EXERCISE: Money, money, money?

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original Posting 3 July 2012

Just some little situations, several of which involve money. But pick a number from one to six. And you have selected...

1. You find a wallet containing $300. By the address, you can tell that the owner is wealthy. Do you keep the money?
2. Instead of the $1.00 which you have in a dormant bank account, your latest statement reads $100.00. Do you withdraw the money?
3. Before your divorce, both you and your spouse worked. Your spouse made a lot of money without any help from you. Do you demand a share of it in the divorce settlement?
4. You have been attending classes all year. An acquaintance, who rarely shows up, asks to photocopy your notes. Do you consent?
5. Your roommate has left town for a much-needed vacation. Her office calls and says they have an urgent message. Do you tell where she can be reached?
6. Your business venture fails and you owe your creditors $15,000. You can avoid payment by declaring bankruptcy. Do you?

Now, make the characters sweat. What could go wrong? Who is going to hurt? Will they live up to their own standards, or break?

What happens?

Write us all about it!

EXERCISE: Spam Subject lines!

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Original Posting 3 July 2012

There's something almost endearing about "Want to be Hulk in bad?" (yes, it was spelled exactly that way)

Not enough to convince me to read the spam that the spam filter picked up, but...

It did make me ponder, briefly, what kind of subject line might convince me to open the email.

I mean, it should catch my attention, be relevant to me, make me confident that I want to read the email, and promise satisfaction, right? (ARCS -- attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction)

Then, of course, the body of the email really should make it worthwhile. And believable.

But that's the next step. For now, let's just see what kind of subject lines you think would make really good spam (now that's an oxymoron -- good spam?).

Anyway, something to play with while shooting of fireworks.

TECH: The Philosophy of Plot

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original posting 11 July 2012

Writer's Digest, February 1996, pages 29 to 31, have an article by James N.Frey with the title "The Philosophy of Plot." The subtitle says, "Plot is a misunderstood component of fiction. Read on to find out exactly what it is and how it can be used to enhance your writing."

James starts by pointing out that fiction writers use interesting metaphors for plot. The plot is the highway, characters are automobiles. Or perhaps the plot is some sort of chauffeur -- after all, some stories are plot driven? Readers also talk about tightly plotted or weakly plotted stories.

There also is a tendency to think about character and plot as somehow separate or perhaps even opposed.

However, James goes on to point out that a plot without characters or characters without plot doesn't really make sense. What characters do is the plot! But plot is not just a recap.

"This isn't a plot because the actions of the characters have no significance. What gives significance to actions is taking them toward the resolution of some kind of predicament the character is facing." So plot is significant actions?

"The plot is what the characters do in overcoming obstacles in a progression toward a resolution." Aha! Characters are going somewhere -- a goal -- and they're overcoming obstacles. What they do along the way, that's a plot.

Further, James points out that most entertainment plots have problems that most of us will never encounter. A dead body in the trunk of your car, being caught in an intergalactic war, or whatever. Additionally, the genres put some limitations on plots. Mysteries unmask killers, Westerns don't have heroic marshals retiring to the Bahamas, and romances usually don't have heroines who give up and go into a convent.

At the same time, the characters are trying to achieve specific, concrete goals. They may be somewhat predictable, although the ways that the hero goes about it can provide surprises, originality, creativity.

So the fiction writer who is trying to make a plot needs to give each of the major characters a mission. They need to make sure that the characters have believable motives. They also need to figure out ways for the characters to be clever, determined, resourceful.

James compares entertainment or genre stories with serious work. Entertainment stories focus on melodramatic derring-do. Serious work focuses on character development. "Well plotted, serious dramatic fiction is transformational by its very nature. The vicarious experience of this transformation is the most important reason people read serious fiction. A plot isn't just a matter of one thing happening after another, it's the progress towards the resolution of a predicament that transforms the character."

The other point that James brings up is a question of time and plot. In some plots, each step leads directly to the next step, like a line of dominoes falling down. That kind of a plot line story sometimes is called tightly woven. "This is a very powerful way to tell a story because, as the story gains momentum, the tensions are not dissipated through gaps in time."

On the other hand, some stories -- storyline stories -- are more events separated through time. "In a storyline, the events of the story are not causally related to one another but, rather, are part of the same chain of events that are progressing toward resolution." So the story might have events separated by decades.

James goes on to point out that most writers run into plot problems sooner or later. Characters who just don't seem to want to get up and do the right thing. James suggests that usually this is because they lack opposition! "All good plots come from well orchestrated characters pitted against one another in a conflict of wills." If your character doesn't seem to wake up, look at the opposition. Have you got strikingly different characters? Is the setting, the predicament, really something that makes the character work?

There's a sidebar that suggests six steps for good plots. You need "dramatic characters who are on fire to obtain goals and work like hell to achieve them." Try these six steps to help you get there.

1. Chart each major character's development through the actions. The development or transformation isn't set in concrete, but make sure you know generally where they're headed.
2. Chart each major character's actions and indicate his or her motivations. Make them as clever and resourceful as you can.
3. Spend time brainstorming. Make lists of what the characters might do. Be outrageous, just write things down.
4. Conduct interviews with your characters or write diaries in their voices. Probe their feelings and motives until you know what they would do.
5. Use "would you really?" testing to check for believability. Readers want characters to be believable and consistent. Sometimes you need to go back and plant more information so that we understand why they're doing this, and sometimes you need to change the action.
6. Make sure your characters are well-orchestrated. Match up contrasting pairs. Push the limits.

Strong characters in interesting match ups who really want to achieve something -- that's what gives you a good plot.

So, write.

EXERCISE: Summer Doldrums?

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Original posting 12 July 2012

Well, pooh. I have to admit, I really don't want to do much of anything. It's hot, sweaty, or sometimes pouring rain. Frogs croaking in the rice paddies at night, everything green and growing... and it's so easy to put everything off. Just for a little while?

Over here, John Brown suggests that we think about stories in terms of six core parts

http://johndbrown.com/2011/11/generating-story-3-develop-the-6-core-parts-start-anywhere/

Genre, Character, Setting, Problem, Plot, Text

So, while we're enjoying the summer sun, tell us about your tricks for tackling one of these. What do you do with genre? Do you really model characters on the descriptions from the personal ads? What about setting -- is everything in your backyard? How do you pick a problem, or aggravate it? What about plot? Just roll the dice for the next event? Words on the screen? How do you do that?

Go ahead. Tell us something that you find useful. Something from a book, an article, a workshop, or even just something that you stumbled over one day and decided that worked pretty well!

In the meantime, I'm going to try a little red mint juice with soda. And relax in the sunshine...