Day 32: Revealing Your Novel's Theme

In the process of writing your novel have you once stopped to ask yourself, "What is the point of all of this?"  I don't mean the point of you spending hours upon hours neglecting house and family, serving up frozen food or takeout and using paper plates so you can avoid any dishes.  I mean have you ever thought about the purpose for telling your story?

Photo Credit: kirstinmckee

You may have started out with a character you cherished and hoped to share with the world, or a scene that haunted you, following your every movement until you'd explored it and found it's resolution, but by now that original idea has developed into a full-fledged novel with character arcs and plot turns and hero's journeys.  You've had this story sleeping in bed beside you, drinking coffee with you, heck, even (or if you're me - especially) taking a shower with you.  You two have hung out together enough that you've discovered there's something deeper and richer behind that flirty little face that first caught your attention.  Can you identify (with a clear, succinct phrase) exactly what that deeper, richer, thematic element of your novel is?

Finding Your Theme

"The proper time to think about theme in your novel is now, as you begin wrapping up your story and are able to draw conclusions about it in the context of the larger world.  As you begin to see theme emerge, you'll be able to go back and more consciously direct the novel toward it in the process of revision, streamlining the story so that the events that take place lead the reader toward thematic meaning" (Joseph Bates, Write Your Novel in 30 Days, page 83).

If you're at the cusp of writing your resolution, yet are still struggling to find your novel's theme, try using the following exercise, called the Theme Spider Worksheet (scroll down to page 273), from Victoria Lynn Schmidt's Book In a Month.  All of the questions posed on the worksheet are great, but for our purposes I think the four main questions you should work on answering are these:

• Why did you write this story?

• What is it you like about this story?

• What do you want your readers to get out of the story?

• What is the personal message you want this story to convey?

I won't guarantee this for everyone, but I will venture to say that most anyone who is impelled to write a novel will have a "moral to the story" already evident in their plot, even if they weren't intentionally writing with one in mind.  This is because we have read books and learned the natural rhythms that a story should have.  Joseph Bates says it best in Write Your Novel in 30 Days:

"When we start out with a clear character, with clear wants and limitations, and begin putting him in situations that test him as a person, we begin to see theme naturally emerge from the chain of events as a result of our curiosity and questioning as novelists" (page 83). 

Your job now is to browse through your story and figure out exactly what that theme is.

Strengthening Your Theme

Once you've found your theme (or if you've known what theme you want your story to have even before you began your project) there are a few things you can do to make sure your readers can find your theme too.

"Pretend you are a reader of your novel.  First, write a short essay (no more than 500 words) that explores the theme(s) of your novel in progress.  Where do you see evidence of this theme?  Be specific...

"Now revise a minimum of three scenes -- your novel's climax and two others of your choosing -- with a specific and critical eye toward further developing your themes" (Sarah Domet, 90 Days to Your Novel: A Day-by-Day Plan for Outlining & Writing Your Book, Page 248).

Victoria Lynn Schmidt suggests finding at least one scene per Act in which to reinforce your theme, with an additional emphasis in the Resolution portion of your novel.  (Theme Revelation Check - scroll down to page 285).  She says,

"Before you write the resolution, the final piece of your story, make sure you have paid off the theme.  If you haven't, then you need to be prepared to work it into your resolution.  This is where most themes are paid off" (Book in a Month, page 209).

In her book, 90 Days to Your Novel: A Day-by-Day Plan for Outlining & Writing Your Book, Sarah Domet suggests using the climax as the scene in which to act out the theme in a visual format, but the resolution as the scene in which the theme should be clarified or revealed.

 "If the climax dramatizes the themes of your novel, the scene immediately following the climax should underscore or reiterate this theme.  But a word of advice: Don't be too obvious.  That is, your reader can glean your intended message without your protagonist overtly explaining "I have been changed dramatically by the events of the climax, and here's how."  By this point in your novel you've included several scenes that reveal the emotional core of your characters -- and subtlety is often the best path to tread.  Check yourself to make sure you aren't being too heavy-handed in the scene following your climax" (Page 219).

She goes on to support Schmidt's suggestion of infusing other scenes with theme, offering the following examples:

"...Several of your other scenes should deepen the themes in more subtle ways, such as through a character description, the use of a minor character, a particularly illuminating image, a clearly rendered setting or pertinent symbol" (page 248).

Have you ever struggled to find your novel's theme?  Have you ever started a particular work because you had a theme you wanted to make the world aware of?

For more on theme see Martha Alderson's post Theme As a Touchstone For Writers and her excellent video series on Plotting A Novel's Thematic Significance. 

Day 31: The Climax

Here we are guys.  THE big shebang of the entire novel; the toughest obstacles your character will ever have to face stand looming before her, beckoning her to come and conquer.

Photo Credit:  Katarina 2353

Is she ready for it?  Are you ready for it?

Recall our Day 3 assignment of filling out the At-A-Glance Outline?  Find the part where you described your intended climax and reread it.  Will it still apply now that you've written over three-fourths of the book?  

If you find your climax needs to change or was just somehow flat, here are a few tips to help ensure the scene holds both interest (excitement) and meaning (character transformation):

• Be sure your heroine does the heroics.  It is vital that your main character face off against her fear or foe - that is, after all, the whole purpose of the climax - but she must fight them alone.  Others can be around her, even cheer her on, but the climax is about showing how our recently transformed character will behave in the face of her main antagonist.  Will she revert back to her old ways?  Will staying true to her new self mean sacrificing her ability to conquer her foe?  (Martha Alderson's How Do I Plot a Novel, Memoir, or Screenplay, Step 26).
In a Writer's Digest article titled  4 Ways to Improve Plot/Climax in Your Writing, Jeff Gerke discusses the dramatic potential available to us as writers when the character's inner transformation and outer journey dissect at the climax.


"At this moment in Act 3, probably more than anywhere else in your novel, the inner journey and the outer journey are interconnected. The 'plot' that is the story of your character’s internal transformation here intersects the outer plot that has made that transformation possible. The moment of truth decides it and the climax illustrates what she decides. So it should be in your novel. Your hero’s moment of truth determines her behavior in the climax. 

"So think now about your hero’s moment of truth and how it might impact the climax of the novel. You’ve probably decided whether he’ll choose the new way or the old way, so think about how that would look given the big walls-falling-down climax you’re designing. While you’re at it, why not consider what it would look like if he were to choose the other way? If you’ve decided he’ll choose the new way, go ahead and think about how it would go if he were to choose the old way."

I considered this advice for a while: to envision how your story would go if the character reverted to his old self.  Why, when we know our story isn't going that direction, would he advise us to image it does?  I've decided that this method can add a deeper, more realistic layer to your climax, much the same way that knowing all the little details of your character's life (half of which never make it into the book) can give you a richer hero.  Whether we know it or not, these unpublished details have a way of coloring our writing and allowing the readers to feel an authentic connection with our characters, much the same as we do.


• Consider a change of scenery.  The moment your heroine decides it's time to face her fears and battle her demons is the moment Act III begins.  If you're looking for a way to add an extra layer of drama, set the showdown in a place where the elements themselves can play an antagonistic (or at least significant) role.  For some excellent examples think of the treacherous Cracks of Doom sequence in The Lord of the Rings, or the island mountaintop sequence in Raiders of the Lost Ark.   In his article , Jeff Gerke points to these two dramatic backdrops as not only indicating the start of Act III, but also providing significant interest/drama in and of themselves.  He goes on to ask,

"What is the ultimate setting for the final conflict in your book? If you’re writing a thriller about a killer who preys on children, could the final standoff occur on a playground? If you’re writing a romance about flirtatious ornithologists, could the final will-he/won’t-he moment take place in the world’s largest aviary? If it’s a pirate story, the climactic scene had better be on the high seas." 

• Ramp up the conflict, tension, and suspense.  The climax is never so perspiration-inducing as when there's a clock ticking, reminding us that our hero has only seconds to complete his task.  You have a host of outer obstacles and motivators that can keep your climax shooting upward with rocket speed.  Those of you with less action-packed stories, don't despair, but internal motivators can have just as much tension even without the threat of imminent death.  For example, is your character facing a moral dilemma?  Maybe she's forced to choose between two really great guys, or maybe the man she wants to be with is hated by her father.  What will she do?  Who will she choose?  These are the kinds of dilemmas that keep readers' eyes glued to the page. 

• Don't forget the fallout.  Just because the foe has been defeated, doesn't mean your climax is inevitably over.  

"Many new authors want to end the climactic scene as soon as the villain gets tipped into the bottomless pit, but that’s a mistake. For the reader to get closure on the moment, you need to complete what you’ve started. You need to get the hero out of that dangerous place. Show him grabbing the heroine’s hand and sprinting out of the cavern just as it collapses. Show the hero clambering aboard a fishing vessel to be taken to safety. Show the hero stepping behind a concrete wall just as the house finally explodes. Or, in those softer stories, show the boy finally hitting the home run. Show the woman nailing the high note. Show the man recovering the puppy at long last. Play out the logical end of the scene that contained the climax," (Gerke, 4 Ways to Improve Plot/Climax).

What improvements did you decide to make to your climax after reviewing this, and Jeff Gerke's article?

For more tips on the Climax, Resolution, or Ending, check out these articles:

How to End a Novel with a Punch  and  The Dos and Don'ts of Novel Endings

Day 30: The Final Obstacle

I'll admit that I debated even creating this "final obstacle" post, despite it being one of the 30 days in Victoria Lynn Schmidt's Book In a Month.  It doesn't seem like a necessary part of story structure; I'm not saying it's not useful, but it has a much more "take it or leave it" feel than any of the other elements I've posted about.

Photo Credit:  Pete Holmes

That being said, let's take a look at a few of the functions this final obstacle can preform.  For starters it's important that you realize this final obstacle is NOT the climax.  Whereas the climax is the final showdown between the protagonist and her antagonist, the final obstacle is a chance for your heroine to flex her recently discovered muscles.  

Recall the way the protagonist's experience in The Threshold changed her perspective on herself and the difficult circumstances surrounding her?  She's accepted her own part in her continual inability to come off conqueror, and she's ready to change - to be the better person she knows she can be.  The trick is, people often make crazy promises when they are in dire circumstances; (and recall, our heroine has just come through the lowest point in her life thus far, The Reversal).  When a person has dug themselves out of the mire do they still recall the promises they made in their time of hardship?  Will your protagonist?

This is the purpose of the final obstacle.  The protagonist is put into a situation in which she has the choice to continue doing exactly as she's done throughout her life, or to make that difficult change - as she said she would - and become a more powerful foe for the antagonist.

Martha Alderson says it best (Martha Alderson ALWAYS says it best) in her YouTube series, How Do I Plot a Novel, Memoir, or Screenplay.

"In the scenes that lead up to the climax you want the protagonist to still face hurdles, obstacles, dilemmas - things that she has to overcome - only now she'll overcome them with the new sense of herself that was created because of what happened at the crisis (aka Reversal).  She was awakened at the crisis and came to terms with what was going on in her back story, or all the different elements that contributed to her not living her perfect life, and she sort of does that in the threshold.  Now she's going to still meet up with obstacles, you have to throw even more intense obstacles in her way because now she's more powerful.  She knows who she is, and as flawed as she may be, she's much more aware of what she brings and what her strengths are.  That means she can't prevail until the climax; or she can in small ways, but you want to make sure that the obstacles are formidable enough that it allows us to see what the character does now that she's conscious and awake and aware of who she is as a character,"  (Step 24)

Do you plan to have a final obstacle scene?  Do you think such a scene is a necessary element to typical story structure?

MY DAY 30:  I'm embarrassed to admit it, particularly because I was trained as a runner to sprint to the finish line, but I did not write one word on day 30.  I was mentally exhausted and knew no amount of writing would get me anywhere near the end of the manuscript, so I just gave up.  Don't follow my bad example!  Sprint to the finish line!  It's only a few more days of work and then you can take a break and be done for a bit!

Day 29: Character Arc

This has been a LONG 30 days, yeah?  (I mean aside from the fact that it literally has been longer than 30 days...)  

At the beginning of your project you may have had a clear direction of where you wanted your story to go, but now it has shifted and taken on a life all its own.  Perhaps you were vague on the details, but had a general idea floating in your head that has come together through the process.  Either way, you've been so immersed in your story of late, that it's time to take a step back and see the overall picture; specifically as it deals with the transformation your character has made from the beginning of the novel to this point, and will make from this point to the end.  This transformation is often termed the "Character Arc," and deals with the character's emotional development throughout the story.

Photo Credit:  Sarah Lucas

I've spoken a lot about story structure and some of the key points at which major things are happening to the character (external), or the character is making a decision that changes her circumstances (internal).  Using Victoria Lynn Schmidt's awesome Character Arc Tracker (scroll down to page 282), from her Book in a Month system, we're going to take a look at the way your character has changed throughout your story.

(Does anyone else wonder how a group of lines shooting every which way can be considered an "arc"?  Just thinking out loud here....)

Point 1 -  Your character at the start of Act I

• This is where we meet your character and learn what normal life is like.  We should have a clear idea of how good (Fun with Dick and Jane) or bad (Cinderella) things are for her - understand where she is emotionally - so as to appreciate the changes that are about to come into her life.
• Here you will introduce the character's flaw which threatens to be her undoing by the end of the story.

Point 2 - Your character at the End of Act I/ Beginning of Act II 

(AKA: Act I Turning Point, Plot Point 1, First Doorway of No Return, or Entrance into the Exotic World -- the myriad of names is one of the biggest reasons it can be so tricky to understand story structure!)

• Now something has occurred which has shifted the character's status quo and forced her into a new reality.  Whether this change is pleasant (unexpectedly falling in love) or painful (finding out a spouse is unfaithful), the character is going to need a bit of time to adjust to this new normal.  What is she feeling as she faces these changes?  
• This is the point at which we begin to see the character's back story and understand why she behaves the way she does.  Oftentimes we will realize that the character's flaw comes from some past experience that she has not yet overcome.  Character arc is all about revealing how a character overcomes (or fails to overcome) a significant flaw that is preventing her from obtaining her goals.
• For more on Points 1 and 2 revisit my previous post Day 5: Turning Points

Point 3 - Your character at the Midpoint 

(AKA: End of Act II, Part 1 or Temporary Triumph)

• Notice this is the point in the "arc" which spikes upward.  This is the high point for the character where we see she's accomplished, or is well on her way to accomplishing, her goals.  Whatever little difficulties she has had to overcome to get to this point felt pretty big to her; she's probably pretty proud of her ingenuity and her ability to get what she wants despite the odds.  However, we know she hasn't yet overcome her flaw - she hasn't learned her lesson - and thus, we suspect the triumph cannot last.
• For more on Temporary Triumphs see my post on day 18

Point 4 - Your character at the Reversal

• No matter how bad things were for your character before, this is climatically going to be the hardest point for her within your story.  She is at her lowest, couldn't-get-any-worse-than-this moment and she's feeling it!  Despair, agony, defeat... all of those hackneyed and melodramatic words come into play here.  (Not sure if you actually need to use those words... what with it being better to show than tell and whatnot).  
• For more on Reversals see my post on day 23

Point 5 - Your character at the End of Act II, Part 2/ Beginning of Act III 

(AKA: Act II Turning Point, Plot Point 2, or Second Doorway of No Return)

• This is such an awesome point in the story.  Here your character has had time to reflect on how things got so bad in the reversal, and she finally admits to herself that she needs to change if she is going to ever truly succeed.  This anticipation of this turning point is what has been driving the story from the beginning.  Without a realization of her flaw, and a desire to overcome it, she will not have any character arc.
• For more on Second Turning Points see my post on day 27 

Point 6 - Your character at the Climax

• I haven't spoken about climaxes yet and that's for the simple fact that we haven't come that far in our 30 day journey.  A brief explanation:  this is the point where we get to see the character - oozing maturity and coolness from all of her new-found, hard won, wisdom - put into practice what she has learned along her journey.  She is going to be confronting her antagonist in a final showdown, and if she hasn't figured out how to overcome her flaw, she has no chance at success.

Points 7 and 8 - Your character either succeeds or fails

• Succeeds:  Show the new person your character has become now that she's proven to herself and the world how she has changed.
• Fails:  Though your character may not reach the goal she hoped to attain at the start of the story, she has learned and grown through her experiences.  

For more on character emotional development see this fantastic article.

MY DAY 29:  Nothing unusual to report.  I just kept at it and made slow progress. 

Day 28: Understanding Antagonists

Photo Credit:  Willoughby Owen

When you think of an antagonist what do you picture?  A mustache-twirling villain may be the first thing that comes to mind, but is it the only thing?  It shouldn't be.  Because there is a big difference between a villain and an antagonist.

According to dictionary.com a villain is a cruelly malicious person who is involved in or devoted to wickedness or crime, whereas an antagonist only need be the adversary of the hero and can take on many forms.

There are 6 standard types of antagonists that we see in literature:

1) Man Against Man:  family, friends, enemies, lovers.  (This is the category in which the villain falls).  

The list of family, friends, etc, doesn't mean these people have to be bad; all that is required to be an antagonist is that a character's goals are in conflict with the hero's goals.  For example, in the Twilight Saga there are many antagonists, but the one that is the most difficult for Bella to fight is the one she loves, Edward.  Her goal is to become immortal so she can remain with him.  His goal is to keep her human.  Despite loving each other, Edward is Bella's antagonist through the first three books.

2) Man Against Nature:  any kinds of natural disasters, natural laws, physical disabilities (blindness, mental illness).  

These antagonists are pretty easy to spot.  Stories like Hatchet, or Dante's Peak, in which a character must fight to physically stay alive (and it's not a person that's trying to kill them), are obviously the pinnacle of man against nature.

3) Man Against Society:  governments, social customs, mob mentality, religious institutions.  

I can think of a few examples of this - novels as diverse as Pride and Prejudice and The Hunger Games - but my favorite example of this is To Kill A Mockingbird.  Atticus Finch may not be physically fighting anyone, but his determination to give Tom Robinson, a black man, a good defense in an Alabama court is obviously going to be difficult.  We see in the end that, despite the undeniable innocence of the man, Tom is found guilty because a jury is more comfortable convicting an innocent black man than a (clearly guilty) white man.  

4) Man Against Machine:  motorized vehicles, robots, computers.  

The Matrix series is all about man against machine with Neo trying to free humanity from the control of "the machines" (yeah, they are literally called the machines).  Another one I love is the movie I, Robot where we watch Will Smith try to prove that the robots humans use as servants are actually dangerous and cannot be controlled.

5) Man Against God:  spiritual beliefs.

This one isn't one I've come across much in my readings or movie viewings.  It's important to note that any examples of an antagonist can ultimately fit within the man against God category if the book is inherently about a man's spiritual journey.  If physical illness or broken relationships lead the hero to question why God has allowed bad things to happen to him, then the overall theme will be the hero's journey to finding his faith. 

6) Man Against Himself:  past mistakes, fears, flaws, doubts, moral choices.  (Some of the most powerful antagonists).

Every story is going to have at least a small element of man against himself because no character is perfect (at least they shouldn't be or they'd be really boring).  To make it the main antagonist however, a character needs to be placed in a situation in which their own behaviors are bringing about their failures.  If a woman goes through a string of men trying to find the right guy, no guy in particular is the antagonist.  Rather, something within her is sabotaging these relationships and she must find it and overcome it in order to triumph. 

Uses of Antagonists

The antagonist serves the obvious purpose of creating conflict, but the strategic use of antagonists throughout your scenes can enhance your protagonist.  After all, a hero is only as good as his antagonist is bad.  

Though we see the antagonist in the first Act and we see all of the power the antagonist has in the third Act, think about going back to Act II (when you've finished the 30 day challenge) and amping up the conflict by adding more antagonists.  That's right, there can be more than one antagonist.  I was watching Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol the other night and was thrilled to see this principle in action.  There's a scene in which Tom Cruise must scale a sheer glass hotel in order to reach a floor above and disable the hotel's firewall.  First, his super-special, impossibly-high-building-scaling-gloves have some battery issues and Tom almost falls to his death  (Man Vs. Machine).  Next, the bad guys arrive ahead of schedule and Tom has to speed his little operation up (Man Vs. Man).  As if that's not enough, a massive sandstorm is headed his way (Man Vs. Nature).  So yeah, a little bit of anxiety and suspense going on in just that one scene.

If you're struggling with a dull middle, throw in a storm, a broken down car, a fight with a boyfriend, or any other antagonist you can possibly thing of.

"The character can have all of the skills that they need ... in order to achieve what they want at the climax, however they don't know they have those skills...  The [skills] are going to be uncovered through the interaction with the antagonists...." (Martha Alderson, YouTube Series: How to Plot a Novel, Memoir, or Screenplay, Step 13).

If you just need yourself a good villain

If your main antagonist is going to be a bad guy, there are a few things you need to remember in order to make him more authentic and relatable to your readers (taken from Victoria Lynn Schmidt's Book in a Month, page 179).

1) The villain cannot be pure evil.  Every villain needs to have at least one redeeming quality; something that shows the reader that the villain might have been a good guy had he not had X, Y, or Z happen to him.  I think the strongest villain is one who is acting out of misguided ideals.  Take the crazy albino in The Da Vinci Code, for example.

2) Your villain needs a skill that equals or surpasses the hero's skill.  There isn't much of a battle brewing if your villain is only sort of good at what he does.  A comical example of this is at the beginning of the movie Megamind when the giant-headed villain fails to elicit fear in any of his victims because his villainy skills are less than sub-par.  (Or is it more than sub-par?  I never understand these sports metaphors).  At the end of the movie we see the true villain is a "super hero" with far more power and abilities than Megamind, but Megamind uses his brains to overcome.

3) The villain needs a weakness that can be exploited so the hero can conquer in the end.  Your hero's weakness will be found out by the villain, but the villain will be unable to triumph because the hero has learned to overcome that weakness.  The overcoming of weaknesses is exactly what makes the hero heroic.

What are the antagonists in your life that keep you from your writing?

MY DAY 28:  I lost a lot of enthusiasm because it was pretty obvious I wasn't going to be finishing the book in 30 days.  Nevertheless, I kept chipping away at it, writing one scene at a time.

Day 27: Second Turning Point

Congratulations!  You've officially reached the final quarter of your novel!  From this point until the climax (second to last scene or chapter in most novels) the energy level is just going to be cranking up higher and higher and things will be moving quite quickly.  Because of the rapid pace it's important to remember that now is not the time to philosophize, wax poetical, or close up secondary plot lines.

"This area is really just about the protagonist making the movement toward final mastery at the crowning glory of the entire project, which is the climax" (Martha Alderson, How Do I Plot a Novel, Memoir, or Screenplay).

In other words,

"The main character is usually forced into making a decision...  This way, he actively creates the events of the story and gets involved in setting up the final climax" (Victoria Lynn Schmidt, Book in a Month, page 181).

It's all so exciting!  Are you ready to get started?  Great!

Quick Recap:

In the previous step, the threshold, the character had some time to sit and ponder over how his life had come to such a mess (the "mess" being all that he's just gone through during the "all hope is lost" moment).  Now that he's had a think, he has come to realize that he, himself was part of the problem all along.  That somehow his own weaknesses or lack of understanding has kept him from taking the right course to achieve his goal.  (I am addressing character-driven stories here.  For action-driven stories it is more likely that the hero gets new insight or knowledge as to how he can best the antagonist).  

The Second Turning Point:

It is important to note that this turning point is the last time you are allowed to add new information to the story.  The character must already have been introduced to whatever they will need to conquer in the end, with this point being only the final piece of information they will need to succeed.  Often this final piece of information isn't new information at all, but a skill the protagonist had at some point but lost (aka inner demons).  For example the protagonist is a great swimmer, but after witnessing his father drown, has never been in the water again.  This would be the point in the story where the hero realizes he's not subject to his fears, but can and must conquer them in order to obtain his goal in the end.

The main purpose of this scene, however, is to show the protagonist recommitting to his goal or redefining it in some way.

"Because of what happens at the crisis [the character has] sort of redefined their entire lives...  That's why it's important to redefine the goal so that we understand who the protagonist is now, what is important to them now that they have sort of been awakened into who they were meant to be" (Martha Alderson, How Do I Plot a Novel, Memoir, or Screenplay).

At this point in the story the heroine has one of two options: either she can commit with more zeal to the goal she has had from the beginning of the story, or she can abandon her goal in favor of a new one.  

Recommitting:

Your heroine has quite recently gone through a dark moment in her story where everything she thought she'd gain was taken from her and all her power was handed over to the antagonist.  While wallowing in misery it's easy for your heroine to decide that there is nothing left for her; that the only course of action is to give up, throw in the towel, and let the antagonist have their glory.

But after going through the threshold your heroine realizes there is something she can do.  She comes up with a game plan and (at the second turning point) begins to take proactive steps to bring about her own victory.  It is important for both the heroine and the reader to take a minute and restate what the heroine's goal is for the rest of this journey.  

"The protagonist re[commits to] their goal... so that there is no confusion about what they are doing... [and] the reader is really aware and... can viscerally take part in the story.  [The reader] get[s] to feel every step forward, every fall back, every time the protagonist is successful, or sit on the edge of their seat in horror when they see the bad guy coming up behind the protagonist" (Martha Alderson, How Do I Plot a Novel, Memoir, or Screenplay).

I like to think of this moment as the protagonist's vow that she will see her dreams achieved and will never again consider the possibility of surrender.

Redefining:  

As Martha Alderson mentioned above, the hero's dark moment prior to this scene should have had a profound impact on him, changing him and maturing him into a new and better person.  So what if this change makes the hero realize that the goal he's been shooting for the entire time is actually a hollow one?  That becoming popular and having the gorgeous girl like him doesn't mean as much as learning to love himself for who he is (and of course his nerdy little girl friend whom he's never thought of in that way before suddenly turns into an ultra-babe, so it's a win-win).  If that is what happens to your hero, the this is the scene where he's going to need to redefine what it means to succeed.  Often in scenarios like this the hero is actually presented with the opportunity to achieve his original goal, but he turns it down in favor of the newer, higher goal.  One glaring example of this is in the movie Legally Blonde where Reese Witherspoon's ex-boyfriend, the one she's been trying to snag the entire movie, tells her he wants her back and she lets him know that she's realized he's shallow and she can do better than him.  

You will also want to redefine the goal in stories where the hero actually achieves his goal prior to the second turning point. I've mentioned this before but it's worth repeating.  In David Warfield's article on story structure he points out that the second plot point often answers the surface problem, or as he terms it, the "dramatic question." The problem that was plaguing the hero from the beginning, the one that kept readers wondering "Will he ever be able to solve this?" gets solved right here.  If the hero's goal is already solved, what is he to do for the last quarter of the story?  Get a new one.

"Example[s]: In Seven, at the end of Act II the Serial Killer comes to the police station and turns himself in! Mystery solved! Dramatic Question (will the detectives stop the Serial Killer?) answered. Story over? Not quite… In Wedding Crashers, the hero’s sins are exposed (by the antagonist fiancé) and the girl he loves now hates him: she’s sure to marry the fiancé!" (Story Structure in 17 Steps, Warfield).

Alright people, figure out your character's goal and really bring it out in this scene.  Good luck!

MY DAY 27:  Just picked away at the book.  One thing I've learned through all of this is to recognize when it's time to take a break.  If you start surfing facebook because you're having a tough time thinking of what you want to write, then get up and do something else.  Don't sit on the computer.  Give yourself a 10-15 minute break and you'll come back feeling refreshed.  Or you have the option to force yourself through the next 10 minutes forbidding yourself to look at facebook until your done.  Either way don't waste your writing time by internet browsing.  

Day 26: The Threshold

On Day 23 we talked about the Reversal to you character's Temporary Triumph.  Whatever power your character had has been stripped from him and all lies with the antagonist.  This is what brings your character to his knees and has him entering the "dark night of the soul" or "all hope is lost" moment.  Do not be fooled, however, into thinking this moment is a cheap trick used by novelists to keep their readers guessing at how the story will end.  No, the reversal has a much more significant role: it brings the character to the threshold.

What is the threshold?

The threshold, as defined by the absolutely amazing Plot Whisperer Martha Alderson in her YouTube series "How do I Plot a Novel, Memoir, or Screenplay,"

"...is the threshold between the middle of the story and the end of the story.  This is where the character has to assess 'how did I get into the mess that I'm in right now.'"  

It is the point just between the reversal (character has reached the lowest low) and the second turning point (character is now ready to become heroic in his efforts to resolve the problem), where the action slows down and the character must reflect back on the choices and behaviors that have led him to this point.  It is where the character stops placing blame on others and begins to take responsibility for his own role in his recent defeat.

Why is that important?

Every person has a flaw.  And if you're doing your job correctly, your character's flaw should be glaringly obvious.  In real life there are not a lot of occasions in which we are confronted with our own flaw and forced to acknowledge that the flaw has contributed in some way to our personal downfalls.  That's probably why we're not heroes in any novels.  A hero - which I assume is a role your main character will take on before the end of the story - is someone who sees what they have done wrong and, instead of blaming others, takes the responsibility and decides to change.  It is the character's development/ change/ transformation that makes him a hero, or at least makes him worth reading about.

What now?

Now that your character has sat around and had some time to think, he's ready to make his move.  He's come up with some kind of plan to overcome the antagonist, but he knows it will involve sacrifice.  Particularly the sacrifice of his flaw in favor of more heroic and selfless personality traits.  Can he do it?  Leave behind a trait or an incident in his backstory that has defined him to this point?  We've got a fourth of the book left in which to find out.

Photo Credit:  Stephen Cairns

MY DAY 26:  Not much to report.  Wrote a good, solid scene and was proud of it.  Now the question remains: will it survive through all of the edits and make it in the final draft?

Day 25: Genres and Dominoes

In addition to your typical assignment (which is writing like heck), today we'll also be checking in on what we've accomplished so far.  First of all, let's take a look at genre.  When you began this project you likely had some sort of idea of what genre the finished product would fit into:  memoir, young adult, horror, etc.  Now that you're nearing the end of Act II, Part 2, it's a good time to take a look back at the genre descriptions and see if you still feel your novel falls into the category you had originally planned.  

Using Writer's Digest I found two fantastic articles that list out the most common genres and give a brief explanation of each.  Take a minute to review the genre you believe your novel fits into:

Definitions of Fiction Categories and Genres

Sub-Genre Descriptions

Do you still think your novel fits in that category?  Do you think your readers will see how it fits in that category?  Using the Genre Elements Tracker (scroll down to page 276) find at least one scene or scenario in Act I that points to a particular genre.  Repeat the step for Acts II and III.

And now for the Dominoes.  I've heard a lot of suggestions about how to plot out a novel.  One of the wildest suggestions was to write down every scene idea you have on a 3x5 notecard, then take the pile of scenes and chuck them up in the air, letting them fall wherever.  (I suppose shuffling the cards would have the same effect and be less messy).  With the scenes in no particular order try reading through the new story that has been created by the shuffling of cards.  

That idea has always seemed ridiculous to me.  If you're writing a story then each scene should inevitably lead to the other - no shuffling allowed - because scenes are a string of causes and effects.  It seems Victoria Lynn Schmidt and I are on the same line of thinking.  She created the Domino Scene Test (scroll down to page 272), explaining that,

     "Each scene should have a purpose in the story, a reason for being: to advance plot, reveal character, divulge information, something.  If not, it doesn't need to be there, at least in its current form; either get rid of it or give it a purpose.
     "An easy way to see if your scene has a purpose is to ask yourself, 'What would happen if I removed this scene?'  If a scene or two after it would fall apart, or not make sense, then you need that scene.  If you take it out and it has zero effect on your story... well, then, it likely shouldn't have been there in the first place" (Book In a Month, page 150).

And now you can see why it's called the Domino Scene Test, because

"Your book should be ordered as meticulously as [a] stretch of dominoes, all perfectly positioned to reveal, once they fall, an intricate, beautiful pattern.  But if even one of them is out of place, you run the risk of breaking the momentum, and that beautiful big picture you have in mind might never come to be" (BIAM, pages 149-150).

MY DAY 25:  I don't know if I've ever been so disappointed.  Okay, yes I have, but I still felt pretty bad after reading an article from my DREAM AGENT about how she's received a TON of submissions about FAIRYTALE RETELLINGS.  Considering my book is a Snow White retelling....  Yeah, you get the picture.  Being as bummed as I was made having any enthusiasm for the writing rather difficult, so I didn't get much done.  Truthfully I considered scrapping the project entirely, but I'd put too much heart, thought, and time into it to give up now.

Day 24: Picking the Perfect Pace

I'll admit I've never given much conscious thought to a novel's pacing - even when I'm the one writing it.  Pacing has always seemed to be an intuitive thing; something that can't be broken down into a "correct" format, but must feel right.  If you don't have a natural sense of pacing take Victoria Lynn Schmidt's advice:

"The best way to learn about pacing is to read tons of books in your favorite genre.  Learn how the pros do it.  You may struggle with it a bit in the beginning of your career, but it gets easier and easier with each story you write" (Book In a Month, page 172).

That said, understanding HOW pace can be manipulated, as well as studying the advantages and disadvantages that come with pace shifts, will help you make a more informed decision in your own novel.  

THE FAST PACE

How to create it:

A feeling of urgency or acceleration can be created by using a lot of simple, short sentences in your writing.  An entire paragraph can even be brought down to a single sentence, and several one-sentence paragraphs strung together move the scene along at a nice clip.  Take, for example, this scene from page 5 of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code:

     The man was now taking dead aim at Sauniere's head.
     Sauniere closed his eyes, his thoughts a swirling tempest of fear and regret.
     The click of an empty chamber echoed through the corridor.
     The currator's eyes flew open.

Each of these paragraphs is literally only a sentence, and each sentence is very brief, helping us - the readers - to read with speed and feel the hurried pace.  It's also important to note that the scene from which I took this excerpt focused almost entirely on action with only a few moments dedication to narration.  As Elizabeth Lyon says in her book Manuscript Makeover,

"Action increases pace over narration" (page 170).

She goes on to suggest that writers not forget that dialogue is an important form of action too.  I use again a scene from The Da Vinci Code to illustrate this:

     "May I come in?" the agent asked.
     Langdon hesitated, feeling uncertain as the stranger's sallow eyes studied him.  "What is this all about?"
     "My capitaine requires your expertise in a private matter."
     "Now?" Langdon managed.  "It's after midnight."
     "Am I correct that you were scheduled to meet with the curator of the Louvre this evening?"
     Langdon felt a sudden surge of uneasiness.  He and the revered curator Jacques Sauniere had been slated to meet for drinks after Langdon's lecture tonight, but Sauniere had never shown up.  "Yes.  How did you know that?"
     "We found your name in his daily planner."
     "I trust nothing is wrong?"

In this scene we see again, many short sentences strung together.  There is however, the option to occasionally use extra-long, compound sentences chock-full of short actions.  Lyon cites the following example from a novel called Tailed by Brian M. Wiprud:

I was racing across the parking lot, jacket and shoes cradled in my arms, dodging cars at the pumps, leaping over fuel hoses, headed for where I last saw the Pixie dry-cleaning van, my bare feet slapping the macadam.  In my half-dressed state, I must have looked like a boudoir interloper on the skedaddle.

When to use it:
Fast paced writing can be used in a myriad of situations, briefly summarized by Elizabeth Lyon in the following list:

• To keep a reader's interest high
• To add zip to style
• To create movement and heighten suspense
• To build momentum toward big turning-point scenes and climax
• To help develop scene structure

When to avoid it:
There are a few drawbacks to using a continually fast pace in your novel, so take care to not let them mar your writing.  Firstly, a novel steeped in speed can have the unintentional side effect of appearing melodramatic or even slapstick.

Secondly, your reader will be left exhausted from the frenetic pace of your novel if it's never interspersed with scenes that allow her to take a breather.  Even in the most exciting of action novels a person needs the chance to slow their heart rate and rejuvenate a bit before moving on to the next sweat-inducing scene.

Lastly, a novel constantly dominated by action doesn't allow the reader to see a character's internal ponderings over their backstory, goals, inner demons, and the like.  Without a few slow scenes here and there to guide us through the psyche of your character you miss out on the opportunity for readers to see that character's development and cultivate a deeper empathy and appreciation of him or her.

THE SLOW PACE

How to create it:

Whereas fast-paced sentence structure was short and simple, the slow-paced scene or novel should be written with longer, more complex sentences, paragraphs, and chapters.  Also a heavy use of narration can supply a character's backstory, internal development, or be used to describe the character's observations of their setting or fellow characters.  Another way to slow a pace is by using flashbacks which is, in essence, an entire scene devoted to a character's mental ruminations.  

A lot of older novels tend toward the slower pace (those authors didn't have to compete with an entire story being played in a two-hour movie), so I'd suggest looking to the classics for examples.  Nothing spells out slow to me like a Charles Dickens' novel, so here's a paragraph exemplifying complex sentences and heavy use of narration from A Tale of Two Cities:

     With drooping heads and tremulous tails, they mashed their way through the thick mud, floundering and stumbling between whiles, as if they were falling to pieces at the larger joints. As often as the driver rested them and brought them to a stand, with a wary "Wo-ho! so-ho-then!" the near leader violently shook his head and everything upon it- like an unusually emphatic horse, denying that the coach could be got up the hill. Whenever the leader made this rattle, the passenger started, as a nervous passenger might, and was disturbed in mind.
     There was a steaming mist in all the hollows, and it had roamed in its forlornness up the hill, like an evil spirit, seeking rest and finding none. A clammy and intensely cold mist, it made its slow way through the air in ripples that visibly followed and overspread one another, as the waves of an unwholesome sea might do. It was dense enough to shut out everything from the light of the coach-lamps but these its own workings, and a few yards of road; and the reek of the labouring horses steamed into it, as if they had made it all.

Notice in those two fairly long paragraphs the "nervous passenger" - the actual person we're reading this story to find out about - is only mentioned once, and briefly at that.

When to use it:
Slow pace can be used quite effectively in, what is termed by Jack Bickham, a sequel.  Sequels are sections used to explore a character's feelings, thoughts, dilemmas, and decisions after having just gone through some kind of action scene.  As Elizabeth Lyon so succinctly puts it,

"Scenes are actions directed toward goals.  Sequels are reactions directed toward new strategies to reach those goals.  Because sequels are reactive and reflective, their pace is often slow, at least slower than scenes" (Manuscript Makeover, page 168).

In addition to allowing a character to gather his thoughts (thus giving the reader a chance to see how a character develops), the slower pace allows the reader the chance to take a breather if the rest of the novel has been filled with more fast-paced scenes.

When to avoid it:
Despite the chance to get to know a main character better, slow scenes can be a disadvantage on occasion.  In today's market an author must be very careful when using a slow scene at the start of their novel.  Most often a reader wants to see action right from page one, not a lot of introspection from a character they haven't learned to love yet.  It's also good to be aware that too many slow scenes can lull a reader to sleep or utter boredom, so use them judiciously.

For more fantastic tips on pace and just about everything else you'd want to know when writing a book check out Elizabeth Lyon's Manuscript Makeover.

MY DAY 24:  I have already written over 1800 words, which makes me happy, but it is REALLY difficult to keep myself from going back and editing!  If I could keep moving forward I think the progress would be much faster.

Photo Credit

Day 23: The Reversal

Now that we're into week three of actually writing we're ready to think about the reversal for our character's temporary triumph from the end of Act II, Part One.  The reader can't be duped, of course, into believing the triumph will last; they can see there is still half a book left in which the main character is most certainly going to be getting into more trouble.  This is the point at which you show the reader they were right.

According to Victoria Lynn Schmidt there are several ways a reversal can occur.  I've used her list of potential reversals (from page 158 of Book In a Month) followed by an example in popular literature.

New information comes into play

• Jane Eyre is a governess who is in love with her employer.  When he confesses he loves her too, he proposes marriage and they are happily engaged for over a month (triumph).  At the altar the wedding is brought to an abrupt end by a man who claims that Jane's employer is already married and that the woman is in fact living in the very home where Jane has been serving as governess (reversal).

A dramatic situation occurs

• In the movie The Village, Ivy Walker and Lucius Hunt have just confessed their love for each other and become engaged to be married (triumph).  They have only one evening to enjoy their happiness before Noah, a handicapped boy who has always loved Ivy, goes and stabs Lucius because of jealousy (reversal).

Another character turns on the main character

• In the film Up, Carl meets his childhood hero, Charles Muntz, who saves Carl from a pack of menacing dogs, then invites him to dinner (triumph).  Halfway through dinner Charles realizes Carl has been taking care of an exotic bird that Charles has spent his whole life searching for.  Now his attitude changes; he doesn't trust Carl and he even attempts to chase him down in order to get the bird from him (reversal).

Friends and supporters give up on the main character, abandoning him or her to continue alone

• In the movie Miss Congeniality, the police are able to find and arrest the man they believe is responsible for threatening to bomb the beauty pageant (triumph).  Sandra Bullock's character doesn't believe they've caught the right man, but since the rest of the bureau are not convinced, she is left behind alone to uncover the real killer (reversal).

A meeting place is changed at the last minute, or a task begins to go awry

• In The Italian Job Stella is asked on a date by the very man who murdered her father.  She accepts, planning to stand him up so that she and her team can break into his house and steal his gold (triumph).  When the team shows up at his house they see the next door neighbors are having a large party - too many potential witnesses.  Now Stella has to go on the dreaded date, during the course of which, her father's killer realizes who she is and that he's being set up (reversal).

The main character's thinking is shown to be mistaken, misguided, or just plain wrong

• In the movie The Gift, Cate Blanchett's character sees visions that allow her to find the body of a missing girl, and aid in the arrest of the girl's supposed killer (triumph).  Then Blanchett sees another vision which makes her realize the man behind bars is not the girl's killer (reversal).

The villain becomes the good guy or the good guy becomes a bad guy - a misreading of one character by another

• The newer movie Puss In Boots, Puss and his childhood friend Humpty Alexander Dumpty work together to steal the golden goose of Jack and the Beanstalk fame.  They make it down the beanstalk with the goose and are dancing around a fire in celebration, surrounded by golden eggs (triumph).  The next day Puss's friends have gone missing and when he tracks them back to his hometown he is handed over to the town's guards by the traitor Humpty (reversal).

Despite Schmidt's claim that the reversal should take place somewhere close to (but before) the 3/4ths mark of the novel, my own study of plots leads me to believe this is not a hard and fast rule.  Some stories offer several triumphs followed instantly by reversals, some none at all.  Look at your contemplated reversal and see if putting it off might create more tension for the reader, or bringing it forward might pick up the pacing a bit more.  If not, you've probably got it in the right place.

Check out the Reversal Brainstorm Worksheet (scroll down to page 275)  to begin planning how to bring an end to your character's short-lived contentedness.

MY DAY 23:  Despite my best efforts I realized there was no way I would be finishing the manuscript by the end of the 30 day challenge.  I hope that by giving you a week of prep time prior to the actual writing this will not be a problem for the rest of you.

Photo Credit

Day 22: Mastering Story Structure

Despite talking about story structure in several of my previous posts, I've really felt unsteady about it.  Sometimes I find myself getting lost in terminology like turning points and plot points or denouements and resolutions, so today I decided to tackle this head on.  I sat my little bum down on my bed and have been pouring over all the story structure books I own until I FINALLY feel like I've got the hang of it.  (I even created the little pie chart below to better visualize the way all of these pieces fit together).

So now I turn to you.  I'm going to offer up my interpretation of what story structure is, and then you're going to comment and tell me if it looks right or if I'm totally off the mark.  *deep breath*  Here goes.

ACT I

Your story should begin with a hook.  In the past I wasn't sure if the hook was just another term for the inciting incident but I've concluded that they serve different functions, despite occasionally being presented in the same scene.  The hook is whatever draws a reader in.  This could be the story's concept (a civilization has 24 of its children fight to the death on live television, as in The Hunger Games), its language ("Between the silver ribbon of morning and the green glittering ribbon of sea, the boat touched Harwich and let loose a swarm of folk like flies..." - G.K Chesterton in The Blue Cross), its humor ("A healthy male adult bore consumes each year one and a half times his own weight in other people's patience." - John Updike, Assorted Prose), or any other number of openings that compel the reader to keep reading.  

Your story should also have an inciting incident, but here's where things got even more complicated for me.  In Writing Great Books for Young Adults I read that the inciting incident should take place almost on page one, absolutely as soon as you can introduce it.  In Story Structure -- Demystified I read that the inciting incident should take place within the first 25 pages of your novel, but that some "life as usual" scenes should be exposed first to showcase just how much the inciting incident will change your character's world.  Then in Hooked, Les Edgerton suggests that a good hook will involve the inciting incident, thrusting the character into trouble and egging the audience to continue reading.  The conclusion I've reached from these varying sources is that the inciting incident of your story can be introduced at different times, depending on the style of book you're writing.  For example, most young adults have accustomed themselves to the fast-paced world of instant messaging, instant microwaving, and instant gratification.  If they have to wade through pretty prose and petty backstory your book won't stand a chance.  On the other hand, my mother isn't interested in reading a book if it lacks a sense of poetry and a deep understanding of character early on the in story.  I would say the best advice for the point of introducing the inciting incident is to study examples from your genre.

After including the obvious necessities of introducing your hero, showing life as usual (or how the inciting incident has changed life as usual), dropping bits of backstory, and foreshadowing things to come, you will end Act I with the first plot point.  (Plot points can also be referred to as turning points, so don't get confused by that).  Plot point one is when the main problem, or "initial surface problem," for the character is introduced.

"[It] occurs as a direct result of the inciting incident.  And while it may seem at first glance that solving this problem is what the story is really about, it's not.  ...[E]very story is about solving the deeper, more complicated story-worthy problem that is slowly revealed as the story progresses," (Hooked, Les Edgerton, page 26).

ACT II, PART 1

The beginning of Act II is all about responding to the first plot point.  Often a character will need a bit of time to sit and plan out how to best overcome (or secure if it's a romance) these recent changes.  Larry Brooks suggests that any attempts the hero makes to fight his antagonist in these scenes cannot succeed, but that each failure slowly helps to strengthen him, preparing him to overcome the antagonist in Act III.

At about the 3/8ths mark of your novel you should consider including a pinch point, allowing the reader to see firsthand how strong the antagonist is.  This helps increase suspense as it causes a reader to wonder just how the hero really will come off conqueror when his foe is so capable.  Larry Brooks offers that, 

"Pinch points can be very simple and quick.  It can be one character reminding the other of what's going on.  A glimpse of an approaching storm - take that literally or metaphorically...  The simpler and more direct it is, the more effective it is" (Story Structure -- Demystified, locations 1393-1399 on Kindle).

The midpoint occurs halfway through your novel.  It is the point at which the main character is allowed to conquer their adversary momentarily.  This is where the temporary triumphs that I wrote about previously come into play.

ACT II, PART 2

At about the 5/8ths mark it's time to include pinch point two.  This serves the same function as the first pinch point - reminding readers of the power of the antagonistic force - only this time the antagonist has gotten stronger.  Just as the hero has grown and evolved with every failed attempt to rectify the problem, so has the antagonist evolved after being defeated by the hero's temporary triumph.

The reversal is what puts the "temporary" in temporary triumph.  Victoria Lynn Schmidt's Book in a Month shows the reversal of the hero's temporary triumph occurring near the end of Act II, Part 2, but that is subject to interpretation.  Depending on the style of story you are writing, the reversal may come at any point after the temporary triumph; (In my story it comes almost immediately after).  The advantage of putting the reversal off until the end of Act II is that it functions well as a catalyst for the "dark moment."

Not a necessary part of a story, but certainly one that increases dramatic tension, near the end of Act II is the "Dark Moment" (or as Larry Brooks calls it, the pre-second plot point lull).  This is the point at which things really can't get any worse for the hero.  All hope seems lost and the audience is left wondering how in the heck the hero will get himself out of this jam.

The dark moment now plays the role of catalyst, spurring us into the second plot point.  Occurring 75% of the way through, this is the point at which the final bit of new information is introduced, giving the hero all the knowledge he'll need to conquer the villain in Act III.  After having gone through her toughest trial yet the heroine has reflected on how committed she really is to this goal.  The second plot point shows her renewed commitment to solve this problem.  

            An interesting note:  In David Warfield's article on story structure he points out that the second plot point often answers the surface problem, or as he terms it, the "dramatic question."  The problem that was plaguing the hero from the beginning, the one that kept readers wondering "Will he ever be able to solve this?" gets solved right here.  The hero is inevitably given a new set of goals as a new dramatic question is posed.

"Example[s]: In Seven, at the end of Act II the Serial Killer comes to the police station and turns himself in!  Mystery solved!  Dramatic Question (will the detectives stop the Serial Killer?) answered.  Story over? Not quite… In Wedding Crashers, the hero’s sins are exposed (by the antagonist fiancé) and the girl he loves now hates him: she’s sure to marry the fiancé!" (Story Structure in 17 Steps, Warfield).

ACT III

Act III is all about your main man getting his hero on.  He's been doing what he can to solve the problem up till now, but he was lacking some skill or personality trait that would allow him to succeed.  After having gone through a series of challenges and failures your hero has grown and developed and is ready to take on the antagonist.

The climax is the most important scene in Act III (arguably the whole book).  A good portion of Act III should be spent building up the tension and stacking the odds against your main character to make his triumph all the greater.  The climax is the height of dramatic tension where the reader still questions if the hero will win or not.

It is only in the resolution (as a direct result of the climax) that the hero's victory or defeat is certain.  Now we see all of the loose ends tied up as the hero's life moves to a new state of normalcy.  The best resolutions are often brief, 

"provid[ing] a... 'coming down' period to emotionally center the audience to the idea that ORDER HAS BEEN RESTORED in the world of the protagonist," (Story Structure in 17 Steps, Warfield)

So tell me, did I get it right?  Did I forget anything or mix terms or roles together?

MY DAY 22:  This was a hard day for me.  Up to then I'd been writing in the female perspective but, having duel-narrators, I made my first attempt at writing from the male perspective.  If my man were verbose and semi-charming it would have been a bit easier, but he's a complete realist who isn't going to get all flowery in his descriptions of a scene.  I'm not totally sure how to convey detailed goings-on when they're being told by this minimalist.

Photo Credit

Day 21: Solidifying Scene Structure

Photo by Jonathan Kos-Read

Day 21 of the 36 Day Challenge; the first day of Part 2, Act II and we haven't even covered scene structures yet!  So here are some tips from pro scene writer Jordan Rosenfeld to help you master the scene and create a draft strong enough to withstand even the most brutal of revisions.

SCENE LENGTHS

Choosing to use a long or short scene has much to do with the overall ebb and flow of your storyline.  When attempting to build suspense or hold off on that pivotal payoff it would be best to use a longer scene.  Or if the previous scene left your reader breathless and reeling from a frenzy of activity a long scene can be strategically placed to slow the pace a bit and allow the reader time to digest what just happened.  Maybe you've just finished a long scene and the story needs a pickup in pace; time to employ the short scene.  The length of the scene can also help distinguish between the personalities of your characters.  A quiet, shy character, for example, will likely have a shorter scene than the long-winded town gossip who is ever-eager to share the latest news of her neighbors, family, and pet gerbil.  

SCENE STRUCTURES

"Each scene needs to have its own beginning, middle and end.  The beginning should be vivid and memorable, and help immediately draw your reader into the scene.  Scene middles are the vast territory where the stakes must be raised, characters get caught in conflict and consequences follow that keep your plot interesting.  Scene endings, of course, set the stage for the scenes that follow, and leave a feeling or taste with the reader that should be unforgettable," (Write Your Novel in 30 Days, page 66).

• Beginnings:  With the beginning of each new scene you have the obligation to capture your reader's attention all over again, and Rosenfeld has provided us with three techniques to do just that:

• Character Launches begin straightway with your protagonist and help your readers feel connected to the emotion in your novel.
• Action Launches must begin at the point of action - no preemptive explanation is necessary.  If you want to explain a character's motivations be sure to have the character reflect on them after the action has already taken place.
• Narrative Launches are to be used in small doses; a novel beginning with narration at the exclusion of action can quickly become dull.  Narration can be useful however, if an action sequence would take up too much time and a summary will move the reader along to the real action more quickly.  It may also be necessary to actually set the action in motion, such as in stories beginning with lines like these: "'My mother was dead before I arrived.'  'The war had begun.'  'The storm left half of the city under water,' (WYNITD page 68)."  Another opportunity to begin with narration is if the character is not physically capable of acting (a person in a coma, paralyzed, etc.).

         When deciding on which style of scene opener to use, consider the following questions:

1) Where are my characters in the plot?  Where did I leave them and what are they doing now?  2) What is the most important piece of information that needs to be revealed in this scene?"

• Middles:  This is the time to complicate your character's life a bit further.  He began the scene with a goal or expectation, so let's find a way to up the stakes a bit:  find something your character stands to lose (or gain) and threaten to take it away (or provide it).  Will this change your character's goals for the scene?  Will he leave the scene hoping for something he hadn't known he wanted when the scene began?  

"[To] keep your protagonist from wandering aimlessly about your narrative... give him an intention... - a job that he wants to carry out that will give purpose to the scene," (WYNITD page 69).

• Endings:  These are the trial of how well you've nailed your scene.  Done right, the reader will have a deeper interest in the characters and plot, keeping them turning pages to find out what will happen next.  Done wrong and you've potentially just lost yourself a would-be fan.  One way to help focus your scene ending is to think in terms of a camera's zoom feature.  Zooming in allows the viewer (in our case reader) to see intimate details and be drawn more closely into the emotions of the characters.  Zooming out will provide them the opportunity for overall reflection and a chance to see how the events in the scene may color the trajectory of the story.  

Thinking of each scene as a mini story that begins with a goal, sees the goal obstructed by new challenges, and ends with a new goal, will help focus each of your scenes and give them the purpose they need to keep your readers reading.

MY DAY 21:  Sadly I found that my aforementioned condensed scenes weren't working too well and needed to be expanded.  So much for my previous day's work.