The Place For My Writers Notes

original posting: Fri, 16 Jan 1998 08:40:42 -0500

Based on the book "20 Master Plots (And How to Build Them)" by Ronald B. Tobias. ISBN 0-89879-595-8.

Master Plot #17: Discovery

(p. 201) "The possibilities of this plot are endless, but all the stories share a certain focus. It is a plot of character, and to this effect perhaps it's among the most character-oriented plots in this collection. Discovery is about people and their quest to understand who they are."

Who am I? Why am I here? What is the meaning of life?

Discovery shows us some answers to these questions, using characters and situations that seem real and concrete instead of philosophical abstractions and arguments.

(p. 202) "Discovery isn't just about characters. It's about characters in search of understanding something fundamental about themselves...."

(p. 203) "...Readers won't tolerate a writer on a crusade to tell the world the _real_ meaning of life. What we will tolerate, however, is your sincere attempt to present a character struggling through the difficulties of life."

Three movements:
(p. 204) "To understand what a character is to become, we should understand what she was before the unique circumstances propel her on her journey." Don't delay the catalyst, but do give a strong sense of what life is like before...

Don't forget--start the story as late as possible! We don't need tons of detail setting the stage, just a quick glimpse as the action begins...

"...who he is, what's important to him, what he wants to accomplish."

(p. 204) "This first movement gives way to the second movement, which initiates change. Very often the main character is satisfied with his life and isn't looking to change it. But then life happens. Events force change. The character may be forced to look at his life closely for the first time and learn that everything wasn't as good as it was cracked up to be."

The third movement begins when the protagonist "starts to understand the nature of his revelation."

(p. 205) The main focus is on the middle. This is where you examine your character in depth. They may resist change, because it is hard. Having been shoved out of balance, they may struggle to regain the old equilibrium, but "events force her to confront aspects about herself that she may have always avoided."

Make sure you let them _struggle_ with their discovery.

And work to match the struggle with the 'revelation'. I.e., a serious, hard struggle shouldn't result in a trivial change, nor should trivial struggle cause major change. The degree of upheaval in their life mirrors the depth of revelation they experience.

(p. 207) "These stories tend to be dramatic, even melodramatic. That may be because they deal with such extremes of emotion: love, hate, death. ... It would be easy for a writer to fall in the trap of melodrama."
"When does a story become melodramatic? When the emotion being expressed is exaggerated beyond the subject matter's ability to sustain the level of emotion."

"Once the plot (action) takes over character, you lose proportion. If you want to be sincere and deal with complicated emotions, you must spend the time it takes to develop a character who is strong enough to carry those emotions. Otherwise, all you're trying to do is glue feelings onto a cardboard cutout of a character."

Checklist:

1. Does your story focus on the character making the discovery, not the discovery itself? Does it show understanding of human nature?
2. Does your plot give us an understanding of who the main character(s) are _before_ circumstances change and force the character into new situations?
3. Does your story start as late as possible, with the character on the very cusp of change?
4. Is the catalyst that forces the change significant and interesting enough to hold the reader's attention?
5. Does your story move the character into crisis (the clash between the new and the old) as quickly as possible?
6. Does your story maintain a sense of proportion? Are action and emotion balanced and believable? Are the "revelations" of the character in proportion with the events?
7. Do you exaggerate emotions or actions to "force" emotions from the character? Avoid this melodramatic lure...
8. Do you preach or force the character to carry messages for you, the author? Or do you let the characters and their circumstances show the reader whatever they will, with the readers drawing their own conclusions about the story? (My gloss: could you imagine several readers having a long discussion about the "moral" of your story, each asserting what they got--and none quite sure that the others weren't just as accurate?)

Thus wrote Tobias...and now, let's consider how we're going to write a discovery!

How about starting with a number from one to six?

1. "One doesn't discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time." Andre Gide, The Counterfeiters (1925), 3.15, tr. Dorothy Bussy
2. "The new always carries with it the sense of violation, of sacrilege. What is dead is sacred; what is new, that is, _different_, is evil, dangerous, or subversive." Henry Miller "With Edgar Varese in the Gobi Desert," The Air-Conditioned Nightmare (1945)
3. "Let no one say that I have said nothing new; the arrangement of the subject is new." Pascal, Pensees (1670), 22, tr. W.F. Trotter
4. "The vitality of a new movement in art or letters can be pretty accurately gauged by the fury it arouses." Logan Pearsall Smith, Afterthoughts (1931), 5.
5. "Each new season grows from the left-overs from the past. That is the essence of change, and change is the basic law." Hal Borland, "Autumn's Clutter-November 3," Sundial of the Seasons (1964)
6. "There is a time for departure, even when there's no certain place to go." Tennessee Williams, Camino Real (1953), 8.

[Quotations courtesy of The International Thesaurus of Quotations by Rhoda Thomas Tripp ISBN 0-06-091382-7]

That gives us an observation about change, innovation, discovery. Take a few moments to think about that quote, perhaps noting a few points about what it means to you, or why you might consider it to be true (or false).

Now, let us consider our character. Pick a character. Give them a name, sex, age, all those basics. And if you will pick a number from one to six?

1. Trying to get somewhere in time
2. Trying to avoid going somewhere (disliked? feared?)
3. Trying to fulfill a promise
4. Trying to win a better place for oneself
5. Trying to make up for what a relative did
6. Trying to overcome a handicap

Got that? Try working out the details of how this character is trying to accomplish that goal. What's at stake? What's the background that drives them to attempt this?

Now, since romance is in the air, and love is everywhere...suppose that there is a complication, and his/er name is--you tell me. Further, s/he has this emotional edge, this ability to make our main character go wild with (oh, oh, here comes another one. How about a number from one to eight...see which emotional base we're suffering from or with:

1. Anger: fury, outrage, resentment, wrath, exasperation, indignation, vexation, acrimony, animosity, annoyance, irritability, hostility, and, perhaps the extreme, pathological hatred and violence.
2. Sadness: grief, sorrow, cheerlessness, gloom, melancholy, self-pity, loneliness, dejection, despair, and, when pathological, severe depression.
3. Fear: anxiety, apprehension, nervousness, concern, consternation, misgiving, wariness, qualm, edginess, dread, fright, terror; as a psychopathology, phobia and panic.
4. Enjoyment: happiness, joy, relief, contentment, bliss, delight, amusement, pride, sensual pleasure, thrill, rapture, gratification, satisfaction, euphoria, whimsy, ectasy, and at the far edge, mania
5. Love: acceptance, friendliness, trust, kindness, affinity, devotion, adoration, infatuation, _agape_
6. Surprise: shock, astonishment, amazement, wonder
7. Disgust: contempt, disdain, scorn, abhorrence, aversion, distaste, revulsion
8. Shame: guilt, embarrassment, chagrin, remorse, humiliation, regret, mortification, and contrition

[list taken from p. 289 in Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman ISBN 0-553-09503-X]

So, our character knows where they want to go, they have a romantic involvement with this other character who keeps tripping emotional landmines in their shared life, and they are about to discover...themselves.

Take some time and consider what they are going to discover--what will change? For example, maybe they will learn that achieving their goal isn't as important as they thought it was--or that only by accepting their own emotional turmoil can they achieve their dreams? A very romantic kind of thing is to sacrifice the long-dreamed-of goal for the wonders of love, but it's up to you as to just how the tension is built and plays out.

Don't forget that (with pink romance contact lenses firmly obscuring the details beneath a billow of cotton candy) love oft is thought to overcome all barriers, so perhaps the romantic coupling which first appears to be an obstacle to achievement in the end provides a royal boost along the way (not a kick in the pants, just a JATO unit to help us on our way)?

Give it some thought, then write...

original posting: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 09:56:02 EST

Based on the book "20 Master Plots (And How to Build Them)" by Ronald B. Tobias. ISBN 0-89879-595-8.

Master Plot #15: Forbidden Love

Society lays out boundaries--social class, economic, religious, race, age, and various other groups that are "off-limits" for love.

(p. 183) "...But the power of love--or just the idea of being in love--is enough to make some cross 'the line' and enter forbidden territory. And since fiction often acts as our social conscience, there are plenty of stories to warn us about the penalties of crossing that line. Occasionally a story comes along that flies in the face of social taboos and shows that love can sometimes be more powerful than the disapproval of an entire society. Love sometimes thrives in the cracks."

two lovers with feuding families...

teacher and student...

the ugly or grotesque and the beauty...

Adultery is the most common form of "forbidden love."

(p. 185) "The character triangle in stories about adultery is always the same: the wife, the husband and the lover. The strict moral codes of the nineteenth century could never allow an adulterous affair to be a _happy_ one, and since the wage of sin is death, ... all die. ..." "Writing about adultery wasn't always such stern stuff. Before we became so serious-minded, it was often treated casually. The French _fabliaux_ (short, humorous tales written between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries) and English Tudor drama often played on the theme of the cuckolded husband. ..."

(p. 186) "The person committing the adultery is often the protagonist. The betrayed spouse is often the antagonist and frequently seeks revenge. The plot easily reverses itself and has the adulterers turn into murderers by killing or trying to kill the spouse..."

Incest...a bit darker, and always considered aberrant.

Homosexual love - often treated as forbidden. (p. 186) "Our literature reflects this intolerance by making stories about homosexual lovers tragedies."

May-December romance - sometimes considered in this light, it also often escapes from the conventions of morality.

Structure:

Phase the first: show the beginning of the relationship. Who are the lovers? (p. 188) "Usually society, if it knows about the forbidden love, expresses its disapproval or takes direct action to stop it. The lovers either pursue their affair in secret or in open defiance of what everyone else things. The secret affair is almost always found out. Society is always ready to punish those who don't abide by its rules."

Phase the second: The heart of the relationship. Show us the pressures, the love, the conflict between what society ordains and what these two lovers desire. Make us feel reality and love collide.

Phase the third: "...the lovers must pay their overdue bill to society." Death, mutilation, disillusionment, despair... "Society, it seems, never loses."

Checklist:

1. Does the love go against conventions of society? Which ones? What are the explicit or implicit forces that will be exerted on the lovers?
2. Do your lovers ignore or flout social convention and follow the dictates of their hearts? Are the results disastrous?
3. Are you writing about adultery? Is the adulterer the protagonist or antagonist? What about the offended spouse?
4. Does your first dramatic phase define the relationship between the lovers and frame it in its social context? Do you clearly show the taboos that they have broken? Do they have trouble accepting that they have broken the taboos? How do people around them react to the broken taboos? Are the lovers trying to ignore the problems or are they dealing with the reality of their situation?
5. Does the second phase clearly show the development of the relationship? Do you show the love, and the social/psychological pressures? Is there dissolution, denial, or what?
6. Does your third phase bring the lovers to the end of their relationship and play out the moral imperatives? Do you separate (and punish) your lovers through death, force, desertion, etc.?

Thus spake Tobias...

and now, for plotting our own little diversion, please take a number (one to six? pick up sticks!)

1. Anniversary
2. Engagement
3. Valentine's Day
4. Moonlight beach
5. Island cruise
6. An airport

This is going to be a time or place which plays a part in your tale of forbidden love. You can use it as the catalyst for one character to reveal the secret, the hidden truth, or whatever. Or it can just be the backdrop for the two (or three or so?) to play out their affections and the disaffection of society for them...

Take your choice. Consider some of the elements that are usually associated with that time/place. And then...

Another number, from one to six, if you please?

1. Social separation -- family? position? class?
2. Religious differences
3. Racial differences
4. Adultery
5. Homosexual
6. Take Your Pick! Physical differences, Ex-con, Psychological divisions, phase of the moon difficulties...or whatever you like as reasons that these two should not be allowed to follow their hearts.

Okay? Two (or more, especially in the case of adultery) characters. Make a list for each one of the five (or more) characteristics they have that draw them together. Make a special note of the one (or more) that isn't normally considered acceptable. And make a list of the kind of problems that are associated with that kind of difference. Include the stereotyped ones and push for a few that aren't quite so stereotyped--what about the children of the homosexual father wanting to visit?

And for the splashy craft of it, step through these story questions. At
least sketch the answers to each one:

1. Where are we? (setting)
2. Who is involved? (characters, strengths, flaws)
3. Where are they headed? (goals, motives)
4. What stops or blocks them? (obstacle(s))
5. What are they going to do about it? (plans to overcome problems)
   
   Story
   
   
6. What hook(s) or bait for the reader will I use? (where start)
   What story question do I pose for the reader?
7. What backfill is needed? (background that needs to be filled in)
8. What buildup do I want? (scenes)
9. What is the climax?
   - how does the character change? (overcome weakness, etc.)
   - how is the plot resolved? (overcome problems and achieve goals)
   - What answer does the reader get to the story question?
   
   Higher Level
   
   
10. What purpose, moral, or theme am I writing about?

Got your answers? Then you should be ready to write that story! Make us feel the tension between love most tender (and most illicit!) and the bigotry, hatred, and sheer prejudice that would (and most likely will) destroy these two, even if it cannot destroy their love. Show us how much they love each other, how far above the ground the tightrope they walk, how strong the storm that threatens them...and let us sigh with relief as they step onto solid ground and kiss OR make us cry for them as they plunge to their deaths, arms around each other, love that overcomes all...

Wow! What a story! I never thought about...oh, my, what tenderness...what romance...what horror!

write soon!

original posting: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 09:58:11 EDT

[with mere hours to go before the midnight parade of the zombies...]

Based on the book "20 Master Plots (And How to Build Them)" by Ronald B. Tobias. ISBN 0-89879-595-8.

Master Plot #13: Maturation

[the loss of illusions...]

(p. 160) "The maturation plot--the plot about growing up--is one of those strongly optimistic plots. There are lessons to learn, and those lessons may be difficult, but in the end the character becomes (or will become) a better person for it."

(p. 161) "The protagonist of the maturation plot is usually a sympathetic young person whose goals are either confused or not yet quite formed. He floats on the sea of life without a rudder. He often vacillates, unsure of the proper path to take, the proper decision to make. These inabilities are usually the result of a lack of experience in life--naivete..."

"This coming-of-age story is often called the _Bildungsroman_, which is German for 'education novel.' The focus of these stories is the protagonist's moral and psychological growth. Start your story where the protagonist has reached the point in her life at which she can be tested as an adult. She may be ready for the test, or she may be forced into it by circumstances."

Phase the First: Before

(p. 162) "...begin with the protagonist as he is before events start to change his life. We need to see who this character is, how he thinks and acts, so we can make a decision about his moral and psychological state before he undergoes change. Your character may exhibit a lot of negative (childlike) traits. Perhaps he is irresponsible (but fun-loving), duplicitous, selfish, naive--all the character traits that are typical of people who haven't accepted the responsibilities of adulthood or who haven't accepted the moral and social code that the rest of us abide by (more or less)..."

When suddenly...

(p. 163) "Which brings us to the test. The catalytic event. ... suddenly something comes along and smacks her square in the face...."

death of a parent, divorce, loss of home....

"...The event must be powerful enough to get the attention of the protagonist and literally shake up her belief systems...."

"You will prove your skills as a writer by making us feel the apocalyptic force of the event on the child's psyche..."

Phase Two: I Don't Wanna

The first reaction usually is denial, either literal or figurative. Don't shortcut this. There's anger, resistance, etc.--work your character through them.

(p. 165) "It may be, in fact, that your protagonist is actually trying to do the right thing, but doesn't know what the right thing is. That means trial and error. Finding out what works and what doesn't work. That is the process of growing up, the journey from innocence to experience."

Phase Three: Finally

(p. 165) "Finally your protagonist develops a new system of beliefs and gets to the point where it can be tested. In the third dramatic phase, your protagonist will finally accept (or reject) the change. Since we've already noticed that most works of this type end on a positive note, your protagonist will accept the role of adult in a meaningful rather than a token way."

Be careful with this plot. Don't lecture or moralize, let the reader find the meaning buried in the prosaic...and see the world fresh again.

Checklist:

1. Is your protagonist on the cusp of adulthood, with goals that are confused or not yet clear?
2. Does your story clearly show the readers who the character is and how s/he feels and thinks before the event occurs that begins the process of change?
3. Does your story contrast the protagonist's naive life (childhood) to the reality of an unprotected life (adulthood)?
4. Does your story focus on showing the protagonist's moral and psychological growth?
5. Does the "precipitating event" clearly challenge the beliefs and understanding of the world that you have shown?
6. "Does your character reject or accept change? Perhaps both? Does she resist the lesson? How does she act?"
7. Does your story show your protagonist undergoing the process of change? Is the change realistically gradual and difficult?
8. Is your young protagonist convincing? Does she display adult values and perceptions before she has developed them?
9. Does your story try to convert someone to "instant adulthood"? Or does it use small lessons and major upheavals to reflect the long process of growing up?
10. Does your story accurately show the psychological price that this lesson demands, and how your protagonist copes with that cost?

That's our technical background lesson from Tobias...

Since we're still in the time of the halloweenies, let's consider whether growing up (maturation) could be the basis of a horror...aha!

Suppose, just for example, that we have our normal, fun-loving bunch of teenagers (young people, pick your age group)...hotrodding, dancing on the beach, headed for the prom...or just hanging out at the mall?

And then comes...the bubbling goo from outer space? the phone call from the doctor (and just what was the diagnosis?) or the maniac from central New Jersey?...design your precipitating incident, anyway.

Spend a while mixing, brewing, stirring the soxes off the emotional twists and turns of the kids...

And rock our little worlds with the maturity that the kids step up to. Did Jose really skip the homecoming dance just to sit with Fernando, watching the sun rise one last time before...or does Emily decide that she doesn't care if the baby does have cloven hoofs and those buds on its skull, it's her baby and it's going to get a college education if it wants one...what about the wonderful way that Alfred admits to the police that while he did lure the graduating class into the swamp, he was simply not aware that the great vampire bat migration was going on....

In short, it seems to me that facing down a little natural (or unnatural, take your pick) horror often is the catalyst for maturation.Take that kid with the cotton candy, add a boll weevil gleefully eating its way towards his heart, and if he's plucky, bold, and true...you may end up with an adult who knows that dental hygiene helps avoid cavities.

(and if you think you've seen this plot before a few times--you're right! but there are still a few tales for you to wring out of this one...so start twisting!)

How about...a number from one to six?

1. "Mature man needs to be needed, and maturity needs guidance as well as encouragement from what has been produced and must be taken care of." Erik H. Erikson, Childhood and Society (1950), 7.

2. "We have not passed that subtle line between childhood and adulthood until we move from the passive voice to the active voice--that is, until we have stopped saying 'It got lost,' and say 'I lost it.'" Sydney J. Harris, On the Contrary (1962), 7.

3. "The latter part of a wise man's life is taken up in curing the follies, prejudices, and false opinions he had contracted in the former." Jonathan Swift, Thoughts on Various Subjects (1711).

4. "To live with fear and not be afraid is the final test of maturity." Edward Weeks, "A Quarter Century: Its Retreats," Look, July 18, 1961.

5. "The turning point in the process of growing up is when you discover the core of strength in you that survives all hurt." Max Lerner, "Faubus and Little Rock," The Unfinished Country (1959), 4.

6. "One of the signs of passing youth is the birth of a sense of fellowship with other human beings as we take our place among them." Virginia Woolf, "Hours in a Library," Times Literary Supplement, "Nov. 30, 1916.

[Quotes taken from The International Thesaurus of Quotations, by Rhoda Thomas Tripp, ISBN 0-06-091382-7]

How about making a list of five different qualities which you admire (honesty? okay...) Then consider how someone who has not yet achieved that level of maturity may act. Focus down to the one that your character is going to be tested on (or challenged)...

Then pick the catalytic event. If you like, here's a list (pick your number!):

1. Death (of a friend, a relative, etc.)
2. Illness
3. Pregnancy
4. Reaction by others to revealed "secret" (you did what?)
5. Being "invited" to join in a crime
6. Having a parent (or other influential adult) leave

Refine that general event. Lay out the reactions to it. (and if you want, mix in the horror...up the ante on that catalyst! I think almost every item on the list has been used as the basis for horror--just push them a bit beyond the everyday, and you find fear and loathing grinning through the muck...)

Then lay out the story. Introduce us to the young person(s). Have their life interrupted by...change. Show us the actions and reactions, the attempts to escape, to hide, to avoid...and then show us the growth into maturity, into someone who acts with knowledge of the price of their actions...

(wow! what a tale you've got to tell!
write!)

original posting: Fri, 1 Aug 1997 11:01:23 EDT

Based on the book "20 Master Plots (And How to Build Them)" by Ronald B. Tobias. ISBN 0-89879-595-8.

Master Plot #11: Metamorphosis

(p. 146) "If any one plot is truly magical, metamorphosis is it. Most of the master plots are grounded in reality: They deal with situations and people whom we readily recognize because they're based in our experience. Even good science fiction and fantasy stories are ultimately as real in their portrayal of people and events as anything by Henry James or Jane Austen. Science Fiction author Theodore Sturgeon pointed out that a good science fiction story deals with a _human_ problem and a _human_ solution. Fiction, whether it happens in Middle Earth or in a galaxy far, far away, is always about _us._ Fiction reveals truths that reality obscures."

"...In the metamorphosis plot, the physical characteristics of the protagonist actually change from one form to another. ..." animal to human, human to beast, etc. with change that is physical and emotional. metaphor, allegory, and mixes...wolfman, vampire, beauty and the beast, etc.

Often the metamorphosis is the result of a curse, wrongdoing, an offense against nature. Then, of course, the cure is love!

(p. 148) "The point of the plot is to show the process (or failure) of transformation. Since this is a character plot, we're more concerned with the nature of the metamorph than with his actions. The metamorph represents mystery: What sin has he committed to warrant this change? What must he do to free himself from the curse? The metamorph is an innately sad person, burdened by his affliction."

Three Dramatic Phases (of the moon? depends on your metamorph, or your metaphor?)

Phase one: introduce the protagonist and the current state of his condition. Usually the curse has been in place for some time, and we enter the story at the point of change.

Also, introduce the antagonist, the "catalyst that propels the metamorph towards release." While the antagonist is usually "the one" that the metamorph has been waiting for, neither one necessarily recognizes the antagonist as the agent of change. May even be a victim or captive of the metamorph, often with real repulsion, hatred, or disgust building a wall between them.

Phase two - evolve the relationship between the two. Usually, pity, fear, or fairness start to change the initial dislike, and the antagonist starts to exert control over the metamorph through "beauty, kindness or knowledge." I.e., the two start seeing the real person behind the physical shells, and are attracted.

The main two complications in this phase revolve around escape attempts by the antagonist and expressions of bestiality by the metamorph.

Phase three -- the release happens, often through some unusual and unexpected twist, and the metamorph changes! E.g., the frog is transformed into a...well, a prince if you must. The scientist changes into a fly, trapped in a spider web. Or maybe the werewolf becomes a monk, praying for deliverance?

This is usually the point where the mystery of the curse and the secret causes of such abnormal punishments are revealed.

(p. 151) "This plot combines the grotesque with the curative power of love, and its appeal is as old as literature itself."

Checklist

1. Is your metamorphosis the result of a curse?
2. Is the cure for the curse love?
3. Which form of love? Love of parent for child, lovers, teacher-student, love of God, etc.?
4. Is your protagonist the metamorph?
5. Does your plot show the process of transformation back to humanity?
6. Does your story show us the nature of the metamorph, emphasizing the character over the actions?
7. Is your metamorph an innately sad character?
8. Is your metamorph's life bound by rituals and prohibitions?
9. Does your metamorph want to find a way out?
10. Do you identify a way out of the predicament, a form of release?
11. Does the antagonist carry out the terms of the release?
12. Why is your protagonist barred from hurrying or explaining the events or actions which the antagonist must perform to reverse the curse? (psssst...put your protagonist to sleep, don't let them talk, do something to keep them quiet)
13. Does your first phase show the metamorph in the midst of the curse?
14. Is the beginning of the story a reasonable point leading to the resolution of the curse?
15. Does your antagonist act as the catalyst that forces the protagonist toward release?
16. Does your antagonist start as one of the intended victims and then end as the 'chosen one'?
17. Does your second phase concentrate and reveal the evolving relationship of the two?
18. Do your characters move towards each other emotionally?
19. Does your third phase fulfill the terms of the release, freeing the protagonist from the curse, either returning him to his original state or killing him?
20. Does the reader learn the reasons for the curse and the root causes?

Enough from Tobias! Let's consider how you might put together a metamorphosis...

One of the first requisites is a good animal...suppose we start with a number from one to six, and pick one of the following:

1. dog or wolf (breed? you pick the coat of your dreams...)
2. cat (wild? tame? up to you...)
3. seal!
4. donkey, ass, horse, pick the beast of burden you prefer
5. pigs can be fun? or maybe some other barnyard pet?
6. rat, rabbit, squirrel...you pick one of the little rascals

[sigh. I skipped all the birds, reptiles, fish of any scale, the little bugs that bite and sting, jellyfish and their spineless relatives, the many worms of our lives, and other vegetation, mechanizations, and so forth. Well, if you really want an oddity, pick one, or just try doing the never-ending tale of "A Mushroom by Night, only Human by Day, He's Fungi Man!"]

Okay? Got yourself a prime example of inhumanity in mind? Make a list of ten characteristics about the specific animal (or other wonder) you are going to use as an "secret identity" for your protagonist (antagonist? sure, sure, play with the roles if you want).

[Aside: You might think about whether the transformation is complete or partial. A pig's tail on a policeman, for example, might almost be considered poetic justice?]

Now, beside each characteristic you've noted, put down how this relates to the characteristics which the protagonist has as a human! If he sheds everywhere in his animal persona, is he messy as a human? Or particularly neat, tidying up even where it isn't really needed? I.e., sketch out the similarities and points of difference between the animal and the human.

So we have our jekyll and hide...ah, how about we pick a direction? Flip a coin, or just pick odd or even, and:


If you insist, you may play with cyclical transforms (the moon! the tide? solar flares and gamma rays?) and other variations, of course.

The major element left is to determine the action(s) needed to reverse the transformation, to convert the curse into a blessing, or whatever. Shall we require a kiss (or something more blatant and involving)? Must we find the one and only authentic chalice of Moord, the Frog Goddess, and drink the blood of an innocent from it...offered without force? Are there seven keys to the doom of the Ancients, each to be found and the mysterious riddle turned to save the world from ourselves? Feel free to dream up your own narrow path of possibilities for the characters to tread, hoping to escape...

If you like, pick a number from one to six to determine the main thrust of your tale of change:

1. Love stops the transformation
2. Love reverses the transformation
3. Love does not change the transformation--but makes it wonderful!
4. Death stops the transformation
5. Death reverses the transformation (breaks the curse and restores the person)
6. Death does not stop the transformation, but it makes death bearable?

Now, with animal in one hand, human in the other, and method of salvation in mind...think of the other main character. Who is the victim/antagonist/foil that can make your brooding beast someone we want to reach out to, someone we want to take care of, someone we want to save?

Sketch out the scenes. What could happen to bring the two together? Why do they stay together long enough to learn what lies behind the mask of the beast, the rough pelt, the claws and anger that holds off the world? And what is the climactic event that changes these two lives forever, leaving them (and us) gasping at the wonder of it all?

Then, of course, put it together. Start at the beginning (what cursed animal inhabits this foul pit? it is a cyberspatial twink, and I must release the bits!). Go on to the middle (what? a twink has feelings too? if you turn off the switch, doth it bleed? nay, say it is not so, for in that network many bits have passed.). And, of course, when you get to the part where they're peeling their hearts, you can always close your eyes...sorry, when you get to the end, make us sigh, and say goodbye.

Write it up!

original posting: Fri, 23 May 1997 10:07:07 EDT

Based on the book "20 Master Plots (And How to Build Them)" by Ronald B. Tobias. ISBN 0-89879-595-8.

Master Plot #9: Underdog

(p. 131) "The underdog plot is a form of rivalry plot...in the underdog plot, the strengths aren't equally matched. The protagonist is at a disadvantage and is faced with overwhelming odds."

"This plot is near and dear to our hearts because it represents the ability of the one over the many, the small over the large, the weak over the powerful, the 'stupid' over the 'smart.'"

"If you want your reader to feel empathy for your protagonist, make sure that her emotional and/or intellectual plane is equal to or lower than the reader's. ..."

Phase 1--in interruption or crisis in the protagonist's life, with a glimpse of life before, and the dramatic reversal that throws the protagonist into conflict and competition. In the underdog format, the antagonist immediately gains and exercises the upper hand, with the protagonist thoroughly disempowered, overwhelmed, supporessed.

Phase 2--something happens that reverses the descent. Humble, modest little underdog asks for something which turns out to be the strength or ally that empowers. And the phase really gets underway when the challenges begin! Can I? If you can find the needle in the haystack--and you did? Well, if...(don't forget, one down, two down, and three times a charm!) The real movement here is from being the victim to effectively challenging...

This often results in a split life, one secret victorious, the other public drudgery.

Phase 3--an equal and open competition or challenge ensues, where it at last becomes obvious to all who the secret victor is, and the antagonists are as thoroughly defeated as they deserve.

The real trick to this plot is making the underdog strongly enough motivated and realistic enough to believe in. The odds are stacked against the underdog, but there must be some way of winning through courage, honor, strength, and wit. Keep the audience rooting for the underdog, and make sure they feel like they had struggled through the depths and overcome all the obstacles with the underdog.

Checklist:

1. Are your adversaries unequally matched? The antagonist, whether person, place, or thing, should clearly overpower the protagonist.
2. Does your protagonist clearly fail in the first phase, change and recover in the second phase, and come back for the final climactic conflict?
3. Is there a real chance that the underdog will simply get crushed again? While the underdog usually overcomes the opposition, consider letting them lose, or otherwise vary the "expected" ending.

How about some "daily life" underdog situations? Perhaps we could start with a number from one to six?

1. A waitress being heckled and hounded by a customer
2. The clerk who keeps folding and rehanging the clothes for the rich teenager
3. A flight attendant being asked for a date
4. A cleaning person mopping the floor--and the bored truckers who keep walking across it
5. The donut shop person who gets screamed at for taking people in order, instead of waiting on Mr. Impatient
6. The employees who must get to the meeting on time, so that the boss can come in ten minutes late everytime...

While I suspect none of us has experienced any of these scenarios, perhaps you can imagine the feelings of the underdog, the oppressor(s), and the onlookers?

[don't like these? how about any of the "big business", "government sleazocracy", or other big crunchers against the individual scenarios? pick your David, line up a fine Goliath, and set the scene for us...]

Crank it up. Make us really feel sympathy for this underdog and disgust with the sorry example of humanity that is leaning on them. Give us a scene that makes that oppression ours.

Then transform it--the cook calls the waitress over and hands her a chocolate cream pie, with a wink? or maybe the radio reads out the daily double numbers, and our underdog grins?

And nail that sucker. A full pot of iced tea poured into his briefs? The boss reams out the employees, and then turns around to find his boss was waiting behind the door? Whatever, you're in charge, and make us enjoy the victory dance of the underdog, the moon baying charge of the beagle, the satisfying squelch of a dog's raised leg against the finesse of a well-tailored suit leg and polished leather shoe...

Simple enough?

Then write!

original posting: Fri, 14 Mar 1997 10:20:48 EST

Based on the book "20 Master Plots (And How to Build Them)" by Ronald B. Tobias. ISBN 0-89879-595-8.

(p. 93) "...The escape plot is physical, and as such, concentrates its energy on the mechanics of capture and escape. ... Escape in this plot is literal: The protagonist is confined against her will and wants to escape."

This is a kind of mirror to the rescue plot--instead of waiting patiently to be rescued, here the victim is their own hero and frees themselves.

Escape plots tend to revolve around unfair imprisonment (the innocent imprisoned for a crime they did not commit; prisoners in war; witch, ogre, or other evil creatures seem to love to imprison hero(in)es), but it doesn't have to--sometimes it is a test of wills between two strong personalities--the gaoler and the jailee.

The broad strokes (not the broad arrow, for those of you who follow such historical references):

Phase One: The protagonist is imprisoned. The crime may be real or not, and the punishment suitable or not.

Phase Two: Imprisonment and plans for escape. Attempts at escape, especially during phase one, should fail, be foiled, or only allow the temporary illusion of success before recapture and return to prison.

Phase Three: The Great Escape Attempt! Don't forget the lesson of Mission Impossible: even the best plans have to have something go wrong so that the stars can improvise a brilliant save. Or as someone military put it, the most careful battle plans only last until the first shot is fired. (p. 96) "Wild cards come into play. Enter the unexpected. All hell breaks loose. To this point the situation has been tightly controlled by the antagonist, but suddenly the situation becomes fluid, out of control either by gratuitious circumstance or by design of the hero. The hero, who has been at a distinct disadvantage, finally gets the upper hand, and if there's a moral score to settle, the time has come for settling it."

Checklist:

1. Escape is literal, so -- how is your hero(ine) confined? Is it unjust or just unwillingly?
2. How clearcut (black and white) is the moral argument? Usually it should be clear why this escape is really a triumph for good.
3. The hero(ine) should be the victim.
4. How does the hero(ine) become imprisoned? Are there some initial attempts to escape which fail? (I.e., do you have a phase one?)
5. How does your hero(ine) plan to escape? Are there several attempts which are thwarted? (i.e., what's phase two?)
6. What is the real attempt to escape? Is there a real chance for it to succeed? Is there a real chance for it to fail? (phase three!)
7. Does the antagonist have control during the first two dramatic phases? How do they lose control or how does the hero(ine) gain control during the final phase?

[boy, I hope someone is reading these...]

Onward to consider plotting a tale of escape. Pick ye olde number from one to six, please?

1. false imprisonment
2. prisoner of war
3. locked in (a store? a school? a locker room? someplace...)
4. kidnapped
5. captured by terrorists
6. taken hostage during a crime (bank robbery? car wash robbery? etc.)

If you think about it, there are lots of opportunities now to be captured by inanimate "guard" systems, as well as all kinds of groups that might feel better with an unwilling guest or several. There are also so many different fantasy and fiction evil captors--feel free to pick another one if you like.

[and lest we skip lightly past it, consider that "imprisonment" or "caging" means different things to different folks. One might even be cast out--and want to somehow escape back into that society and fellowship that means so much! One might even consider the age-old tension between teenager anxious to try out things and parental desires to limit the damages to be a variant on the escape plot...]

Stop here and consider your characters. There should be a fairly strong captor to make our protagonist work to get away. The POW camp director should make our day grim. And our protagonist needs to have some strength of character, some moral drive to make sure they don't break, although they will certainly bend, twist, and ache.

Now take a blank sheet and write one character's name on one side, the other on the other side at the top. Underneath, write the kind of imprisonment that the protagonist is facing.

Think of three to five different ways to put them into that captivity. Perhaps one of the more interesting ones is to start with an aborted attempt to escape, just as they are being shoved into the gates. A flurry of action, some exchanges of words, and the character of the protagonist can be revealed, often along with some hints at the raw power that the antagonist wields.

Pick the one you like, though, and sketch that scene out.

Now think of several different ways that the protagonist might try to escape. Take the one that you are going to really use and set that aside. Take two or three others and use them as attempts that fail. It is often helpful to think through how these failed attempts are going to contribute to the final attempt. You can also go back and revise to work some threads in (e.g., perhaps during one of the early attempts the protagonist picks up a two-foot piece of monofilament, which becomes critical during the real attempt--you might not have written it in during the first pass, but you can go back and revise it in easily when you realize that he really needs that).

How about a number from one to six?

1. monofilament fishing line
2. a clothes hanger
3. an eight inch square of aluminum foil
4. a papiermache red pepper
5. a 5 pound tub of margarine
6. a cockroach

Okay? There you have an object. It could be art, it could be trash, it could be just the magic needed to make one of your escape methods take off. In any case, toss it into your mental grinder and let it simmer.

One more number, one to sixish?

1. anger
2. love
3. fear
4. desire
5. hatred
6. moral righteousness

Just for fun, feel free to sprinkle a bit of this emotional sauce into the mix. I suggest that one of the characters should probably feel driven by this emotion, perhaps towards the other one.

Go back and answer the questions in the checklist.

That should put you well on the way to writing an escape plot. Take your imprisonment, your object for meditation, and a heaping scoop of emotional spicing, knead well, and let it rise. Bake in the oven of your own talents until golden brown with an aroma that invites the reader to partake of the feast, slather on a dab of butter and honey, and watch for smiles...

a quick start for those who are in fear of blank pages? How about:


For those who wonder, this beginning is provided for your use, abuse, or even discarding. Feel free to start here and go on to an ending, if that helps.

[a hot-air balloon escape? why not! but having a troll talk during the whole escape would be awfully boring, don't you think? oh, that was no troll, that was your boss? I think I see...]

original posting: Fri, 14 Feb 1997 09:15:39 EST

Based on the book "20 Master Plots (And How to Build Them)" by Ronald B. Tobias. ISBN 0-89879-595-8.

(p. 79) "The pursuit plot is the literary version of hide-and-seek."

"The basic premise of the plot is simple: One person chases another. All you need is a cast of two: the pursuer and the pursued. Since this is a physical plot, the chase is more important than the people who take part in it."

First phase: establish the situation, who is running and who is chasing, and why? Stakes? Motivating incident?
Second phase: the thrill of the chase! twists, turns, reversals, death-defying plunges, narrow squeaks, and that's just the beginning!
Third phase: the resolution. Are they caught? Or do they escape?

The cardinal rule: Don't Bore the Reader!

The tension is greatest at the moment just before it seems capture is inevitable. Wham! Foiled again, and off and running....

Don't forget confinement--limit the motion, and feel the tension mount.

Checklist:

1. The chase is more important than the people, so stress it.
2. Make sure the pursued is really in danger of getting caught.
3. Give the pursuer a reasonable chance of catching the pursued; even let her catch him...for a moment.
4. Physical action!
5. Make sure the twists and characters are stimulating, engaging, and unique--the plot surely isn't.
6. Develop characters and situations against type to head off cliches at the pass (ouch!)
7. Make the area of the chase as confined and tight as feasible.
8. In the beginning, make sure the reader knows the ground rules for the chase, the stakes involved, and the motivating incident that starts the race.

[I should skip by it, but something tells me I should point out that Roadrunner and Wily E. Coyote have been doing the chase scene for quite a while now...beep-beep!]

Okay? As you might suspect, we're going to think about doing some writing. So saddle up your horses, pilgrim, and let's start.

First, how about picking a number from one to six?

1. a horse
2. a frog
3. a cat
4. a snake
5. a monkey
6. a fish

Now, before we go any farther, take your animal in mind and consider it. What breed is it? What color eyes does it have? How old is it? Think about its life--what sets it apart from the rest of the...herd, lilypad gang, backalley slinkers, jungle drapery, swingers, or school?

And with that in mind--What kinds of locomotion does it use? What kinds of motivations? What pursues it? Make up a list of at least five points about the way this animal travels.

Second, let's pick again (one to six, if you please?):

1. to get the answer
2. to stop a crime
3. to overcome one's fears
4. to give them the object
5. to keep them from revealing the answer
6. out of anger

This, in case you can't guess, is a bit of motivation. Pick a pair of characters (type, age, and other characteristics at your discretion. You may even elect to have more than two, if you like.) Flip a coin to decide who is going to chase who.

And take your motivation and think it through. Why is this going to motivate the chase? What is involved? What kind of incident could unveil the characters and their chase, clearly and quickly?

[I like to motivate the other party, too. But in fact, being chased by someone almost automatically creates a desire to escape, to run...as the adrenaline spikes and the ancient fears creep in. You still may want to think about why the person being chased doesn't stop--or what happens when they do stop, turn, and...!]

You may want to stop at this point and do some dreaming about the chase itself. Think about some incidents along the way, some skids and twists that might happen. Think about surprising the reader, making them duck as the skeleton falls out of the ceiling or jump wildly as the shotgun blasts away on hitting the concrete floor... (one approach is to list about five different twists, then throw out a couple and focus on the real winners. Think about order--start with a little twist, raise the stakes and the involvement, then get into a little more white-knuckle stuff, back off, and sliderightintoarealcruncher...

One more little tidbit to color your mentation (yes, one to six!):

1. birling -- log rolling, or log birling; turning a log underfoot as it floats, which loggers known as river drivers did as work and sport.

2. clip a brand -- to cut away a critter's hair, grown long during the winter, to get a good look at the brand.

3. ear down -- to twist or bite the ears of a horse to get him to stand still; said especially of broncos, where one cowboy ears down the horse while another saddles it for a first ride. Horses that are often eared down and thus wary of having their ears touched are called _ear-soured._

4. hidalgo -- In the south-west, a Hispanic landowner, usually an aristocrat. Borrowed from Spanish, it's generally pronounced by Americans with an _h_, Hee-DAHL-goh.

5. muckamuck (1) In Chinook jargon, food. (2) In verb form, to eat. _High muckamuck_ (also from the Chinook term) is a derisive expression for a person of importance.

6. praying cow -- A cow that's getting up. The critter rises hind end up and the cow momentarily looks like it's on its knees.

[definitions taken from The Wordsworth Dictionary of the American West by Winfred Blevins, ISBN 1-85326-356-7]

So there is a bit of color borrowed from the American West. You should feel free to work it in wherever it fits.

Take your animal. Don't tell us about it, but do use that wily nature as the background for the chase. Think about the motivation, maybe review the checklist provided above. And don't forget that touch of Wild West color, smearing across the watercolors of your creation.

Turn on the blender and let your mental processes gurgitate, gurgle, grunt, grind, grrrrrr....

And WRITE!

[a short start? okay, try this one:


Drop back, sketch where, when, who, and why the heck they are starting to run...]

Take a moment to stretch. Right hand, fingers nice and loose, rub the tension out of that knuckle...left hand, wiggle that little finger, shake it down, shake it down...and get set!

On your home keys!

Type!

original posting: Fri, 17 Jan 1997 09:35:26 EST

Based on the book "20 Master Plots (And How to Build Them)" by Ronald B. Tobias. ISBN 0-89879-595-8.

Master Plot #1: Quest

The quest is the "search for a person, place or thing, tangible or intangible." Specifically, the main character is looking for that certain something that they expect or hope will change their life.

Structure of the Quest

Act one is setup, where the hero(ine) gets the royal boot -- "a force moves him to act, either out of necessity or desire." There is usually a major event or incident, a "motivating incident", which shapes and foreshadows the rest of the quest.

Don't forget the sidekicks, good buddies, and other traveling companions. There is almost a natural magnetism about a person setting out on a quest that pulls a suitable cast of helpers out of the fields, woods, and other hideyholes.

After act one, the reader should be asking "Will (fill in your protagonist's name here) _find_ the (fill in desired object of quest)?"

Act two is where we wander through wonders, disappointments, and delays. We run into difficulties, obstacles, those little "experiences" that make your character show their mettle in interesting ways.

Act three! Do we reach the goal (get the gold, find the lost treasure, etc.)? And when we do, what happens?

(p. 67) "It isn't unusual in this type of plot for there to be additional complications _as a result of obtaining the goal_. Things aren't what the hero expected them to be, and it could be that what the hero was searching for all this time wasn't what she really wanted. But there is the moment of _realization_, which is an insight made by the hero about the nature and meaning of the quest itself."

Checklist:

1. What is the object of the quest? How does it relate to the intent and motivation of the main character?

2. Where is the quest going to take the main character? Why? What do they learn, what changes occur, how are they prepared for the finale? I.e., we should wander through strange lands and outrageous situations, and every one of them should tie into the final effort, the final realization when the goal is won (or lost!).

3. Are we leaving home and returning there? Or at least starting and ending in the "same" place? How are the changes in the character displayed against that backdrop?

4. What or who does the main character become? How are they different?

5. What is the "wisdom" which the hero "comes to realize" from the search? Does a child become an adult? Does an adult learn something about life?

6. Make sure your beginning provides solid motivation to initiate the search. And make sure the readers know _why_ your character is setting out. Just because there is a quest waiting doesn't mean every person will set out on it, so give your character solid reasons for leaving.

7. Think about the traveling companion, the foil for conversation, insight, even emotions. Who are they? Why are they traveling with the big oaf?

8. What is the revelation or realization that the main character finds?

9. Don't forget--what the main character finds (both in object and realization) is often something different than they expected originally. The treasure on the hill might be a philosophic work, for example.

Got it? So let's think about writing a little quest...

1. Let's start with a character. Your choice.

2. Now write one sentence about what this character needs to learn. Perhaps they haven't found out that other people hurt? Or maybe they just need to learn that what they want doesn't come by wishing?

[pssst? Having trouble? Pick a number from one to six, grab one of these oldies, and refine it.

1. The best things in life are free
2. The bluebird of happiness is sitting in your own backyard
3. Parents are people too
4. Home is where the heart is
5. Don't burn your bridges until you get across them
6. Learning grows out of the broken shells of mistakes

well, some of them are kind of strained, but maybe you'll figure out what I meant.]

3. Back up a step. What kind of specific person, place or thing could they be searching for that would teach them that lesson? Make a list of five people, places or things they could be searching for. Pick one that you like.

[pssst? one to six, pick up sticks...

1. an animal (pet? rare breed for xxx? you decide...)
2. a place that matches the ... (picture? memory? description?)
3. the almost forgotten relative (teacher, etc. pick the relation)
4. a dreamed of place... (with shades of ancient myths peering over your shoulder)
5. the fabled jewel of Apt (with amazing properties, more valuable than your dreams, and...)
6. the cure for (pick a condition. does the character suffer or)

if you want something more mundane, consider a missing wallet...]

4. And let's make it a bit more interesting. What can the search itself teach them? Again, try making a list of five possible lessons the search could teach them (which may reflect, diverge, or have some other relationship to what the character thought they were searching for or learning). Pick one that you like.

[aphorisms and other simplifications of life available from horoscopes, books of quotations, and similar sources near you.]

5. Go over the checklist above. Answer the questions or think about the points.

6. Write out your story. Make the first paragraph catch the reader, then keep us going until we are running full-speed through the jungle with the main character, trying to get the serum before it is too late; cudgeling our noggins to solve the riddles and find the treasure; working and sweating with the main character to find it, to reach that goal. And once we win or lose, don't forget to twist our brains with the realization of what we have learned, of what we have lost, of what we have done.

[quick start? how about:

The morning that it all began started just like any other morning, with a thump, a rustle, and cold stone underfoot.

to go where no man has gone before, to find the missing link, to touch that star, to strap yourself in those waxen wings and fly....WRITE!]

Do that, and then we'll want to come along tomorrow!

Original Posting: Sun, 9 Oct 1994 23:36:55 EDT

You remember the kiddy tale?

Brother and sister, out of the house, into the woods, and wow!

Gingerbread house, bad old witch pretending there are better goodies inside, and eventually trying to pop the kids into the oven?

(okay, so maybe I've got the wrong kids in the story. I doubt they're going to sue me for libel...)

Anyway, a fairly simple story of temptation and greed, intended to provide a horrible example of what can happen if you (yes YOU!) dare to go wandering out in the woods trusting weird little witches and other hobgoblins of the outer forests...

So...

1. Pick a fairy tale (Hansel and Gretel do spring to mind...)

2. REVISE... very few kids now need to be warned about getting lost in the woods or strange hermits and witches living by themselves. On the other hand, there are some rather odd trolls and other visitors hanging around street corners and other locales. Gingerbread... I'll bet parents wish that was the worst threat to health that the kids faced.

3. Write it up! The Bubblegum Gang meets the Man who Lives in a Trashcan? Why not?

and away the tapping fingers write...

original posting: Sun, 22 May 1994 18:35:01 JST

You've got a problem - here's a character you want to write about, you know what s/he wants to accomplish (the goal, the motivation, that place they dream and scheme for), but you're not sure what to put in the middle.

The books say conflict. But today we're going to do it real simple - step-by-step, you might say.

Step 1. Pick a character and goal. While most goals are major, for this exercise it is all right if you just want the poor schnook to get to the other side of the road, buy some gum, or whatever.

Step 2. Now make a list of at least ten (10!) things that could get in the way of reaching that goal. Little things - somebody moved the road - or big - someone kidnapped the Pope, shot the dog and is threatening to blow up the world if your character achieves their dream... List them up. Don't worry about how the character will get over, around or through them yet.

Step 3. Pick five (5) things from the list (the classic number is three, but we're going to stretch a little). Now, put these in order by the size of the stakes involved - how hard is it going to be for the character to beat them? What is it going to cost to beat them? Pay attention to the possibility that non-material costs are "bigger" than material costs. The basic order should be cheap to expensive - start with some easy stakes, low costs to the character for LOSING.

For a comic relief, you might reverse the order - looking at loss of house and family, the boss threatening to take away executive parking privileges is a joke. Such reversals in the rising stakes can be effective, but be careful not to make a mockery of the character (unless that's what you really want to do, of course).

Step 4. Now expand your plot. At each block until the very last one, the character is going to LOSE (that means NOT win). Raise the price of getting to that goal every step of the way.

Step 5. Write that sucker up.

Step by step, slowly I turned... as the sadistic, cruel author turned up the heat, whipped me, rubbed salt into the lashmarks, crushed my toes in a press, and at last, long last, put me where I needed to be, racked between the pillars of the temple. With my last ounce of spinach-inspired power, I pulled the temple down on his head... well, I'm sure you'll do better than that.

He's off, and sliding back, being kicked, he's down, folks, he's down, and now he's on the ropes... and what a comeback!

That's the sadism that makes the character's victory meaningful - the writer put everything they could think of in the way, and that rascal just got better and better.

As will your story.
Be reading you!