Ian Dawson's Blog, page 23
June 2, 2021
Writer’s Workshop Wednesday: Alex Haley
Even if you’re not familiar with his name, you’re probably familiar with one of Alex Haley’s most famous works: Roots: The Saga of an American Family. A powerful and resonant author and historian, Haley used the story of his own family’s horrific ancestry as slaves to write the acclaimed novel that won a Pulitzer Prize in 1977. It was also made into a mini-series on ABC in 1977 and later for History in 2016. Roots is a novel I highly recommend. It is a sobering look at a dark time in our nation’s history.
Prior to being a writer, Haley enlisted as a member of the Coast Guard during World War II – a compelling story in itself – where he eventually became the first chief journalist of the Coast Guard before retiring from the branch in 1959.
Haley would go on to conduct interviews for Playboy magazine, author The Autobiography of Malcolm X in 1965, write a screenplay titled Super Fly T.N.T. released in 1973, and the aforementioned Roots.
Haley passed away in 1992, but his contributions to American literature continue to resonate today.
Below are several interview clips I found of this amazing man speaking about his life, career, and issues still relevant today.
Check out the official Alex Haley website: https://alexhaley.com
Enjoy!
Alex Haley 1
Alex Haley 2
Alex Haley 3
Alex Haley 4
Alex Haley 5
Alex Haley 6
Back in two weeks with another great author!
Prior to being a writer, Haley enlisted as a member of the Coast Guard during World War II – a compelling story in itself – where he eventually became the first chief journalist of the Coast Guard before retiring from the branch in 1959.
Haley would go on to conduct interviews for Playboy magazine, author The Autobiography of Malcolm X in 1965, write a screenplay titled Super Fly T.N.T. released in 1973, and the aforementioned Roots.
Haley passed away in 1992, but his contributions to American literature continue to resonate today.
Below are several interview clips I found of this amazing man speaking about his life, career, and issues still relevant today.
Check out the official Alex Haley website: https://alexhaley.com
Enjoy!
Alex Haley 1
Alex Haley 2
Alex Haley 3
Alex Haley 4
Alex Haley 5
Alex Haley 6
Back in two weeks with another great author!
May 30, 2021
Writing Tip of the Week – Story Structure: The Beginning, Part Two
Last week, we talked about some of the elements that go into the Beginning of a story. Whether a novel, a short story, a screenplay, or a play, there are important items to consider from the start as you develop your story. In this post, we’ll talk about a few more things to consider as you work on creating the beginning of your story.
A Basic Formula
One of my screenwriting professors once wrote a basic formula on the board that holds true for pretty much all commercial stories:
Hero + Goal + Opposition = Conflict = Drama
Think about most movies or novels of today, and this formula rings true. We are presented with a Hero. That hero has a Goal they wish to achieve. There’s some Opposition in the way of the Hero achieving the stated goal. That Opposition leads to Conflict. And that Conflict translates to Dramatic tension.
As you develop your story, make sure that the three main ingredients are clear. Then you can find ways to create conflict that increases the dramatic tension of the story.
What is an Antagonist?
When we think about the concept of an Antagonist, we are usually drawn to the big guns: The Joker (The Dark Knight), Thanos (Avengers: Infinity War), Cruella DeVil (101 Dalmatians), Loki (Avengers), Ursula (The Little Mermaid), Dr. No (Dr. No), Hades (Hercules), Dr. Evil (Austin Powers), Scar (The Lion King), or the Evil Queen in Snow White. These are clear-cut antagonistic characters that oppose the goals of the hero in their respective stories.
However, an Antagonist doesn’t have to be a maniacal super-villain or an evil entity bent on world domination. Anyone in your story who opposes your main character’s goals and is a constant block to them achieving that goal is an antagonist.
In Legally Blonde, Elle Woods’s antagonist is her ex-boyfriend, Warner.
In Hairspray, Tracy Turnblad’s antagonist is Velma Von Tussle and her daughter.
In October Sky, Homer Hickam’s antagonist is his father.
Even if the antagonist wants what’s best for the main character, they can still be an antagonizing force getting in the way of their goal if what they want for the main character is in conflict with what the antagonist wants.
And that conflict leads to dramatic tension.
I think that because mainstream cinema is saturated with big-time antagonists because of all the superhero movies, it’s easy to forget that romantic comedies function on the formula of starting the partners off in an oppositional relationship. You’ve Got Mail. Crazy, Stupid, Love. Two Weeks Notice. The Proposal. 10 Things I Hate About You. All begin with oppositional relationships between the main couple.
How Do You Like Your Stakes?
Your protagonist wants something. Something big. If they get it, that’s great. But what if they don’t get it? What if all their attempts to achieve their goal fail? What will happen to them? Their best friend? Their family? Their home?
In other words: What are the Story’s Stakes?
Stakes keep things interesting. They keep the protagonist motivated to achieve their goal. They also keep the viewer/reader along for the ride. What should the stakes feel like?
Life or death. That’s what things should feel like to your hero if things don’t work out. I’m not talking literal life or death (unless your story is about that), but the odds have to be pretty steep against the main character once the inciting incident happens that we’re unsure how they’ll reach their intended goal.
If you have a basic idea of what your story is about, who your main character is, what their goal is, and where the story is going, you should start to brainstorm obstacles that the hero might face throughout the story. Each one should be unique, escalate the stakes, and help move the story and the hero’s character arc along.
The higher the stakes, the better the dramatic tension. Most sitcoms have low-stakes situations (Oh, no, the poker game and the dinner party are planned for the same night!). Dramas tend to have higher stakes (If we don’t find the killer soon, he’ll start killing a new victim at the top of every hour!).
Think of your favorite movie, or a movie you recently saw. What were the stakes for the main character? Were they high or low? I can tell you that in the new Angelina Jolie movie, Those Who Wish Me Dead, the stakes are very high. If a movie you watched has low stakes for the main character, did you lose interest?
Can I Help You?
All protagonists are on a journey. It may not be away from their uncle’s moisture farm on Tatooine to learn the ways of the Force, but they do have to move from point A to point Z by the end of the story.
Is anyone with them?
Best friends. Romantic partners. Sidekicks. Co-workers. Family. Neighbors. Are they people close to the main character that can assist them on their journey? Every character in a story needs to serve the hero and the story in some important way. Much like the protagonist and antagonist have a function in the story, the Secondary and Tertiary characters need to as well.
These characters also help in giving us insight into the main character, they help dimensionalize them, and make them more relatable to the audience. Who populates the world of the hero? Of the antagonist? What functions do those characters serve throughout the story?
The Big Moment
So, you’ve shown us a glimpse of the protagonist in their natural habitat. All is good in the world. And then…BOOM…something unexpected happens that throws their world into a tailspin. Now, they have to regroup and figure out how to fix, stop, or change whatever has just happened. The stakes are high. The Opposition is great. The way to achieving the goal seems impossible. But they have a few folks to help them along the way.
After a few missteps, things start to feel like they’re going the hero’s way. Maybe getting to that goal will be easier than they thought. All they have to do is…
BOOM
Something HUGE comes out of nowhere and knocks the wind out of them. What they thought was the way forward is no longer the way forward. Everything they thought they knew, every decision they were sure was working, is suddenly turned upside-down.
Welcome to Turning Point 1.
It’s a big moment in the story. It’s something that shakes things up and takes the hero and the audience in a new direction. Here’s an example from Legally Blonde (get used to it, I’m gonna use it a lot in this series):
Hero: Elle Woods
Antagonist: Warner
Inciting Incident: Warner dumps Elle as he heads to law school instead of proposing to her.
Legally Blonde Inciting Incident
Hero Goal: Get into and graduate from Harvard Law School (and reconnect with Warner).
Turning Point 1: At the first party of the semester, Warner tells Elle she’s not smart enough to get a prestigious internship with their law professor.
Legally Blonde Turning Point 1
Notice how Elle is initially crushed by Warner’s words but then actively pushes through and uses his Opposition to her goal as motivation to keep going.
In the film, this is the start of Act 2. It’s the end of the Beginning, and the beginning of the Middle.
Homework
Watch some movies and determine what the initial stakes are for the hero and when Turning Point 1 happens. For most two-hour movies, it’s around the 25-30 minute mark.
We’ll talk about the Middle (of a story, not the series starring Patricia Heaton) in two weeks!
A Basic Formula
One of my screenwriting professors once wrote a basic formula on the board that holds true for pretty much all commercial stories:
Hero + Goal + Opposition = Conflict = Drama
Think about most movies or novels of today, and this formula rings true. We are presented with a Hero. That hero has a Goal they wish to achieve. There’s some Opposition in the way of the Hero achieving the stated goal. That Opposition leads to Conflict. And that Conflict translates to Dramatic tension.
As you develop your story, make sure that the three main ingredients are clear. Then you can find ways to create conflict that increases the dramatic tension of the story.
What is an Antagonist?
When we think about the concept of an Antagonist, we are usually drawn to the big guns: The Joker (The Dark Knight), Thanos (Avengers: Infinity War), Cruella DeVil (101 Dalmatians), Loki (Avengers), Ursula (The Little Mermaid), Dr. No (Dr. No), Hades (Hercules), Dr. Evil (Austin Powers), Scar (The Lion King), or the Evil Queen in Snow White. These are clear-cut antagonistic characters that oppose the goals of the hero in their respective stories.
However, an Antagonist doesn’t have to be a maniacal super-villain or an evil entity bent on world domination. Anyone in your story who opposes your main character’s goals and is a constant block to them achieving that goal is an antagonist.
In Legally Blonde, Elle Woods’s antagonist is her ex-boyfriend, Warner.
In Hairspray, Tracy Turnblad’s antagonist is Velma Von Tussle and her daughter.
In October Sky, Homer Hickam’s antagonist is his father.
Even if the antagonist wants what’s best for the main character, they can still be an antagonizing force getting in the way of their goal if what they want for the main character is in conflict with what the antagonist wants.
And that conflict leads to dramatic tension.
I think that because mainstream cinema is saturated with big-time antagonists because of all the superhero movies, it’s easy to forget that romantic comedies function on the formula of starting the partners off in an oppositional relationship. You’ve Got Mail. Crazy, Stupid, Love. Two Weeks Notice. The Proposal. 10 Things I Hate About You. All begin with oppositional relationships between the main couple.
How Do You Like Your Stakes?
Your protagonist wants something. Something big. If they get it, that’s great. But what if they don’t get it? What if all their attempts to achieve their goal fail? What will happen to them? Their best friend? Their family? Their home?
In other words: What are the Story’s Stakes?
Stakes keep things interesting. They keep the protagonist motivated to achieve their goal. They also keep the viewer/reader along for the ride. What should the stakes feel like?
Life or death. That’s what things should feel like to your hero if things don’t work out. I’m not talking literal life or death (unless your story is about that), but the odds have to be pretty steep against the main character once the inciting incident happens that we’re unsure how they’ll reach their intended goal.
If you have a basic idea of what your story is about, who your main character is, what their goal is, and where the story is going, you should start to brainstorm obstacles that the hero might face throughout the story. Each one should be unique, escalate the stakes, and help move the story and the hero’s character arc along.
The higher the stakes, the better the dramatic tension. Most sitcoms have low-stakes situations (Oh, no, the poker game and the dinner party are planned for the same night!). Dramas tend to have higher stakes (If we don’t find the killer soon, he’ll start killing a new victim at the top of every hour!).
Think of your favorite movie, or a movie you recently saw. What were the stakes for the main character? Were they high or low? I can tell you that in the new Angelina Jolie movie, Those Who Wish Me Dead, the stakes are very high. If a movie you watched has low stakes for the main character, did you lose interest?
Can I Help You?
All protagonists are on a journey. It may not be away from their uncle’s moisture farm on Tatooine to learn the ways of the Force, but they do have to move from point A to point Z by the end of the story.
Is anyone with them?
Best friends. Romantic partners. Sidekicks. Co-workers. Family. Neighbors. Are they people close to the main character that can assist them on their journey? Every character in a story needs to serve the hero and the story in some important way. Much like the protagonist and antagonist have a function in the story, the Secondary and Tertiary characters need to as well.
These characters also help in giving us insight into the main character, they help dimensionalize them, and make them more relatable to the audience. Who populates the world of the hero? Of the antagonist? What functions do those characters serve throughout the story?
The Big Moment
So, you’ve shown us a glimpse of the protagonist in their natural habitat. All is good in the world. And then…BOOM…something unexpected happens that throws their world into a tailspin. Now, they have to regroup and figure out how to fix, stop, or change whatever has just happened. The stakes are high. The Opposition is great. The way to achieving the goal seems impossible. But they have a few folks to help them along the way.
After a few missteps, things start to feel like they’re going the hero’s way. Maybe getting to that goal will be easier than they thought. All they have to do is…
BOOM
Something HUGE comes out of nowhere and knocks the wind out of them. What they thought was the way forward is no longer the way forward. Everything they thought they knew, every decision they were sure was working, is suddenly turned upside-down.
Welcome to Turning Point 1.
It’s a big moment in the story. It’s something that shakes things up and takes the hero and the audience in a new direction. Here’s an example from Legally Blonde (get used to it, I’m gonna use it a lot in this series):
Hero: Elle Woods
Antagonist: Warner
Inciting Incident: Warner dumps Elle as he heads to law school instead of proposing to her.
Legally Blonde Inciting Incident
Hero Goal: Get into and graduate from Harvard Law School (and reconnect with Warner).
Turning Point 1: At the first party of the semester, Warner tells Elle she’s not smart enough to get a prestigious internship with their law professor.
Legally Blonde Turning Point 1
Notice how Elle is initially crushed by Warner’s words but then actively pushes through and uses his Opposition to her goal as motivation to keep going.
In the film, this is the start of Act 2. It’s the end of the Beginning, and the beginning of the Middle.
Homework
Watch some movies and determine what the initial stakes are for the hero and when Turning Point 1 happens. For most two-hour movies, it’s around the 25-30 minute mark.
We’ll talk about the Middle (of a story, not the series starring Patricia Heaton) in two weeks!
May 29, 2021
The Field and Midnight House Author Ian Dawson on The Florida Writer Podcast
I’m excited to share a link to my interview with the Florida Writer Podcast. We talked about my books and writing. Enjoy!
Click here for the interview!
Also available as an Apple Podcast.
Click here for the interview!
Also available as an Apple Podcast.
May 23, 2021
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!
May 15, 2021
Writing Tip of the Week: Avoiding Procrastination [Repost]
So, you’ve finally sat down to write your story. Your hands are poised over the keys. The cursor blinks invitingly at the top of the blank Word page. You have notes about your story scrawled on legal pads in mostly illegible writing. The time has come to write.
But did you finish that last episode of Hoarders on Hulu? You think you did, but you’re not sure if Dr. Zasio and Matt Paxton were able to help that woman with the 50 cats. So, you look, and you did. But the screenshot for the next one looks intriguing, so you start the episode. Just to see if the home is as bad as you think it was. And it’s worse! Now you have to watch.
Three episodes later and it’s time for bed. You decide you’ll write tomorrow, but after watching multiple episodes of Hoarders you’re now motivated to clean your house the next evening.
Welcome to procrastination.
Everyone procrastinates. We all put off stuff we either want to do or don’t want to do for some reason or another. When it comes to writing, procrastination makes perfect sense: writing is work. Hard work. And if you’ve spent all week at a desk in front of a computer, the thought of doing that at night or on the weekend becomes something you want to avoid at all costs.
To me, procrastination is okay. To a point. But while you are binge-watching TV shows or going down the YouTube video rabbit hole, ask yourself why you’re avoiding writing. It’s more than just the whole desk/computer/work thing. Is there a problem with the story? Do you not like the story? Would you rather write something else?
With any form procrastination, there is a root cause for its existence. But when participating in the act of procrastination, I say you need to embrace it. Don’t kick yourself or beat yourself up. What’s the point? If you really wanted to write right now, you would be.
At some point, however, you need to realize that your story needs to be written, and that all the TV shows, cleaning, and reading of junk mail won’t solve your procrastination problem. Is there a better time for you to write other than the evenings or weekend? Could you stay a little after work and write at your desk? Could you go to a local bookstore, library, or coffee shop with fewer distractions, turn off your phone, and write there?
Also remember that all the shows, movies, and other things that you use as tools of procrastination will still be there when you’re done writing. And you’ll feel better when you do finally sit down to watch because you’ve accomplished your writing tasks for the day.
Sometimes the Procrastination Resolution (sounds like the title of an episode of The Big Bang Theory) comes by changing environments and limiting the distractions. By subtracting your distractions, you then give yourself and your brain the freedom to get down to business and write.
Now it’s time for me to stop procrastinating and write some new posts for the coming weeks!
Happy writing, and I’ll see you next week!
But did you finish that last episode of Hoarders on Hulu? You think you did, but you’re not sure if Dr. Zasio and Matt Paxton were able to help that woman with the 50 cats. So, you look, and you did. But the screenshot for the next one looks intriguing, so you start the episode. Just to see if the home is as bad as you think it was. And it’s worse! Now you have to watch.
Three episodes later and it’s time for bed. You decide you’ll write tomorrow, but after watching multiple episodes of Hoarders you’re now motivated to clean your house the next evening.
Welcome to procrastination.
Everyone procrastinates. We all put off stuff we either want to do or don’t want to do for some reason or another. When it comes to writing, procrastination makes perfect sense: writing is work. Hard work. And if you’ve spent all week at a desk in front of a computer, the thought of doing that at night or on the weekend becomes something you want to avoid at all costs.
To me, procrastination is okay. To a point. But while you are binge-watching TV shows or going down the YouTube video rabbit hole, ask yourself why you’re avoiding writing. It’s more than just the whole desk/computer/work thing. Is there a problem with the story? Do you not like the story? Would you rather write something else?
With any form procrastination, there is a root cause for its existence. But when participating in the act of procrastination, I say you need to embrace it. Don’t kick yourself or beat yourself up. What’s the point? If you really wanted to write right now, you would be.
At some point, however, you need to realize that your story needs to be written, and that all the TV shows, cleaning, and reading of junk mail won’t solve your procrastination problem. Is there a better time for you to write other than the evenings or weekend? Could you stay a little after work and write at your desk? Could you go to a local bookstore, library, or coffee shop with fewer distractions, turn off your phone, and write there?
Also remember that all the shows, movies, and other things that you use as tools of procrastination will still be there when you’re done writing. And you’ll feel better when you do finally sit down to watch because you’ve accomplished your writing tasks for the day.
Sometimes the Procrastination Resolution (sounds like the title of an episode of The Big Bang Theory) comes by changing environments and limiting the distractions. By subtracting your distractions, you then give yourself and your brain the freedom to get down to business and write.
Now it’s time for me to stop procrastinating and write some new posts for the coming weeks!
Happy writing, and I’ll see you next week!
May 9, 2021
Writing Tip of the Week: Silencing Negativity [Repost]
Let’s talk about negativity. Primarily, negativity when it comes to writing. We oftentimes have a tendency to get mired in negative self-talk, especially when it comes to our own creativity. Are we talented enough? Will anyone want to read this? What about the negativity swamp of social media or bad reviews?
And these can often creep into our thoughts even before we’ve even started writing! What a headache!
I sometimes do this when it comes to my writing. I put a lot of unjust pressure on myself to write a pitch-perfect and flawless first draft. When you put that type of pressure on yourself, do you know what happens? You don’t write. You do anything else because what’s the point of writing if it’s not perfection?
Well, guess what? I’m not perfect. And the first draft of anything shouldn’t be expected to be perfection, either. The best way to overcome the negative voice inside your head is to start writing and shut it up. Keep this in mind: no one has to see that first draft. You can present it to other eyes when you feel it’s ready. Why do you care if it’s 100% perfect? You’re going to fix it later, and you can’t re-write anything until you write it in the first place.
If you have the will and the desire to write and to tell stories to others than do it. Even if you believe you aren’t skilled or talented in creative writing, practice can only improve your skills in the long run. Look at any published author’s work and know that at some point they probably were feeling exactly what you are now. And they worked through it, accomplished their goal, and kept on writing. You can do that, too!
At the time of the writing, there are an estimated 7.7 billion people on the planet. Even if only 1% of those people like your writing, that’s 7.7 million people. And if you’re selling an eBook for $2.99 and get 70% of that, you would make $16 million dollars (before A LOT of taxes are taken out, of course)! So, don’t worry about whether or not there’s an audience for what you write. There are billions of people who crave good stories, great characters, and exciting dialogue. Give those people a story to tell their friends about!
As for social media, we all know the pitfalls of that swampy underbelly of the world wide web. It exists. But just because someone doesn’t like what you wrote, that doesn’t mean that everyone does. It’s a big world. Think about it this way: that one negative comment or review in the grand scope of the world’s population is equal to 0.00000000012987% of people who don’t like your writing. Seems pretty tiny when you look at it like that, doesn’t it?
Remember that if someone doesn’t like your book, your poem, you video, etc, you are under no obligation to engage with them, and also know that a lot of people troll other people’s creative works because they get a rise out of it. I’ve seen downvotes on YouTube videos about puppies! How is that even possible???!!
So, take a deep breath, exhale, and let the creativity flow in and the negativity flow out. You have the idea, now make it a reality.
You can do this.
And these can often creep into our thoughts even before we’ve even started writing! What a headache!
I sometimes do this when it comes to my writing. I put a lot of unjust pressure on myself to write a pitch-perfect and flawless first draft. When you put that type of pressure on yourself, do you know what happens? You don’t write. You do anything else because what’s the point of writing if it’s not perfection?
Well, guess what? I’m not perfect. And the first draft of anything shouldn’t be expected to be perfection, either. The best way to overcome the negative voice inside your head is to start writing and shut it up. Keep this in mind: no one has to see that first draft. You can present it to other eyes when you feel it’s ready. Why do you care if it’s 100% perfect? You’re going to fix it later, and you can’t re-write anything until you write it in the first place.
If you have the will and the desire to write and to tell stories to others than do it. Even if you believe you aren’t skilled or talented in creative writing, practice can only improve your skills in the long run. Look at any published author’s work and know that at some point they probably were feeling exactly what you are now. And they worked through it, accomplished their goal, and kept on writing. You can do that, too!
At the time of the writing, there are an estimated 7.7 billion people on the planet. Even if only 1% of those people like your writing, that’s 7.7 million people. And if you’re selling an eBook for $2.99 and get 70% of that, you would make $16 million dollars (before A LOT of taxes are taken out, of course)! So, don’t worry about whether or not there’s an audience for what you write. There are billions of people who crave good stories, great characters, and exciting dialogue. Give those people a story to tell their friends about!
As for social media, we all know the pitfalls of that swampy underbelly of the world wide web. It exists. But just because someone doesn’t like what you wrote, that doesn’t mean that everyone does. It’s a big world. Think about it this way: that one negative comment or review in the grand scope of the world’s population is equal to 0.00000000012987% of people who don’t like your writing. Seems pretty tiny when you look at it like that, doesn’t it?
Remember that if someone doesn’t like your book, your poem, you video, etc, you are under no obligation to engage with them, and also know that a lot of people troll other people’s creative works because they get a rise out of it. I’ve seen downvotes on YouTube videos about puppies! How is that even possible???!!
So, take a deep breath, exhale, and let the creativity flow in and the negativity flow out. You have the idea, now make it a reality.
You can do this.
May 2, 2021
Writing Tip of the Week: The Importance of Conflict in Your Story
People generally do all they can to avoid Conflict in their everyday lives. We will often go to great lengths to stay out of situations that make us uncomfortable, make us confront an issue, or even deal with someone who makes us feel anything but peaceful. For the most part, humans prefer a sense of neutrality.
But not in fiction.
Fiction requires Conflict as an essential ingredient to make a narrative move forward. There has to be something or someone driving the protagonist to act; to get them out of their neutral state and make them work toward a goal that looks impossible to achieve on the surface.
Let’s explore a little about Conflict and its role in fiction.
Conflict = Dramatic Tension
Your protagonist wants something. Another character wants something else. Only one of them can get what they want in the scene or chapter. And so, this Conflict creates Dramatic Tension between the two characters, and – hopefully – the Conflict and dramatic tension pique the audiences’ interest. Who will get what they want? How will they negotiate to get what they want? What are they willing to do or say to achieve their goal?
Watch any film or TV show, and you will see this played out on either a small or a larger level. If you watch Law & Order: Special Victims Unit – or most procedurals – you can see this play out in almost every scene. There is a conflict between the detectives over how to interrogate a suspect. There’s Conflict between the suspect and the detectives interrogating them. There’s Conflict while a witness is being questioned. All of which creates Dramatic Tension and leaves the audience curious and wanting more.
Comedy is also rife with Conflict. Yes, Dramatic Tension does exist in sitcoms and comedy movies as well. It’s what helps keep the story moving forward and the audience engaged. On I Love Lucy, Lucy Ricardo wants to be in a TV commercial. Her husband, Ricky, says she can’t do it. A Conflict between the two characters has now been created. It then evolves into Dramatic Tension, which in this case is played for laughs.
Conflict Isn’t Always Good vs. Evil
When we picture Conflict, we think of Batman vs. The Joker or some other large-scale epic showdown between good and evil. But that is not the case. While this is a clear-cut example, conflicts are often between best friends, or kids and parents, or employees and employers.
Maybe the characters just have a minor disagreement about how to punish their child for their bad behavior. Perhaps it’s a conflict between and father and son over what type of first job the son should apply for. Small conflicts between characters that aren’t an explosive battle of wills destroying Gotham City can be just as impactful, just as exciting, and just as engaging.
Conflict Should Be Organic
The source of the Conflict that occurs should have sense and logic to it within the story you are telling. Have you ever watched an action movie where a car chase or bar fight just happens for no reason? If there’s no reason for the Conflict to arise, it feels forced and out of place.
All characters want or need something. When your characters each want something different, a conflict is formed. In Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos wants the Infinity Stones to achieve his goal. The Avengers have an opposing goal: stop Thanos from acquiring the Infinity Stones. It’s a basic conflict, but it makes sense and is logical within the confines of the story being told.
There should be a reason for Conflict to exist at that moment in the story. If there’s no conflict present, figure out why and what’s causing a lack of Conflict between the characters involved. At the same time, don’t force Conflict to happen. If you cut the scene or chapter, would it impact the story?
Conflict Ups the Stakes for the Protagonist
Imagine a story where nothing goes wrong for the protagonist. No matter what, everything goes right. Now, take that same character on her way to a big job interview, when someone runs into her, shoves a device in her hand, and seconds later, the office building she was headed to explodes and collapses. As she comes back to the reality of the chaos around her, she discovers there’s a detonator in her hand. Her fingerprints are all over it. Someone notices the device in her hand and calls out. Panicked, she gets up and runs.
She’s now wrongly accused of blowing up a building that she was headed to, with her fingerprints on the detonator and people screaming that she caused the explosion.
Talk about Conflict and Upping the Stakes!
While this is an extreme example, giving the protagonist a – even to them – life and death situation to deal with gives them motivation to achieve a goal despite the odds. Katniss in The Hunger Games ups the stakes on herself when she volunteers to take her sister’s place in the games. The stakes continue to mount as the games continue, and she must do all she can to survive—plenty of Conflict.
In Legally Blonde, Elle Woods wants to go to Harvard Law School. Based on what we know about Elle at this point in the film, even we think she’s creating stakes that seem impossible.
Both The Hunger Games and Legally Blonde show us two strong protagonists actively putting themselves into situations where the stakes could not be higher for either one of them. The stakes up the Conflict, which increases the Dramatic Tension, which keeps the audience engaged.
Internal and External Conflict
Characters can have inner conflicts, wants, needs, desires, and motivations. These can help add dimension to a character and help lead to their growth and arc through the narrative.
External conflicts are opposing forces outside the inner life of the character.
In Lethal Weapon (1987), Sergeant Martin Riggs is depressed and suicidal (Internal Conflict) after the death of his wife (External Conflict). His new partner, Sergeant Roger Murtaugh, is melancholy about his age and retiring from the LAPD (Internal Conflict). He is not very happy to be saddled with a new partner who’s a live wire (External Conflict). Two characters with conflicting internal and external conflicts then have to face a conflict even larger than them. No wonder the movie was such a hit!
Giving your characters Internal Conflicts that must be dealt with during their External Conflicts is an excellent way to up the Stakes and add to the overall Dramatic Tension.
Creating Conflict between characters in your writing is a fun way to see how your protagonist and others respond to someone entering their space and destabilizing the neutral world they - like all of us in the real world - so desperately desire. Take a few of your characters and write a couple pages of Conflict between them and see if you discover anything new about them.
And, the next time you watch a movie, a TV show, or read a novel, observe what the Conflict is in each scene, what the stakes are, and how those conflicts and stakes lead to the dramatic tension in both the scene and the narrative as a whole.
Happy writing, and I’ll see you next week!
But not in fiction.
Fiction requires Conflict as an essential ingredient to make a narrative move forward. There has to be something or someone driving the protagonist to act; to get them out of their neutral state and make them work toward a goal that looks impossible to achieve on the surface.
Let’s explore a little about Conflict and its role in fiction.
Conflict = Dramatic Tension
Your protagonist wants something. Another character wants something else. Only one of them can get what they want in the scene or chapter. And so, this Conflict creates Dramatic Tension between the two characters, and – hopefully – the Conflict and dramatic tension pique the audiences’ interest. Who will get what they want? How will they negotiate to get what they want? What are they willing to do or say to achieve their goal?
Watch any film or TV show, and you will see this played out on either a small or a larger level. If you watch Law & Order: Special Victims Unit – or most procedurals – you can see this play out in almost every scene. There is a conflict between the detectives over how to interrogate a suspect. There’s Conflict between the suspect and the detectives interrogating them. There’s Conflict while a witness is being questioned. All of which creates Dramatic Tension and leaves the audience curious and wanting more.
Comedy is also rife with Conflict. Yes, Dramatic Tension does exist in sitcoms and comedy movies as well. It’s what helps keep the story moving forward and the audience engaged. On I Love Lucy, Lucy Ricardo wants to be in a TV commercial. Her husband, Ricky, says she can’t do it. A Conflict between the two characters has now been created. It then evolves into Dramatic Tension, which in this case is played for laughs.
Conflict Isn’t Always Good vs. Evil
When we picture Conflict, we think of Batman vs. The Joker or some other large-scale epic showdown between good and evil. But that is not the case. While this is a clear-cut example, conflicts are often between best friends, or kids and parents, or employees and employers.
Maybe the characters just have a minor disagreement about how to punish their child for their bad behavior. Perhaps it’s a conflict between and father and son over what type of first job the son should apply for. Small conflicts between characters that aren’t an explosive battle of wills destroying Gotham City can be just as impactful, just as exciting, and just as engaging.
Conflict Should Be Organic
The source of the Conflict that occurs should have sense and logic to it within the story you are telling. Have you ever watched an action movie where a car chase or bar fight just happens for no reason? If there’s no reason for the Conflict to arise, it feels forced and out of place.
All characters want or need something. When your characters each want something different, a conflict is formed. In Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos wants the Infinity Stones to achieve his goal. The Avengers have an opposing goal: stop Thanos from acquiring the Infinity Stones. It’s a basic conflict, but it makes sense and is logical within the confines of the story being told.
There should be a reason for Conflict to exist at that moment in the story. If there’s no conflict present, figure out why and what’s causing a lack of Conflict between the characters involved. At the same time, don’t force Conflict to happen. If you cut the scene or chapter, would it impact the story?
Conflict Ups the Stakes for the Protagonist
Imagine a story where nothing goes wrong for the protagonist. No matter what, everything goes right. Now, take that same character on her way to a big job interview, when someone runs into her, shoves a device in her hand, and seconds later, the office building she was headed to explodes and collapses. As she comes back to the reality of the chaos around her, she discovers there’s a detonator in her hand. Her fingerprints are all over it. Someone notices the device in her hand and calls out. Panicked, she gets up and runs.
She’s now wrongly accused of blowing up a building that she was headed to, with her fingerprints on the detonator and people screaming that she caused the explosion.
Talk about Conflict and Upping the Stakes!
While this is an extreme example, giving the protagonist a – even to them – life and death situation to deal with gives them motivation to achieve a goal despite the odds. Katniss in The Hunger Games ups the stakes on herself when she volunteers to take her sister’s place in the games. The stakes continue to mount as the games continue, and she must do all she can to survive—plenty of Conflict.
In Legally Blonde, Elle Woods wants to go to Harvard Law School. Based on what we know about Elle at this point in the film, even we think she’s creating stakes that seem impossible.
Both The Hunger Games and Legally Blonde show us two strong protagonists actively putting themselves into situations where the stakes could not be higher for either one of them. The stakes up the Conflict, which increases the Dramatic Tension, which keeps the audience engaged.
Internal and External Conflict
Characters can have inner conflicts, wants, needs, desires, and motivations. These can help add dimension to a character and help lead to their growth and arc through the narrative.
External conflicts are opposing forces outside the inner life of the character.
In Lethal Weapon (1987), Sergeant Martin Riggs is depressed and suicidal (Internal Conflict) after the death of his wife (External Conflict). His new partner, Sergeant Roger Murtaugh, is melancholy about his age and retiring from the LAPD (Internal Conflict). He is not very happy to be saddled with a new partner who’s a live wire (External Conflict). Two characters with conflicting internal and external conflicts then have to face a conflict even larger than them. No wonder the movie was such a hit!
Giving your characters Internal Conflicts that must be dealt with during their External Conflicts is an excellent way to up the Stakes and add to the overall Dramatic Tension.
Creating Conflict between characters in your writing is a fun way to see how your protagonist and others respond to someone entering their space and destabilizing the neutral world they - like all of us in the real world - so desperately desire. Take a few of your characters and write a couple pages of Conflict between them and see if you discover anything new about them.
And, the next time you watch a movie, a TV show, or read a novel, observe what the Conflict is in each scene, what the stakes are, and how those conflicts and stakes lead to the dramatic tension in both the scene and the narrative as a whole.
Happy writing, and I’ll see you next week!
April 25, 2021
Writing Tip of the Week: A Cinematic Writing Assignment
What’s your favorite movie? What makes that particular film stand out from the rest of the millions that exist? What is it about that story, its characters, or its themes that left an impression on you?
Time to do a little homework.
I know, I know. Homework. Booooooring! I get it. But, this is creative homework. This is your chance to do a deep dive into your favorite film and get to the heart of why it affects you and why you enjoy it. In turn, this exercise will help you as a writer by giving insight into how they create a compelling story, how they utilize storytelling structure, and how they create compelling characters.
What You Need
- Grab a notepad or legal pad and a pen or pencil.
- A copy of your favorite movie.
- Your Analytical Cap.
- Good Pause Button skills (you’ll be using this a lot).
Think of yourself as a story archaeologist. Your mission is to unearth the storytelling secrets hidden beneath the surface of the film you chose.
Viewing #1
I know it’s your favorite, but as you go through this first time, write down your favorite moments and note at what time or on what page number they occur. Was it a plot point that intrigued you? A clever line of dialogue? A character moment? Write it down and write down why you reacted the way you did to that element.
Do this for the whole movie, then read back through what you observed.
Viewing #2
This round is all about the story. In one or two sentences, write down what happens in each scene that moves the story forward. What’s the main conflict in each scene? You can number the scenes or write a general location of where the scene takes place.
If scenes are revolving around a sub-plot, see how that smaller story is resolved or if it dovetails into the main story.
By the end, you should be able to go back through your notes and see the primary story arc evolve throughout the film. Does each scene feed into the next? Do you notice a pattern as to when the story has significant changes?
All screenplays have a basic story structure. There are dozens of ways to break down that structure, but for the purposes of this exercise, I’ll refer you to The Syd Field Paradigm.
If the screenwriter did their job correctly, these elements should be crystal clear and easy to identify as you review your notes. Highlight or underline what you feel these moments are.
Viewing #3
This final round is all about character. Your job is to watch how the main character changes over the course of the story. What traits do they have at the start of the story? Do they become a better person or a worse person by the end?
This is another scene-by-scene breakdown. Write down in a couple sentences what the main character is doing, how they’re acting, what you feel their motivation or conflict is in the scene. As you go through, you should be able to see their discernable character arc as they navigate their way through the ups and downs of the plot. How does the story impact who they are as a character? How do they impact the events of the story?
Read back through and see if you can clearly identify when the writer began to make changes in the character and how those changes altered the main character by the end of the story.
So, What Did We Learn?
So, now you’ve watched your favorite film three more times and have done some digging into its inner workings. By breaking the movie into its basic components, you have a clearer picture of how this screenwriter crafted a compelling story with an interesting main character. You can see where the story beats are, where the direction of the story changes, and how those elements either impact the main character’s arc or how their arc impacts the story.
Keep this exercise in mind when you finish a draft of your screenplay, play, or novel. If you were to sit down and do this exercise with your work, could you summarize what’s happening in each scene in a sentence or two? Would those sentences be enough to show the main story’s arc throughout the narrative? Does your main character evolve over the course of the story? What happens to cause the change from start to finish?
Consider doing this exercise with your own work to help you strengthen your story and main character in your different drafts.
Extra Credit
Now, if you enjoyed that exercise, why not try it with a movie you strongly dislike? I know it can be hard to stomach a film you can’t stand, but take the emotion out and look at it from an analytical perspective.
The first time through, write down all the elements you dislike and why. If anything does work for you, write it down.
The second and third viewings should be done similar to the ones stated above. You may find that the story arc and/or main character arc are weak and lacking in a lot of ways.
How would you, as this film’s screenwriter, fix these weaknesses? When you read back through, brainstorm what you would have done to make the story and character elements stronger and more effective.
You can learn a lot from both good and bad films by breaking their stories down into their component parts. I highly recommend reading screenplays for films as well. Screenplays give you the nuts and bolts of story and character without the distraction and spectacle so you can analyze things even more in-depth. I recommend checking out the link below to find screenplays to break down and analyze.
Happy writing and analyzing. I’ll see you next week!
Time to do a little homework.
I know, I know. Homework. Booooooring! I get it. But, this is creative homework. This is your chance to do a deep dive into your favorite film and get to the heart of why it affects you and why you enjoy it. In turn, this exercise will help you as a writer by giving insight into how they create a compelling story, how they utilize storytelling structure, and how they create compelling characters.
What You Need
- Grab a notepad or legal pad and a pen or pencil.
- A copy of your favorite movie.
- Your Analytical Cap.
- Good Pause Button skills (you’ll be using this a lot).
Think of yourself as a story archaeologist. Your mission is to unearth the storytelling secrets hidden beneath the surface of the film you chose.
Viewing #1
I know it’s your favorite, but as you go through this first time, write down your favorite moments and note at what time or on what page number they occur. Was it a plot point that intrigued you? A clever line of dialogue? A character moment? Write it down and write down why you reacted the way you did to that element.
Do this for the whole movie, then read back through what you observed.
Viewing #2
This round is all about the story. In one or two sentences, write down what happens in each scene that moves the story forward. What’s the main conflict in each scene? You can number the scenes or write a general location of where the scene takes place.
If scenes are revolving around a sub-plot, see how that smaller story is resolved or if it dovetails into the main story.
By the end, you should be able to go back through your notes and see the primary story arc evolve throughout the film. Does each scene feed into the next? Do you notice a pattern as to when the story has significant changes?
All screenplays have a basic story structure. There are dozens of ways to break down that structure, but for the purposes of this exercise, I’ll refer you to The Syd Field Paradigm.
If the screenwriter did their job correctly, these elements should be crystal clear and easy to identify as you review your notes. Highlight or underline what you feel these moments are.
Viewing #3
This final round is all about character. Your job is to watch how the main character changes over the course of the story. What traits do they have at the start of the story? Do they become a better person or a worse person by the end?
This is another scene-by-scene breakdown. Write down in a couple sentences what the main character is doing, how they’re acting, what you feel their motivation or conflict is in the scene. As you go through, you should be able to see their discernable character arc as they navigate their way through the ups and downs of the plot. How does the story impact who they are as a character? How do they impact the events of the story?
Read back through and see if you can clearly identify when the writer began to make changes in the character and how those changes altered the main character by the end of the story.
So, What Did We Learn?
So, now you’ve watched your favorite film three more times and have done some digging into its inner workings. By breaking the movie into its basic components, you have a clearer picture of how this screenwriter crafted a compelling story with an interesting main character. You can see where the story beats are, where the direction of the story changes, and how those elements either impact the main character’s arc or how their arc impacts the story.
Keep this exercise in mind when you finish a draft of your screenplay, play, or novel. If you were to sit down and do this exercise with your work, could you summarize what’s happening in each scene in a sentence or two? Would those sentences be enough to show the main story’s arc throughout the narrative? Does your main character evolve over the course of the story? What happens to cause the change from start to finish?
Consider doing this exercise with your own work to help you strengthen your story and main character in your different drafts.
Extra Credit
Now, if you enjoyed that exercise, why not try it with a movie you strongly dislike? I know it can be hard to stomach a film you can’t stand, but take the emotion out and look at it from an analytical perspective.
The first time through, write down all the elements you dislike and why. If anything does work for you, write it down.
The second and third viewings should be done similar to the ones stated above. You may find that the story arc and/or main character arc are weak and lacking in a lot of ways.
How would you, as this film’s screenwriter, fix these weaknesses? When you read back through, brainstorm what you would have done to make the story and character elements stronger and more effective.
You can learn a lot from both good and bad films by breaking their stories down into their component parts. I highly recommend reading screenplays for films as well. Screenplays give you the nuts and bolts of story and character without the distraction and spectacle so you can analyze things even more in-depth. I recommend checking out the link below to find screenplays to break down and analyze.
Happy writing and analyzing. I’ll see you next week!
April 18, 2021
Writing Tip of the Week: What POV is Best for Your Story?
The point-of-view, or POV your story is told from, can impact how you present the story and how readers experience it. Through this chosen perspective, we decide how much information will be delivered to the audience throughout the story and how they’re meant to process and use that information as the story unfolds.
Here are the four POVs generally used in fiction.
First-Person
Everything we are learning and experiencing during the story is told from the point of view of the main character. They are literally our eyes and ears to the story, other characters, and their opinions influence how we as readers understand the world being presented.
EXAMPLE: I walked down the long, dark hallway. Cobwebs brushed across my face, which sent a chill up my spine and my heart rate to increase. I moved toward two doors: a blue door to my left and a red door to my right.
Most novels that are written in first-person stay in first-person the entire time. A few exceptions are in the case of novelist Nelson DeMille. His main characters tell the story in first-person, while the antagonist’s chapters are in third-person limited.
Second-Person
Most of us who grew up in the 80s and 90s recall the Choose Your Own Adventure book series. These were books written in the second-person and used “You” throughout the story.
EXAMPLE: You walk down a long, dark hallway. Cobwebs lightly brush across your face as you move toward two doors: a blue one on the left and a red one on the right.
This was followed by: If you open the red door, turn to the next page. If you open the blue door, turn to page 38.
I don’t often see this POV outside of this particular genre. Still, it’s a unique way to literally get your reader into the main character’s shoes by making them the main character.
Third-Person Limited
With this point-of-view, you can be inside the head of one character at a time. You can have them share their inner thoughts and feelings with the reader; you can give us private moments with them. But once you’re in their head, you must stay in their head until there is a clear designation that we are now moving into another character’s POV. This could be a break in the action using a symbol if the switch happens in a chapter, or at the start of a new chapter.
Just make sure the switch is clear.
EXAMPLE: David walked down the long, dark hallway. He felt cobwebs brush across his face, which sent a chill up his spine and caused his heart rate to increase. This was a bad idea, he thought, as he moved toward two doors: a blue one on his left and a red one on his right.
XXX
Seth knew David would pick the blue door. After all, it was David’s favorite color, and Seth was certain that David would pick the right door and see the surprise party waiting behind it.
This POV is common in novels today. It’s less limiting than first-person or second-person. It allows you to explore the inner thoughts of multiple characters. Just make sure that it’s clear when you do the switch.
Third-Person Omniscient
This POV allows us to explore internal and external aspects of different characters without the restraints of a first-person, second-person, or third-person limited point-of-view. In this context, Omniscient means “having infinite awareness, understanding, and insight.” The narrator gives details and information about multiple characters’ pasts, their motivations, and their personalities since this narrator can be wherever they want to be.
For example, suppose there’s a chapter with a party. In the Omniscient POV, we can go from person to person and learn about them without abruptly changing points-of-view to a character who might know that person better or to the point-of-view of the character being focused on. With Omniscient, we can give the reader any information about any character as it’s needed.
EXAMPLE: David walked down the long, dark hallway. He felt cobwebs brush across his face, which sent a chill up his spine and caused his heart rate to increase. This was a bad idea, he thought, as he moved toward two doors: a blue one on his left and a red one on his right.
Seth awaited David’s choice behind the blue door, knowing he would pick the blue door since blue was David’s favorite color. Seth couldn’t wait for David to open the door and see the surprise party waiting for him.
This POV also enables the narrator to tell the reader things that the characters may not even be aware of that could impact them in the future. It also allows the narrator to give the reader insight into something they need to know to contextualize the story.
An excellent example of this is the opening chapter of The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Steinbeck takes the time to introduce the reader to the world of The Great Depression in Oklahoma, giving us details that clue us in to what’s happening without introducing any of the main characters. Now, we’re up to speed on what’s going on, so when we do meet the Joad family, we’re more acclimated to their dire circumstances.
Read the first chapter here: https://genius.com/John-steinbeck-chapter-1-the-grapes-of-wrath-annotated
Definition Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/omniscient
Which One Is Right for Your Story?
In the early stages of your writing, play around with the different POVs and see which one might work best for the story you want to tell. Do you need to have the reader know the story from varied points of view? Then Third-Person Limited or Omniscient might be good choices. Does your main character’s worldview dominate the story? Perhaps the First-Person POV is a good fit.
Taking the time to nail this down early will prevent rewrite headaches later on. Write a draft of the same section of the story in the different POVs and see which one feels suitable for the story you want to tell.
Happy writing, and I’ll see you next week!
Here are the four POVs generally used in fiction.
First-Person
Everything we are learning and experiencing during the story is told from the point of view of the main character. They are literally our eyes and ears to the story, other characters, and their opinions influence how we as readers understand the world being presented.
EXAMPLE: I walked down the long, dark hallway. Cobwebs brushed across my face, which sent a chill up my spine and my heart rate to increase. I moved toward two doors: a blue door to my left and a red door to my right.
Most novels that are written in first-person stay in first-person the entire time. A few exceptions are in the case of novelist Nelson DeMille. His main characters tell the story in first-person, while the antagonist’s chapters are in third-person limited.
Second-Person
Most of us who grew up in the 80s and 90s recall the Choose Your Own Adventure book series. These were books written in the second-person and used “You” throughout the story.
EXAMPLE: You walk down a long, dark hallway. Cobwebs lightly brush across your face as you move toward two doors: a blue one on the left and a red one on the right.
This was followed by: If you open the red door, turn to the next page. If you open the blue door, turn to page 38.
I don’t often see this POV outside of this particular genre. Still, it’s a unique way to literally get your reader into the main character’s shoes by making them the main character.
Third-Person Limited
With this point-of-view, you can be inside the head of one character at a time. You can have them share their inner thoughts and feelings with the reader; you can give us private moments with them. But once you’re in their head, you must stay in their head until there is a clear designation that we are now moving into another character’s POV. This could be a break in the action using a symbol if the switch happens in a chapter, or at the start of a new chapter.
Just make sure the switch is clear.
EXAMPLE: David walked down the long, dark hallway. He felt cobwebs brush across his face, which sent a chill up his spine and caused his heart rate to increase. This was a bad idea, he thought, as he moved toward two doors: a blue one on his left and a red one on his right.
XXX
Seth knew David would pick the blue door. After all, it was David’s favorite color, and Seth was certain that David would pick the right door and see the surprise party waiting behind it.
This POV is common in novels today. It’s less limiting than first-person or second-person. It allows you to explore the inner thoughts of multiple characters. Just make sure that it’s clear when you do the switch.
Third-Person Omniscient
This POV allows us to explore internal and external aspects of different characters without the restraints of a first-person, second-person, or third-person limited point-of-view. In this context, Omniscient means “having infinite awareness, understanding, and insight.” The narrator gives details and information about multiple characters’ pasts, their motivations, and their personalities since this narrator can be wherever they want to be.
For example, suppose there’s a chapter with a party. In the Omniscient POV, we can go from person to person and learn about them without abruptly changing points-of-view to a character who might know that person better or to the point-of-view of the character being focused on. With Omniscient, we can give the reader any information about any character as it’s needed.
EXAMPLE: David walked down the long, dark hallway. He felt cobwebs brush across his face, which sent a chill up his spine and caused his heart rate to increase. This was a bad idea, he thought, as he moved toward two doors: a blue one on his left and a red one on his right.
Seth awaited David’s choice behind the blue door, knowing he would pick the blue door since blue was David’s favorite color. Seth couldn’t wait for David to open the door and see the surprise party waiting for him.
This POV also enables the narrator to tell the reader things that the characters may not even be aware of that could impact them in the future. It also allows the narrator to give the reader insight into something they need to know to contextualize the story.
An excellent example of this is the opening chapter of The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Steinbeck takes the time to introduce the reader to the world of The Great Depression in Oklahoma, giving us details that clue us in to what’s happening without introducing any of the main characters. Now, we’re up to speed on what’s going on, so when we do meet the Joad family, we’re more acclimated to their dire circumstances.
Read the first chapter here: https://genius.com/John-steinbeck-chapter-1-the-grapes-of-wrath-annotated
Definition Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/omniscient
Which One Is Right for Your Story?
In the early stages of your writing, play around with the different POVs and see which one might work best for the story you want to tell. Do you need to have the reader know the story from varied points of view? Then Third-Person Limited or Omniscient might be good choices. Does your main character’s worldview dominate the story? Perhaps the First-Person POV is a good fit.
Taking the time to nail this down early will prevent rewrite headaches later on. Write a draft of the same section of the story in the different POVs and see which one feels suitable for the story you want to tell.
Happy writing, and I’ll see you next week!
April 11, 2021
Writing Tip of the Week: Getting into Character
A story needs compelling and engaging characters that change throughout the narrative to keep readers/viewers engaged with the events unfolding before them. No matter who the character is, it’s essential as a writer to have a strong sense of who they are and where they were before the events of the story you are creating. Let’s look at a few ways you can do this in the pre-writing phase of your project.
Basic Stats
One of the easiest methods of getting to know your characters is to bullet-point the basics about them. Name. Age. Profession. A few significant events that affected their lives before the story. Personality traits. Relationships with others. Writing these down and having them as a reference can help ensure that characters have continuity throughout your story.
Obviously, you want your protagonist to have a strong arc that allows them to evolve over the course of the story. But their past and present circumstances aid in dealing with the conflicts set before them and how they reconcile and move on as a character at the conclusion of the story.
I recommend doing this for the protagonist and antagonist and other key characters that are a main part of the story.
Character Biographies
A significant step-up from what I mentioned above is creating detailed and in-depth character bios for your protagonist, antagonist, and other key players in your story. Create a 500-word essay about your characters, detailing their lives in an A&E Biography manner. This gives you more creative latitude than the bullet-point method but is more time-consuming.
This is ideal for historical fiction since you can do the research to find out more about the time period, social structure, environment, clothing, and other key factors that will make your historical novel more accurate.
Backstory Not Included
Should your Stats and Bios be used liberally in your novel or merely as reference material? The lawyerly answer: It depends. If what is happening in the story is directly affected by past events in the character’s life, I would definitely mention the relevant elements. But don’t just do an info dump. Weave relevant aspects of their past into the narrative or dialogue.
The reader/viewer must feel that this character existed before the story they are now experiencing. Your characters shouldn’t begin and end when the current story does. They should feel like real, active people being observed during a particularly eventful and life-altering time in their lives.
How Did They Get Here?
Our past life experiences influence how we deal with the present. The same is true for fictional characters. Who was Tony Stark before he became Iron Man? Who was Jack Torrance before the events at the Overlook Hotel in The Shining? What was Starr Carter’s world like before the events in The Hate U Give?
Dr. Phil has a useful tool that can aid you with these questions in both your own life and in the lives of your characters. He breaks it down into what he calls The 10/7/5 Philosophy. Even if you aren’t a fan of Dr. Phil, this method is an excellent tool for getting creating greater depth in your characters:
Ten Defining Moments: In every person’s life, there have been moments, both positive and negative, that have defined and redefined who you are. Those events entered your consciousness with such power that they changed the very core of who and what you thought you were. A part of you was changed by those events, and caused you to define yourself, to some degree by your experience of that event.
Seven Critical Choices: There are a surprisingly small number of choices that rise to the level of life-changing ones. Critical choices are those that have changed your life, positively or negatively, and are major factors in determining who and what you will become. They are the choices that have affected your life up to today and have set you on a path.
Five Pivotal People: These are the people who have left indelible impressions on your concept of self, and therefore, the life you live. They may be family members, friends or co-workers, and their influences can be either positive or negative. They are people who can determine whether you live consistently with your authentic self, or instead live a counterfeit life controlled by a fictional self that has crowded out who you really are.
Source: https://www.drphil.com/advice/defining-your-external-factors/
Your characters are the true lifeblood of your story. They are the ones we care about, empathize with, and follow on their journey as they traverse the hills and valleys of the narrative unfolding before them. It’s important to take the time to get to know your characters’ history, so you can better understand how they react to their present circumstances. Then, you can use that information to evolve them into their future selves.
Happy writing, and I’ll see you next week!
Basic Stats
One of the easiest methods of getting to know your characters is to bullet-point the basics about them. Name. Age. Profession. A few significant events that affected their lives before the story. Personality traits. Relationships with others. Writing these down and having them as a reference can help ensure that characters have continuity throughout your story.
Obviously, you want your protagonist to have a strong arc that allows them to evolve over the course of the story. But their past and present circumstances aid in dealing with the conflicts set before them and how they reconcile and move on as a character at the conclusion of the story.
I recommend doing this for the protagonist and antagonist and other key characters that are a main part of the story.
Character Biographies
A significant step-up from what I mentioned above is creating detailed and in-depth character bios for your protagonist, antagonist, and other key players in your story. Create a 500-word essay about your characters, detailing their lives in an A&E Biography manner. This gives you more creative latitude than the bullet-point method but is more time-consuming.
This is ideal for historical fiction since you can do the research to find out more about the time period, social structure, environment, clothing, and other key factors that will make your historical novel more accurate.
Backstory Not Included
Should your Stats and Bios be used liberally in your novel or merely as reference material? The lawyerly answer: It depends. If what is happening in the story is directly affected by past events in the character’s life, I would definitely mention the relevant elements. But don’t just do an info dump. Weave relevant aspects of their past into the narrative or dialogue.
The reader/viewer must feel that this character existed before the story they are now experiencing. Your characters shouldn’t begin and end when the current story does. They should feel like real, active people being observed during a particularly eventful and life-altering time in their lives.
How Did They Get Here?
Our past life experiences influence how we deal with the present. The same is true for fictional characters. Who was Tony Stark before he became Iron Man? Who was Jack Torrance before the events at the Overlook Hotel in The Shining? What was Starr Carter’s world like before the events in The Hate U Give?
Dr. Phil has a useful tool that can aid you with these questions in both your own life and in the lives of your characters. He breaks it down into what he calls The 10/7/5 Philosophy. Even if you aren’t a fan of Dr. Phil, this method is an excellent tool for getting creating greater depth in your characters:
Ten Defining Moments: In every person’s life, there have been moments, both positive and negative, that have defined and redefined who you are. Those events entered your consciousness with such power that they changed the very core of who and what you thought you were. A part of you was changed by those events, and caused you to define yourself, to some degree by your experience of that event.
Seven Critical Choices: There are a surprisingly small number of choices that rise to the level of life-changing ones. Critical choices are those that have changed your life, positively or negatively, and are major factors in determining who and what you will become. They are the choices that have affected your life up to today and have set you on a path.
Five Pivotal People: These are the people who have left indelible impressions on your concept of self, and therefore, the life you live. They may be family members, friends or co-workers, and their influences can be either positive or negative. They are people who can determine whether you live consistently with your authentic self, or instead live a counterfeit life controlled by a fictional self that has crowded out who you really are.
Source: https://www.drphil.com/advice/defining-your-external-factors/
Your characters are the true lifeblood of your story. They are the ones we care about, empathize with, and follow on their journey as they traverse the hills and valleys of the narrative unfolding before them. It’s important to take the time to get to know your characters’ history, so you can better understand how they react to their present circumstances. Then, you can use that information to evolve them into their future selves.
Happy writing, and I’ll see you next week!
