EXERCISE: Scripts for a mother?

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Original posting September 8, 2013

Recently, one of the tv channels ran a 24 hour charity show. During the show, there was a piece about a young mother who was diagnosed with cancer while pregnant, and went ahead and had her baby. Within a short time after the birth, she died. However, in preparation for her death, she made a series of video letters for her child. They didn't show us the letters, just suggested that there was one for the child going to school, one for graduation, one for getting married, and so forth. Which left me pondering which events she had decided to leave video letters for, and what she might have said.

So... your job, should you choose to tackle it, is to pick the events in the life of the child this mother will never see and compose suitable messages. What do you say to your child about starting school, about graduating from school, about getting married, or whatever? Or you could tackle it the other way, how does a child who has never seen his or her mother react to these videotaped messages?

Heck, pick one event, and write the message that the mother wants to tell, and the child wants to hear, for that event.

Or you could pick out some other events of life that people might leave video messages for, and write the scripts for those. Funeral videos? Now there's an added service the life insurance companies could sell!

TECH: Storytelling Secrets (moldy oldie!)

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Original posting September 10, 2013

The August 1997 Writer's Digest on pages 28, 29, and 55 has an article by Monica Wood the title "Storytelling Secrets." The subtitle reads "To tell your story effectively, learn how to use techniques successful fiction writers use. Our expert shows you goes to try and those to avoid -- and even gives you tips on how to strengthen suffering stories."

Monica starts by telling us that a story device, such as a surprise ending, flashback, second person narrator, or diary entry, is "any technique that helps you tell a story effectively." She says she's going to describe three story devices that almost always work, and three that have their problems.

(Second person narrator? You were there? You watched as they kicked him... I don't think second person would be very readable for very long.)

Anyway, let's look at the story devices, the techniques, that Monica says work.

1. Starting with a bang. "A dynamic first line draws readers into your fictional world, anchoring them instantly to a place, voice, character or situation they want to know more about." Monica offers three examples that kick off an immediate "Why?" All three of the sentences hint that there is something unusual, raising suspense immediately.

The normal reason for a weak or an interesting first line is simple -- you've got a false beginning. We all have to start writing somewhere, but we also need to remember to cut those out. Look for a line that really will grab a reader. That's probably where your story really starts. "Be ruthless about cutting the prose that precedes it."

Another problem is first lines that don't really match the style and tone of the rest of the story. A shoot-them-up car chase followed by a lyric romance just doesn't work. Make sure that the expectations established by your beginning are carried out in the story.

2. What kind of place is this? Monica asks us to imagine a conversation between a pair of lovers at a candlelit table in a restaurant. Now imagine the same conversation except put the lovers in the front row of a dog show, or maybe in the back of an empty cathedral, or perhaps at the grand opening of Luigi's Liverwurst Emporium? A richer setting often means a richer conversation and reveals character. So get your characters out of the usual places and put them in some unusual settings. "Offbeat settings provide unexpected pathways into the heart of a story."

3. Going against the grain. "Creating a contrast between a story's content and style is an effective device for stories that have a strong but subtle undercurrent." Short choppy sentences, or perhaps long slow lyrical sentences, can play against the action and content, helping to reveal character. It makes readers think that everything is not as it appears.

All right? "A dynamic first line forces readers to ask an immediate why and they'll read on to find out." "An unusual setting reveals your characters in fresh and unexpected ways when you take them to out-of-the-ordinary places." "A contrast between content and style shows readers all is not as it seems on the surface by using your style to bring attention to your subject." That's the sidebar explanation of why good devices work.

Now for some devices that often have problems.

1. Wake up, you don't need therapy. Using dreams and therapy sessions is usually boring, and often misleads readers into expecting some kind of mystical key to the story. Readers expect such dreams or sessions to foreshadow some upcoming event, highlight somebody's motives, or maybe reveal a theme. But by and large, dreams and therapy sessions are just cheap shortcuts. Don't try to explain your story through a device. Reveal it through unfolding character, setting, plot and theme. If you think you need a dream or therapy session, stop and try to figure out what it is you're trying to reveal and see if there isn't some natural way to reveal it.

2. Avoid a frame up. Frames are present-day stories used as bookends for an extended flashback. The first question is why are you using a frame? Normally the frames are static. The drama, and the real story, is in the middle. Try just cutting off the frame. Sometimes, frames are important. If so, make sure the frame has forward motion, something to do, decisions to make, problems that need solving. Then cut back on the flashback. Make it a catalyst for the action in the present.

3. Speaking a secret language. Yes, various occupations and other groups have their own jargon. Using it can help make your characters and setting feel more real, but be careful not to lose your reader. Mostly, make sure the context explains the meaning.

What do you do with dreary devices? "Dreams and therapy sessions? Figure out what you want readers to know and show them through characterization and dialogue." "A frame around the story? Decide whether or not you want the story to stand on its own. If the frame feels essential to you, make it essential to the story by giving it action." "Jargon? Allow readers to enter the specialized world you've created by defining unfamiliar terms."

Start with a bang, use unusual settings, and consider contrasting content and style. Then avoid dreams and therapy sessions by reviewing the information in some other way. Either take the frame off, or build it into a story of its own. And, of course, use context to explain those funny words you borrowed from the specialists.

Little things, but I think they can help.
Not so secret, though!

FILL: A meditation on Beginnings and Marshmellows

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Original posting September 13, 2013

Oddly enough, I have some cards that I use in one of my classes with topics such as beginning, middle, end, problem, information, solution, and one of my favorite sets of oddities, attention, relevance, confidence, satisfaction. I also have a reminder to think about short stories sitting on my desk. So this morning, I shuffled the deck and pulled out two cards -- beginning and satisfaction.

I tend to think about the beginning of a story as the place where you want to get the reader's attention and demonstrate that it is relevant to them. Get them interested and engaged, if you will. Satisfaction... I usually think of that as being the payoff at the end of the story. And yet, we really should provide some satisfaction for the reader right away!

I mean, think about the stories that start off with a brief sketch of a beautiful background, or perhaps an odd fact to pique our interest. Or some beautiful language! It's satisfying. So we can give the reader some feeling of satisfaction right away.

You might think about it in terms of Orson Scott Card's MICE. Milieu, also known as setting, idea, character, and event. Showing us in words someplace that is interesting can be satisfying immediately. Whether it's an Indian reservation, someplace deep in the Amazon jungle, or even Times Square, we are likely to enjoy that description. Similarly, an idea may pay off right away. What if we could give you a virtual vacation? Overnight visits to places that have never been? Oh, I want to read about that! Or maybe it's an interesting character that we would like to learn more about. And then, you might just detail some event. In any case, we can pay off quickly with a little bit of satisfaction for the reader.

This is part of that strange notion of a hook, the bait that helps grab a reader and keep them reading. You want the first taste of your story to be satisfying in itself, and convince them to keep going.

Although I do wonder about the marshmallows. You've probably heard of one of these tests, either with marshmallows or M&Ms? Where they tell some poor kid you can have one now or you can wait a while and get two or three, then ask, "Which do you want to have?" Supposedly, the kids who postpone their gratification so they can get more have various and sundry social strengths ahead of them. Kids who want it now, well, they obviously don't know that you are supposed to wait. Immediate satisfaction will rot your teeth, or something.

But the nice thing about writing is we can give our readers a marshmallow right at the start, and then more marshmallows later. We don't have to make them wait. In fact, we get to say, "Here's a marshmallow. Did you like it? Keep reading, there are more later."

So go ahead and tease your reader with some satisfaction right at the very beginning. That way they know there will be more ahead.

Write!