TECH: Super Structure (part 4)
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writercises Original Posting Jan. 4, 2019
Okay. Death, brainstorming, keeping creativity going while you write... and now, scenes! The building blocks of fiction. But, what do you need in a scene? Well, James recommends these ingredients...
1. Objective. What is happening? In particular, what does the POV character want in the scene? It might be explicit or just implied, but... it is going to be there. So what is the objective?
2. Opposition! What person, place, thing, or circumstance is keeping the POV character from their objective? Might be outer or inner, individual, social, natural? But what is in the way?
3. Outcome. James suggests it could be good, bad, or horrible. Usually, for fiction, it isn’t going to be good, in fact, it is going to be pretty bad. Now, elsewhere I’ve seen it suggested that this is usually either a yes-but or a no-and. Yes-but? Yes, they succeeded, but now there’s another problem. No-and? No, they didn’t succeed, and there’s an added complication. Trials and tribulations make a story strong, and a character.
4. Something unexpected. It might be a plot twist, a new character, a new setting, or something else that the reader wouldn’t expect. How do you come up with them? James suggests brainstorm for five minutes. Write down the POV character, objective, and possible obstacles. Put down a tentative outcome. Now, what is something unexpected you could put in? Make a list, and go Wild! Then pick one that you like. And... you are just about ready to write!
We’re about to dive into the beats of Super Structure. But before we get there, James has one more section, looking at emotions. Then we’ll look at the beats that Super Structure lays out for you to use...
Okay. Death, brainstorming, keeping creativity going while you write... and now, scenes! The building blocks of fiction. But, what do you need in a scene? Well, James recommends these ingredients...
1. Objective. What is happening? In particular, what does the POV character want in the scene? It might be explicit or just implied, but... it is going to be there. So what is the objective?
2. Opposition! What person, place, thing, or circumstance is keeping the POV character from their objective? Might be outer or inner, individual, social, natural? But what is in the way?
3. Outcome. James suggests it could be good, bad, or horrible. Usually, for fiction, it isn’t going to be good, in fact, it is going to be pretty bad. Now, elsewhere I’ve seen it suggested that this is usually either a yes-but or a no-and. Yes-but? Yes, they succeeded, but now there’s another problem. No-and? No, they didn’t succeed, and there’s an added complication. Trials and tribulations make a story strong, and a character.
4. Something unexpected. It might be a plot twist, a new character, a new setting, or something else that the reader wouldn’t expect. How do you come up with them? James suggests brainstorm for five minutes. Write down the POV character, objective, and possible obstacles. Put down a tentative outcome. Now, what is something unexpected you could put in? Make a list, and go Wild! Then pick one that you like. And... you are just about ready to write!
We’re about to dive into the beats of Super Structure. But before we get there, James has one more section, looking at emotions. Then we’ll look at the beats that Super Structure lays out for you to use...