writercises | Entries tagged with secrets

Original Posting April 7, 2019

Lights Out!All is lost! There is no way to win. The forces against us are too strong. The dilemma that we face has no good choices. This is the beat that really makes your readers sweat. What's the worst thing that could happen? And it does!Now why do you put this in here? Well, looking at the Hero's Journey, this is death and rebirth. The final cleansing. And there's a real catharsis here. Beyond death, the recovery makes us sing.James suggests that whether you are a plotter or a pantser, keep looking for possible endings. Plotters may do this while outlining. Pantsers, do it all the time. Keep a list of your ideas. One of these may be your real ending. But one of the others may be your Lights Out beat, when everything seems to have fallen apart.And James's reminder? Well, endings often involve sacrifice. Rebirth comes after death. Death is often the sacrifice of what we want most. That's when the lights go out.Like Mounting Forces, this section provides examples, but is somewhat sketchy. It's very much going to depend on your story. Think about the death that your lead faces -- physical, professional, psychological -- what they thought they were going to do about it, and what could happen to make them sure they can't win. Betrayal, broken promises, the secret weapon isn't there, whatever makes the darkness blacker, blacker, blackest. Which makes the victory even sweeter and brighter in The Final Battle!It's interesting to me that he puts this after The Doorway of No Retreat #2. I'm not sure that it has to be quite that late. You may want to put this earlier, somewhere in Act II.What's next? The Q Factor!

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original Posting 27 March 2012

And another moldy clipping from Writer's Digest!

Writer's Digest, April 1994, pages 31-33 had an article by Billie Sue Mosiman with the title, "Keep Your Readers in Suspense." It starts out with a little paragraph where Billie Sue said, "I'm going to tell you one of the secrets of selling your fiction..."

And right there, you have an example of one technique of suspense. Get the reader to form a mental question. Secrets, and the promise of revealing them, are a great way to get the reader involved and build suspense. Of course, when you make that promise, you need to live up to it.

A lot of people think of suspense as creaking doors or other hints of horror, but wow it's a common and simple way to build suspense, it's only one way.

"If a character in your book has information or a secret that your protagonist desperately needs to know, that creates suspense. Suspense is an expectation. The writer delays giving out the information the reader needs."

What happens when you show something about to happen to one character, and then switch to another viewpoint and character? Of course, the reader wants to find out what happened to the first character. That's suspense.

Anticipation, mystery, unexplained actions. Billie Sue suggests one way to think of suspense is like a wave. It starts with foreshadowing an event, like the wave building up out at sea. Then the stakes are raised and tension rises, just like a wave rolling closer to shore, growing larger. Next, in the moment before the climax, the wave hits a peak and almost seems to stand still. Then the climax hits, as the wave crashes on the shore. Then in the lull between the scenes of suspense, the wave slips back out to sea to build up again. Depending on what kind of a novel or story you're writing, you might change the pace of the waves, and the lulls in between crashes. But you're probably going to still have have some waves, even at low tide, with the sea low and quiet.

Be careful about misdirecting or distracting the reader without a good reason. You don't want your reader to feel manipulated.

How will the hero escape? Will the evil monster, boss, whatever destroy everything that the protagonist loves? Is romance enough? Most of the time the question you want your readers asking is how will this be resolved. What's going to happen next? That's suspense.

Make sure that you keep your promises, and give readers the information they want. Also, make the protagonist struggle -- the reader needs to worry about them.

"If the reader has nothing to find out, nothing to anticipate, be anxious over or expect, he won't read at all."

So make the reader asked questions, anticipate what's going to happen, and then answer the questions, provide information, show that hero dealing with dangers and threats. Just don't leave them...

Billie Sue ended her column with "There is just one more very important secret I think you should know..."

Cliffhangers. And in our next thrilling episode...

Write, and don't forget the suspense! Keep the reader waiting, just a little bit more?

Current Mood: moldy

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original posting 17 April 2009

There's a web advertisement that caught my eye the other day. It's for the Philippines, but it starts out with this question:

"If you discovered a land with seven thousand one hundred secrets, would you still keep it a secret?"

Timbuktu, Shangri-La, all those lost lands... if you discover a place with secrets, what do you do with the secret?

Someplace that others don't know about? What do you do with it?

Go ahead and let that rattle around in your brain. Then consider what your character does with it.
And write.

Current Mood: folded

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original Posting 11 November 2007

Since I know the nanowrimowers are running, how about this?

One of your characters needs something, (and maybe has a secret in their past?) so they . . .

Pick one of the following and stretch! (there are six, if you want to use a random choice)

1. Go into a Goodwill (or other recycle shop of your choice) and, while looking, stumble across the used records - which prompts some memories and reflections.

2. Wander through a hardware store, looking at the odds and ends there - which also prompts some memories and reflections.

3. Goes into a sporting goods store, and while searching for what they need, notice the fishing supplies - prompting a moment of memory and reflection.

4. Walks into a toy store, and sees the Barbie dolls there, which (you guessed it!) reminds them of some memories, which they reflect on.

5. Goes into a grocery store, where they find Moxey for sale in the soft drinks, reminding them of that time when . . . (if you don't know what Moxey is, substitute a soft drink or other item of your choice).

6. Visits a five and dime (dollar store, some kind of small goods store of your choice) where they find the children's items, and that reminds them of . . .

Okay? Make us really see that store, with the various goods on display, the odors and sounds and people. And show us the initial response to stumbling over that old memory through the items in the story, and the thoughts that follow.

Simple, right? Have one character take a left turn through a store, in the process finding a missing piece of themselves.

And write!

Current Mood: memoirs

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original posting: Sat, 5 Feb 1994 18:35:01 JST

FAQ: The Writer's Secret

The Mohair Rashly lecture on writing? Yes, you have come to the right place. Please go write.

I'm sorry, that was just a little joke. Now, if you will take a seat, the Mohair will explain the secret of writing.

The Writer's Secret

[the house lights dim slowly, then flash to full bright, then flick off. strange curly wiggles of light and pinwheels of color dazzle your eyes. a strange unearthly sound begins somewhere in the glowing darkness. the seat seems to be pushing up and gripping you in a warm familiar way.]

<actually, one of the stagehands is whistling behind the curtain with no sense of melody or tune, but we'll take whatever atmospheric effects we can get>

[the lights rise on stage, revealing a strange little man draped in white cloth staring at his bare feet poking out of the cloth in front of him. after a moment, he looks up and smiles.]

I wonder where I left my socks tonight? I thought I had them on, but it was so dark behind the stage. I must have lost them when I wasn't walking.

<someone in the audience coughs>

Oh! Hello. I almost forgot, you are all here to find the secret of writing, aren't you? If you are looking for the meaning of life lecture, that's down the hall in the padded room.

<a few people mutter and get up, rushing to the other lecture.>

So you are all in the right place now. Good, good.

Let me tell you about yourself. You have searched long and hard, pondering and paying for conferences and workshops and books. Perhaps you have even bought some of my books. If not, please see me after the lecture and I'll tell you where to get them.

But tonight you have come to the place where you will learn the real secret of writing.

You see, once I was like you. I tried exercises, I thought about famous schools that would let me take a test to decide if I could pay for lessons, I read, I complained bitterly that I had a good job and happy life which made it impossible for me to suffer enough to write, I even worried about which paper to write on and all that.

Then, one day, I learned the secret. And now I will tell it to you.

Are you ready?

Of course you are! So let us start.

First I want you to reach around with both hands as if you were going to scratch the back of your head. Yes, do it now.

Now lift the hair on the back of your head. Go ahead and scratch a little if you want to.

Feels good, doesn't it?

Okay, while you have the hair up, I want you to stretch your mind back, to reach back with your nerves and will. Feel the back of your head - from the inside. Let yourself focus on the back of your head.

Now. Open the eye of the writer, hidden in the back of your head!

Did you feel it quiver? Just a little?

You see, the secret of the writer is this third eye, waiting for you to learn to open it. It is not easy. You have all that hair, and the muscles in the back of your head aren't used to opening that sleeping eye, but you can do it. I know you can.

Just stretch, then relax, and try again. Feel the muscles, feel the hidden bulge in the back of your mind, and try to lift those eyelashes you can't see.

If you get the eye of the writer open, even the tiniest little crack, don't be surprised or scared when it shows you something quite different than you have ever seen before. After all, you've never tried to look through the back of your head before, have you?

Once you get even a little glimpse through that eye, you will write. And then take another glance, or even a glare, through that eye and keep writing. What you see through that third eye may startle and shock you, but as long as you keep looking through it, the sights will rush into the back of your mind, bounce around inside, and then come streaming out. Don't stop that flow - keep writing as long as you have the third eye open.

Sometimes you may want to rest the poor aching eyelid in the back of your head, or it may even drop down by itself, blinking as the scene changes, or dazzled by the lights. That's okay - take some time to let your regular eyes see the writing you've done, and squint a bit to get the writing in good shape.

Polish up some of that writing and put it in the mail, because what you have seen with your third eye is never boring, and editors everywhere are waiting to hear about the mystic sightings. Really. In fact, if you do this regularly, they will send you paper marked with our secret mark - look at the pyramid and you will see it.

That's really all there is to it. That is the secret of the writer - opening the third eye hiding in the back of your head and taking a look around the places it shows you. That isn't so hard, is it?

So, right now, before you forget, try again - let your mind reach back, and feel that eyelid rise slowly, just a crack, and the eye in the back of your head foggily focuses on...

What did you see?

Incidentally, what color is your third eye? I can't quite tell from here...

Keep that eye open whenever you can, and you'll learn to see flea circuses dancing on the high wires of spider webs, miles and miles across vast desserts (burp!), and other strange and wonderful places.

Take a moment or two to let your friends on WRITERS know what you see with your third eye - and let people in on the secret of the writer.

Current Mood: retrospective
Current Music: Write This Down, George Strait

mbarker.livejournal.com

Chapter 19 Epiphany Scenes

Working our way through Make a Scene by Jordan Rosenfeld. In the depths of part three, scene types, having looked at first scenes, suspense scenes, dramatic scenes, contemplative scenes, dialogue scenes, action scenes, and flashback scenes, it's now time for an epiphany.

"An epiphany is a moment when awareness or a sharp insight dawns suddenly on your protagonist as a result of events and interactions that have driven him to this moment."

I think of this as the realization. The character suddenly realizes something. This may have a cost to it -- sudden change hurts. They can also be positive turning points, though, when in the midst of despair and darkness, the character sees a ray of hope. Epiphanies are great opportunities for characters to transform themselves.

The epiphany:

has a cost or renews the character or both
epiphanies should be driven by plot events and information, not completely unexpected
the protagonist should gain surprising new insight or break through their own resistance and denial
epiphanies usually force the protagonist to make choices or changes

Drama, suspense, and sometimes contemplative scenes often lead to epiphanies. Don't overdo them -- people don't have insights every time they turn around.

Rosenfeld suggests the following types of epiphanies. For each one you need to know and show your readers who the character is before the epiphany, what leads them to the change, and what kind of a change happens.

Removing the Blinders: a character decides to learn what the truth is.
Realizing a Suppressed Desire: a character makes a major change in their life.
Accepting Limitations of Oneself or Another: realizing that some things can't be changed
Claiming Identity: accepting something essential about oneself
Rude Awakenings: circumstances or people force a character to change the

Opening the epiphany. The key to opening an epiphany is to quickly show the character in conflict, under pressure, unstable. The reader should know as quickly as possible and that change is coming. Epiphany openings often show:

the protagonist afraid or anxious about the future
the protagonist under pressure or stress
the protagonist taking unusual actions or behaving oddly
the protagonist expressing feelings of conflict about a given event or relationship
symbolic details of setting or images that hint at an epiphany to come

Pushing the character into epiphany. Once you start the scene, you need to raise the stakes so that the character realizes that important point. Stress, pressure, tension -- you need to push the character into realization. Some common methods of leverage include:

threat of loss: motivation for awareness -- open your eyes before it's too late
incontrovertible evidence: hard evidence can sometimes make people pay attention
injury to a loved one: I did that?
danger: death or bodily harm can make people face the truth

The moment of epiphany normally belongs right near the end of the scene. Let the character and the reader have a moment to think about what just happened. There are going to be emotional consequences, choices to be made, and debts to pay -- but you can do that in the next scene or scenes. You don't have to do it immediately, and there are advantages to pausing.

Rosenfeld's checklist for epiphany scenes:

does the epiphany cause the protagonist to change?
does the scene start with the character anxious about the future or under stress?
does the scene put pressure and up the ante for the protagonist to make the realization?
does the scene end soon after the epiphany, leaving the readers enough to chew on?
does the epiphany change the protagonist's outlook and direction in ways that are demonstrated in future scenes?

Two more kinds of scenes ahead, climactic scenes and the final scene. And then there are a few other scene considerations.

So that's Rosenfeld talking about scenes where the character has a major realization -- an epiphany.

An assignment? I think perhaps the first part is to take a novel or story that you like and look for a scene with an epiphany. These are often the turning point scenes, where a character understands just what they have been doing to themselves and others. It is easy to let these scenes slip into melodramatic interior monologues, drenched in pathos. But you want to find a good epiphany scene, one that you like, and then take it apart. How did the writer lay the foundations at the beginning of the scene? How did they put the pressure on the character in the scene that leads up to them finally understanding? How do they portray that moment of insight, that realization that the only person responsible for all of their problems is themselves? And what happens to close out the scene?

The second part is to put together an epiphany scene for your own writing. What does the character need to learn? How will the character break through their own lack of understanding and resistance and take that look? Now, structure the whole scene, from the initial moments of uneasiness through the growing pressures to the moment of understanding, when the world suddenly becomes clear.

Write?
write!

Current Mood: realization

mbarker.livejournal.com

original posting: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 02:22:24 -0500

The Day of the Galumphries

Do you remember the day they first appeared? Lumps of glistening bright pink long fur, with a face almost hidden, and those tiny paws to hold and jump?

Where were you when they appeared? What were you doing? And when you saw the first one, smelled that delicious scent, stroked that soft fur...what did you think?

What do you think now when you look at those soft blue eyes?

Go ahead, write about it!

Current Mood: pondering
Current Music: Down on the Farm, Tim McGraw

mbarker.livejournal.com

original posting: Sun, 01 Jul 2001 10:52:45 -0400

From Your Mythic Journey: Finding Meaning in Your Life through Writing and Storytelling by Sam Keen and Anne Valley-Fox

Page 12. Viewpoints

Sometimes you can dispel shame or expand pleasure by sharing your secrets.

what are the secrets that you never (or rarely) share with anyone?
what secrets would you be relieved to share? With whom? What will become of them, once told?
which are easier to share -- the secrets of your idealized self or those of your degraded self?

Degraded self-images revolve around feelings of fear, weakness, anger, and confusion.

In fantasy, allow yourself to be as weak, inadequate, passive, and ineffectual as you have ever feared yourself to be. Remember the times when you have felt small and helpless.
Imagine that you are uncontrollably angry. Describe the persons you would punish, torture, or kill, the things you would destroy.
if you lost your reason, your inhibiting forces, what form would your madness take?

Idealized images of the self usually cluster around fantasies of love, power, perfection, beauty, fame, knowledge, or creativity.

Create a fantasy in which you become the fulfillment of your ideal self. You are strong, loving, beautiful, brilliant, etc. What do you do with your power? What gives you the most pleasure?
Chart the way you bounce back and forth between idealized and degraded images and feelings about yourself, between Infant and Superman, Earth Mother and Temptress, Master Builder and Caspar Milquetoast.

That's enough from the source...

Okay, so let's see. There's the idealized self and the degraded self, and the secrets we all hesitate to share.

Suppose, just for the moment, that you had a character with a secret. What might that secret be? And what happens when the secret becomes known, as these things do? How does the character react? How do the other people react to that hidden side of the character?

Go ahead, tell us a story. Perhaps the tale of a man with a past, or a woman without a past? Let us know that there is something hidden, and then slowly (or suddenly, via a bolt out of the blue) reveal that hidden mystery. Then walk us through the lives that twist and turn as that secret reverberates.

Current Mood: creative
Current Music: What Hurts the Most, Rascal Flatts

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The Place For My Writers Notes

Entries tagged with secrets

TECH: Super Structure: Lights Out (part 17) (300 words)

TECH: Suspense Keeps the Pages Turning

EXERCISE: If you knew a secret ...

EXERCISE: Plot Complications, again?

FAQ: The Writer's Secret

TECH: Make A Scene #19: Epiphany Scenes

EXERCISE: The Day of the Galumphries

EXERCISE: Your Mythic Journey (1)

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