EXER: Sowing Seeds

[mbarker]

 Original posting: March 9, 2019

(Man, short stories, flash fiction, what? Do that in a week? I need to do something else... well, here you go, try sowing seeds!)

This is kind of half technique, half exercise. It's based on some ruminations by Misha Burnett (see https://mishaburnett.wordpress.com/2019/02/22/accidental-discoveries/ for more details)

Basically the idea is to spend a while, say a week or a month, developing seeds. A snippet, a scene, a sketch, a bit of dialogue, a little description, an event... Just enough to capture an idea, a spark for later. One a day, although I suppose you can do more than one, if you want. Then set it aside to sprout and grow.

Later, next month or so, you can come back and see what you planted. And go ahead and turn it into a full story. Add those characters, fill in the background, whatever it needs.

So. Take a break from weekly stories or longer term novels. Spend a while gathering seeds. Then see what kind of a harvest you gather later.

(So I could do 6 seeds instead? Sure, why not? Go for it! Just write!)

Remember, tomorrow is the deadline for our first 6x6 submissions. Note that tomorrow may depend on just where you live, I’m probably ahead of the calendar for most of you...

TECH: Super Structure: The Mirror Moment (part 13) (570 words)

[mbarker]

 Original Posting: March 13, 2019

All right! So, we got through Act I, stepped through The Doorway of No Return #1, got kicked in the shins… And some other stuff happened. Then, we hit The Mirror Moment.

James Scott Bell has a whole book just about this beat, called Write Your Novel from the Middle. Basically, he was puzzled by the books about writing craft talking about the midpoint, and decided to check it out himself. So, he looked at some movies. Smack in the middle of Casablanca, The Fugitive, Lethal Weapon, and Moonstruck, he found the mirror moment. Then he took a look around the middle of several books, including The Hunger Games and Gone with the Wind.

"What I found was a moment where the main character has to figuratively look at himself as in a mirror. He is confronted by a disturbing truth: change or die."

Now, James says that the mirror moment actually comes in two slightly different flavors.

1. Who am I? What have I become? What do I have to do to change? (Self appraisal)
2. I can't possibly win this. I'm going to die. (Situation or odds are against me)

The main character looks into the mirror and decides to grow, to be different, to be better, to be stronger, to survive!

James suggests that the mirror moment shapes everything else in the story. This is the crux that everything before it has been leading up to, and changes everything after it.

Why do we need this? Well, James considers this the heart of your story. It helps you determine what kind of story you are telling. It's the lens that takes everything in front of it and focuses it into creating the rest of the story.

How do you figure it out? Well, James suggests that outliners start by thinking about how they tackle coming up with ideas for scenes. Start by brainstorming the mirror moment. Then use that to help you come up with the other scenes.

Pantsers or discovery writers? Go ahead and write a while. But when you are 5 to 10,000 words in, stop and brainstorm a mirror moment. Write that up, fill in that scene. Now, use that insight to go ahead and write the rest of your story.

James ends with a reminder. Often, in life, big changes occur during a crisis. Fiction is all about a character who is fighting life-threatening challenges, and, through force of will, is being transformed. The mirror moment puts that transformation, that conflict between who I am and who I want to be, between the overwhelming situation and the drive to survive, solidly and squarely in front of the character. That's why this is a key moment in your story.

Wow! That's exciting. And it's about halfway through the story. So between The Doorway of No Return #1, closely followed by  the Kick in the Shins, and The Mirror Moment, we've got some other scenes. Complications, side quests, building tension and conflict. And then… The character looks in the mirror and faces their own transformation, sees the odds and realizes they could lose, comes face-to-face with the real issue of the story.

Go ahead, brainstorm that mirror moment. What faces your character when they look into the magic mirror? What are the odds against them? Come up with several possibilities, and then pick the one that makes your character shine.

Next, we'll get to pet the dog! Nice doggie!

TECH: Super Structure: Pet the Dog (part 14) (530 words)

[mbarker]

 Original Posting March 18, 2019

In the middle of trouble and complications, when the lead character takes time out to help a dog, or someone else weaker than they are, often risking their own safety… That's The Pet the Dog beat!

James says this usually happens just before or after The Mirror Moment, so near the middle of everything. It shows that the main character has a heart, and helps to bond the reader to the character. It often gets the lead into more trouble, threatening or exposing the lead to danger.

So, the question you need to ask yourself, is when does your lead help someone weaker, risking their own safety?

Now, you may be thinking that Pet the Dog and The Care Package are somewhat similar. They are related, but The Care Package is about a background relationship, one that existed before the story started. Pet the Dog is a new relationship, often forged in the middle of the trouble and complications of Act II.

Now, why do you do this? Well, just like The Care Package, we like characters who do something that shows that they care, who reach outside themselves and take a chance.

James gives us some hints about how to develop this beat. For plotters, he recommends that you go ahead and make a scene, develop a new character, and move it around to where it fits. For example, you might have a high intensity scene with a cliffhanger, and follow that with Pet the Dog, where it will stretch the tension and help to make the hero more human.

Pantsers or discovery writers? You have the freedom and the problem of figuring out what should I write next every day. Well, hey, introduce a new character. Build a Pet the Dog moment! Let the lead character help out someone new. See where that goes!

And James finishes with a reminder, that a lead character that focuses only on themselves is not very sympathetic. Pet the Dog helps to counter that. It can be a big one, where they save a life, or it can be smaller, maybe just a kind word to someone. Either way, it shows that they really are Boy Scouts, doing a good deed every day.

James doesn't include this in his description, but I think you could brainstorm several possible interruptions, new characters, incidents that could provide a Pet the Dog moment. Then pick out the one that you think works best for your character, your plot, where you are in the writing, and develop it. Dogs, cats, stray children… There are certainly plenty of possibilities out there.

So, in Act II so far, we have A Kick in the Shins, The Mirror Moment, and Pet the Dog. And we're headed for the Doorway of No Return #2! Leading to Act III. Now, if you only had three beats in your middle, your Act II, it would be very skimpy. So, don't forget to put in plenty of twists, complications, side quests, and other scenery. Make sure you have the Super Structure signposts, but this is where you really get to fill in the action of your story.

And look forward to the Doorway of No Return #2!

EXERCISE: Force it!

[mbarker]

 Original Posting: March 19, 2019

Here we go. Pick a number from... oh, let's say five to fifteen. Okay? Any number you like from five to fifteen.

Next, pop over to https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/ and you will find a lengthy list of writing prompts. BUT don't get distracted. Instead, Just skip the Wildcard or other stuff at the top, and start counting Writing Prompt entries. One, two... when you get to your choice, stop! Read that writing prompt.

Now. Whether you like it or not, go ahead and write something about it. GO FOR IT!

There you go. Write, write, write!