Ian Dawson's Blog - Posts Tagged "eric-edson"
Writing Tip of the Week – Story Structure: The Beginning, Part One
Every story has a starting point, a place where the writer has decided to begin the story and launch the characters into an adventure that differs from the day-to-day normalcy of their lives. Over the next few weeks, we’ll explore the different aspects of the Beginning, Middle, and End of a story and what components go into each.
Let’s get started.
Where Are We? Location, Location, Location.
The opening chapter or scene sets the stage for what’s to come. Give us the location, the time period, and the current circumstances. Is this a contemporary story? Are we in Victorian England? In a galaxy far, far away? Give the reader descriptors that help orient them into the world of the story. Your characters occupy a specific space at a particular time. The beginning is where to establish these things and make sure the reader has a clear understanding.
Read the first chapter of a few novels and see how those authors establish location and time while also moving the story forward.
Who Are We With? Who’s the Story About?
Whose journey are we following? Knowing your main character and who they are before the Inciting Incident is a key factor to ensure you know how they will react and actively pursue their goals when the new events begin to unfold. What’s their name? Their profession? What relationships do they have? What conflicts do they have in their lives? What’s their personality?
In his book, The Story Solution, Eric Edson lays out nine “personality traits and story circumstances that create character sympathy for an audience” (Edson 14). These don’t all have to be used, but they are a great way to help your reader/viewer connect with your main character at the beginning of your story:
• Courage – “brave people take action, and only action can drive the plot forward.” (15)
• An Unfair Injury – placing your “character in a situation where blatant injustice is inflicted upon her…[it] puts the hero in a position where [they’re] compelled to DO something, take action in order to right a wrong.” (16-17)
• Skill – “It doesn’t matter what your hero’s field of endeavor might be as long as [they’re] an expert at it.” (17)
• Funny – “if you can bestow upon your hero a robust and playful sense of humor, do it.” (19)
• Just Plain Nice – “We can easily care about kind, decent, helpful, honest folks, and we admire people who treat others well.” (19)
• In Danger – “If when we first meet the hero [they’re] already in a situation of real danger, it grabs out attention right away.” (20)
• Loved by Friends and Family – If we see that “the hero is already loved by other people, it gives us immediate permission to care about them, too.” (21)
• Hard Working – “People who work hard have create the rising energy to drive a story forward.” (21)
• Obsessed – “Obsession keeps brave, skilled, hard-working heroes focused on a single goal, which is enormously important to any story.” (21)
These are just a few points from the book, which I highly recommend. You can pick up a copy at the link below:
https://www.amazon.com/Story-Solution...
Active or Passive Protagonist?
In modern commercial fiction, the protagonist is almost always active. This means that when things happen, they react and actively pursue a goal. Mando in The Mandalorian is actively working to keep Grogu (aka Baby Yoda) safe from those who wish to harm him. Mando’s inciting incident was meeting Grogu; he now has an active goal to protect him. His actions move the story in a new direction.
Katniss in The Hunger Games actively volunteers her life to save her sister’s during the Hunger Games lottery. She is actively involved in the decision that launches the story in a new direction.
A passive protagonist just allows things to happen around them, or they don’t do enough to try and fix what’s happening. Even in disaster movies where the elements are out of the hero’s hands, they still are active in their attempts to save their own lives and the lives of others. When you watch Twister, Dante’s Peak, San Andreas, or Volcano, notice that while what’s happening is out of the main characters’ control, they are still actively pursuing a goal: survival.
What actions can your protagonist take to try and resolve their newfound issues? What is their active goal, and what steps will they take to reach it? They can try and fail, but they should be active in their attempts.
Is It Really “The Beginning”?
A story begins at a point that shows the reader/viewer the protagonist in their normal element. We, as an audience, have to assume that this character existed before this story. We are about to see a series of events markedly different and far more interesting than a typical day in their life.
You want to give your readers a glimpse of this world before things begin to change and move the protagonist into a new direction that they didn’t see coming. We need to know who they are before this story starts so we can witness how the events of the story impact and change their lives by the end.
A character’s story is on a continuum. What we are writing about and what the reader/viewer is experiencing is something out of the ordinary. Steve Rogers (Captain America: The First Avenger), Elle Woods (Legally Blonde), and Mando (The Mandalorian) all were just doing their normal thing until a new set of circumstances took them to a new level of existence, which is…
What Starts the Journey? The Inciting Incident.
Things are pretty normal for your main character. They’re just living their life as always when suddenly…something big happens to alter their life for the better or worse. This is the Inciting Incident, the moment where the protagonist has to begin making choices that will launch them and us into a new storyline apart from what they are familiar with.
Your main character could be all set to go into the boss’s office to get a promotion and get fired instead. Your main character could find out something devastating about their family that requires them to act and discover the truth. It can be anything that jolts the main character out of their normal life and takes them on a new path.
Brainstorm some ways a character’s ordinary world can suddenly change and how your character would react to new information and their potential paths forward.
Homework
Now that you have the basics about the Beginning of a story, watch the first 30 minutes of a few movies or read the first few chapters of some novels and see how events, characters, and Inciting Incidents are introduced. How does the main character react when something new happens? What’s the first thing they do? How do their actions at that moment propel the story forward? What traits from Edson’s book are present in the main character when we first meet them?
Happy Writing, Reading and Viewing, and I’ll see you next week!
Let’s get started.
Where Are We? Location, Location, Location.
The opening chapter or scene sets the stage for what’s to come. Give us the location, the time period, and the current circumstances. Is this a contemporary story? Are we in Victorian England? In a galaxy far, far away? Give the reader descriptors that help orient them into the world of the story. Your characters occupy a specific space at a particular time. The beginning is where to establish these things and make sure the reader has a clear understanding.
Read the first chapter of a few novels and see how those authors establish location and time while also moving the story forward.
Who Are We With? Who’s the Story About?
Whose journey are we following? Knowing your main character and who they are before the Inciting Incident is a key factor to ensure you know how they will react and actively pursue their goals when the new events begin to unfold. What’s their name? Their profession? What relationships do they have? What conflicts do they have in their lives? What’s their personality?
In his book, The Story Solution, Eric Edson lays out nine “personality traits and story circumstances that create character sympathy for an audience” (Edson 14). These don’t all have to be used, but they are a great way to help your reader/viewer connect with your main character at the beginning of your story:
• Courage – “brave people take action, and only action can drive the plot forward.” (15)
• An Unfair Injury – placing your “character in a situation where blatant injustice is inflicted upon her…[it] puts the hero in a position where [they’re] compelled to DO something, take action in order to right a wrong.” (16-17)
• Skill – “It doesn’t matter what your hero’s field of endeavor might be as long as [they’re] an expert at it.” (17)
• Funny – “if you can bestow upon your hero a robust and playful sense of humor, do it.” (19)
• Just Plain Nice – “We can easily care about kind, decent, helpful, honest folks, and we admire people who treat others well.” (19)
• In Danger – “If when we first meet the hero [they’re] already in a situation of real danger, it grabs out attention right away.” (20)
• Loved by Friends and Family – If we see that “the hero is already loved by other people, it gives us immediate permission to care about them, too.” (21)
• Hard Working – “People who work hard have create the rising energy to drive a story forward.” (21)
• Obsessed – “Obsession keeps brave, skilled, hard-working heroes focused on a single goal, which is enormously important to any story.” (21)
These are just a few points from the book, which I highly recommend. You can pick up a copy at the link below:
https://www.amazon.com/Story-Solution...
Active or Passive Protagonist?
In modern commercial fiction, the protagonist is almost always active. This means that when things happen, they react and actively pursue a goal. Mando in The Mandalorian is actively working to keep Grogu (aka Baby Yoda) safe from those who wish to harm him. Mando’s inciting incident was meeting Grogu; he now has an active goal to protect him. His actions move the story in a new direction.
Katniss in The Hunger Games actively volunteers her life to save her sister’s during the Hunger Games lottery. She is actively involved in the decision that launches the story in a new direction.
A passive protagonist just allows things to happen around them, or they don’t do enough to try and fix what’s happening. Even in disaster movies where the elements are out of the hero’s hands, they still are active in their attempts to save their own lives and the lives of others. When you watch Twister, Dante’s Peak, San Andreas, or Volcano, notice that while what’s happening is out of the main characters’ control, they are still actively pursuing a goal: survival.
What actions can your protagonist take to try and resolve their newfound issues? What is their active goal, and what steps will they take to reach it? They can try and fail, but they should be active in their attempts.
Is It Really “The Beginning”?
A story begins at a point that shows the reader/viewer the protagonist in their normal element. We, as an audience, have to assume that this character existed before this story. We are about to see a series of events markedly different and far more interesting than a typical day in their life.
You want to give your readers a glimpse of this world before things begin to change and move the protagonist into a new direction that they didn’t see coming. We need to know who they are before this story starts so we can witness how the events of the story impact and change their lives by the end.
A character’s story is on a continuum. What we are writing about and what the reader/viewer is experiencing is something out of the ordinary. Steve Rogers (Captain America: The First Avenger), Elle Woods (Legally Blonde), and Mando (The Mandalorian) all were just doing their normal thing until a new set of circumstances took them to a new level of existence, which is…
What Starts the Journey? The Inciting Incident.
Things are pretty normal for your main character. They’re just living their life as always when suddenly…something big happens to alter their life for the better or worse. This is the Inciting Incident, the moment where the protagonist has to begin making choices that will launch them and us into a new storyline apart from what they are familiar with.
Your main character could be all set to go into the boss’s office to get a promotion and get fired instead. Your main character could find out something devastating about their family that requires them to act and discover the truth. It can be anything that jolts the main character out of their normal life and takes them on a new path.
Brainstorm some ways a character’s ordinary world can suddenly change and how your character would react to new information and their potential paths forward.
Homework
Now that you have the basics about the Beginning of a story, watch the first 30 minutes of a few movies or read the first few chapters of some novels and see how events, characters, and Inciting Incidents are introduced. How does the main character react when something new happens? What’s the first thing they do? How do their actions at that moment propel the story forward? What traits from Edson’s book are present in the main character when we first meet them?
Happy Writing, Reading and Viewing, and I’ll see you next week!
Writing Tip of the Week: Write Badly with Pride
As media consumers, we are presented with the best possible versions of products sold in stores, online, and in movie theaters. This “final product” can lead some to believe that what they’re seeing was indeed lightning in a bottle, that the project from idea to distribution was a seamless process for all involved.
And that would be 100% incorrect.
Screenplays, TV scripts, novels, short films, poetry, and all other forms of written media never start as the final version. Everyone starts from the same place: nothing. The key is to craft nothing into something that can become a final product, but you can’t do that if you haven’t written anything.
This is where writing badly with pride comes into play.
Why Write Badly?
First, you must accept that whatever you initially put down on the page will not be your best work. It just won’t be, and that’s okay. It’s essential to have it down on the page so it can be reworked, tweaked, and edited later to make it the best it can be.
When I write drafts, the first iteration of anything written is garbage. But, since the basic idea is out of my head and there’s a visual representation on my computer or paper, my mind can now work on the chapter or scene and improve it.
Even if you’re tempted to go back and change things, force yourself to keep moving forward in this poorly written draft and work to get to the end. The last thing you want to do is get into a cycle of write-rewrite-edit-rewrite-rework-rewrite-tweak, only to be on page ten six months later.
Once you have a draft that’s 10% good, your eventual goal is to work on it and help it evolve into the 100% version you’ve brainstormed and dreamed about. But if you overthink and aim for perfection from page one of your rough draft, getting to that final page and The End will be a challenge.
Why Write Badly with Pride?
You’re a writer. Writers write. Whether it’s good, bad, or mediocre, taking pride in your work and having the confidence to get it out on the page by any means necessary should be your top priority. This means no matter how poor the rough draft’s quality is, you should be confident enough in yourself as a writer to know that you will make it better over time.
It’s what all writers have to do. It’s part of the job.
Yes, even a screenplay that wins an Academy Award or a novel that becomes a New York Times bestseller had to be thrown out onto the page in some haphazard form before getting to its final form.
A Cure for Writer’s Block?
Writing badly with pride is an excellent way to destroy writer’s block from its foundation. There’s no fear of writing something that isn’t great since that’s no longer the point! Your goal is to write anything in any form so you can fix it later.
It shouldn’t be like building a house where getting it right the first time is ideal. With writing, you can always go back and revise, which means getting the ideas out on the page in whatever form is a great way to go from garbage to gold.
Final Thoughts
My screenwriting professor, Eric Edson, wrote “Write Badly with Pride” on the whiteboard on the first day of his class, and I’ve never forgotten it. It should be the motto of all writers, whether they are starting out or are pros. I encourage everyone to type the motto in big, bold letters, print it out, and hang it above their writing space.
Write Badly with Pride, and I’ll see you next time!
And that would be 100% incorrect.
Screenplays, TV scripts, novels, short films, poetry, and all other forms of written media never start as the final version. Everyone starts from the same place: nothing. The key is to craft nothing into something that can become a final product, but you can’t do that if you haven’t written anything.
This is where writing badly with pride comes into play.
Why Write Badly?
First, you must accept that whatever you initially put down on the page will not be your best work. It just won’t be, and that’s okay. It’s essential to have it down on the page so it can be reworked, tweaked, and edited later to make it the best it can be.
When I write drafts, the first iteration of anything written is garbage. But, since the basic idea is out of my head and there’s a visual representation on my computer or paper, my mind can now work on the chapter or scene and improve it.
Even if you’re tempted to go back and change things, force yourself to keep moving forward in this poorly written draft and work to get to the end. The last thing you want to do is get into a cycle of write-rewrite-edit-rewrite-rework-rewrite-tweak, only to be on page ten six months later.
Once you have a draft that’s 10% good, your eventual goal is to work on it and help it evolve into the 100% version you’ve brainstormed and dreamed about. But if you overthink and aim for perfection from page one of your rough draft, getting to that final page and The End will be a challenge.
Why Write Badly with Pride?
You’re a writer. Writers write. Whether it’s good, bad, or mediocre, taking pride in your work and having the confidence to get it out on the page by any means necessary should be your top priority. This means no matter how poor the rough draft’s quality is, you should be confident enough in yourself as a writer to know that you will make it better over time.
It’s what all writers have to do. It’s part of the job.
Yes, even a screenplay that wins an Academy Award or a novel that becomes a New York Times bestseller had to be thrown out onto the page in some haphazard form before getting to its final form.
A Cure for Writer’s Block?
Writing badly with pride is an excellent way to destroy writer’s block from its foundation. There’s no fear of writing something that isn’t great since that’s no longer the point! Your goal is to write anything in any form so you can fix it later.
It shouldn’t be like building a house where getting it right the first time is ideal. With writing, you can always go back and revise, which means getting the ideas out on the page in whatever form is a great way to go from garbage to gold.
Final Thoughts
My screenwriting professor, Eric Edson, wrote “Write Badly with Pride” on the whiteboard on the first day of his class, and I’ve never forgotten it. It should be the motto of all writers, whether they are starting out or are pros. I encourage everyone to type the motto in big, bold letters, print it out, and hang it above their writing space.
Write Badly with Pride, and I’ll see you next time!
