Alexandra Sokoloff's Blog, page 25

Top Ten Holiday Movies

The best thing about Christmas, besides champagne, is Christmas movies (and okay, what I really mean is HOLIDAY movies, but when I say Christmas I say it as a total pagan, so just back off).

Today I'm seeing my all-time favorite, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, on the big screen for the first time. Can't beat that for Christmas Eve!!

But you all know how I love lists, so here it is, the Top Ten Holiday Movie List.



IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE

A non-escapist fantasy that puts you through the emotional wringer only to emerge the feel-good - that's, feel GOOD - film of all time.

Used to show it to my gang kids in prison school – it remains one of the all-time highlights of my life to see those kids start out whining that I was showing them a black and white film and then watch them fall under this movie’s spell. Oh man, did they GET it.








HOLIDAY

George Cukor directing a Donald Ogden Stewart & Sidney Buchman adaptation of a Philip Barry play starring Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn. Anything else you need to know?

PHILADELPHIA STORY

See above, plus Jimmy Stewart, and the brilliant and under-known Ruth Hussey (“Oh, I just photograph well.”) and Virginia Weidler as the weirdest little sister on the planet (“I did it. I did it ALL.”) Not a holiday movie, per se, but if you’re looking for cheer...





HOLIDAY INN

The ultimate escapist fantasy. Yes, let me make a living doing 12 live shows a year, simultaneously keeping two men at my beck and call, one who sings, one who dances. Where do I sign? Best line: “But I do love you, Jim. I love everybody.” Best song: “Be Careful, It’s My Heart”. Best dance - Fred and the firecrackers. Best cat-fight moment: Marjorie Reynolds trying to look contented with Bing Crosby while Fred is dancing up a storm with Virginia Dale.  (But be sure to get the one with the appalling Lincoln's birthday sequence edited out...)






RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER

Best Christmas musical soundtrack there is – one great song after another - only the whole thing makes me cry so hard I generally end up avoiding it.



FAWLTY TOWERS

BBC series written by and starring John Cleese and Connie Booth, with Cleese as the most incompetent innkeeper in the history of innkeeping. The entire series is genius, every single episode - not exactly holiday themed, either, but guaranteed healer of depression and all other ills. Be prepared to laugh until you're sick.









ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS

My brother turned the fam onto AB FAB and now it just wouldn’t be a holiday without Patsy and Eddy and Saffy. Sin is in, sweetie.



GODSPELL and JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR

Okay, so I’m not technically a Christian or anything, but I can see God in those two shows.



So give. What movies mean Christmas, or the equivalent, to YOU?

Have a wonderful holiday!!!

- Alex

Nanowrimo Now What: Rewriting

Now that we've had some time off from the frenzy of writing that was November, we need to get back to those drafts and - yike - see what we've got.

Remember, the most important thing is taking enough time off from that draft.  But now that you have taken the time off… how the hell do you proceed with the second draft?
Well, first you have to read the first draft. All the way through. Not necessarily in one sitting (if that’s even possible to begin with!).  I usually do this in chunks of 50 pages or 100 pages a day – anything else makes my brain sore.
(And yes, if you’ve been paying attention (The Three Act Structure and The Eight Sequence Structure), that would mean I’m either reading one sequence or two sequences a day).
I picked up a tip from some book or article a long time ago about reading for revisions, and I wish I could remember who said it to credit them, because it’s great advice. Grab yourself a colored pen or pencil (or all kinds of colors, glitter pens - go wild) and sit down with a stack of freshly printed pages (sorry, it’s ungreen, but I can’t do a first revision on a screen. I need a hard copy). Then read through and make brief notes where necessary, but DO NOT start rewriting, and PUT THE PEN DOWN as soon as you’ve made a note. You want to read the first time through for story, not for stupid details that will interrupt your experience of the story as a whole. You want to get the big picture – especially – you want to see if you actually have a book (or film, if that’s what you’re writing).
If your drafts are anything like mine, there will be large chunks of absolute shit. That’s pretty much my definition of what a first draft is. X them out on the spot if you have to, but resist the temptation to stop and rewrite. Well, if you REALLY are hot to write a scene, I guess, okay, but really, unless you are totally, fanatically inspired, it’s better just to make brief notes.
When you’ve finished reading there should - hopefully! - be the feeling that even though you probably still have massive amounts of work yet to do, there is a book there. (I love that feeling…)
Once I’ve read through the entire thing, I make notes about my impressions, and then usually I will do a re-card (see The Index Card Method). I will have made many scribbled notes on the draft to the effect of “This scene doesn’t work here!” In some of my first drafts, whole sections don’t work at all. This is my chance to find the right places for things. And, of course, throw stuff out.
I will go through the entire book again – going back and forth between my pages and the cards on my story grid - and see where the story elements fall. There is no script or book I’ve ever written that didn’t benefit from a careful overview once again identifying act breaks, sequence climaxes, and key story elements like: The Call to Adventure; Stating the Theme; identifying the Central Question; Central Action and Plan; Crossing the Threshold; Meeting the Mentor; the Dark Night of the Soul - once the first draft is actually finished. A lot of your outline may have changed, and you will be able to pull your story into line much more effectively if you check your structural elements again and continually be thinking of how you can make those key scenes more significant, more magical.
(For a quick refresher on Story Elements, skip down to #10 at the bottom of this post, and the links at the end for more in-depth discussion.)
Also, be very aware of what your sequences are. If a scene isn’t working, but you know you need to have it, it’s probably in the wrong sequence, and if you look at your story overall and at what each sequence is doing, you’ll probably be able to see immediately where stray scenes need to go. That’s why re-carding and re-sequencing is such a great thing to do when you start a revision.
Now, the next steps can be taken in whatever order is useful to you, but here again are the Top Ten Things I Know About Editing.

1. Cut, cut, cut.
When you first start writing, you are reluctant to cut anything. Believe me, I remember. But the truth is, beginning writers very, very, VERY often duplicate scenes, and characters, too. And dialogue, oh man, do inexperienced writers duplicate dialogue! The same things happen over and over again, are said over and over again. It will be less painful for you to cut if you learn to look for and start to recognize when you’re duplicating scenes, actions, characters and dialogue. Those are the obvious places to cut and combine.
Some very wise writer (unfortunately I have no idea who) said, “If it occurs to you to cut, do so.” This seems harsh and scary, I know. Often I’ll flag something in a manuscript as “Could cut”, and leave it in my draft for several passes until I finally bite the bullet and get rid of it. So, you know, that’s fine. Allow yourself to CONSIDER cutting something, first. No commitment! Then if you do, fine. But once you’ve considered cutting, you almost always will. It's okay if you bitch about it all the way to the trash file, too - I always do.
2. Find a great critique group.
This is easier said than done, but you NEED a group, or a series of readers, who will commit themselves to making your work the best it can be, just as you commit the same to their work. Editors don’t edit the way they used to and publishing houses expect their authors to find friends to do that kind of intensive editing. Really.
3. Do several passes.
Finish your first draft, no matter how rough it is. Then give yourself a break — a week is good, two weeks is better, three weeks is better than that — as time permits. Then read, cut, polish, put in notes. Repeat. And repeat again. Always give yourself time off between reads if you can. The closer your book is to done, the more uncomfortable the unwieldy sections will seem to you, and you will be more and more okay with getting rid of them. Read on for the specific kinds of passes I recommend doing.
4. Whatever your genre is, do a dedicated pass focusing on that crucial genre element.
For a thriller: thrills and suspense. For a mystery: clues and misdirection and suspense. For a comedy: a comedic pass. For a romance: a sex pass. Or “emotional” pass, if you must call it that. For horror… well, you get it.
I write suspense. So after I’ve written that first agonizing bash-through draft of a book or script, and probably a second or third draft just to make it readable, I will at some point do a dedicated pass just to amp up the suspense, and I highly recommend trying it, because it’s amazing how many great ideas you will come up with for suspense scenes (or comic scenes, or romantic scenes) if you are going through your story JUST focused on how to inject and layer in suspense, or horror, or comedy, or romance. It’s your JOB to deliver the genre you’re writing in. It’s worth a dedicated pass to make sure you’re giving your readers what they’re buying the book for.
5. Know your Three Act Structure.
If something in your story is sagging, it is amazing how quickly you can pull your narrative into line by looking at the scene or sequence you have around page 100 (or whatever page is ¼ way through the book), page 200, (or whatever page is ½ way through the book), page 300 (or whatever page is ¾ through the book) and your climax. Each of those scenes should be huge, pivotal, devastating, game-changing scenes or sequences (even if it’s just emotional devastation). Those four points are the tentpoles of your story.
6. Do a dedicated DESIRE LINE pass in which you ask yourself for every scene: “What does this character WANT? Who is opposing her/him in this scene? Who WINS in the scene? What will they do now?”
7. Do a dedicated EMOTIONAL pass, in which you ask yourself in every chapter, every scene, what do I want my readers to FEEL in this moment?
8. Do a dedicated SENSORY pass, in which you make sure you’re covering what you want the reader to see, hear, feel, taste, smell, and sense.
9. Read your book aloud. All of it. Cover to cover.
I wouldn’t recommend doing this with a first draft unless you feel it’s very close to the final product, but when you’re further along, the best thing I know to do to edit a book — or script — is read it aloud. The whole thing. I know, this takes several days, and you will lose your voice. Get some good cough drops. But there is no better way to find errors — spelling, grammar, continuity, and rhythmic errors. Try it, you’ll be amazed.
10. Finally, and this is a big one: steal from film structure to pull your story into dramatic line.
Some of you are already well aware that I’ve compiled a checklist of story elements that I use both when I’m brainstorming a story on index cards, and again when I’m starting to revise. I find it invaluable to go through my first draft and make sure I’m hitting all of these points, so here it is again, for those just finding this post.

STORY ELEMENTS CHECKLIST
ACT ONE
* Opening image* Meet the hero or heroine* Hero/ine’s inner and outer desire.* Hero/ine’s problem* Hero/ine’s ghost or wound* Hero/ine’s arc* Inciting Incident/Call to Adventure* Meet the antagonist (and/or introduce a mystery, which is what you do when you’re going to keep your antagonist hidden to reveal at the end)* State the theme/what’s the story about?* Allies* Mentor (possibly. May not have one or may be revealed later in the story).* Love interest* Plant/Reveal (or: Setups and Payoffs)* Hope/Fear (and Stakes)* Time Clock (possibly. May not have one or may be revealed later in the story)* Sequence One climax* Central Question* Central Story Action* Plan (Hero/ine's)* Villain's Plan* Act One climax
___________________________
ACT TWO

* Crossing the Threshold/ Into the Special World (may occur in Act One)* Threshold Guardian (maybe)* Hero/ine’s Plan* Antagonist’s Plan* Training Sequence* Series of Tests* Picking up new Allies* Assembling the Team* Attacks by the Antagonist (whether or not the Hero/ine recognizes these as being from the antagonist)* In a detective story, questioning witnesses, lining up and eliminating suspects, following clues.

THE MIDPOINT

* Completely changes the game* Locks the hero/ine into a situation or action* Can be a huge revelation* Can be a huge defeat* Can be a “now it’s personal” loss* Can be sex at 60 — the lovers finally get together, only to open up a whole new world of problems

______________________________ACT TWO, PART TWO

* Recalibrating — after the shock or defeat of the game-changer in the Midpoint, the hero/ine must Revamp The Plan and try a New Mode of Attack.* Escalating Actions/ Obsessive Drive* Hard Choices and Crossing The Line (immoral actions by the main character to get what s/he wants)* Loss of Key Allies (possibly because of the hero/ine’s obsessive actions, possibly through death or injury by the antagonist).* A Ticking Clock (can happen anywhere in the story)* Reversals and Revelations/Twists. (Hmm, that clearly should have its own post, now, shouldn't it?)* The Long Dark Night of the Soul and/or Visit to Death (aka All Is Lost)
THE SECOND ACT CLIMAX
* Often can be a final revelation before the end game: the knowledge of who the opponent really is* Answers the Central Question

_______________________________
ACT THREE
The third act is basically the Final Battle and Resolution. It can often be one continuous sequence — the chase and confrontation, or confrontation and chase. There may be a final preparation for battle, or it might be done on the fly. Either here or in the last part of the second act the hero will make a new, FINAL PLAN, based on the new information and revelations of the second act.
The essence of a third act is the final showdown between protagonist and antagonist. It is often divided into two sequences:

1. Getting there (storming the castle)2. The final battle itself
* Thematic Location — often a visual and literal representation of the Hero/ine’s Greatest Nightmare* The protagonist’s character change* The antagonist’s character change (if any)* Possibly allies’ character changes and/or gaining of desire* Could be one last huge reveal or twist, or series of reveals and twists, or series of final payoffs you've been saving (as in BACK TO THE FUTURE and IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE).
* RESOLUTION: A glimpse into the New Way of Life that the hero/ine will be living after this whole ordeal and all s/he’s learned from it.
If these story elements are new to you, you’ll want to read:

Elements of Act One
Elements of Act Two, Part 1
Elements of Act Two, Part 2
Elements of Act Three
Elements of Act Three: Elevate Your Ending
Elements of Act Three: What Makes a Great Climax?
Act Climaxes and Turning Points
Part 1:
Part 2:
And I'll be posting more about how to do different kinds of passes for particular effect. But for now, I think all of the above should keep you busy for a few days...   
- Alex

=====================================================
Screenwriting Tricks for Authors and Writing Love, Screenwriting Tricks for Authors, II, are now available in all e formats and as pdf files. Either book, any format, just $2.99.

- Kindle
- Amazon UK
- Amazon DE (Eur. 2.40)




- Smashwords (includes online viewing and pdf file)
- Amazon/Kindle
- Barnes & Noble/Nook
- Amazon UK
- Amazon DE
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Nanowrimo Now What?

YAY!!! You survived! Or maybe I shouldn’t make any assumptions, there.
But for the sake of argument, let’s say you survived and now have a rough draft (maybe very, very, very rough draft) of about 50,000 words.
What next?
Well, first of all, did you write to “The End”? Because if not, then you may have survived, but you’re not done. You must get through to The End, no matter how rough it is (rough meaning the process AND the pages…). If you did not get to The End, I would strongly urge that you NOT take a break, no matter how tired you are (well, maybe a day). You can slow down your schedule, set a lower per-day word or page count, but do not stop. Write every day, or every other day if that’s your schedule, but get the sucker done.
You may end up throwing away most of what you write, but it is a really, really, really bad idea not to get all the way through a story. That is how most books, scripts and probably most all other things in life worth doing are abandoned.
Conversely, if you DID get all the way to “The End”, then definitely, take a break. As long a break as possible. You should keep to a writing schedule, start brainstorming the next project, maybe do some random collaging to see what images come up that might lead to something fantastic - but if you have a completed draft, then what you need right now is SPACE from it. You are going to need fresh eyes to do the read-through that is going to take you to the next level, and the only way for you to get those fresh eyes is to leave the story alone for a while.
I am tempted to jump write in and post the blog I am thinking about on a process for reading and revising, but I will resist, at least for today, so that you really absorb what I’m saying.
1. Keep going if you’re not done –

OR -

2. Take a good long break if you have a whole first draft, and if you MUST think about writing, maybe start thinking about another project.
And in the meantime, I’d love to hear how you all who were Nanoing did.
Me? I bashed my way through to the end of Cold Moon, the third in my Huntress Moon series (with LOTS of research trips in Northern California along the way....) Of course it's not as done as I want it to be, but I managed to get through that "I will NEVER finish this bloody thing" stage into the "Wow, I may not be done yet but this is way too good to abandon now" stage, which is not exactly the home stretch yet but it is a major corner to turn.  A good month!
- Alex


=====================================================
Screenwriting Tricks for Authors and Writing Love, Screenwriting Tricks for Authors, II, are now available in all e formats and as pdf files. Either book, any format, just $2.99.

- Kindle
- Amazon UK
- Amaxon DE (Eur. 2.40)





- Smashwords (includes online viewing and pdf file)
- Amazon/Kindle
- Barnes & Noble/Nook
- Amazon UK
- Amazon DE
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Nanowrimo: The Third Quarter Drop-Dead

Home stretch!



Well, theoretically, anyway. But I find that right about now is when people tend to start dropping during Nano. First of all there's, well, Thanksgiving. Which even though it's a holiday, involves family, and family is never conducive to marathon writing. (They don't like to lose us to a book, it's just the truth. It brings up all kinds of feelings of abandonment and inadequacy. So - pretend you're going shopping and go to a cafe to write, that's what they're for.)



But also, let's face it, it's EASY to write a first act. It's new, it's fresh, it's exciting, it's like the first flush of being in love. You're so high you don't stop to think, and that means you don't get in your own way.



It can even be not so hard to get through Act II, part 1 to the Midpoint. But it's that third quarter where things get murky. You feel like you're not getting anywhere. In fact, you have no freaking clue where you are, or why in the hell you're wherever the hell you are to begin with, and you just want to give up and sleep for a week, or eat turkey and chocolate for a week, or all of the above.



I had a friend in movie development who called it "the third-quarter drop dead."



Well, here's an interesting thing. Structurally, this is EXACTLY the point in your story that your hero/ine is feeling those exact same things. In other words, it's the BLACK MOMENT, or ALL IS LOST MOMENT, or the VISIT TO DEATH, which almost always ends up as the climax or just before the climax of Act II.



It's as if we as authors have to work ourselves into the exact same hopeless despair as our characters, as if nothing good will ever come out of this situation and we might as well give up right now - in order to convey that emotion on the page and feel that exhilaration when the character SOLVES the problem and gets that final revelation and makes that final plan.



So if you find yourself in this situation, you might want to review the elements of Act II: Part 2, and take a look at some of these questions to see if they might help you find your way.





ACT II:2



In a 2-hour movie this section starts at about 60 minutes, and ends at about 90 minutes.



In a 400-page book, this section starts at about p. 300 and ends toward the end of the book.



Now, remember, at the end of Act II, part 1, there is a MIDPOINT CLIMAX, which I'll review briefly because it's so important.



In movies the midpoint is usually a big SETPIECE scene, where the filmmakers really show off their expertise with a special effects sequence (as in HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON and HARRY POTTER, 1), or a big action scene (JAWS), or in breathtaking psychological cat-and-mouse dialogue (in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS). It might be a sex scene or a comedy scene, or both in a romantic comedy. Whatever the Midpoint is, it is most likely going to be specific to the promise of the genre.



And I strongly encourage you as authors to pay as much attention to your midpoint as filmmakers do with theirs.





THE MIDPOINT –



- Completely changes the game

- Locks the hero/ine into a situation or action

- Is a point of no return

- Can be a huge revelation

- Can be a huge defeat

- Can be a huge win

- Can be a “now it’s personal” loss

- Can be sex at 60 – the lovers finally get together, only to open up a whole new world of problems



(More on MIDPOINT).





Act II, part 2 will almost always have these elements:



* RECALIBRATING– after the shock or defeat of the game-changer in the midpoint, the hero/ine must REVAMP THE PLAN and try a NEW MODE OF ATTACK.



What’s the new plan?



* STAKES



A good story will always be clear about the stakes. Characters often speak the stakes aloud. How have the stakes changed? Do we have new hopes or fears about what the protagonist will do and what will happen to him or her?





* ESCALATING ACTIONS/OBSESSIVE DRIVE



Little actions by the hero/ine to get what s/he wants have not cut it, so the actions become bigger and usually more desperate.



Do we see a new level of commitment in the hero/ine?



How are the hero/ine’s actions becoming more desperate?



* It’s also worth noting that while the hero/ine is generally (but not always!) winning in Act II:1, s/he generally begins to lose in Act II:2. Often this is where everything starts to unravel and spiral out of control.



* INCREASED ATTACKS BY ANTAGONIST



Just as the hero/ine is becoming more desperate to get what s/he wants, the antagonist also has failed to get what s/he wants and becomes more desperate and takes riskier actions.



* HARD CHOICES AND CROSSING THE LINE (IMMORAL ACTIONS by the main character to get what s/he wants)



Do we see the hero/ine crossing the line and doing immoral things to get what s/he wants?



* LOSS OF KEY ALLIES (possibly because of the hero/ine’s obsessive actions, possibly through death or injury by the antagonist).



Do any allies walk out on the hero/ine or get killed or injured?



* A TICKING CLOCK (can happen anywhere in the story, or there may not be one.)



* REVERSALS AND REVELATIONS/TWISTS



* THE LONG DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL and/or VISIT TO DEATH (also known as: ALL IS LOST).



There is always a moment in a story where the hero/ine seems to have lost everything, and it is almost always right before the Second Act Climax, or it IS the Second Act Climax.



What is the All Is Lost scene?



* In a romance or romantic comedy, the All Is Lost moment is often a THE LOVER MAKES A STAND scene, where s/he tells the loved one – “Enough of this bullshit waffling, either commit to me or don’t, but if you don’t, I’m out of here.” This can be the hero/ine or the love interest making this stand.



THE SECOND ACT CLIMAX



* Often will be a final revelation before the end game: often the knowledge of who the opponent really is, that will propel the hero/ine into the FINAL BATTLE.



* Often will be another devastating loss, the ALL IS LOST scene. In a mythic structure or Chosen One story or mentor story this is almost ALWAYS where the mentor dies or is otherwise taken out of the action, so the hero/ine must go into the final battle alone.



* Answers the Central Question – and often the answer is “no” – so that the hero/ine again must come up with a whole new plan.



* Often is a SETPIECE.



More discussion on Elements Of Act II:2



And here are the elements and questions for Act Three:



ACT THREE



The third act is basically the Final Battle and Resolution. It can often be one continuous sequence – the chase and confrontation, or confrontation and chase. There may be a final preparation for battle, or it might be done on the fly. Either here or in the last part of the second act the hero will make a new, FINAL PLAN, based on the new information and revelations of the second act.



The essence of a third act is the final showdown between protagonist and antagonist. It is often divided into two sequences:



1. Getting there (Storming the Castle) (Sequence 7).



2. The final battle itself (Sequence 8)



* In addition to the FINAL PLAN, there may be another GATHERING OF THE TEAM, and a brief TRANING SEQUENCE.



• There may well be DEFEATS OF SECONDARY OPPONENTS (each one of which should be given a satisfying end or comeuppance. (This may also happen earlier, in Act II:2).



* Thematic Location - often a visual and literal representation of the Hero/ine’s Greatest Nightmare

-

* The protagonist’s character change

-

* The antagonist’s character change (if any)



* Possibly ally/allies’ character change (s) and/or gaining of desire (s)



* Possibly a huge final reversal or reveal (twist), or even a whole series of payoffs that you’ve been saving (as in Back to the Future and It’s A Wonderful Life)



* RESOLUTION: A glimpse into the New Way of Life that the hero/ine will be living after this whole ordeal and all s/he’s learned from it.



• Possibly a sense of coming FULL CIRCLE – returning to the opening image or scene and showing how much things have changed, or how the hero/ine has changed inside, causing her or him to deal with the same place and situation in a whole different way.



* Closing Image



More on Act Three:



Elements of Act Three


What Makes a Great Climax?



Elevate Your Ending





Now, I'd also like to remind everyone that this is a basic, GENERAL list. There are story elements specific to whatever kind of story you're writing, and the best way to get familiar with what those are is to do (or take a look at story breakdowns on three (at least) movies or books that are similar to the KIND of story you're writing.



What KIND Of Story Is It?



I hope that there's something there to get you through that third quarter, but I'll post a few more brainstorming tricks this week.



In the meantime, good luck with the family! I mean, Happy Thanksgiving!



- Alex





=====================================================



Screenwriting Tricks for Authors and Writing Love, Screenwriting Tricks for Authors, II, are now available in all e formats and as pdf files. Either book, any format, just $2.99.







- Kindle



- Amazon UK



- Amaxon DE (Eur. 2.40)













- Smashwords (includes online viewing and pdf file)



- Amazon/Kindle



- Barnes & Noble/Nook



- Amazon UK



- Amazon DE



-------------------------------------------------------------------

Nanowrimo: The MIDPOINT

Okay, it's a little past the midpoint of the month, so some, not all, of you will be coming up on the midpoint of your books. I am as ever skeptical that you can really get to the midpoint of a book in two weeks... but it's still a good reason to talk about one of the most important elements of any book, film, TV show, or play.

THE MIDPOINT

All of the first half of the second act – that’s p. 30-60 in a script, p. 100 to p. 200 in a 400-page book, is leading up to the MIDPOINT. So the Midpoint occurs at about one hour into a movie, and at about page 200 in a book.

The Midpoint is also often called the MOMENT OF COMMITMENT or the POINT OF NO RETURN or NO TURNING BACK: the hero/ine commits irrevocably to the action. 

The Midpoint is one of the most important scenes or sequences in any book or film: a major shift in the dynamics of the story. Something huge will be revealed; something goes disastrously wrong; someone close to the hero/ine dies, intensifying her or his commitment (What I call the “Now it’s personal” scene… imagine Clint Eastwood or Bruce Willis growling the line). Often the whole emotional dynamic between characters changes with what Hollywood calls, “Sex at Sixty” (that’s 60 minutes, not sixty years!).

Often a TICKING CLOCK is introduced at the Midpoint, as we will discuss further in the chapter on Creating Suspense (Chapter 31). A clock is a great way to speed up the action and increase the urgency of your story.

The Midpoint can also be a huge defeat, which requires a recalculation and NEW PLAN of attack. It’s a game-changer, and it locks the hero/ine even more inevitably into the story.

Let's look at some examples.

As I've said before, a favorite PLAN and CENTRAL STORY ACTION of mine is in Brian DePalma’s The Untouchables.

Young FBI agent Eliot Ness is assigned to bring down mobster Al Capone. So far no one in law enforcement or government has been able to pin Capone to any of his heinous crimes; he keeps too much distance between himself and the actual killings, hijackings, extortions, etc. One of Ness’ Untouchable team, a FBI accountant, proposes that the team gather evidence and nail Capone on federal tax evasion. It’s not sexy, but the penalty is up to 25 years in prison. (As you might know, this PLAN is historically accurate: Al Capone was actually finally charged and imprisoned on the charge of tax evasion.)

So the PLAN and CENTRAL ACTION of the story becomes to locate one of Capone’s bookkeepers, take him into custody and force him to testify against Capone. Which they do. (With plenty of action sequences, of course.)

So as we approach the MIDPOINT, Ness’s team has the bookkeeper in custody, the trial is set, and Ness’s men are escorting the bookkeeper to court.

But the movie is only half over. So of course, as very often happens at the midpoint, the plan fails. In a suspenseful and emotional wrenching MIDPOINT CLIMAX, Ness’s accountant teammate, whom we have come to love, escorts the bookkeeper into the courthouse elevator to take him up to the courtroom. As the doors close, we see the police guard is actually one of Capone’s men.

Ness and his other teammate (a criminally hot Andy Garcia), realize that something’s wrong and race up (down?) the stairs to catch the elevator, but arrive to find a bloodbath – both accountants brutally murdered, and the word TOUCHABLE painted on the elevator in blood.

So the plan is totally foiled – they have no witness and no more case. It’s a great midpoint reversal, because we – and Ness himself – have no idea what the team is going to be able to do next (and also Ness is so emotionally devastated by the loss of his teammate that he begins to do reckless things.).
Not only does the murder of the two accountants (Capone's and Ness's) completely annihilate Ness's PLAN), but the murder of Ness's teammate makes the stakes deeply personal.

But a Midpoint doesn’t have to be a huge action scene. Another interesting and tonally very different Midpoint happens in Raiders of the Lost Ark. I’m sure some people would dispute me on this one (and people argue about the exact midpoint of movies all the time), but I would say the Midpoint is the scene that occurs exactly 60 minutes into the film, in which, having determined that the Nazis are digging in the wrong place in the archeological site, Indy goes down into that chamber with the pendant and a staff of the proper height, and uses the crystal in the pendant to pinpoint the exact location of the Ark.

This scene is quiet, and involves only one person, but it’s mystically powerful – note the use of light and the religious quality of the music… and Indy is decked out in robes almost like, well, Moses. Staff and all. Indy stands like God over the miniature of the temple city, and the beam of light comes through the crystal like light from heaven. It’s all a foreshadowing of the final climax, in which God intervenes in much the same way. Very effective, with lots of subliminal manipulation going on. And of course, at the end of the scene, Indy has the information he needs to retrieve the Ark. I would also point out that the Midpoint is often some kind of mirror image of the final climax; it’s an interesting device to use, and you may find yourself using it without even being aware of it.

(I will concede that in Raiders, you could call the Midpoint a two-parter: Indy’s discovery that Marion is still alive is a big twist. But personally I think that scene is part of the next sequence).

Another very different kind of midpoint occurs in Silence of the Lambs: the “Quid Pro Quo” scene between Clarice and Lecter, in which she bargains personal information to get Lecter’s insights into the case. Clarice is on a time clock, here, because Catherine Martin has been kidnapped and Clarice knows they have only three days before Buffalo Bill kills her. Clarice goes in at first to offer Lecter what she knows he desires most (because he has STATED his desire, clearly and early on) – a transfer to a Federal prison, away from Dr. Chilton and with a view. Clarice has a file with that offer from Senator Martin – she says – but in reality the offer is a total fake. We don’t know this at the time, but it has been cleverly PLANTED that it’s impossible to fool Lecter (Crawford sends Clarice in to the first interview without telling her what the real purpose is so that Lecter won’t be able to read her). But Clarice has learned and grown enough to fool Lecter – and there’s a great payoff when Lecter later acknowledges that fact.

The deal is not enough for Lecter, though – he demands that Clarice do exactly what her boss, Crawford, has warned her never to do: he wants her to swap personal information for clues – a classic deal with the devil game.

After Clarice confesses painful secrets, Lecter gives her the clue she’s been digging for – to search for Buffalo Bill through the sex reassignment clinics. And as is so often the case, there is a second climax within the midpoint – the film cuts to the killer in his basement, standing over the pit making a terrified Catherine put lotion on her skin – it’s a horrifying curtain and drives home the stakes. (Each climax in SOTL is a one-two punch - screen the movie again and see what I mean!).

I recently reread Harlan Coben's The Woods, which employs a great technique to craft an explosive Midpoint: the book has an A story and a B story (well, really, with Coben it's always about sixteen different threads of each plot intricately interwoven, but two main plots). In the B story, the protagonist is prosecuting two frat boys who raped a stripper at a frat party, and at the Midpoint is the main courtroom confrontation of that plot. The storyline continues, but now it becomes subordinate (and of course interconnected to) to the building A plot. This very emotional climaxing of the B plot at the midpoint is a terrifically effective structure technique that is great to have in your story structure toolbox.

In Sense and Sensibility, the Midpoint is the emotionally wrenching scene in which Lucy Steele reveals to Elinor that she has been secretly engaged to Edward Ferrars for five years. We are so committed to Edward and Elinor’s love that we are as devastated as Elinor is, and just as shocked that Edward would have lied to her. The Midpoint is even more wrenching because Elinor’s sister Marianne has also just been abandoned by her love interest. It’s a double-punch to the gut.

In Notting Hill, Julia Roberts has asked Hugh Grant up to her hotel suite for the first time, and Hugh walks in to find that Julia’s movie star boyfriend, Alec Baldwin, whom Hugh knew nothing about, is already there with her. We know that Hugh’s GHOST is that his ex-wife left him for a man who looked just like Harrison Ford (Alec is pretty close!), and to add to this blow, Alec mistakes Hugh for a room-service waiter and tips him, asking him to clean up while he takes Julia into the bedroom. Total emotional annihilation.

In a romance, the Midpoint is very often sexual or emotional. But the Midpoint can often be one of the most memorable visual SETPIECES of the story, just to further drive its importance home.

Note that the Midpoint is not necessarily just one scene; it can be a double punch as I just pointed out about Sense And Sensibility, and it can also be a progression of scenes and revelations that include a climactic scene, a complete change of location, a major revelation, a major reversal, a cliffhanger – all or any combination of the above.

One of the great Midpoints in theater and film is in My Fair Lady. Talk about a double punch! There is not one iconic song at the Midpoint curtain, but two: first “The Rain In Spain”, in which Eliza finally starts to speak with perfect diction, and Professor Higgins, the Colonel, and Eliza celebrate with wild and joyous dancing: a moment of triumph. Then when the housekeeper takes Eliza upstairs to bed, Higgins privately tells the Colonel that she’s ready: they can test her out in public. He intends to take her to an Embassy ball and pass her off as a lady to win his bet with the Colonel, which Eliza knows nothing about. Meanwhile upstairs, giddy with happiness, Eliza sings “I Could Have Danced All Night”, and we realize she has fallen in love with the Professor.

Not just two of the greatest songs of the musical theater in a row, but all of this SETUP, big HOPE, FEAR, and STAKES. Eliza is in love with Higgins and he’s just using her for a bet. There’s a huge TEST coming up at this ball, and we saw excitable Eliza fail miserably in her first public test at the Ascot races. There’s a penalty of prison for impersonating a lady, so there are not just the emotional stakes of a possible broken heart, but possible prison time.

Do you think anyone was not going to come back into the theater to see what happens at that ball?

Asking a big question like that is a great technique to use at the Midpoint.

A totally different, but equally famous example: in Jaws, the Midpoint climax is actually a whole sequence long: a highly suspenseful setpiece in which the city officials have refused to shut down the beaches, so Sheriff Brody is out there on the beach keeping watch (as if that’s going to prevent a shark attack!), the Coast Guard is patrolling the ocean – and, almost as if it’s aware of the whole plan, the shark swims into an unguarded harbor, where it attacks and swallows a man and for a horrifying moment we think that it has also killed Brody’s son (really it’s only frightened him into near-paralysis). It’s a huge climax and adrenaline rush, but it’s not over yet. Because now the Mayor writes the check to hire Quint to hunt down the shark, and since Brody’s family has been threatened (“Now it’s PERSONAL”), Brody decides to go out with Quint and Hooper on the boat – and there’s also a huge change in location as we see that little boat headed out to the open sea.

It really pays to start taking note of the Midpoints of films and books. If you find that your story is sagging in the middle, the first thing you should look at is your Midpoint scene.

I know this and I still sometimes forget it. When I turned in my poltergeist novel The Unseen, I knew that I was missing something in the middle, even though there was a very clear change in location and focus at the Midpoint: it’s the point at which my characters actually move into the supposedly haunted house and begin their experiment.

But there was still something missing in the scene right before, the close of the first half, and my editor had the same feeling, without really knowing what was needed, although it had something to do with the motivation of the heroine – the reason she would put herself in that kind of danger. So I looked at the scene before the characters moved in to the house, and lo and behold: what I was missing was “Sex at Sixty.”  It’s my heroine’s desire for one of the other characters that makes her commit to the investigation, and I wasn’t making that desire line clear enough.

The Midpoint often LOCKS THE HERO/INE INTO A COURSE OF ACTION, or sometimes, physically locks the hero/ine into a location.

A great recent example is Inception: at the Midpoint, there’s a big action sequence, ending in a gun battle in which one of the allies, Saito (who hired the team to break into this dream) is badly wounded, and the team discovers that they can’t get out of the dream while Saito is unconscious. They’re stuck, perhaps forever, which forces them to devise a new PLAN.

There’s a not-so recent movie called Ghost Ship, about a salvage crew investigating a derelict ocean liner which has mysteriously appeared out in the middle of the Bering Straight, after being lost without a trace for forty years. At the Midpoint, the salvage crew’s own boat mysteriously catches on fire and sinks (taking one of the crew with it), forcing the entire crew to board the haunted ocean liner. They are physically locked into the situation, now, and their original PLAN – to tow the ocean liner back to shore – must change; they now have to repair the ocean liner and sail her out of the Strait. This development also solves the perennial problem of haunted house – or haunted ship – stories: “Why don’t the characters just leave?”

It’s a great Midpoint scene for all of the above reasons, plus it’s a great visual and action setpiece: the explosion of the salvage boat, the rescue (and loss) of crew members, and the suspense of who will get out of the water and on to the ocean liner alive.

So as you're writing your fingers off, try taking a minute to contemplate what your Midpoint is, and how it changes the action of your book. If you can devise a great setpiece for your midpoint and also somehow destroy your hero'ine's initial plan, you won't have to worry about a sagging middle section, because you and your hero/ine will suddenly be scrambling to figure out a brand new and exiting plan of action to get their desire.

It really is the KEY to Act II.

- Alex


=====================================================
Screenwriting Tricks for Authors and Writing Love, Screenwriting Tricks for Authors, II, are now available in all e formats and as pdf files. Either book, any format, just $2.99.

- Kindle
- Amazon UK
- Amaxon DE (Eur. 2.40)





- Smashwords (includes online viewing and pdf file)
- Amazon/Kindle
- Barnes & Noble/Nook
- Amazon UK
- Amazon DE

Nanowrimo: The PLAN (Act II)

So now we're over a third of the way into the month, and if you've been doing Nano diligently you may be up to 20,000 words. Amazing, but some people really do get that far this month.


Depending on how thorough you're being with all this writing, then, you've probably written the first act and are moving into the second. Or if you're taking this "write a book in a month" thing literally, then you're closer to the midpoint.  Of a very short book.


Either way, you are currently faced with or already struggling with the dreaded second act. Although anyone who has the workbooks and/or reads this blog regularly shouldn't fear the second act any more, right?


But today I wanted to review what I think it the key to any second act, and really the whole key to story structure: The PLAN.


You always hear that “Drama is conflict,” but when you think about it –what the hell does that mean, practically?


It’s actually much more true, and specific, to say that drama is the constant clashing of a hero/ine’s PLAN and an antagonist’s, or several antagonists’, PLANS.


In the first act of a story, the hero/ine is introduced, and that hero/ine either has or quickly develops a DESIRE. She might have a PROBLEM that needs to be solved, or someone or something she WANTS, or a bad situation that she needs to get out of, pronto.


Her reaction to that problem or situation is to formulate a PLAN, even if that plan is vague or even completely subconscious. But somewhere in there, there is a plan, and storytelling is usually easier if you have the hero/ine or someone else (maybe you, the author) state that plan clearly, so the audience or reader knows exactly what the expectation is.







And the protagonist’s plan (and the corresponding plan of the antagonist’s) actually drives the entire action of the second act. Stating the plan tells us what the CENTRAL ACTION of the story will be. So it’s critical to set up the plan by the end of Act One, or at the very beginning of Act Two, at the latest.




Let’s look at some examples of how plans work.



I always  like to start, improbably, with the actioner 2012, even though I thought it was a pretty terrible movie overall.



Now, I’m sure in a theater this movie delivered on its primary objective, which was a rollercoaster ride as only Hollywood special effects can provide. Whether we like it or not, there is obviously a massive worldwide audience for movies that are primarily about delivering pure sensation. Story isn’t important, nor, apparently, is basic logic. As long as people keep buying enough tickets to these movies to make them profitable, it’s the business of Hollywood to keep churning them out.



But in 2012, even in that rollercoaster ride of special effects and sensations, there was a clear central PLAN for an audience to hook into, a plan that drove the story. Without that plan, 2012 really would have been nothing but a chaos of special effects.

If you’ve seen this movie (and I know some of you have … ), there is a point in the first act where a truly over-the-top Woody Harrelson as an Art Bell-like conspiracy pirate radio commentator rants to protagonist John Cusack about having a map that shows the location of “spaceships” that the government is stocking to abandon planet when the prophesied end of the world commences.

 Although Cusack doesn’t believe it at the time, this is the PLANT (sort of camouflaged by the fact that Woody is a nutjob), that gives the audience the idea of what the PLAN OF ACTION will be: Cusack will have to go back for the map in the midst of all the cataclysm, then somehow get his family to these “spaceships” in order for all of them to survive the end of the world.

The PLAN is reiterated, in dialogue, when Cusack gets back to his family and tells his ex-wife basically exactly what I just said above: “We’re going to go back to the nutjob with the map so that we can get to those spaceships and get off the planet before it collapses.”

And lo and behold, that’s exactly what happens; it’s not only Cusack’s PLAN, but the central action of the story, that can be summed up as a CENTRAL QUESTION: Will Cusack be able to get his family to the spaceships before the world ends?




Or put another way, the CENTRAL STORY ACTION is John Cusack getting his family to the spaceships before the world ends.



(Note the ticking clock, there, as well. And as if the end of the world weren’t enough, the movie also starts a literal “Twenty-nine minutes to the end of the world!” ticking computer clock at, yes, 29 minutes before the end of the movie. I must point out here that ticking clocks are dangerous because of the huge cliché factor. We all need to study structure to know what not to do, as well.)




And all this happens about the end of Act I.  Remember that I said that it’s essential to have laid out the CENTRAL QUESTION and CENTRAL STORY ACTION by the end of Act I? But also at this point – or possibly just after the climax of Act I, in the very beginning of Act II – we need to know what the PLAN is. PLAN and CENTRAL QUESTION are integrally related, and I keep looking for ways to talk about it because this is such an important concept to master.



A reader/audience really needs to know what the overall PLAN is, even if they only get it in a subconscious way. Otherwise they are left floundering, wondering where the hell all of this is going.



In 2012, even in the midst of all the buildings crumbling and crevasses opening and fires booming and planes crashing, we understand on some level what is going on:

             - What does the protagonist want? (OUTER DESIRE) To save his family.



             - How is he going to do it? (PLAN) By getting the map from the nutjob and getting his family to the secret spaceships (that aren’t really spaceships).

             - What’s standing in his way? (FORCES OF OPPOSITION) About a million natural disasters as the planet caves in, an evil politician who has put a billion dollar price tag on tickets for the spaceship, a Russian Mafioso who keeps being in the same place at the same time as Cusack, and sometimes ends up helping, and sometimes ends up hurting. (Was I the only one queased out by the way all the Russian characters were killed off, leaving only the most obnoxious kids on the planet?)

Here’s another example, from a much better movie:

 At the end of the first sequence of Raiders of the Lost Ark (which is arguably two sequences in itself, first the action sequence in the cave in South America, then the university sequence back in the US), Indy has just finished teaching his archeology class when his mentor, Marcus, comes to meet him with a couple of government agents who have a job for him (CALL TO ADVENTURE). The agents explain that Hitler has become obsessed with collecting occult artifacts from all over the world, and is currently trying to find the legendary Lost Ark of the Covenant, which is rumored to make any army in possession of it invincible in battle.



 So there’s the MACGUFFIN, the object that everyone wants, and the STAKES: if Hitler’s minions (THE ANTAGONISTS) get this Ark before Indy does, the Nazi army will be invincible.



And then Indy explains his PLAN to find the Ark: his old mentor, Abner Ravenwood, was an expert on the Ark and had an ancient Egyptian medallion on which was inscribed the instructions for using the medallion to find the hidden location of the Ark.



So after hearing the plan, we understand the entire OVERALL ACTION of the story: Indy is going to find Abner (his mentor) to get the medallion, then use the medallion to find the Ark before Hitler’s minions can get it.



And even though there are lots of twists along the way, that’s really it: the basic action of the story.




Generally, PLAN and CENTRAL STORY ACTION are really the same thing – the Central Action of the story is carrying out the specific Plan. And the CENTRAL QUESTION of the story is – “Will the Plan succeed?”



Again, the PLAN, CENTRAL QUESTION and CENTRAL STORY ACTION are almost always set up – and spelled out – by the end of the first act, although the specifics of the Plan may be spelled out right after the Act I Climax at the very beginning of Act II. 




 Can it be later? Well, anything’s possible, but the sooner a reader or audience understands the overall thrust of the story action, the sooner they can relax and let the story take them where it’s going to go. So much of storytelling is about you, the author, reassuring your reader or audience that you know what you’re doing, so they can sit back and let you drive.




If you haven’t done this yet, take a favorite movie or book (or two or three) and identify the PLAN, CENTRAL STORY ACTION and CENTRAL QUESTION and them in a few sentences. Like this:



             - In Inception, the PLAN is for the team of dream burglars to go into a corporate heir’s dreams to plant the idea of breaking up his father’s corporation. (So the CENTRAL ACTION is going into the corporate heir’s dream and planting the idea, and the CENTRAL QUESTION is:  Will they succeed?)








             - In Sense and Sensibility, the PLAN is for Marianne and Elinor to secure the family’s fortune and their own happiness by marrying well. (How are they going to do that? By the period’s equivalent of dating – which is the CENTRAL ACTION. Yes, dating is a PLAN! The CENTRAL QUESTION is: Will the sisters succeed in marrying well?)




             - In The Proposal, Margaret’s PLAN is to learn enough about Andrew over the four-day weekend with his family to pass the INS marriage test so she won’t be deported. (The CENTRAL ACTION is going to Alaska to meet Andrew’s family and pretending to be married while they learn enough about each other to pass the test. The CENTRAL QUESTION is: Will they be able to successfully fake the marriage?



Now, try it with your own story!





             - What does the protagonist WANT?




             - How does s/he PLAN to do it?




             - What and who is standing in his or her way?



For example, in my latest thriller, Book of Shadows, here's the Act One set up: the protagonist, homicide detective Adam Garrett, is called on to investigate the murder of a college girl, which looks like a Satanic killing. Garrett and his partner make a quick arrest of a classmate of the girl's, a troubled Goth musician. But Garrett is not convinced of the boy's guilt, and when a practicing witch from nearby Salem insists the boy is innocent and there have been other murders, he is compelled to investigate further.

So Garrett’s PLAN and the CENTRAL ACTION of the story is to use the witch and her specialized knowledge of magical practices to investigate the murder on his own, all the while knowing that she is using him for her own purposes and may well be involved in the killing.  The CENTRAL QUESTION is: will they catch the killer before s/he kills again – and/or kills Garrett (if the witch turns out to be the killer)?




             - What does the protagonist WANT? To catch the killer before s/he kills again.




             - How does he PLAN to do it? By using the witch and her specialized knowledge of magical practices to investigate further.




             - What’s standing in his way? His own department, the killer, and possibly the witch herself. And if the witch is right … possibly even a demon.

It’s important to note that the Plan and Central Action of the story are not always driven by the protagonist. Usually, yes. But in The Matrix, it’s Neo’s mentor Morpheus who has the overall PLAN, which drives the central action right up until the end of the second act. The Plan is to recruit and train Neo, whom Morpheus believes is “The One” prophesied to destroy the Matrix. So that’s the action we see unfolding: Morpheus recruiting, deprogramming and training Neo, who is admittedly very cute, but essentially just following Morpheus’s orders for two thirds of the movie.

Does this weaken the structure of that film? Not at all. Morpheus drives the action until that crucial point, the Act Two Climax, when he is abducted by the agents of the Matrix, at which point Neo steps into his greatness and becomes “The One” by taking over the action and making a new plan: to rescue Morpheus by sacrificing himself.

It is a terrific way to show a huge character arc: Neo stepping into his destiny. And I would add that this is a common structural pattern for mythic journey stories – in Lord of the Rings, it's Gandalf who has the PLAN and drives the reluctant Frodo in the central story action until Frodo finally takes over the action himself.

Here’s another example. In the very funny romantic comedy It’s Complicated, Meryl Streep’s character Jane is the protagonist, but she doesn’t drive the action or have any particular plan of her own. It’s her ex-husband Jake (Alec Baldwin), who seduces her and at the end of the first act, proposes (in an extremely persuasive speech) that they continue this affair as a perfect solution to both their love troubles – it will fulfill their sexual and intimacy needs without disrupting the rest of their lives.

Jane decides at that point to go along with Jake’s plan (saying, “I forgot what a good lawyer you are”). In terms of action, she is essentially passive, letting the two men in her life court her (which results in bigger and bigger comic entanglements), but that makes for a more pronounced and satisfying character arc when she finally takes a stand and breaks off the affair with Jake for good, so she can finally move on with her life.

I would venture to guess that most of us know what it’s like to be swept up in a ripping good love entanglement, and can sympathize with Jane’s desire just to go with the passion of it without having to make any pesky practical decisions. It’s a perfectly fine – and natural – structure for a romantic comedy, as long as at that key juncture, the protagonist has the realization and balls – or ovaries – to take control of her own life again and make a stand for what she truly wants.

I give you these last two examples – hopefully – to show how helpful it can be to study the specific structure of stories that are similar to your own. As you can see from the above, the general writing rule that the protagonist drives the action may not apply to what you’re writing – and you might want to make a different choice that will better serve your own story. And that goes for any general writing rule.



  QUESTIONS: 




Have you identified the CENTRAL ACTION of your story? Do you know what the protagonist's and antagonist's PLANS are?  At what point in your book does the reader have a clear idea of the protagonist’s PLAN?  Is it stated aloud? Can you make it clearer than it is?




And yes, let's hear how everyone's doing!




- Alex









=====================================================












Screenwriting Tricks for Authors and Writing Love, Screenwriting Tricks for Authors, II, are now available in all e formats and as pdf files. Either book, any format, just $2.99.

























- Kindle












- Amazon UK












- Amaxon DE (Eur. 2.40)













































- Smashwords (includes online viewing and pdf file)












- Amazon/Kindle












- Barnes & Noble/Nook












- Amazon UK












- Amazon DE

Nanowrimo: Inciting Incident/Call to Adventure (and SETPIECES)

Oh, all right, one more post on the Inciting Incident.








Whether
I’m blogging, writing, or teaching, I keep looking for ways to make the
point that filmmakers take extra care with certain key scenes of a
story. Great filmmakers pay particular attention to all the ways they have at
their disposal to underscore the significance of these moments – whether
it’s delivering the pure visceral experience of the genre, revealing
character, conveying theme, externalizing the hero/ine’s ghost – any and
sometimes many of the above and more.




And to do that, they usually create those scenes as SETPIECES.




To
review - there are multiple definitions of a setpiece. It can be a huge
action scene like, well, anything in The Dark Knight, that takes weeks
to shoot and costs millions, requiring multiple sets, special effects
and car crashes… or a meticulously planned suspense scene with multiple
cuts that takes place all in - a shower, for instance, in Psycho.
Setpieces are the tent poles holding the structure of the movie up… or
jewels in the necklace of the plotline. The scenes featured in the
trailers to entice people to see the movie. The scenes everyone talks
about after the credits roll. They’re almost always used as act or
sequence climaxes – and as certain key scenes, like the Inciting
Incident.




And I think it’s one of the very best lessons we as authors can take from filmmakers.




So
I want to break down a key scene among key scenes – the INCITING
INCIDENT, or INCITING EVENT, and show how a few of my favorite movies
handle that scene.




The
Inciting Incident is basically the action that starts the story. The
corpse hits the floor and begins a murder investigation, the hero gets
his first glimpse of the love interest in a love story, a boy receives
an invitation to a school for wizards in a fantasy.




I
would like to emphasize, for new writers, that SOMETHING HAS TO HAPPEN,
IMMEDIATELY, that gives us an idea of WHAT YOUR STORY IS ABOUT.




You
can do this to some extent by setting mood, tone, genre, hope and fear,
and an immediate external problem – but I strongly suggest that you get
to your INCITING INCIDENT as soon as possible. Especially if you are a
new writer, you cannot afford to hold this back. It can make or break
your submission, so find a way to get it into the first few pages or at
the very least, strongly hint at it.




This
beat also often called the CALL TO ADVENTURE (from Joseph Campbell’s
Hero With A Thousand Faces, summarized by Christopher Vogler in The
Writer’s Journey), and that's the phrase I actually prefer, it's just
more - more.




But
I’ve been watching a lot of classic movies lately (God bless TCM!) and
the more I look at this story beat, the more I’ve realized that while
the Inciting Incident and Call To Adventure are often the same scene –
they are just as often two completely different scenes. And it’s useful
to be aware of when and how they’re different, so you can bring out the
particular qualities of each scene, and know when to combine them and
when to separate them.




In
Jaws, the inciting incident is immediate, occurring on the first pages
of the book and the first seconds of the movie: the shark swims into the
Amityville harbor and attacks and kills a swimmer. The protagonist,
Sheriff Brody, is not present for the inciting incident, he’s not even
aware of it. The next morning he gets a phone call reporting a missing
person, possible drowning, and he goes off to investigate, not having
any idea what he’s about to get into. It’s a very small moment, played
over the ordinary sounds of a family kitchen in the morning.




But we’ve already seen the big setpiece inciting incident and we know what he’s in for.




However,
I don’t think that Inciting Incident is the actual Call To Adventure. I
think that comes at the climax of Act One, when the bereaved mother of a
little boy who was killed in the second shark attack walks out on the
pier and slaps Sheriff Brody, accusing him of killing her son (because
he didn’t close the beaches after the first attack) in front of all the
townspeople. And this is one of the best examples I know of an emotional
setpiece: the camera just holds on the mother’s ravaged face as she
goes on for what feels like forever, telling Brody that her son would be
alive if he’d done the right thing to begin with. And as she stands
there against the sun and sky, the black veil she is wearing whips
around her face in the wind… she looks like the Angel of Death, or an
ancient Fate, or a Fury. It’s a moment with mythic resonance, in which
Brody is called to right this wrong himself, to redeem himself for this
unwitting and tragic mistake. Now that is a real Call – not just to
adventure, but to redemption.




It’s
one of the most haunting scenes of the movie – and I find it really
interesting that Spielberg uses it as his Act I Climax instead of
another shark attack.




The
Inciting Incident of a love story is very often meeting the love
interest. In Notting Hill, Hugh Grant hovers in the aisles of his little
bookshop, realizing that the customer who just walked in is the movie
star Anna Scott (Julia Roberts). In a prolonged moment he watches her as
she browses, but he’s not just gawking at a celebrity. It’s a classic
depiction of how time seems to stop when the Beloved walks into our
lives, and we get to experience that moment with him.




In
Raiders Of The Lost Ark, the Inciting Incident and Call To Adventure
are the same scene, and a whole lot of other things are going on in the
scene as well – it’s one of my favorite Calls To Adventure for all the
layers of it.




Professor
Indiana Jones is called out of his archeology class by his mentor
Marcus, who also serves as a HERALD here, too, summoning Indy to a
meeting with a pair of government agents who will deliver the actual
Call To Adventure. It’s worth noting as a technique that having this
double layer to the Call – first a Herald appearing to say to the
hero/ine, “There’s someone here with a job for you”, and then escorting
the hero/ine to a different location where another set of messengers
delivers the call, builds up the importance of the moment and the
mission.




And
the location of this next scene, where the government agents (US Army
Intelligence) explain the mission, is very significant here. This scene
could have been set just in an office. Instead, the filmmakers make it a
setpiece all on its own by putting it in a huge, elegant,
high-ceilinged auditorium with stained glass windows, creating a
cathedral-like ambiance. The setting gives us a feeling of the import of
this mission. And since the Call is one of the most exciting and
crucial moments of any story, why not give it a setting to create an
extra layer of excitement and significance?




We
learn from the government guys that a Nazi telegraph has been
intercepted and Hitler’s men are looking for Indy’s old mentor, Abner
Ravenwood. Indy and Marcus interpret the telegraph: The Nazis have
discovered an archeological site where supposedly the Lost Ark of the
Covenant has been buried for millennia, and they think Ravenwood can
help them pinpoint the exact location of the Ark.




Hitler
has been sending teams of Nazis out all over the globe collecting
occult artifacts (this is historically true). Ominously, the legend of
this particular artifact, the Ark, is that it will make any army who
bears it invincible.




These
are the really huge STAKES of this story, and our FEAR: If Hitler gets
the Ark, it will make the German army invincible. World domination = not
good.




So
we also get a glimpse of what Indy is up against: his real OPPONENT is
the ultimate bad guy: Hitler and the whole German army.




And our HOPE is that Indy finds the Ark before Hitler does.




This
is also a good example of an EXPLAINING THE MYTHOLOGY scene – you often
see these when the mission is convoluted, or fantastical – such as in
horror movies, sci-fi, fantasy – and the scene often includes the hero
explaining the rules to an outsider. Here, it’s Indy and Marcus
explaining the history of the Ark to the government guys. And they also
explain that the Nazis want to find Ravenwood because he has a medallion
that can be used to pinpoint the exact location of the Ark (Indy draws
all this on a blackboard, a SET UP for when we see him do for real it at
the Midpoint). So we also get the whole PLAN of the movie in this
scene.




There
is also a big SET UP and FORESHADOWING with the illustrations of the
Ark bringing down the wrath of God on a blasphemous army – it’s a sketch
of exactly what happens in the final scene.




However,
although Indy knows the mythology of the Ark, he quickly adds, “If you
believe all that stuff.” – indicating that he himself does not believe
it. This is an action-adventure film, there isn’t a huge CHARACTER ARC
here, but this is what it is: Indy starts out scoffing at the
supernatural and mystical and ends up barely saving his life and
Marion’s precisely by believing in the power of the Ark and showing
reverence. (The secondary character arc has to do with reconciling
romantically with Marion, although in the trilogy that doesn’t last
long. There is also even a reference to this GHOST when Indy says, with
some shame – that he and Ravenwood had “a sort of falling-out.”)




Also,
adding to the THEME of world religions, there are several
Judeo-Christian references in the University scene – the auditorium that
looks like a church, with the stained glass windows, the leather-bound
text that looks like a Bible, the references to the story of Moses and
the Israelites and the Lost Ark of the Covenant and the wrath of God.
Marcus’s voice echoes in the auditorium like the voice of a priest.




The
tag line of the scene is Marcus saying: “An army carrying the Ark
before it was said to be invincible”, leaving us a moment to think about
that most important point as the scene changes.




All of that, about a dozen key story elements – in one scene! It’s really a miracle of compression.




I
look at those three examples I just detailed above, all chosen because
they were the first Call To Adventure scenes that came immediately to my
mind, and I realize that even though they’re very different stories and
styles, what those scenes all have in common for me is a sense of
mystical, or even mythical, importance. That’s certainly my preference
as a writer and reader, but I also think that there should be something
mystical and mythical about any Call To Adventure scene. It’s the scene
that summons the hero/ine to the journey, and invites us, the reader or
audience, to come along. Shouldn’t that be magical?




I’ve also just realized that in my thrillers Book of Shadows, and Huntress Moon,
the protagonist’s Call To Adventure in the crime story is simultaneous
with meeting the love interest. I didn’t do that in previous books, and
the Inciting Incidents and Calls To Adventure in my other books are
separate scenes. I wonder if I’m getting more efficient at storytelling -
or if possibly my stories are getting more twisted! But I look at what
I’m doing now and I know it’s right that those two story elements occur
together; it says something thematically that I definitely wanted to
say, although I wasn’t really thinking about it at the time I wrote
those scenes.




All
of which I think illustrates the point that I’m always trying to make
in my blogs and teaching – that taking the time to analyze a particular
story element by looking at examples that really do it for you – can
take your writing to a whole other level.




So here's the suggestion of the day.  Either before you go on to your Nano Act II, - or later, when you're done with the fast first draft and are looking to rewrite, try taking a moment to really consider whether your Call to Adventure is living up to the name.




- Alex









=====================================================












Screenwriting Tricks for Authors and Writing Love, Screenwriting Tricks for Authors, II, are now available in all e formats and as pdf files. Either book, any format, just $2.99.

























- Kindle












- Amazon UK












- Amaxon DE (Eur. 2.40)













































- Smashwords (includes online viewing and pdf file)












- Amazon/Kindle












- Barnes & Noble/Nook












- Amazon UK












- Amazon DE

Nanowrimo: Something has to happen (Inciting Incident)

So, Nano, Day 6! Those of you who are doing it should be deep into your Act I by now. And I was going to do a general reminder of the Elements of Act I, but there are a few elements of Act I that are so very key that I'm going to do a few focused posts first.



Of all the many things I love about e books, I may love this feature the most: sampling. I'm a voracious browser and when I want something to read, unless I know exactly the book I want, I'll often go through a few dozen first chapters of a few dozen books in a row to find something that grabs me. 



This is a fantastic exercise when you're struggling with a first chapter of your own.



I read through a bunch of first chapters last night, a couple dozen
books at least, and it was pretty shocking how few of them grabbed me
enough for me to want to keep reading.



Now, I'm not
saying these books are badly written. The prose is fine, really. I'm
just like everyone - there are very few books out there
(proportionately) that I'm actually going to take the time to read. I
like certain things in a book and if they're not there, I'll move on.
Nothing wrong with that AT ALL - the wonderful thing about books is that
there ARE books that deliver the exact or almost exact experience we're
looking for. So of course we look for those over less satisfying ones.
I'm perfectly aware that just as many people discard MY books after
the first few pages because I'M not delivering the experience they're
looking for. I'm certainly not for everyone's tastes.



But
there was something I was noticing in book after book that I started
and then discarded last night that was just a structural error that
could so easily have been fixed to - I think - increase the number of
people who would want to keep reading. It's pretty simple, really.


I couldn't figure out what the book was about.



Or why I should care, either.



What
was missing in the first ten, or twenty, pages I was reading was the
INCITING INCIDENT (or the term I prefer - CALL TO ADVENTURE).



The
Inciting Incident is basically the action that starts the story. The
corpse hits the floor and begins a murder investigation, the hero gets
his first glimpse of the love interest in a love story, a boy receives
an invitation to a school for wizards in a fantasy. (More discussion on
this key story element here).

SOMETHING HAS TO HAPPEN, IMMEDIATELY, that gives us an idea of WHAT THE STORY IS ABOUT.



You
can do this to some extent by setting mood, tone, genre, hope and fear,
and an immediate external problem, but there is something about that
first action that lets us know, at least subconsciously: "Oh, I get it.
That teenage girl was murdered and that cop is going to find the
killer." "Oh, I get it. There's a shark out there off the coast eating
tourists and that police chief is going to have to get rid of it
somehow."



And once we know that, we can relax. It is a very disorienting and irritating thing not to know where a story is going.



Which
means in general you should get to your INCITING INCIDENT and CALL TO
ADVENTURE as soon as possible. Especially if you are a new writer, you
cannot afford to hold this back. And I would argue it's critical to get
it out there if your book is or has any chance of being an e book, too,
because it's just so easy to go on to the next e book on your reader.



Genre
fiction is popular because we go in knowing pretty much what the story
is going to be about. The kid is kidnapped and the detective has to get
him back. The house is haunted and the new residents are going to have
to fight to survive. But setting your book in a certain genre does not
always guarantee that the reader is going to know what the story is
going to be about (as evidenced by what I was reading last night.)



So
I'm suggesting - find a way to get that critical inciting incident into
the first few pages or at the very least, strongly hint at it right up
front.



Reading a bunch of first chapters in a row points out a lot of common errors, actually. So here’s a brief list.



1. Inexperienced writers almost inevitably START THEIR STORIES IN THE WRONG PLACE.



Now,
please, please remember – I am not talking about first drafts, here.
As far as I’m concerned, all a first draft has to do is get to “The
End”. It doesn’t have to be polished. It doesn’t have to make sense
to anyone but you. Screenwriter and novelist Derek Haas refers to his
first pass of a story as “the vomit draft”. And that's what Nano is about.  Exactly. Just get it all
out – you’ll make sense of it later. (for more on this: Your First Draft Is Always Going To Suck)



BUT
- when you’ve gotten to the end, you will probably want to start your
story 20, 30, 50 pages later than you do. And this is partly why:



For
some reason newer writers think they have to tell the whole back story
in the first ten pages. Back story is not story. So -



2. NEVER MIND THE FUCKING BACKSTORY!!!!!



With
almost no exceptions, you should start your book with an actual scene,
in which your main character (or villain, if that’s who you start with)
is caught up in action. You should put that scene down on the page as
if the reader is watching a movie – or more specifically, CAUGHT UP in a
movie. The reader should not just be watching the action, but
feeling the sweat, smelling the salt air, feeling the roiling of their
stomach as they step into whatever unknown.



We don’t
need to know who this person is, yet. Let them keep secrets. Make the
reader wonder – curiosity is a big hook. What we need to do is get
inside the character’s skin.



Here are two tips:



3. IDENTIFY THE SENSATION AND EXPERIENCE YOU WANT TO EVOKE IN YOUR READER – AND THEN MAKE SURE YOU’RE EVOKING IT.



I
cannot possibly stress this enough. We read novels to have an
EXPERIENCE. Make yourself a list of your favorite books and identify
what EXPERIENCE those books gives you. Sex, terror, absolute power, the
crazy wonderfulness of falling in love? What is the particular
rollercoaster that that book (or movie) is? Identify that in your
favorite stories and BE SPECIFIC. Then do the same for your own story.



Now
that you know what the experience is that you want to create, start to
look at great examples of books and films that successfully create that
experience FOR YOU. In other words - Make A List.



4. USE ALL SIX SENSES.



A
great exercise is to make sure that every three pages you’ve covered
specific details of what you want the reader to see, hear, feel, taste,
smell, and sense. All six categories, every three pages.



5. SHOW, DON’T TELL.



This
is one of those notes that always annoys me until I have to read 15
pages of “telling”. Then I realize it’s the essence of storytelling.
If your character has a conflict with her brother, then let’s see the
two of them fighting – don’t give me a family history and Freudian
analysis.





6. DETAIL THE INTERNAL DRIVES OF YOUR CHARACTER AND SET THE GENRE.



You
don’t need to detail the family tree or when they moved to whatever
house they’re living in or their great love for their first stuffed
animal.



What we need to know their DESIRE and WHAT IS
BLOCKING THEM. We need to feel HOPE AND FEAR for them. We need to get
a sense of the GENRE, a strong sense of MOOD and TONE, and a hint of
THEME.



So while you're writing your brains out today, take a few minutes to ask yourself these key questions:



Do you know where your inciting incident
is? Is it soon enough? Honestly?



Do we KNOW where your story is going by page ten of your book?



Can you maybe do a little rearranging to make sure this happens, before you move on?



And for more discussion and examples of all of these terms, see ELEMENTS OF ACT ONE.



- Alex





=====================================================



Screenwriting Tricks for Authors and Writing Love, Screenwriting Tricks for Authors, II, are now available in all e formats and as pdf files. Either book, any format, just $2.99.







- Kindle



- Amazon UK



- Amaxon DE (Eur. 2.40)











- Smashwords (includes online viewing and pdf file)



- Amazon/Kindle



- Barnes & Noble/Nook



- Amazon UK



- Amazon DE



-------------------------------------------------------------------

Ready, set, Nano!!

It's here - the big day. Big month. Big everything.



The queen of suspense, Mary Higgins Clark, said about first drafts:



Writing a first draft is like clawing my way through a mountain of concrete with my bare hands.



Isn't that the truth?



Well,
the point of Nano is to write so fast that you - sometimes - forget
that your hands are dripping blood. It's a stellar way of turning off
your censor (we all have one of those little suckers) and just get those
pages out.



I'll be posting Nano prompts throughout the month, but here's a list of helpful hints if you find yourself stuck.





1.
Keep moving forward – DO NOT go back and endlessly revise your first
chapters. You may end up throwing them out anyway. Just move
forward. If you’re stuck on a scene, just write down vaguely what might
happen in it or where it might happen as a place marker and move on to a
scene you know better. The first draft can be just a sketch – the
important thing is to get it all down, from beginning to end. Then you
can start to layer in all the other stuff.



2. Keep the story elements checklist close at hand for easy reference.



- Story Elements Checklist for Generating Index Cards



Or if you prefer the elements in a narrative:


Narrative Structure Cheat Sheet





3. Review the elements of the act you're stuck on.





- Elements of Act One





- Elements of Act Two, Part 1





- Elements of Act Two, Part 2





- Elements of Act Three



- What Makes A Great Climax?



- Elevate Your Ending



- Creating Character





4.
As you're writing, you will find out more about your story. Write the
premise again, and make sure you have identified and understand the Plan
and Central Story Action.



- Plan, Central Question, Central Story Action



- What's the Plan?



- Plan, Central Question, Central Story Action, part 2





5. When you’re stuck - make a list.



- Stuck? Make A List.



6.
Do word lists of visual and thematic elements for your story to build
your image systems. Start a collage book or online clip file of images
if that appeals to you.



- Thematic Image Systems





7. Remember that the first draft is always going to suck.



- Your First Draft Is Always Going To Suck





8. You can always watch movies and do breakdowns to inspire you and break you through a block.



Good luck, everyone - and feel free to stop in and gripe!



- Alex





=====================================================



Screenwriting Tricks for Authors and Writing Love, Screenwriting Tricks for Authors, II, are now available in all e formats and as pdf files. Either book, any format, just $2.99.







- Kindle



- Amazon UK



- Amaxon DE (Eur. 2.40)











- Smashwords (includes online viewing and pdf file)



- Amazon/Kindle



- Barnes & Noble/Nook



- Amazon UK



- Amazon DE



-------------------------------------------------------------------

Nanowrimo Prep: Expanded Story Elements Checklist

For
those of you new to some of these elements, what I’ve been doing on
this blog for a couple of years now is identifying key story elements of
WHATEVER dramatic form you happen to be working in – film, novels,
plays, television - pointing out where relevant how often these elements
occur in about the same places in the Three-Act Structure (and the Eight Sequence Structure) and discussing how different stories present those elements for maximum impact.



What
I am forever suggesting is that studying the movies and books that you
love, and looking specifically for those story elements and how they are
handled, is like playing scales on a piano or doing barre work in
dance. Practicing this kind of analysis builds your chops as a writer
and becomes a natural part of your writing process. It can also help
you solve virtually any story problem you come up against.



(All of this and more is compiled in the Screenwriting Tricks For Authors. workbooks.



So as you're doing your Nanowrimo Prep, I wanted to
post an expanded story elements checklist along with some  prompt questions that you can use for your Nano Prep (or apply to movies and books you’re analyzing!)




----------STORY ELEMENTS CHECKLIST------------





ELEMENTS OF ACT ONE:



(The full discussion is here - but a very brief summary:



- In a 2-hour movie, Act One starts at the beginning and climaxes at about 30 minutes.

- In a 400-page book, Act One starts at the beginning and climaxes at about 100 pages.

And adjust proportionately depending on the length of the story.

First, identify the separate SEQUENCES of this act. What time do they start, and what time do they climax? (Full discussion here.

In
a movie there will usually be two approximately 15- minute long
sequences, Sequence 1 and Sequence 2, and the climax of Sequence 2 will
be the Act 1 Climax, at about 30 minutes into the movie. But if the
movie is longer or shorter the sequences will be longer or shorter to
match, or there might be three sequences or even (rarely) four in Act I.
There may also be a short PROLOGUE.

In a book you have more
leeway with number and length of sequences – there may be three or four
in one Act, and they may vary more in length – 40 pages, 20 pages, 30
pages. But generally in a 400 page book, the Act One climax will be
still be around p. 100.







- OPENING IMAGE/OPENING SCENE



Describe the OPENING IMAGE and/or opening scene of the story.



What
mood, tone and genre does it set up? What kinds of experiences does it
hint at or promise? (Look at colors, music, pace, visuals, location,
dialogue, symbols, etc.).



Does the opening image or
scene mirror the closing image or scene? (It’s not mandatory, but it’s a
useful technique, often used.). How are the two different?



* What’s the MOOD, TONE, GENRE (s) the story sets up from the beginning? How does it do that?



* VISUAL AND THEMATIC IMAGE SYSTEMS



(More discussion here.)



* THE ORDINARY WORLD/THE SPECIAL WORLD



What does the ordinary world look and feel like? How does it differ in look and atmosphere from THE SPECIAL WORLD?





* MEET THE HERO OR HEROINE



How
do we know this is the main character? Why do we like him or her? Why
do we relate to him or her? What is the moment that we start rooting for
this person? Why do we care?





• HERO/INE’S INNER AND OUTER DESIRE



What
does the Hero/ine say s/he wants? Or what do we sense that s/he wants,
even if s/he doesn't say it or seem to be aware of it? How does what
s/he thinks s/he wants turn out to be wrong?





• HERO/INE’S PROBLEM



(This is usually an immediate external problem, not an overall need. In some stories this is more apparent than others.)



* HERO/INE’S GHOST OR WOUND



What is haunting them from the past?





• HERO/INE’S CHARACTER ARC



Look
at the beginning and the end to see how much the hero/ine changes in
the course of the story. How do the storytellers depict that change?





• INCITING INCIDENT/CALL TO ADVENTURE



(This can be the same scene or separated into two different scenes.)



How do the storytellers make this moment or sequence significant?



* REFUSAL OF THE CALL



Is the hero/ine reluctant to take on this task or adventure? How do we see that reluctance?



•
MEET THE ANTAGONIST (and/or introduce a Mystery, which is what you do
when you’re going to keep your antagonist hidden to reveal at the end).



How
do we know this is the antagonist? Does this person or people want the
same thing as the hero/ine, or is this person preventing the hero/ine
from getting what s/he wants?





* OTHER FORCES OF OPPOSITION



Who and what else is standing in the hero/ine’s way?





• THEME/ WHAT’S THE STORY ABOUT?



There are usually multiple themes working in any story, and usually they will be stated aloud.





• INTRODUCE ALLIES



How is each ally introduced?





* INTRODUCE MENTOR (may or may not have one)



What are the qualities of this mentor? How is this person a good teacher (or a bad teacher) for the hero?



• INTRODUCE LOVE INTEREST (may or may not have one).



What makes us know from the beginning that this person is The One?





* ENTERING THE SPECIAL WORLD/CROSSING THE THRESHOLD



What
is the Special World? How is it different from the ordinary world? How
do the filmmakers make entering this world a significant moment?



This
scene is often at a sequence climax or the Act One Climax. Sometimes
there are a whole series of thresholds to be crossed.





* THRESHOLD GUARDIAN



Is there someone standing on the threshold preventing the hero/ine from entering, or someone issuing a warning?



• SEQUENCE ONE CLIMAX



In
a 2-hour movie, look for this about 15 minutes in. How do the
filmmakers make this moment significant? What is the change that lets
you know that this sequence is over and Sequence 2 is starting?



(Each
sequence in a book will have some sort of climax, as well, although the
sequences are not as uniform in length and number as they tend to be in
films. Look for a revelation, a location change, a big event, a
setpiece.).



• PLANTS/REVEALS or SET UPS/PAYOFFS



Discussion here



• HOPE/FEAR and STAKES



(Such a big topic you just have to wait for the dedicated post.)





* PLAN



What
does the hero/ine say they want to do, or what do we understand they
intend to do? The plan usually starts small, with a minimum effort, and
gradually we see the plan changing.



• CENTRAL QUESTION, CENTRAL STORY ACTION



Does a character state this aloud? When do we realize that this is the main question of the story?





* ACT ONE CLIMAX:



In a 2-hour movie, look for this about 30 minutes in. In a 400-page book, about 100 pages in.



How
do the storytellers make this moment significant? What is the change
that lets you know that this act is over and Act II is starting?



You will also possibly see these elements (these can also be in Act Two or may not be present):





***** ASSEMBLING THE TEAM





***** GATHERING THE TOOLS –





***** TRAINING SEQUENCE





And also possibly:



***** MACGUFFIN (not present in all stories but if there is one it will USUALLY be revealed in the first act).



*****TICKING CLOCK (may not have one or the other and may be revealed later in the story)





* And always - look for and IDENTIFY SETPIECES.




ACT TWO, PART ONE



(Elements of Act I checklist is here).



In a 2-hour movie Act II, Part 1 starts at about 30 minutes, and ends at about 60 minutes.



In a 400-page book it starts at about p. 100 and climaxes at about p. 200.



Identify
the separate SEQUENCES of this act. Where do they start, and where do
they climax? In a movie, usually there will be two 15-minute long
sequences, Sequence 3 and Sequence 4, and the climax of Sequence 4 will
be the MIDPOINT, at about 1 hour into the movie. But if the movie is
longer or shorter the sequences will be longer or shorter to match, or
there might be three sequences or even four in Act II, Part 2.



And
a book may have several more sequences in this section of more variable
length, but the MIDPOINT will still be at about p. 200 in a 400-page
book.



Act II, Part 1 is the most variable section of
the four sections of a story. I have noticed it also tends to be the
most genre-specific. It doesn’t have the very clear, generic essential
elements that Act I and Act 3 do – except in the case of Mysteries and
certain kinds of team action films, which generally have a more standard
structure in this section.



IF THE FILM IS A MYSTERY, this section will almost always have these elements:



-QUESTIONING WITNESSES

-LINING UP AND ELIMINATING SUSPECTS

-FOLLOWING CLUES

-RED HERRINGS AND FALSE TRAILS

-THE DETECTIVE VOICING HER/HIS THEORY



IF
THE FILM IS A TEAM ACTION STORY, A WAR STORY, A HEIST OR CAPER MOVIE
(like OCEAN’S 11, THE SEVEN SAMURI, THE DIRTY DOZEN, ARMAGGEDON and
INCEPTION) then this section will usually have these elements:



- GATHERING THE TEAM

- TRAINING SEQUENCE

- GATHERING THE TOOLS

- BONDING BETWEEN TEAM MEMBERS

- SETTING UP TEAM MEMBERS’ STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES that will be tested in battle later.



There may also be



- A MACGUFFIN

- A TICKING CLOCK



But
if the story is not a mystery or a team action story, the first half of
Act 2 will often have some of the above elements, and ALL stories will
generally have these next elements in Act II, part 1 (not in any
particular order):



- CROSSING THE THRESHOLD/ENTERING THE SPECIAL WORLD



(This
scene may already have happened in Act One, but it often happens right
at the end of Act One or right at the beginning of Act Two.) How do the
storytellers make this moment important? Is there a special PASSAGEWAY
between the worlds?



- THRESHOLD GUARDIAN (maybe)



There
is very often a character who tries to prevent the hero/ine from
entering the SPECIAL WORLD, or who gives them a warning about danger.



- HERO/INE’S PLAN



- What is the hero/ine’s PLAN to get what s/he wants?



The
plan may have been stated in Act I, but here is where we see the
hero/ine start to act on the plan, and often s/he will have to keep
changing the plan as early attempts fail.



- THE ANTAGONIST’S PLAN



Same
as for the hero/ine: the plan may have been stated in Act I, but here
is where we see the villain start to act on the plan, and often s/he
will have to keep changing the plan as early attempts fail. Even if the
villain is being kept secret, we will see the effects of the villain's
plan on the hero/ine.



- ATTACKS AND COUNTERATTACKS



How do we see the antagonist attacking the hero/ine?



Whether
or not the hero/ine realizes who is attacking her or him, the
antagonist (s) will be nearby and constantly attacking the hero/ine. How
does the hero/ine fight back?



- SERIES OF TESTS



How do we see the hero/ine being tested?



In
a mentor story, the mentor will often be designing these tests, and
there may be a training sequence or training scenes as well. Sometimes
(as in THE GODFATHER) no one is really designing the tests, but the
hero/ine keeps running up against obstacles to what they want and they
have to overcome those obstacles, and with each win they become
stronger.



The hero/ine USUALLY wins a lot in Act II:1
(and then starts to lose throughout Act II:2), but that’s not
necessarily true. In JAWS, Sheriff Brody doesn’t get a win until the big
defeat of the Midpoint, when he is finally able to force the mayor to
sign a check and hire Quint to kill the shark.



- BONDING WITH ALLIES – LOVE SCENES



This
is one of the great pleasures of any story – seeing the hero/ine make
lifelong friends or fall in love. Besides the more obvious romantic
scenes, the love scenes can be between a boy and his dragon, as in HOW
TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON; or between teammates, as in JAWS; or a man and his
father or a woman and her mother (some of the most successful movies,
like THE GODFATHER, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, TERMS OF ENDEARMENT and
STEEL MAGNOLIAS show these dynamics). What are the scenes that make us
feel the glow of love or joy of friendship?



Or in
darker stories, instead of bonding scenes, the storytellers may show the
hero/ine pulling away from people and becoming more and more alienated,
as in THE GODFATHER, TAXI DRIVER, THE SHINING, CASINO.



In
a love story, there is always a specific scene that you might call THE
DANCE, where we see for the first time that the two lovers are perfect
for each other (this is often some witty exchange of dialogue when the
two seem to be finishing each other’s sentences, or maybe they end up
forced to sing karaoke together and bring down the house…). You see this
Dance scene in buddy comedies and buddy action movies as well.



- GENRE SCENES (action, horror, suspense, sex, emotion, adventure, violence)



Act II, part 1 is the section of a story that will really deliver on THE PROMISE OF THE PREMISE.



What
is the EXPERIENCE that you hope and expect to get from this story? – is
it the glow and sexiness of falling in love, or the adrenaline rush of
supernatural horror, or the intellectual pleasure of solving a mystery,
or the vicarious triumph of kicking the ass of a hated enemy in
hand-to-hand combat?



Here are some examples:



-
In THE GODFATHER, we get the EXPERIENCE of Michael gaining in power as
he steps into the family business. There’s a vicarious thrill in seeing
him win these battles.



- In JAWS, we EXPERIENCE the terror of what it’s like to be in a small beach town under attack by a monster of the sea.



-
In HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, we get the EXPERIENCE and wonder of
discovering all these cool and endearing qualities about dragons,
including and especially the EXPERIENCE of flying. We also get to
EXPERIENCE outcast and loser Hiccup suddenly winning big in the training
ring.



- In HARRY POTTER (1), we get the EXPERIENCE of
going to a school for wizards and learning and practicing magic
(including flying).



(I want to note that for those of
you working with horror stories, it’s very important to identify WHAT IS
THE HORROR, exactly? What are we so scared of, in this story? How do
the storytellers give us the experience of that horror?)



Ask
yourself what EXPERIENCE you want your audience or reader to have in
your own story, then look for the scenes that deliver on that promise in
Act II, part 1. Well, do they? If not, how can you enhance that
experience?



And another big but important
generalization I can make about Act II, part 1, is that this is often
where the specific structure of the KIND of story you’re writing (or
viewing) kicks in. For more on identifying KINDS of stories, see What Kind Of Story Is It?



Act
II part 1 builds to the MIDPOINT CLIMAX – which in movies is usually a
big SETPIECE scene, where the filmmakers really show off their expertise
with a special effects sequence (as in HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON and
HARRY POTTER, 1), or a big action scene (JAWS), or in breathtaking
psychological cat-and-mouse dialogue (in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS). It might
be a sex scene or a comedy scene, or both in a romantic comedy.
Whatever the Midpoint is, it is most likely going to be specific to the
promise of the genre.





THE MIDPOINT –



- Completely changes the game

- Locks the hero/ine into a situation or action

- Is a point of no return

- Can be a huge revelation

- Can be a huge defeat

- Can be a huge win

- Can be a “now it’s personal” loss

- Can be sex at 60 – the lovers finally get together, only to open up a whole new world of problems



More discussion on Elements of Act Two.







ACT II:2



In a 2-hour movie this section starts at about 60 minutes, and ends at about 90 minutes.

In a 400-page book, this section starts at about p. 300 and ends toward the end of the book.



First,
identify the separate SEQUENCES of this act. In a movie, usually there
will be two 15- minute long sequences, Sequence 5 and Sequence 6, and
the climax of Sequence 6 will be the ACT TWO CLIMAX, at about 90 minutes
into the movie. But if the movie is longer or shorter than 2 hours, the
sequences will be longer or shorter to match, or there might be three
sequences or even four in Act II, Part 2, and in a shorter movie this
section is often condensed into just one sequence or two very short
sequences. (I've noticed that Act II:2 tends to be the place where a
shorter movie will condense the action).



A book may have 2, 3, or even 4 sequences in this section, and the page count can vary.



Act II, part 2 will almost always have these elements:



*
RECALIBRATING– after the shock or defeat of the game-changer in the
midpoint, the hero/ine must REVAMP THE PLAN and try a NEW MODE OF
ATTACK.



What’s the new plan?



* STAKES



A
good story will always be clear about the stakes. Characters often
speak the stakes aloud. How have the stakes changed? Do we have new
hopes or fears about what the protagonist will do and what will happen
to him or her?





* ESCALATING ACTIONS/OBSESSIVE DRIVE



Little actions by the hero/ine to get what s/he wants have not cut it, so the actions become bigger and usually more desperate.



Do we see a new level of commitment in the hero/ine?

How are the hero/ine’s actions becoming more desperate?



*
It’s also worth noting that while the hero/ine is generally (but not
always!) winning in Act II:1, s/he generally begins to lose in Act II:2.
Often this is where everything starts to unravel and spiral out of
control.



* INCREASED ATTACKS BY ANTAGONIST



Just
as the hero/ine is becoming more desperate to get what s/he wants, the
antagonist also has failed to get what s/he wants and becomes more
desperate and takes riskier actions.



* HARD CHOICES AND CROSSING THE LINE (IMMORAL ACTIONS by the main character to get what s/he wants)



Do we see the hero/ine crossing the line and doing immoral things to get what s/he wants?



*
LOSS OF KEY ALLIES (possibly because of the hero/ine’s obsessive
actions, possibly through death or injury by the antagonist).



Do any allies walk out on the hero/ine or get killed or injured?



* A TICKING CLOCK (can happen anywhere in the story, or there may not be one.)



* REVERSALS AND REVELATIONS/TWISTS



* THE LONG DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL and/or VISIT TO DEATH (also known as: ALL IS LOST).



There
is always a moment in a story where the hero/ine seems to have lost
everything, and it is almost always right before the Second Act Climax,
or it IS the Second Act Climax.



What is the All Is Lost scene?



*
In a romance or romantic comedy, the All Is Lost moment is often a THE
LOVER MAKES A STAND scene, where s/he tells the loved one – “Enough of
this bullshit waffling, either commit to me or don’t, but if you don’t,
I’m out of here.” This can be the hero/ine or the love interest making
this stand.



THE SECOND ACT CLIMAX



*
Often will be a final revelation before the end game: often the
knowledge of who the opponent really is, that will propel the hero/ine
into the FINAL BATTLE.



* Often will be another
devastating loss, the ALL IS LOST scene. In a mythic structure or Chosen
One story or mentor story this is almost ALWAYS where the mentor dies
or is otherwise taken out of the action, so the hero/ine must go into
the final battle alone.



* Answers the Central Question – and often the answer is “no” – so that the hero/ine again must come up with a whole new plan.



* Often is a SETPIECE.



More discussion on Elements Of Act II:2





ACT THREE



The
third act is basically the Final Battle and Resolution. It can often be
one continuous sequence – the chase and confrontation, or confrontation
and chase. There may be a final preparation for battle, or it might be
done on the fly. Either here or in the last part of the second act the
hero will make a new, FINAL PLAN, based on the new information and
revelations of the second act.



The essence of a third act is the final showdown between protagonist and antagonist. It is often divided into two sequences:



1. Getting there (Storming the Castle) (Sequence 7).



2. The final battle itself (Sequence 8)



* In addition to the FINAL PLAN, there may be another GATHERING OF THE TEAM, and a brief TRANING SEQUENCE.



•
There may well be DEFEATS OF SECONDARY OPPONENTS (each one of which
should be given a satisfying end or comeuppance. (This may also happen
earlier, in Act II:2).



* Thematic Location - often a visual and literal representation of the Hero/ine’s Greatest Nightmare

-

* The protagonist’s character change

-

* The antagonist’s character change (if any)



* Possibly ally/allies’ character change (s) and/or gaining of desire (s)



*
Possibly a huge final reversal or reveal (twist), or even a whole
series of payoffs that you’ve been saving (as in Back to the Future and
It’s A Wonderful Life)



* RESOLUTION: A glimpse into the
New Way of Life that the hero/ine will be living after this whole
ordeal and all s/he’s learned from it.



• Possibly a
sense of coming FULL CIRCLE – returning to the opening image or scene
and showing how much things have changed, or how the hero/ine has
changed inside, causing her or him to deal with the same place and
situation in a whole different way.



* Closing Image



More on Act Three:



Elements of Act Three


What Makes a Great Climax?



Elevate Your Ending





Now,
I'd also like to remind everyone that this is a basic, GENERAL list.
There are story elements specific to whatever kind of story you're
writing, and the best way to get familiar with what those are is to do
the story breakdowns on three (at least) movies or books that are
similar to the KIND of story you're writing.



What KIND Of Story Is It?



- Alex









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