... Take a deep breath. Relax.

27 minutes and spare change! And if you followed the directions, you should have some ideas there that you can work with.

Alicia explains that what you've got here is the rough parts of the story. Questions one and two are about the beginning, the start. Use those to create your opening scene. Question number eight and nine are about how this is all going to finish. In between, we've got complications and changes.

Question number three and four -- the external problem they're facing, and where they want to go. Five expands on that a bit. Six and seven are obstacles on the road. You can use these to lay out scenes between the beginning and the end.

All right? Admittedly, you've still got work to do, but at least in 30 minutes you've got an idea, a rough sketch to get you started.

So if you're stuck and looking for what to write about, take one kitchen timer, nine questions, and a half-hour. See what you end up with!