TECH: 2 Keys to Master Fiction?

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original Posting 23 May 2012

Wow? Just 2 Keys?

Writer's Digest, Dec. 1990, pages 28-31, had an article by Jack Bickham with the title "Scene and Sequel: The Two Keys to Mastering Fiction."

All right? First, Jack recommends establishing a story goal. "What readers like in stories is curiosity and suspense. They like to worry about what's going to happen next -how things are going to turn out." How do you get your readers to do this?

Establish a story question! It's the main thing the reader will be concerned with. You need to introduce it early, relate key elements of the story to it, and your ending needs to answer that question. So how do you establish a story question?

"You establish a story question by having your lead character state a goal that's essential to his or her happiness. The reader will take this goal statement and turn into the story question."

Whatever goal your character states, readers will turn it into a story question and worry about it. But you can't just let the reader stew about it. No, you have to keep things moving, with the lead character trying and failing and trying again and again. Twists and turns that keep the reader turning pages! That's where you use scenes.

A scene? "A scene is always a fight in some form: sometimes physical, more often verbal, and always external -- acted out and shown."

Scenes are made up of a goal, conflict, and disaster. Scenes start with the hero setting out to achieve a specific, short-term goal, something that he wants to do or get that he thinks moves him toward that long-term story goal. So you create a scene where the hero sets out to get something. Maybe he walks into an office and demands it, maybe he simply makes a phone call and orders it, but he kicks things off. Now the reader wonders "Will he get it? Can he do it?" State the goal clearly and specifically. Sometimes you let the character state the goal, sometimes you paraphrase it, but don't be too subtle about it.

"The reader must know the goal in no uncertain terms, so he knows what's at issue -- and what scene question he's supposed to worry about."

So, you need a good scene goal clearly stated and specific. But you don't have a scene yet. You have to add conflict!

"Conflict is the heart of a scene, and without it there can't be one. ...Suspense is built through setbacks, not through good news." So put roadblocks in the way. Disagreements, opposition, struggle, misunderstands, escalation, make it hard for the character to do or get what they wart.

Most of the conflict should be played out in full detail, "you are there" style. Why? First, because this is the important, exciting part and you need to give it prominence. Second, this is what must reach your reader, getting them involved so it must feel real. And details make it real. So make your conflict external, onstage, dramatic action!

How do you make conflict dramatic? Another character, or at least an obvious obstacle, in the way. A goal. And an external struggle that the reader can visualize and understand. Verbal, physical, whatever. And it needs... an ending!

How do scenes end? Logically, four ways. But only three really work for stories. They are Yes, No, Yes-but and No-plus.

Yes is the throw away. The problem is that a simple yes ends the suspense. Scenes need to end in disasters. It needs to grow out of the conflict. Beware the sudden hidden gremlin disaster. Make it an honest disaster, a No, a Yes-but, or a No-plus.

No. Well, it works, but it doesn't move the story very much. The hero is back where he was before the scene started. So usually, you want one of the other endings.

Yes-but. Here, the opposition gives in, with a condition. All right, you can have what you wanted, IF you give up this, collect that, or do that. New problems! That's good for you as the writer because the reader wants to know how the hero will deal with this added complication.

No-plus is similar. Except here the opposition isn't content to simply say no, they make it worse. The hero doesn't get the raise they wanted, and furthermore, they get fired. And with these problems, this disaster crashing down, we get to the reaction -- the sequel!

Okay? We've had a scene, with a goal, conflict, and disaster. And next comes the sequel where the character reacts. Action and excitement leads to feeling and thinking. Action and reaction if you like.

There's a pattern to reactions, Bickham lists four steps, emotion, quandary, decision, and action. I sometimes use FACT to try to remember it -- Feel, Analyze, Choose, Try. First you get emotions. Anger, tears, frustration, whatever, we feel things. Second, we try to figure it out. What happened? Why? What does it mean? What do I do next? Review, Analysis, Planning -- thinking. Third, we make a decision. We choose what to try next. And fourth, we act -- or at least we try. Which normally kicks off the next scene! So the decision should lead to doing something. And we go around again !

Unlike scenes, sequels aren't moment by moment, so they are a natural place to put transitions and summaries. We're already wrestling inside the character's head, so a little summarizing is fine.

Scenes and sequels, how you present them, how much detail you give them, that's how you control the pace. Scenes, even if they take words, feel fast to readers. Sequels slow it down. So balance your scenes and sequels to fit your story and characters, from thrillers with mostly scenes and short sequels to romances or psychological stories where the action is less while the emotions and thoughts in the sequels may take pages.

Now, you may plot and plan with all the parts and then shape your presentation to suit. For example you might not give the character time to react before they get dumped into the next scene. Or maybe start with a sequel, showing us the missing scene reflected in the reaction and thoughts of the character.

A common variation is to get a character set to start a scene or reeling with the disaster at the end of a scene, then cut to another character's viewpoint. Readers are likely to race through this to find out what happened to the first character.

So, two keys. Scenes, made up of goal, conflict, and disaster, followed by sequels, made up of emotion, quandary, decision, and action. Setup your story goal then the chain of scene-sequel units that leads to the climax. And watch the readers follow the path.

A couple of ways to practice. Bickham suggests first looking for scene-sequel structure in other writers' stories. See how they use it, and abuse it. After that, of course, you should try it out in your own stories. Take one of your stories apart, and see if you skipped any parts. What happens you put those in?

A worksheet:
1. What is the story question? How can the character show this as a goal?
2. What is the story answer? How does the climax show this?
3. What are the scenes and sequels leading from the story goal to the climax?
4. For each scene, what is the scene goal? What is the conflict? And what is the disaster?
5. For each sequel, what is the emotion, quandary, decision, and action?

There you go. Two keys. Now, write!