writercises | Entries tagged with love

Original posting 2022/2/5

Oho! That’s right, Feb. 14 is Saint Valentine’s Day! Celebrating romantic love, young romance, and all that, right? Also chocolate! You can find out all kinds of stuff at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine%27s_Day about it, if you like, or just use whatever rumors and vague thoughts you might have rattling around.

So, as writers, what can we do about it? Well, a short story about one of the many themes of this day is certainly possible. Or perhaps a poem? Naturally, you might twist it… what does a vampire do on Valentine’s Day (or night?)? It’s the halfway point for poor February (28 days, three years out of four), which might suggest something. Or maybe… just a chuckle about youngsters and cards and candy and such?

Anyway, I thought some of you might like to take on the challenge of writing a short story, perhaps a 100 word wonder, flash fiction, or whatever? To celebrate the day when love is everywhere, and candy hearts thump?

Write?

mbarker

Original Posting March 2, 2018

Writer's Digest, November 1990, had an article on pages 26-29 by David Groff with the title "How to Write Believable Love Scenes." How to heat up the romance with love scenes that advance your story… Sounds pretty good!

David starts with a note that "Love is what most novels are about.… Nearly every piece of fiction contains a love story or a motivating romantic charge." Love is a topic throughout our lives. Now, how do you write about it… There's the question.

So what are the challenges in writing a love scene? Well, David suggests:
– you need to write the scene and place it so that it is central to the story and advances the plot.
– You should shape the scene to maintain the novel's conflict and tension.
– You need to write a scene that is fair to the characters, consistent with their personalities, and increases the reader's understanding of them.
– Finally, you need to find a language of relation that is fresh, original, rich, evocative, suits your novel, neither pornographic nor prudish, not clinical or clichéd…

1. Do you need a love scene? Well, how integral is a physical relationship to the story? Don't just write a love scene for sex. Don't do it just for a thrill or break. There needs to be a good reason, something that propels the story and reveals characters.

For a sex scene or love scene to work well in a novel, it should be a natural culmination of building tension and emotions. The simplest test of whether a love scene is necessary or not? Try deleting it. Do the characters really need to come together? Does this scene do that?

2. The shape of your love scene. Well, any scene in the novel needs arising action, complication, climax, and denouement. You need conflict, tension, all the normal bits and pieces. Don't be too casual about it, don't overdo the physical description, and make sure the scene accomplishes what it needs to. You may want to outline this. Think about the point of view, tone, pacing. This is an action scene!

3. Who is in your scene? Your characters need to be consistent. This scene should display who they are, and why they are in love.

4. The language! Fresh, appropriate language is one of the big challenges. Watch out for clichés, make your phrases strong and precise and vivid. Be aware that cutting from the kiss to the cigarettes isn't really satisfactory. Sure, pulling the curtains is easy, but… Think about what you are saying about your characters. This is an opportunity to be very rich and detailed, use it! Don't use clichéd phrases. Use metaphor carefully, and with a light hand. Try to surprise your reader with metaphors. Let the readers imagination do most of the work. Oh, you might want to stick with realism. "The final test of love scenes in fiction is whether they correspond with life and tell us what we didn't know we knew. Comparing fiction with real life will help keep any writer both honest and original."

There you go. Decide whether or not you need a love scene, lay it out as a scene, think about the characters, and then worry about the language you use.

Practice? Well, take a story you like, or one you are working on, and see if there's a love scene there. Then apply David's precepts. See if you can make the love scene ring!

Write!

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original posting 30 April 2010

Writer's Digest, October 2005, pages 27 to 31, had an article by James Scott Bell with the title, "Pull it together." The subtitle was rather long, "You don't have to start from scratch when determining the best framework for telling your tale. Here are five classic plot patterns that will give your novel good form." Maria Schneider wrote the introduction, comparing the plot to a pattern that pulls "all of the pieces together into some meaningful whole." A plot gives your novel structure and lets you focus your imagination on other parts of your writing.

The five plot descriptions are excerpted from Write Great Fiction: Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell. Quest, revenge, love, adventure, and one against. A little description, essentials, and structure. So let's take a look at one...

The quest:

"a hero goes out into the dark world and searches for something." Physical items, people, knowledge, anything and everything.

Essentials:

The main character is someone who is incomplete in his ordinary world.
the thing searched for must be of vital importance.
there must be huge obstacles preventing the protagonist from gaining it.
The quest should result in the protagonist becoming a different (usually better) person at the end. A fruitless quest may end in tragedy.

Structure:

the lead character shows some inner deficiency that the quest will help to remedy.
There are often a series of encounters, giving the plot an episodic feel. The character encounters setbacks, struggles to overcome them, moving step by step closer to the objective.
the final act often has a major crisis or setback, with a discovery or major clue transforming or providing a revelation.
"The quest is a powerful pattern because it mirrors our own journey through life. We encounter challenges, suffer setbacks and victories but move on."

Revenge:

Revenge is an old plot pattern. You killed one of mine, I will kill one of yours. An eye for an eye, heroic revenge. Revenge is emotional.

Essentials:

the lead character should be sympathetic, because revenge is often violent.
the wrong done to the lead that initiates things usually isn't his fault or is out of proportion.
desire for revenge affects the inner life of the lead character.

Structure:

Act I introduces the protagonist in his ordinary world. It's usually comfortable, making the violent disturbance sharper.
the initiating incident is the wrong, breaking the ordinary world.
following the wrong, the protagonist has a period of suffering, which helps the readers empathize.
the wrong often occurs through betrayal by an ally, and may involve framing the protagonist unfairly.
the protagonist needs to discover who did it and how they can punish them.
the obvious motive is revenge, but the deeper motive is to restore order. To try to return to the ordinary world.
Act II focuses on a series of confrontations, frustrating the protagonist by circumstances or opposition, leading up to an opportunity to punish the opponent. But the protagonist is defeated.
achieving revenge can be satisfying, although sometimes sacrificing the desire for the greater good can restore the balance.
revenge plots explore human nature. You need strong characters.

Love

Either one of the lovers is the protagonist, or you can have parallel plots with both lovers alternating. Winning love, or overcoming obstacles to love, there's always opposition. Rivals, family, etc.

Essentials

one or two people have to be in love.
something has to separate them.
do they get back together or not?
one or both of the lovers grows because of the conflict.

Structure

the structure changes a little bit based on what kind of story you are telling.
Act I may have the lovers meet for the first time, and one falls in love. Act II then becomes the struggle to convince the other to love them in return.
Or Act I may have both of them falling in love, while Act II introduces something that forces them apart. The lovers struggle to get together against opposition.
sometimes lovers hate each other when they first meet. Then the challenges of act two teach them to love.

Adventure

"Adventure stories are among the oldest in literature. They originally created a vicarious thrill for the listeners or readers, who were typically stuck in one physical location for life. These stories were also used to inspire and encourage acts of discovery for the benefit of the community."

Even with travel much easier now, most of us live predictable lives. So we still wonder, what if I went looking for adventure? These stories answer that. The core of an adventure story makes the reader wish they were the protagonist.

Essentials

The protagonist sets out on a journey. There is no particular quest for an object, just a desire for an adventure.
There are encounters with interesting characters and circumstances.
the protagonist usually gain some insight because of the adventures.

Structure

Act I briefly introduces the life that's being left behind, and then the protagonist leaves in search of adventure.
Act II often consists of a series of mini plots or adventures, with colorful characters and settings.
the challenge of the adventure plot is avoiding simple episodic stories without any relationship.
often the character change or reflection, the new understanding, ties it together

One against

"There are times when we must stand up for what we believe, even if most people are against us. This takes a lot of inner strength -- more than in most other plot patterns. We value reputation. The one-against story is powerful because the lead carries off that moral duty, and we admire him for it."

Essentials

the protagonist embodies the moral code of the community.
There's a threat to the community from the opposition, who is much stronger than the protagonist.
the protagonist wins by inspiring the rest of the community.
that inspiration may come through self-sacrifice.

Structure

Act I presents the protagonist as hero. It also presents the threat by the opposition, or the declaration of their fight.
Act II develops the conflict, with characters passionately committed.
Act III is where the community stands up to the opposition.

"Plot patterns free up your writing. When you have structure, you can be more creative because you don't have to worry about having a cohesive plot."

Current Mood: plotting

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original posting 27 November 2007

Spinning Webs with Plot and Structure (25)

And just in time for 6x6, here comes chapter 12 of James Scott Bell's handy little book on Plot & Structure. What's so good about that? Well, chapter 12 is about plot patterns, which can be quite handy when you are trying to fill out a plot in a hurry.

Skipping lightly past the question of just how many basic patterns there are, with vexatious references to 36, 3, 20 and 7 as particular favorites, let's take a look at the patterns. You may also want to take a look at 20 Master Plots (see http://community.livejournal.com/writercises/47510.html for a list, or http://community.livejournal.com/writercises/tag/master+plots for a bunch of stuff) or perhaps the Writer's Journey (see http://community.livejournal.com/writercises/1390.html for a book review).

Bell starts out with the venerable and still widely used Quest. Our hero searches for something. The Lead needs something or is somehow incomplete in the ordinary world where they start. The thing they are searching for must be vital. And there need to be major obstacles to getting it. Usually the Lead changes significantly at the end.

The structure of the Quest is very straight forward. In the beginning, the Lead needs something and gets motivated to go look for it. The doorway of no return is where the Lead starts the Quest. Encounters, conflicts, and setbacks make up the middle. The second doorway is often a major crisis or set back and often involves some discovery or mayor clue. And the finale, the climax, revolves around finding the object of the search and learning the lesson of the search.

I think I'll skip lightly through the list of patterns that Bell describes. We all know these, and making up your own description of the fundamentals and the structure is good practice. Or you can buy the book. It's pretty good. So Bell also describes:

Revenge - they done him wrong, and now he is going to return the favor
Love - it takes two to tangle, and will these two do it?
Adventure - What a thrilling place to go, what a rollercoaster ride!
Chase - will they catch up or not? Who will win?
One against (I would call this Taking A Stand) - to dream the impossible dream
One Apart (aka the anti-hero) - the outsider
[Rise in] Power - from rags to riches, and what happens next
Allegory - don't take this literally (e.g. Animal Farm)

Are any of these unfamiliar? But the trick is to put your own characters in their own setting with their own goals, conflicts, etc. using the pattern as an underlying guide. Or perhaps mix a couple of them? For example, suppose one person is intent on their quest, while the other is busy with love. Oops!

That's chapter 12. I'd suggest two exercises. First, think about your favorite stories and novels, and make up your own list of your patterns. (These are a few of my favorite tales?) Second, pick out the bones of those patterns, perhaps in a one page summary.

Third, of course, (No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!) would be to do a short story based around one of those patterns, or perhaps combining two. You could do that for the 6x6 coming up!

And that's the short version of Chapter 12! Watch for chapter 13, common plot problems and what you can do about them, coming soon to a mailing list near you!

tink
tink
and
tink again!

(then write!)

Current Mood: aching

mbarker.livejournal.com

original posting: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 20:34:00 -0400

Here's the pitch...

Suppose (it could happen, somewhere, sometime, right?) that someone has developed an actual love potion. Pheromonal? Hormonal? Or maybe just plain mystical magical goo? That's up to you.

Story seeds:

The discoverer -- should s/he tell anyone? What do you do with this powerful mist?
A perfume manufacturer -- how do you market this? Network marketing? Highest bidders only? What about a limited membership club, that gets exclusive use?
Someone who has used it? I mean, what does it do to realize that you've done something by chemicals? Do you respect him/her in the aftermath?
Someone who has been subjected to the potion?
How about someone who isn't affected by the potion, watching all the wild relationships forming?
Maybe someone who refuses to use the potion, for ethical reasons?

And so forth, and so on.

What are the limitations of the potion? Does it wear off? Quickly, slowly, nevermore? Does it affect all sexes and people, or only selected ones? What happens when the potion accidently is sprayed on a car -- does everyone want an affair with the bumper?

Let your mind play with the potion, and the effects, and the changes that result...

[bonus points for other potions and liniments -- anger rub, the love killer pill, and such.]

and Write!

(BTW: to provide proper attribution, this exercise is based very loosely on an episode of "My Favorite Martian" in which Uncle Martin brews up a love spray...)

Current Mood: sprayed
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mbarker.livejournal.com

original posting: Fri, 14 Nov 1997 09:21:36 EST

[don't let your writing muse get flabby! exercise regularly:-]

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

Master Plot #14: Love

[Do you need somebody to love? -- beatles!]

(p. 168) "...Since we know conflict is fundamental to fiction, we also know 'Boy Meets Girl' isn't enough. It must be 'Boy Meets Girl, But...' The story hinges on the 'But...' These are the obstacles to love that keep the lovers from consummating their affair."
"Sometimes the lovers are within what we might call social normals, but situations arise that aren't conducive to love, and people won't condone it. Unlike the lovers in forbidden love, who usually pay for their 'folly' with their lives, these lovers have decent chancle of overcoming the obstacles that make their affair such rough sailing."
Obstacles include confusion, misunderstanding, mistaken identities, gimmicks (one of us is a Ghost!), madness...even the size of certain organs (noses, for example).

(p. 171) "The first attempt to solve the obstacle is almost always thwarted. Don't forget the Rule of Three. The first two attempts fail, the third time's the charm...."
"The lesson of fairy tales is the basic lesson of all love stories: Love that hasn't been tested isn't true love. Love must be proved, generally through hardship."

(p. 172) "What makes a good love story? The answer lies more with the characters than with the actions. That's why the love plot is a character plot. A better way of putting it is by saying that successful love stories work because of the 'chemistry' between the lovers. You can create a plot that has plenty of clever turns and gimmicks, but if the lovers aren't convincing in a special way, it will fall flat on its face. ..."

(p. 173) "...If you want to break away from Everylover and write about two (or more) characters who are unique, you must delve into the psychology of people and love. _A love story is story about love denied and either recaptured or lost._ Its plan is simple; executing the plan is not. It all depends on your ability to find two people who are remarkable in either a tragic or a comic way as they pursue love."

(p. 175) talking about how to write something original in this well-plowed field... "A sincere work--a work of sentiment--generates its own power; a sentimental work borrows feelings from stock. Rather than create characters or events that generate unique feelings, the sentimentalist merely relies on stock characters and events that already have their emotions built in."

(p. 178) Don't forget the down side--falling out of love.

"Falling out of love is about people, too. It's about the end rather than the beginning of a relationship. The sucess of your story depends on an understanding of who your characters are and what has happened to them. By the end of your story, the situation is driven to crisis, which results in some kind of resolution: resignation to perpetual warfare, divorce and death being the most common resolutions."

The Structure:

Depends on the nature of the plot you intend to use. You are going to have to adapt.

One common one: two lovers find each other in the beginning and then circumstances step in to separate them. The phases are:

1. Lovers Found. Present the two main characters and establish the relationship. Deep love, marriage...and disaster strikes. Kidnapping, parental moves, ex-spice, war, disease, accident, the flying fickle finger of fate...

2. Lovers split. One (or both) of the two tries to find/rescue/reunite/rekindle. Usually one is active, while the other is relatively passive. Setbacks, complications, and troubles ensure that the situation gets worse, not better.

3. Lovers reunited! Somehow, someway, when you least expect it--Candid Camera will bring them together! "Opportunity presents itself to the diligent, and the active lover finally finds an opening that allows her either to overcome the antagonist or [overcome] the preventative force..."

Checklist

Do you meet the prospect of love with a major obstacle, so that while your characters obviously want it, they can't have it.
Do your lovers have the obstacle of being ill-met? E.g., from different social classes, backgrounds, physically mismatched?
Do you thwart the first attempt to solve the obstacle? Do you make sure that success doesn't come easily, and that the only way to love is dedication and persistence?
Do you show us that one lover is more aggressive than the other, and provide us with good reasons for the difference?
Did you force a happy ending when your story really is sad?
Did you make your main characters appealing, convincing, real people? Are their personalities and their situation unique and interesting? Do you really feel for your characters?
Do you develop a full range of feelings and emotions in your story? Don't focus just on the positive feelings--use some dark to bring out the light of your story.
Do you understand the role of sentiment and sentimentality in your story and use the right mix for the market you are aiming at?
"Take your lovers through the full ordeal of love. Make sure they are tested (individually and collectively) and that they finally deserve the love they seek. Love is earned; it is not a gift. Love untested is not true love."

That's what Tobias has to say...now let's see.

How about picking a number from one to six?

Work
Social/cultural/class differences
Disease/addiction
Parents/family/friends
Sexual desires/experiences (including rape, impotence, etc.)
Psychological/Personality differences

Stop here and think a bit. You have an issue or topic there, something that could get in between our lovers and cause some problems. Make a list of five (or more! but at least five) specific problems that might get in their way.

Now, I pick number four! Yes, that's right, take number four off your list of specific problems. Think about it. Expand on it. Embroider the edges of the difficulty, and consider how to use this problem to make your lovers walk across hot coals to be together.

And, if you'll pick yet another one of those wonderful numbers from one to six?

I don't want people to love me. It makes for obligations. Jean Anouilh, The Lark, (1955), 2, adapted by Lillian Hellman.
To love without criticism is to be betrayed. Djuna Barnes, Nightwood, (1937)
First love, with its frantic haughty imagination, swings its object clear of the everyday, over the rut of living, making him all looks, silences, gestures, attitudes, a burning phrase with no context. Elizabeth Bowen, The House in Paris (1935), 2.5.
Unable are the Loved to die/For Love is Immortality. Emily Dickinson, poem (c. 1864)
We don't love qualities, we love persons; sometimes by reason of their defects as well as of their qualities. Jacques Maritain, Reflections on America (1958), 3.
Love consists in this, that two solitudes protect and border and salute each other. Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet, May 14, 1904, tr. M.D. Herter Norton.

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

So now you have a quotation about love. That goes with the problem that is going to get in the way of love. One of the simpler plots is to start with this quotation, and a heaping portion of love--but the lovers don't quite understand the quotation yet. Now separate, mix, blend, chop, and let the seasonings simmer...until they learn! and bring them back together, wiser and tougher, with love on high...

Our problem right now probably is to pick the characters. How about this? Take your two numbers from above. Multiply together. And find the result below:

1-6: Father and child
7-12: Homosexual males
13-18: Adults, heterosexual
19-24: Teenagers, heterosexual
25-30: Homosexual females
31-36: Mother and child

Feel free to elaborate. For example, if you have a pair of heterosexual adults, are they an old married couple (yes, love does happen there too...) or perhaps a pair meeting for the first time at the corner bar? Build up the two characters into full rounded people, who really do have a relationship (where did they go on their first date? What happened? and so on).

Pick out the scene you want to use to show us how much they care for each other. It can be their wedding, or maybe it's walking through the National Zoo in Rock Creek Park, throwing peanuts to the chimps and laughing together at one of the outside tables where busloads of kids eat their lunches...

Sketch in the disaster striking. Make us feel the pain of that separation, the shock of it.

And then show us the struggle. The first attempts to overcome the problem--and the failure. The renewed determination, the refusal to give in, the dark nights of crying and fear...make us sweat!

Finally, when it seems as if there is nothing, no way to win...that peanut in your pocket is just the thing that will tip the scale and give you a chance to win through! or maybe not?

Your choice as to whether you are going to play it for laughs (two dirty old men, just learning that being dirty together is more fun than being dirty alone?) or for romantic (young love, sweet love...ah, the innocence) or for serious (love, transforming the world, but at what price!).

You might like to think about how you would answer the following questions. I've borrowed this list from Barry Longyear's suggestions in Science Fiction Writer's Workshop I, ISBN 0-913896-18-7.

Background

Where are we? (setting)
Who is involved? (characters, strengths, flaws)
Where are they headed? (goals, motives)
What stops or blocks them? (obstacle(s))
What are they going to do about it? (plans to overcome problems)

What hook(s) or bait for the reader will I use? (where start)
What story question do I pose for the reader?
What backfill is needed? (background that needs to be filled in)
What buildup do I want? (scenes)
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
What purpose, moral, or theme am I writing about?

Write us a story!

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mbarker - EXERCISE: Valentine’s Day?
mbarker - TECH: Believable Love Scenes? (moldie oldie!)
mbarker.livejournal.com - TECH: Classic Plots
mbarker.livejournal.com - TECH: Spinning Webs with Plot and Structure (25)
mbarker.livejournal.com - EXERCISE: love potion number 9
mbarker.livejournal.com - Plot #14: Love: 20 Master Plots

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