The Place For My Writers Notes

[I know, it's long, but... I thought you might want it for your Halloween writing pleasure! Don't forget, we've got a contest running! So you might just be in the mood to write a story -- and Blake has some advice about how to do that.]

Blake Snyder, in his book on screenwriting with the title "Save the Cat!" describes a process for writing that you might find useful. This is my summary. For more details, of course, read the book. I think you'll find it worthwhile.
 
1. What's it about? Summarize your story in one line. Blake suggests that great loglines -- one line summaries -- have four key qualities. They're ironic, meaning they hook your interest. They create a compelling mental picture. They tell you who the audience is. Finally, they have a killer title. That's right, a one line summary plus a killer title!

2. What genre is it? Audiences want the same thing only different. The way you do that is figure out what it's like. Now Blake doesn't recommend the standard genres -- romance, western, and so on. He's got 10 that he thinks covers things pretty well. You're welcome to come up with your own, or use his.

  1.        Monster in the house: a confined space, somebody did something wrong, and there is a monster loose!
  2.        Golden fleece: the quest! A hero, their search, and their internal growth.
  3.        Out of the bottle: a wish fulfilled, and then...
  4.        Dude with a problem: an ordinary guy in extraordinary circumstances.
  5.        Rites of passage: growing up and other crises at any age
  6.        Buddy love: the odd couple learns to like it (romance fits in here!)
  7.        Whydunit: crime and digging into the hidden side of ourselves
  8.        Fool Triumphant: the underdog beats the institution
  9.        Institutionalized: the group versus the individual
  10.        Superhero: the extraordinary person in an ordinary world

3. Who is the main character? What is their primal goal? Who's the bad guy? What do they want? Use adjectives to let us know who these people are.

4. Fill out the beats. Blake uses 15 steps as the structure. I know, I know, that's so mechanical. But you can always start with these 15 points and then change it to suit yourself. Again, you'll need to read the book to get the details, but here's a short list:

  1.        Opening Image: the starting point
  2.        Theme Stated: someone poses a question or makes a statement that is the theme.
  3.        Set up: introduce the main characters, show what's missing, get ready
  4.        Catalyst: the life-changing event that makes things happen
  5.        Debate: the hero waffles. Do I really want to do this? Ask a question.
  6.        Break into two: the hero takes the step across the threshold
  7.        B Story: the love story, the other line.
  8.        Fun and games: the good stuff. Show off the idea and enjoy it.
  9.        Midpoint: up or down, the hero is at an extreme. Raise the stakes, and get set for all is lost a.k.a. false defeat.
  10.        Bad guys close in: the bad guys start to win.
  11.        All is lost: opposite of the midpoint, false defeat, everything has gone wrong. Often with a whiff of death, even in comedies.
  12.        Dark night of the soul. The main character really struggles.
  13.        Break into three: but maybe... The B story, the hero thinking it through, there is a solution.
  14.        Finale. The hero triumphs, the bad guys lose, and the world is changed.
  15.        Final image: usually the opposite of the opening image, shows that things have changed.

5. If that's too complicated, try this one. Blake suggests using a cork board and cards. 4 rows -- act one, act two, act two, and act three. Yes, act two gets split into two pieces, before the midpoint and after the midpoint. And there are five key parts -- the opening set piece, the break into two, the midpoint, the all is lost point near the end of the second act two, and the break into three. Aside from that, you can put about 10 cards on a row, 40 cards altogether. That's for a two-hour movie. Obviously, for short stories, multivolume epics, and other variations, you might have fewer or more cards.

Oh, and on each card besides a short description of the scene, you need two notations. One is the +/- notation. This is the emotional change in a character that happens in this scene. Second is the >< notation which is where you indicate the core conflict of this scene -- how are two people butting heads in this scene.

6. With those five, you're ready to write. So go ahead and write it out. Now in Blake's chapter 6, he suggests some helpful rules to consider:

  1.        Save the Cat: early in your story, have the hero do something so that the audience likes him and wants him to win.
  2.        The pope in the pool: exposition, infodumps, backstory are boring, so bury them in something funny or exciting.
  3.        Double mumbo-jumbo: audiences only accept one piece of magic. One incredible coincidence. Two times is too much.
  4.        Don't lay too much pipe: too much set up before you turn on the water
  5.        too much marzipan: too many great ideas spoil the broth
  6.        watch out for that glacier: slow danger is
  7.        covenant of the arc: every character must change
  8.        keep the press out: keep it cozy, not a worldwide mess

7. Last, but not least, revise your draft. Take a look at these questions

  1.        Does my hero lead? Strong goal stated, works to get information, active, tells people what to do?
  2.        Do I "talk the plot" or do the actors do things?
  3.        Is the bad guy bad enough? Does he challenge the hero?
  4.        Turn, turn, turn -- do things go faster and more intense as we move along? Are there more and more revelations, changes, and twists?
  5.        Emotional rainbow: mix it up!
  6.        Do you have flat dialogue? Take the names off and see if you can tell who's talking.
  7.        Take a step back: does the hero grow? Start far enough back to let the hero change.
  8.        A limp and an eye patch: even minor characters should be memorable. Speech, look, manner -- make them stand out.
  9.        Primal urges. Do your characters act out of primal, basic desires? Love, survival, protecting family, revenge?

That's it. Simple, right?

Now sit down and start writing.

original posting 13 June 2011

And the last exercise from Blake Snyder for his chapter on What Is It -- give me a one line description and a title...

My blank is a serial killer.

"Drama or comedy. Name an unusual person, animal, or thing that a paranoid can suspect of being a murderer. Example: "My boss is a serial killer." A guy gets promoted every time a dead body turns up at the corporation -- is the murderer his employer?"

Just who's killing all these people? And why? What's going on here?

Okay, that's the exercises for chapter 1. So we've got this idea of putting together a one line hook that is emotionally involving (ironic), implies a whole story when you hear it, and outlines the audience. Along with a great title. And we've got some games to help us kick off our thinking.

That's just chapter 1! The first 19 pages. Stay tuned, and we'll look at chapter 2, where Blake Snyder talks about "Give me the same thing... Only different!"

In the meantime, who was that killer that just walked by?

original posting 10 June 2011

Number three from Blake Snyder. Put your thinking caps on because it's time
for...

Blank School

"Works for both drama and comedy. Name five examples of an unusual type of school, camp, or classroom. Example: "Wife School": women sent by their rich husbands soon rebel.

Who's teaching, what are they teaching, and just how do the students take it?

Write!

original posting 6 June 2011

While I was traveling recently, I acquired several books. Among them was a book with the title "Save the Cat!" by Blake Snyder. It's got a subtitle, "The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need." I've seen it mentioned several places as a good book for writers, even if you're not interested in screenwriting. And being something of an omnivorous reader, well, I'm going to read it.
( Save the cat? )
 More exercises, coming soon!