Alexandra Sokoloff's Blog, page 9
January 10, 2018
Visual Storytelling: Setpiece Scenes
<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Arial; panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536859905 -1073711037 9 0 511 0;} @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:1; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073786111 1 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} </style><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">by <a href="http://alexandrasokoloff.com/" target="_blank">Alexandra Sokoloff</a> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There’s a saying in Hollywood that “If you have six great scenes, you have a movie.” </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zenVq3PXXN..." imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="302" data-original-width="500" height="193" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zenVq3PXXN..." width="320" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Filmmakers take that “six great scenes” concept very literally. These setpiece scenes—so named because before the advent of location shooting, elaborate <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sets</i> were built as backdrops to key scenes—are also often called the “trailer scenes” or the “money scenes” (as opposed to “money shots” – that’s a whole different post!). As incensed as I am personally about how trailers these days give every single bit of the movie away, I understand that this is essential movie advertising: those trailer scenes have to seduce the potential audience by giving a good sense of the experience the movie is promising to deliver. </span></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://eepurl.com/bghqB5" style="font-family: arial;">Get free Story Structure extras and movie breakdowns</a></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As a screenwriter, when I go in to pitch a movie or television show, I concentrate on the setpieces, because I know if I can make the producers/studio/director SEE those scenes, I’ll get the job. It’s essential moviemaking.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What does that have to do with you as an author? Well, when I moved from screenwriting to writing novels, I took that concept of setpiece scenes with me. I’m often told that my thrillers are extremely visual and cinematic; I’m pretty sure that the comment I get most often from readers is “I could see the whole story like a movie playing in my head.” I absolutely feel that my job as an author is to put a movie into my readers’ heads — and I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard editors say that’s what they’re looking for, too.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I believe any author, at any professional level, will benefit from studying this filmmaking concept.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Authors tend to think that their craft is about words. But words really aren’t the point of storytelling at all – they’re only a tool to convey images, emotion, action. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />Location is definitely part of the art of creating setpieces. My first thrillers are on the supernatural side, and the house in a haunted house story (or a haunted dorm story like my ghost story <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Harrowing</i>) is every bit as much a character as the living ones. I’ve gone so far as to go live for weeks in a haunted mansion to collect realistic detail for the haunted mansion I was depicting in my poltergeist thriller, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Unseen</i>. Next week I’m heading out to Death Valley to do visual research for the 6<sup>th</sup> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Huntress</i> thriller.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />But a really great setpiece scene is a lot more than just visually dazzling. It’s thematic, too, such as the prison (dungeon for the criminally insane) in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Silence of the Lambs.</i> That is much more than your garden variety prison. It’s a labyrinth of twisty staircases and creepy corridors. And it’s hell: Clarice goes through – count ‘em – seven gates, down, down, down under the ground to get to Lecter. Because after all, she’s going to be dealing with the devil, isn’t she? And the labyrinth is a classic symbol of an inner psychological journey, just exactly what Clarice is about to go through. And Lecter is a monster, like the Minotaur, so putting him smack in the center of a labyrinth makes us unconsciously equate him with a mythical beast, something both more and less than human. The visuals of that setpiece express all of those themes perfectly (and others, too) so the scene is working on all kinds of visceral, emotional, subconscious levels. And all these visuals were on Thomas Harris’s page before they were translated to film.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />If you watch or rewatch the erotic thriller <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sea Of Love</i>, you’ll see how the storytellers work the sea images and the love images throughout the film. The film is often shot in blue tones and against backdrops of wide panes of glass, with moving shadows - all creating an undersea or aquarium effect, especially in the suspense scenes. The story explores themes of love, including obsessive love, and addiction – sex addiction and alcoholism. There are repeating visuals of bottles, glasses, drinking, nudity, erotic art, X-rated movie theaters, hookers. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iJNN-jjqdM..." imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="422" data-original-width="530" height="254" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iJNN-jjqdM..." width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Harry Potter books and films are so crammed full of visual imagery it would take a book to go into it all (there probably is one, in fact...) The books play with all the classic symbols of witches, wizards and magic: owls, cats, gnome, newts, feathers, wands, crystals, ghosts, shapeshifters, snakes, frogs, rats, brooms (I don’t really have to keep going, do I?). Look at <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Wizard of Oz</i> (just the brilliant contrast of the black and white world of Kansas and the Technicolor world of Oz says volumes). Look at what Barbara Kingsolver does in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Prodigal Summer</i>, where images of fecundity and the, well, prodigiousness of nature overflow off the pages, revealing characters and conflicts and themes. Look at what Robert Towne does with water in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chinatown</i>—and also, try watching that movie sometime with Oedipus in mind… the very specific parallels will blow you away. Take a look at <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Groundhog Day</i>, which constantly provides groundhog images, images of stopped or handless clocks (and that malevolent clock radio!), an ice image of the eye of God, anthropomorphic weather.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In film, every movie has a production designer: one artist (and these people are genius level, let me tell you) who is responsible, in consultation with the director and with the help of sometimes a whole army of production artists, for the entire look of the film - every color, costume, prop, set choice.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">With a book, guess who's the production designer? </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I am. You are. The author is. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br /></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />As a screenwriter, I was used to having producers tell me a scene had to be set someplace else because it would be too expensive to shoot. But as an author I have the incredible advantage of an unlimited production budget. Whatever settings, crowds, mechanical devices, alien attacks or natural disasters I choose to depict, my only budget constraint is in my imagination. The most powerful directors in Hollywood would kill for a fraction of that power. Theoretically, they can’t even begin to compete.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />So I approach setting as a production designer. My Thriller Award-nominated <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Alexandra-Soko..." target="_blank">Huntress series </a>(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Huntress Moon, Blood Moon, Cold Moon</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bitter Moon, Hunger Moon</i>) follows a haunted FBI agent’s interstate manhunt for what he believes may be a female serial killer. I get to show off the staggering beauty of my home state of California, and I have a lot of fun with locations. I get a lot of raves about a key scene that takes place in a butterfly colony in a eucalyptus grove. Now, growing up in California as I have, I couldn’t very well set a thriller on the central California coast and not use the monarch grove, and the visuals are breathtaking - but the monarchs also make a great metaphor for my killer. In another key scene (in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Blood Moon</i>) the memorial gardens of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco add a ritual mysticism to the aftermath of a murder scene. And using my beloved Haight Ashbury as a continuing setting in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Blood Moon</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cold Moon</i>gives those books the hint of magical forces that is a subtle part of the series.</span></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So if you want to learn how to build a great setpiece, how do you start?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">(My students know the answer to this one).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Make a list of setpieces that have stayed with you. What are key scenes from movies that resonate on a visual level? Make that list WITHOUT viewing the movies at first, and try to write down everything you remember about a few of those key scenes.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Now watch one of those scenes – repeatedly, and break it down. What’s going on in it, not just visually, but thematically and emotionally? What key story conflicts are happening, and how does the visual reflect that? What key story elements are present in the scene (you’ll find many setpiece scenes contain several key story elements at once).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And let me know - what are some great examples of memorable setpieces for you – in books or films?</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: small; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />- Alex</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;">=====================================================</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><b> STEALING HOLLYWOOD</b></span><br /><span style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This new workbook updates all the text in the first <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Screenwriting Tricks for Authors</i> ebook with all the many tricks I’ve learned over my last few years of writing and teaching—and <i>doubles</i> the material of the first book, as well as adding <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">six</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>more full story breakdowns.</span></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dJMygnCcTnM..." style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dJMygnCcTn..." width="160" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://hyperurl.co/sqrkry">&l... HOLLYWOOD </i></a><i>ebook<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> $3.99</span></i></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.createspace.com/5312389&q... HOLLYWOOD</i></a><i> US print<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> $14.99</span></i></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://hyperurl.co/qyquh2">&l... HOLLYWOOD</i></a><i> print, all countries </i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><b><br /></b></i><i><b>WRITING LOVE</b></i></span></span></div><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small; font-style: italic;">Writing Love</span><span style="font-size: small;"> is a shorter version of the workbook, using examples from love stories, romantic suspense, and romantic comedy - available in e formats for just <span style="font-weight: bold;">$2.99.</span></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aZneOFcfA8k..." onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644435457160854226" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aZneOFcfA8..." style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 132px;" /></a>- <a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/... (includes online viewing and pdf file)</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;">- <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Love-Sc... /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;">- <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/writi... & Noble/Nook</a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;">- <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Writing-Love-... UK</a></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;">- <a href="http://www.amazon.de/Writing-Love-Scr... DE</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">---------------------</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">You can also sign up to get free movie breakdowns here:</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"> </span><span style="color: #420278; font-family: "arial"; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><a href="http://eepurl.com/bghqB5">Get free Story Structure extras and movie breakdowns</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
January 6, 2018
Huntress Moon sale, $1.99 - and let's get you writing this year!
To start your New Year off, I have a book sale and a writing series for you.
HUNTRESS MOON SALE
Book 1 of my Thriller Award-nominated Huntress Moon series is on sale for just $1.99 on Amazon US! The series turns tropes of violence against women inside out: my haunted FBI agent is on the hunt for a female serial killer. Who kills men. All over the country. For years.
So if you're in the mood to see the predators LOSE, here’s your chance to get a great deal.
Special Agent Matthew Roarke thought he knew what evil was. He was wrong.
Huntress Moon: Amazon US: $1.99
Voice Arts Award for Best Audiobook Narration
Audiobook junkies might want to take the sale opportunity to pick up the ebook - then add the narration for as low as $1.99.
Huntress Moon and my amazing narrator, RC Bray, won a Voice Arts Award for Best Audiobook Narration, Crime & Thriller.
Bob is also the multi-award-winning narrator of the blockbuster audiobook of The Martian, and you can hear his stellar narration in all five of the Huntress books.
WRITING SERIES FOR THE NEW YEAR
1. Five Minutes a Day For a Year Equals a Book
Yeah, yeah - every year everyone resolves to write a book. And most people never, ever will.
But there's a very simple trick to writing a book.
Just do it.
Seriously. If you can write five minutes every day, you can write a book. There's more to it than that, of course - but no book will ever get written if you don't put that very simple habit into practice.
Read more here.
2. Nanowrimo Now What?
Maybe you've written more than five minutes a day. Maybe you did Nanowrimo and now have 50,000 or more wonderful, messy words. But - now what?
Here are the Top Ten Things I Know About Rewriting.
3. Practicing Craft: It's a Wonderful Life
What if you could get better as a writer every single time you sat down to watch a movie or TV show? Wouldn't that push your craft to the next level or two or seven?
A little prep work before every movie or show you watch will pay off hugely. Try it with this classic.
4. Setpieces and Key Story Elements
These are two of the most important elements any writer can steal from the movies. I'll be talking through them at length this month.
Get free Story Structure extras and movie breakdowns
HUNTRESS MOON SALE
Book 1 of my Thriller Award-nominated Huntress Moon series is on sale for just $1.99 on Amazon US! The series turns tropes of violence against women inside out: my haunted FBI agent is on the hunt for a female serial killer. Who kills men. All over the country. For years.
So if you're in the mood to see the predators LOSE, here’s your chance to get a great deal.
Special Agent Matthew Roarke thought he knew what evil was. He was wrong.
Huntress Moon: Amazon US: $1.99
Voice Arts Award for Best Audiobook Narration
Audiobook junkies might want to take the sale opportunity to pick up the ebook - then add the narration for as low as $1.99.
Huntress Moon and my amazing narrator, RC Bray, won a Voice Arts Award for Best Audiobook Narration, Crime & Thriller.
Bob is also the multi-award-winning narrator of the blockbuster audiobook of The Martian, and you can hear his stellar narration in all five of the Huntress books.
WRITING SERIES FOR THE NEW YEAR
1. Five Minutes a Day For a Year Equals a Book
Yeah, yeah - every year everyone resolves to write a book. And most people never, ever will.
But there's a very simple trick to writing a book.
Just do it.
Seriously. If you can write five minutes every day, you can write a book. There's more to it than that, of course - but no book will ever get written if you don't put that very simple habit into practice.
Read more here.
2. Nanowrimo Now What?
Maybe you've written more than five minutes a day. Maybe you did Nanowrimo and now have 50,000 or more wonderful, messy words. But - now what?
Here are the Top Ten Things I Know About Rewriting.
3. Practicing Craft: It's a Wonderful Life
What if you could get better as a writer every single time you sat down to watch a movie or TV show? Wouldn't that push your craft to the next level or two or seven?
A little prep work before every movie or show you watch will pay off hugely. Try it with this classic.
4. Setpieces and Key Story Elements
These are two of the most important elements any writer can steal from the movies. I'll be talking through them at length this month.
Get free Story Structure extras and movie breakdowns
January 2, 2018
Writing five minutes a day for a year equals a book
by Alexandra Sokoloff
Happy New Year to all!
I did make a resolution to blog more this year, and I have some essential writing posts planned, focused around rewriting (because come on - anyone who needs basic structure can and really should just buy one of the workbooks). Those of you who did Nano might actually have a full rough draft by now, so this is definitely for you.
But before we launch into that, let's talk about something relevant to anyone who wants to write anything at any stage. And that's finding time to write - and DOING it.
Here's the plain fact.
You CAN write a novel (or a script, or a TV pilot....) in whatever time you have. Even if that’s only five minutes a day. If you have kids, if you have the day job from hell, if you are clinically depressed – whatever is going on in your life, if you have five minutes a day, as long as you write EVERY DAY, to the best of your ability, you can write a novel that way.
I just don't think that's said often enough.
If you're new to this blog, start here:
Get free Story Structure extras and movie breakdowns
I wrote my first novel,
The Harrowing
, by writing just five minutes per day.
My day job was screenwriting, at the time, and yes, it was a writing job, but it had turned into the day job from hell.
But fury is a wonderful motivator, and at the end of the day, every day, I was so pissed off at the producers I was working for that I would make myself write five minutes a day on the novel EVERY NIGHT, just out of spite.
Okay, the trick to this is – that if you write five minutes a day, you will write more than five minutes a day, sometimes a whole hell of a lot more than five minutes a day most days. But it’s the first five minutes that are the hardest.
Sometimes I was so tired that all I could manage was a sentence, but I would sit down at my desk and write that one sentence. But some days I’d tell myself all I needed to write was a sentence, and I’d end up writing three pages. I finished that book, and sold it to a major publisher, in less than a year.
It’s just like the first five minutes of exercise - something I learned a long time ago. As long as I can drag myself to class and endure that first five minutes of the workout, and I give myself permission to leave after five minutes if I want to, I will generally take the whole hour or hour and a half class, and usually end up loving it. (There are these wonderful things called endorphins, you see, and they kick in after a certain amount of exposure to pain...)
The trick to writing, and exercise, is – it is STARTING that is hard.
I have been writing professionally for . . . well, never mind how many years. But even after all those many years—every single day, I have to trick myself into writing. I will do anything – scrub toilets, clean the cat box, do my taxes, do my mother’s taxes – rather than sit down to write. It’s absurd. I mean, what’s so hard about writing, besides everything?
But I know this just like I know it about exercise. If you can just start, and commit to just that five minutes, those five minutes will turn into ten, and those ten minutes will turn into pages, and one page a day for a year is a book.
Think about it.
Or better yet, write for five minutes, right now.
- Alexandra Sokoloff
=====================================================
STEALING HOLLYWOOD
This new workbook updates all the text in the first Screenwriting Tricks for Authors ebook with all the many tricks I’ve learned over my last few years of writing and teaching—and doubles the material of the first book, as well as adding six more full story breakdowns.
STEALING HOLLYWOOD ebook $3.99
STEALING HOLLYWOOD US print $14.99
STEALING HOLLYWOOD print, all countries
WRITING LOVE
Writing Love is a shorter version of the workbook, using examples from love stories, romantic suspense, and romantic comedy - available in e formats for just $2.99.
- Smashwords (includes online viewing and pdf file)
- Amazon/Kindle
- Barnes & Noble/Nook
- Amazon UK
- Amazon DE
---------------------
You can also sign up to get free movie breakdowns here:
Get free Story Structure extras and movie breakdowns
Happy New Year to all!
I did make a resolution to blog more this year, and I have some essential writing posts planned, focused around rewriting (because come on - anyone who needs basic structure can and really should just buy one of the workbooks). Those of you who did Nano might actually have a full rough draft by now, so this is definitely for you.
But before we launch into that, let's talk about something relevant to anyone who wants to write anything at any stage. And that's finding time to write - and DOING it.
Here's the plain fact.
You CAN write a novel (or a script, or a TV pilot....) in whatever time you have. Even if that’s only five minutes a day. If you have kids, if you have the day job from hell, if you are clinically depressed – whatever is going on in your life, if you have five minutes a day, as long as you write EVERY DAY, to the best of your ability, you can write a novel that way.I just don't think that's said often enough.
If you're new to this blog, start here:
Get free Story Structure extras and movie breakdowns
I wrote my first novel,
The Harrowing
, by writing just five minutes per day.My day job was screenwriting, at the time, and yes, it was a writing job, but it had turned into the day job from hell.
But fury is a wonderful motivator, and at the end of the day, every day, I was so pissed off at the producers I was working for that I would make myself write five minutes a day on the novel EVERY NIGHT, just out of spite.
Okay, the trick to this is – that if you write five minutes a day, you will write more than five minutes a day, sometimes a whole hell of a lot more than five minutes a day most days. But it’s the first five minutes that are the hardest.
Sometimes I was so tired that all I could manage was a sentence, but I would sit down at my desk and write that one sentence. But some days I’d tell myself all I needed to write was a sentence, and I’d end up writing three pages. I finished that book, and sold it to a major publisher, in less than a year.
It’s just like the first five minutes of exercise - something I learned a long time ago. As long as I can drag myself to class and endure that first five minutes of the workout, and I give myself permission to leave after five minutes if I want to, I will generally take the whole hour or hour and a half class, and usually end up loving it. (There are these wonderful things called endorphins, you see, and they kick in after a certain amount of exposure to pain...)
The trick to writing, and exercise, is – it is STARTING that is hard.
I have been writing professionally for . . . well, never mind how many years. But even after all those many years—every single day, I have to trick myself into writing. I will do anything – scrub toilets, clean the cat box, do my taxes, do my mother’s taxes – rather than sit down to write. It’s absurd. I mean, what’s so hard about writing, besides everything?
But I know this just like I know it about exercise. If you can just start, and commit to just that five minutes, those five minutes will turn into ten, and those ten minutes will turn into pages, and one page a day for a year is a book.
Think about it.
Or better yet, write for five minutes, right now.
- Alexandra Sokoloff
=====================================================
STEALING HOLLYWOOD
This new workbook updates all the text in the first Screenwriting Tricks for Authors ebook with all the many tricks I’ve learned over my last few years of writing and teaching—and doubles the material of the first book, as well as adding six more full story breakdowns.
STEALING HOLLYWOOD ebook $3.99
STEALING HOLLYWOOD US print $14.99
STEALING HOLLYWOOD print, all countries
WRITING LOVE
Writing Love is a shorter version of the workbook, using examples from love stories, romantic suspense, and romantic comedy - available in e formats for just $2.99.
- Smashwords (includes online viewing and pdf file)- Amazon/Kindle
- Barnes & Noble/Nook
- Amazon UK
- Amazon DE
---------------------
You can also sign up to get free movie breakdowns here:
Get free Story Structure extras and movie breakdowns
December 23, 2017
Holiday Homework: It's a Wonderful Life
<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Times; panose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073786111 1 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} </style> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">by <a href="http://alexandrasokoloff.com/" target="_blank">Alexandra Sokoloff</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Two days to Christmas. Yes, I know, it’s SO HARD to get any writing done this time of year. I’m not putting any pressure on you, I swear! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But there is something that almost all of us do this time of year that we can actually turn into an almost miraculous, (as it were) two-and-a-half hour session on writing.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We sit down with the family (or with a bottle of champagne) and watch <i>It’s a Wonderful Life. </i></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UCZACgR6pg..." imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UCZACgR6pg..." width="216" /></a></i></span></div><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Anyone who’s read my books and blog knows that I’m all about using movies to learn the craft of writing – not just screenwriting, but very much novels, too. And like the other classic anti-totalitarian movie of the WWII era, <i>The Wizard of Oz, </i>this is much much more than a feel-good fantasy.</span><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The story packs a staggering emotional and thematic impact on young and old (I used to show it to the incarcerated gang kids I taught in the Los Angeles County prison system, and it always bowled them over – they GOT it.</span><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And there’s no better film to watch (and watch again, and again, and again) to internalize some of the most basic lessons of powerful storytelling. So this year, why not do a few minutes of prep before the movie and resolve to look out for how the filmmakers handle these KEY STORY ELEMENTS:</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #420278; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><a href="http://eepurl.com/bghqB5">Get free Story Structure extras and movie breakdowns</a></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #420278; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"> </span> </span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">INNER AND OUTER DESIRE:</span></b></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">One of the most important steps of creating a story, from the very beginning, is identifying the protagonist’s overall DESIRE and NEED in the story. You also hear this called “internal desire” and “external desire,” and “want” and “deep need” — but it’s all the same thing. A strong main character will want something immediately, like to get that promotion or to get the love interest into bed. But there’s something underneath that surface want that is <i>really</i>driving the character, and in good characters, almost always, <b>those inner and outer desires are in conflict</b>. Also, the character will <i>know</i>that s/he wants that outer desire, but will probably have very little idea that what she really needs is the inner desire.</span><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So you, the writer, have to know your character’s inner and outer desires and how they conflict. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s A Wonderful Life</span></i><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> is one of the greatest filmic examples of inner and outer desire in conflict. From the very beginning, George <i>wants</i> to see the world, to do big things, design big buildings: all very male, external, explosive goals. But his <i>deep need</i> is to become a good man and community leader like his father, who does big things and fights big battles — on a microcosmic level, in their tiny, “boring” little community of Bedford Falls, which George can’t wait to escape.</span></span><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Every choice George actually makes in the story defers his external need to escape and ties him closer to the community that he becomes the moral leader of, as he takes on his late father’s role and battles the town’s would-be dictator, Mr. Potter. George does not take on that role happily — he fights it every single step of the way and resents it a good bit of the time. But it’s that conflict which makes George such a great character that we emphasize with. It’s a story of how an ordinary man becomes a true hero.</span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">STATEMENT OF THEME:</span></b></span><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A reader or audience will get restless if they don’t have a good idea of what the story is within the first five (I’d even say three) minutes of a movie, or the first twenty pages of a book. Sometimes it’s enough to have just a sense of the central conflict. But often, good storytellers will make it perfectly clear what the <i>theme </i>of the story is, and very early on in the story. In the first act of <i>It’s a Wonderful Life</i>, in that scene in which George is impatient to leave pokey little Bedford Falls and go out in the world to “do big things,” George’s father tells him that in their own small way, he feels they <i>are </i>doing big things at the Building and Loan; they’re satisfying one of the most basic needs of human beings by helping them own their own homes. This is a lovely statement of the theme of the movie: that it’s the ordinary, seemingly mundane acts that we do every day that add up to a heroic life. </span><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And by the way – this theme is overtly stated in our very first glimpse of the adult George:</span><br /><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">INTRODUCTION OF THE MAIN CHARACTER:</span></b></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></b></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K1dsmLASeu..." imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="720" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K1dsmLASeu..." width="320" /></a></span></b></span></div><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. I want a <i>big</i> one.” </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And freeze frame on that hand span… a fabulous, funny, sexy introduction. (That big, huh? Mmm.) This intro goes on to tell us something about George Bailey’s outer DESIRE line: he wants to do big things, build big things, everything big. In fact, the story will be about how all the <i>little</i> things George does in his life will add up to something more than simply big, but truly enormous.</span></span><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">HOPE/FEAR and STAKES</span></b></span><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Just as good storytellers will be sure to make it perfectly clear what the main character’s inner and outer desires are, these storytellers will also be very clear about what we HOPE and FEAR for the main character. Generally, what we hope for the character is the same as her or his INNER NEED. In <i>It’s a Wonderful Life, </i>we hope George Bailey will defeat Mr. Potter. We fear Potter will drive George and his family into ruin (and George possibly to suicide). Our fear for the character should be the absolute worst-case scenario: in a drama, mystery, or thriller we’re talking madness, suicide, death, ruin, or even the end of the world. (This is also what is AT STAKE). In a comedy or romance, the stakes are more likely the loss of love.</span><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">THE ANTAGONIST</span></b></span><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The person whom the protagonist is fighting is often a dark mirror of the protagonist; in many stories we see that it wouldn’t take much for the hero/ine to become the antagonist, metaphorically speaking. The hero/ine and the antagonist often want the same thing, whether it’s an actual <b>object</b>, like the lost Ark of the Covenant or the Maltese Falcon; or <b>money</b>; or a <b>power</b>, like control of a town in <i>It’s A Wonderful Life</i>) or control of a country (<i>The Lion in Winter</i>) or control of a family (<i>Another Part of the Forest</i>); or a <b>person</b>: a child (<i>Kramer Vs. Kramer</i>) or a lover (five billion romantic comedies). </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And sometimes the only thing that distinguishes the protagonist from the antagonist is what methods they’re willing to use to get what they want; the hero/ine, we hope, is moral about it (though the hero/ine crossing a moral line is almost an inevitable part of any story), and the antagonist is willing to lie, cheat, hurt, or kill for it. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Of course Potter is a wonderfully evil villain, perfectly played as a huge human spider by the great Lionel Barrymore. The deal with the devil scene in which he almost – <i>almost </i>succeeds in getting George to sign his soul away is a masterpiece all on its own. But what’s particularly interesting about IAWL is that the battle is taking place on several different levels – in George’s massive internal conflict, the particular antagonist of Mr. Potter - but the real opponent is bigger. George is not just fighting Mr. Potter, but a whole way of life that is anti-community, that destroys community and individuality. <i>It’s a Wonderful Life</i>, like <i>The Wizard of Oz</i>, is an anti-totalitarian statement made in the midst of a massive battle against totalitarian forces of World War II.</span><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And couldn’t we all use that, right now?</span><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">FINAL BATTLE:</span></b></span><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is not the classic “hero confronts villain on villain’s home turf” third act. In fact, Potter is nowhere around in the final confrontation, is he? There’s no showdown, even though we desperately want one. There’s not even a hint that Potter will be punished in any way for essentially stealing the Building and Loan money from Uncle Billy and then compelling the police to arrest George for the theft.</span><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But the point is that George Bailey has been fighting Potter all along. </span><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There is no big glorious heroic showdown to be had, here, because it’s all the little grueling day-to-day, crazy-making battles that George has had with Potter all his life that have made the difference. And the genius of this film is that it shows in vivid and emotionally wrenching detail what would have happened if George had not had that whole lifetime of battles against Potter and for the town. Every single encounter George Bailey has had throughout the film is an example of a small, ordinary goodness, a right choice that George makes, that in the end, when we and he see the town as it would have been if he had never existed, lets us understand that it is those little things that make for true heroism. In the end, even faced with prison, George makes the choice to live to fight another day, and is rewarded with the joy of seeing his town restored.</span><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is the best example I know of, ever, of a final battle that is thematic — and yet the impact is emotional and visceral. It’s not an intellectual treatise; you <i>live</i> that ending along with George, but also come away with the sense of what true heroism is.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K__6N1Ed3v..." style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1172" data-original-width="1600" height="234" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K__6N1Ed3v..." width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s A Wonderful Life</span></i><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> is also a terrific example of emotional exhilaration in a climax. Once George Bailey has seen what would have happened to his little town if he had never been born, and he decides he wants to live and realizes he is alive again, the pleasures just keep coming and coming and coming. It is as much a relief for us as for George, to experience him running through town, seeing all his old friends and familiar places restored. And then to see the whole town gathering at his house to help him, one character after another appearing to lend money to pay off his debt, Violet deciding to stay in town, his old friend Sam wiring him a promise of as much money as he needs – the whole thing makes the audience glad to be alive, too. We feel, as George does, that the little things we do every day <i>do</i> count.</span></span><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is a great lesson, I think, that above all in an ending, the reader/audience has to CARE. A good ending has an emotional payoff, and it has to be proportionate to what the character and the reader/audience has experienced.</span><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There’s so much more I could say (and have said!) about this film and all the story elements of it, but yes, time is short and shopping lists are long. <span style="font-family: "times" , serif;">At leas</span>t now you have a chance to do some writing work while it looks like you’re playing – one of my favorite writerly tricks.</span><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Happy Solstice, Happy Hanukah, Happy Kwanzaa, and Merry Christmas to all.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s been a <span style="font-family: "times" , serif;">b<span style="font-family: "times" , serif;">rutal</span></span> year, but it really is a wonderful life. <span style="font-family: "times" , serif;">Defin<span style="font-family: "times" , serif;">itely w</span></span>orth fighting for.</span><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times" , serif; font-size: small; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">- Alex</span><br /><br /><br /><div style="font-family: times; margin: 0px;">=====================================================<br /><br />a All the information on this blog and more is available in my <i>Screenwriting Tricks for Authors </i>workbooks.</div><div style="font-family: times; margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: times;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><b> STEALING HOLLYWOOD</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span>This new workbook updates all the text in the first <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Screenwriting Tricks for Authors</i> ebook with all the many tricks I’ve learned over my last few years of writing and teaching—and <i>doubles</i> the material of the first book, as well as adding <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">six</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>more full story breakdowns.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dJMygnCcTnM..." style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dJMygnCcTn..." style="cursor: move;" width="160" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://hyperurl.co/sqrkry">&l... 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HOLLYWOOD</i></a><i> print, all countries </i></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><i><b><br /></b></i><i><b>WRITING LOVE</b></i></div></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Writing Love</span> is a shorter version of the workbook, using examples from love stories, romantic suspense, and romantic comedy - available in e formats for just <span style="font-weight: bold;">$2.99.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aZneOFcfA8k..." onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644435457160854226" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aZneOFcfA8..." style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 132px;" /></a>- <a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/... (includes online viewing and pdf file)</div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;">- <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Love-Sc... style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;">- <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/writi... & Noble/Nook</a></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;">- <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Writing-Love-... UK</a></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px;">- <a href="http://www.amazon.de/Writing-Love-Scr... DE</a></div></div><div style="font-family: times; margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: times; margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: times; margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: times;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div></div><div><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You can also sign up to get free movie breakdowns here:</span></div></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div></div></div><div><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"> </span><span style="color: #420278; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><a href="http://eepurl.com/bghqB5">Get free Story Structure extras and movie breakdowns</a></span></div></div></div></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div>
December 22, 2017
Happy Solstice!! What's YOUR writing intention?
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mso-level-number-position:left; margin-left:57.0pt; text-indent:-.25in; font-family:"Courier New",serif;} @list l0:level3 {mso-level-number-format:bullet; mso-level-text:; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; margin-left:93.0pt; text-indent:-.25in; font-family:Wingdings;} @list l0:level4 {mso-level-number-format:bullet; mso-level-text:; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; margin-left:129.0pt; text-indent:-.25in; font-family:Symbol;} @list l0:level5 {mso-level-number-format:bullet; mso-level-text:o; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; margin-left:165.0pt; text-indent:-.25in; font-family:"Courier New",serif;} @list l0:level6 {mso-level-number-format:bullet; mso-level-text:; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; margin-left:201.0pt; text-indent:-.25in; font-family:Wingdings;} @list l0:level7 {mso-level-number-format:bullet; mso-level-text:; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; margin-left:237.0pt; text-indent:-.25in; font-family:Symbol;} @list l0:level8 {mso-level-number-format:bullet; mso-level-text:o; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; margin-left:273.0pt; text-indent:-.25in; font-family:"Courier New",serif;} @list l0:level9 {mso-level-number-format:bullet; mso-level-text:; mso-level-tab-stop:none; mso-level-number-position:left; margin-left:309.0pt; text-indent:-.25in; font-family:Wingdings;} ol {margin-bottom:0in;} ul {margin-bottom:0in;} </style></div>--> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">by <a href="http://alexandrasokoloff.com/" target="_blank">Alexandra Sokoloff</a> <br /><br />It’s Solstice, a powerful time to set intentions. Yes, I know you have Christmas shopping to do. Quite possibly some cooking, if that’s what you’re into. We could all do some cleaning. And almost undoubtedly there's family, which this year might be more fraught than usual. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">(Also taxes. I hate to even bring it up, but that whole travesty wasn’t MY idea - and now we have to live with it. You may want to give this a quick read: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2..." target="_blank"><i>Hacking the Tax Plan</i></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">.</span>)</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">But still. Even with all of the above - there’s a reason we traditionally write resolutions at this time of year. Sow some seeds that will blossom for you in 2018/ Take a minute, or an hour, to BE still, and answer the questions for yourself: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">What next? What do I want for the coming year? What does it look like for me?</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">And of course, I have some questions specifically for the writers.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">Do you want to finish that book, the one from Nanowrimo or otherwise? Publish for the first time? Publish at a whole new, spectacular level? Get that movie or TV series made?</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">This is the time for ALL those shimmering wishes.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">And to help nudge the writers along, I’m going to start some posts on rewriting. I have WHOLE BOOKS on writing, that you can conveniently order below. But here on the blog, since we’re into that Nanowrimo Now What time of year, let’s focus on the rewriting part. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">Here’s a general list of my best advice on rewriting to start. You don’t have to read it now! You have shopping, and cooking, and family, and probably some tax scrambling to do.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">But it’s Solstice, so I’m planting the idea in your heads - and wishing you a bright and bountiful harvest in the New Year.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 21pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Alex<br /><br /><span style="color: #420278; font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><a href="http://eepurl.com/bghqB5">Get free Story Structure extras and movie breakdowns</a></span> </div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 21pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 21pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 21pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"> <b>TOP TEN THINGS I KNOW ABOUT REWRITING </b></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 21pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 21pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">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.</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">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?</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">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.</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">(And yes, if you’ve been paying attention (<a href="http://thedarksalon.blogspot.com/2009... Three Act Structure and The Eight Sequence Structure</a>), that would mean I’m either reading one sequence or two sequences a day).</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">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).</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">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.</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">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…)</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">Once I’ve read through the entire thing, I make notes about my impressions, and then usually I will do a re-card (see <a href="http://thedarksalon.blogspot.com/2009... Index Card Method</a>). 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.</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">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.</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">(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.)</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">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.</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">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.</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">1. Cut, cut, cut.</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">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.</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">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.</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">2. Find a great critique group.</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">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.</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">3. Do several passes.</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">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.</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">4. Whatever your genre is, do a dedicated pass focusing on that crucial genre element.</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">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.</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">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.</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">5. Know your Three Act Structure.</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">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.</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">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?”</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">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?</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">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.</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">9. Read your book aloud. All of it. Cover to cover.</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">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.</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">10. Finally, and this is a big one: steal from film structure to pull your story into dramatic line.</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">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.</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">STORY ELEMENTS CHECKLIST</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">ACT ONE</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />* Opening image</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Meet the hero or heroine</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Hero/ine’s inner and outer desire.</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Hero/ine’s problem</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Hero/ine’s ghost or wound</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Hero/ine’s arc</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Inciting Incident/Call to Adventure</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* 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)</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* State the theme/what’s the story about?</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Allies</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Mentor (possibly. May not have one or may be revealed later in the story).</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Love interest</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Plant/Reveal (or: Setups and Payoffs)</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Hope/Fear (and Stakes)</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Time Clock (possibly. May not have one or may be revealed later in the story)</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Sequence One climax</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Central Question</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Central Story Action</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Plan (Hero/ine's)</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Villain's Plan</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Act One climax</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">___________________________</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">ACT TWO</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Crossing the Threshold/ Into the Special World (may occur in Act One)</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Threshold Guardian (maybe)</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Hero/ine’s Plan</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Antagonist’s Plan</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Training Sequence</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Series of Tests</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Picking up new Allies</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Assembling the Team</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Attacks by the Antagonist (whether or not the Hero/ine recognizes these as being from the antagonist)</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* In a detective story, questioning witnesses, lining up and eliminating suspects, following clues.</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">THE MIDPOINT</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Completely changes the game</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Locks the hero/ine into a situation or action</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Can be a huge revelation</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Can be a huge defeat</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Can be a “now it’s personal” loss</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Can be sex at 60 — the lovers finally get together, only to open up a whole new world of problems</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">______________________________</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">ACT TWO, PART TWO</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* 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.</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Escalating Actions/ Obsessive Drive</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Hard Choices and Crossing The Line (immoral actions by the main character to get what s/he wants)</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Loss of Key Allies (possibly because of the hero/ine’s obsessive actions, possibly through death or injury by the antagonist).<br />* Visit to the Goddess </div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* A Ticking Clock (can happen anywhere in the story)</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Reversals and Revelations/Twists. (Hmm, that clearly should have its own post, now, shouldn't it?)</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* The Long Dark Night of the Soul and/or Visit to Death (aka All Is Lost)</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">THE SECOND ACT CLIMAX</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Often can be a final revelation before the end game: the knowledge of who the opponent really is</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Answers the Central Question</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">_______________________________</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">ACT THREE</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">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.</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">The essence of a third act is the final showdown between protagonist and antagonist. It is often divided into two sequences:</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />1. Getting there (storming the castle)</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">2. The final battle itself</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Thematic Location — often a visual and literal representation of the Hero/ine’s Greatest Nightmare</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* The protagonist’s character change</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* The antagonist’s character change (if any)</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* Possibly allies’ character changes and/or gaining of desire<br /> * 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).</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">* 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.</div><br /><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">- <a href="http://alexandrasokoloff.com/"&g... /><br /><br /><div style="font-family: times; margin: 0px;">=====================================================</div><div style="font-family: times; margin: 0px;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: times;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><b> STEALING HOLLYWOOD</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span>This new workbook updates all the text in the first <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Screenwriting Tricks for Authors</i> ebook with all the many tricks I’ve learned over my last few years of writing and teaching—and <i>doubles</i> the material of the first book, as well as adding <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">six</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>more full story breakdowns.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dJMygnCcTnM..." style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dJMygnCcTn..." style="cursor: move;" width="160" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><br /></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://hyperurl.co/sqrkry">&l... 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December 3, 2017
Nanowrimo Now What?
by Alexandra Sokoloff
YAY!!! You survived! Or maybe I shouldn’t make any assumptions, there.
But for the sake of argument, let’s say you survived, not only what was arguably the worst November in modern history, but Nanowrimo, too, and now have a rough draft (maybe very, very, very rough draft) of about 50,000 words.
What next?
Get free Story Structure extras and movie breakdowns
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.
In the next month I'll be posting about rewriting. But not now.
First, no matter where you are in the process, celebrate! You showed up and have the pages to show for it.
Then -
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.
- Alex
STEALING HOLLYWOOD
This new workbook updates all the text in the first Screenwriting Tricks for Authors ebook with all the many tricks I’ve learned over my last few years of writing and teaching—and doubles the material of the first book, as well as adding six more full story breakdowns.
STEALING HOLLYWOOD ebook $3.99
STEALING HOLLYWOOD US print $14.99
STEALING HOLLYWOOD print, all countries
WRITING LOVE
Writing Love is a shorter version of the workbook, using examples from love stories, romantic suspense, and romantic comedy - available in e formats for just $2.99.
- Smashwords (includes online viewing and pdf file)
- Amazon/Kindle
- Barnes & Noble/Nook
- Amazon UK
- Amazon DE
---------------------
You can also sign up to get free movie breakdowns here:
Get free Story Structure extras and movie breakdowns
YAY!!! You survived! Or maybe I shouldn’t make any assumptions, there.
But for the sake of argument, let’s say you survived, not only what was arguably the worst November in modern history, but Nanowrimo, too, and now have a rough draft (maybe very, very, very rough draft) of about 50,000 words.
What next?
Get free Story Structure extras and movie breakdowns
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.
In the next month I'll be posting about rewriting. But not now.
First, no matter where you are in the process, celebrate! You showed up and have the pages to show for it.
Then -
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.
- Alex
STEALING HOLLYWOOD
This new workbook updates all the text in the first Screenwriting Tricks for Authors ebook with all the many tricks I’ve learned over my last few years of writing and teaching—and doubles the material of the first book, as well as adding six more full story breakdowns.
STEALING HOLLYWOOD ebook $3.99
STEALING HOLLYWOOD US print $14.99
STEALING HOLLYWOOD print, all countries
WRITING LOVE
Writing Love is a shorter version of the workbook, using examples from love stories, romantic suspense, and romantic comedy - available in e formats for just $2.99.
- Smashwords (includes online viewing and pdf file)- Amazon/Kindle
- Barnes & Noble/Nook
- Amazon UK
- Amazon DE
---------------------
You can also sign up to get free movie breakdowns here:
Get free Story Structure extras and movie breakdowns
November 29, 2017
#Nanowrimo endgame: What makes a great climax?
by Alexandra Sokoloff
It's the last day of #Nanowrimo. Next to the last. One of those. The thing is, it doesn't REALLY matter. What matters is that you use the momentum of this month to get your book done. That may very well NOT be tomorrow. That's okay! Wherever you are is where you need to be.
But if you ARE in that endgame, let's talk about climaxes. Come on, admit it - one of the great things about being writers is that we get paid for them.
(If you're new to this blog, start here: Get free Story Structure extras and movie breakdowns)
I was watching “The Making of Jaws” the other night. I swear, the bonus commentaries and docs like these are the best thing that EVER happened for writers and film students.
Peter Benchley, the author and co-screenwriter, was talking about the ending of the film. He said that from the beginning of production Spielberg had been ragging on him about the ending – he said it was too much of a downer. For one thing, the visual wasn’t right – if you’ll recall the book, once Sheriff Brody has killed the shark (NOT by blowing it up), the creature spirals slowly down to the bottom of the sea.
Spielberg found that emotionally unsatisfying. He wanted something bigger, something exciting, something that would have audiences on their feet and cheering. He proposed the oxygen tank – that Brody would first shove a tank of compressed air into the shark’s mouth, and then fire at it until he hit the tank and the shark went up in a gigantic explosion. Benchley argued that it was completely absurd – no one would ever believe that could happen. Spielberg countered that he had taken the audience on the journey all this time – we were with the characters every step of the way. The audience would trust him if he did it right.
And it is a wildly implausible scene, but you go with it. That shark has just eaten Quint, whom we have implausibly come to love (through the male bonding and then that incredible revelation of his experience being one of the crew of the wrecked submarine that were eaten one by one by sharks). And when Brody, clinging to the mast of the almost entirely submerged boat – aims one last time and hits that shark, and it explodes in water, flesh and blood – it is an AMAZING catharsis.
Topped only by the sudden surfacing of the beloved Richard Dreyfuss character, who has, after all, survived. (in the book he died – but was far less of a good guy.) The effect is pure elation.
Spielberg paid that movie off with an emotional exhilaration rarely experienced in a story. Those characters EARNED that ending, and the audience did, too, for surviving the whole brutal experience with them. Brilliant filmmaker that he is, Spielberg understood that. The emotion had to be there, or he would have failed his audience.
This is a good lesson, I think: above all, in an ending, the reader/audience has to CARE. A good ending has an emotional payoff, and it has to be proportionate to what the character AND the reader/audience has experienced.
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE is another terrific example of emotional exhilaration in the end. Once George Bailey has seen what would have happened to his little town if he had never been born, and he decides he wants to live and realizes he IS alive again, the pleasures just keep coming and coming and coming. It is as much a relief for us as for George, to see him running through town, seeing all his old friends and familiar places restored. And then to see the whole town gathering at his house to help him, one character after another appearing to lend money, Violet deciding to stay in town, his old friend wiring him a promise of as much money as he needs – the whole thing makes the audience glad to be alive, too. They feel, as George does, that the little things you do every day DO count.
So underneath everything you’re struggling to pull together in an ending, remember to step back and identify what you want your reader or audience to FEEL.
Another important component in an ending is a sense of inevitability – that it was always going to come down to this. Sheriff Brody does everything he can possibly do to avoid being on the water with that shark. He’s afraid of the water, he’s a city-bred cop, he’s an outsider in the town – he’s the least likely person to be able to deal with this gigantic creature of the sea. He enlists not one but two vastly different “experts from afar”, the oceanographer Hooper and the crusty sea captain Quint, to handle it for him. But deep down we know from the start, almost BECAUSE of his fear and his unsuitability for the task, that in the final battle it will be Sheriff Brody, alone, mano a mano with that shark. And he kills it with his own particular skill set – he’s a cop, and one thing he knows is guns. It’s unlikely as hell, but we buy it, because in crisis we all resort to what we know.
And it’s always a huge emotional payoff when a reluctant hero steps up to the plate.
It may seem completely obvious to say so, but no matter how many allies accompany the hero/ine into the final battle, the ultimate confrontation is almost always between the hero/ine and the main antagonist, alone. By all means let the allies have their own personal battles and resolutions within battle – that can really build the suspense and excitement of a climactic sequence. But don’t take that final victory out of the hands of your hero/ine or the story will fall flat.
Also, there is very often a moment when the hero/ine will realize that s/he and the antagonist are mirror images of each other. And/or the antagonist may provide a revelation at the moment of confrontation that nearly destroys the hero/ine… yet ultimately makes him or her stronger. (Think “I am your father” in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK)
The battle is also a chance to pay off all your setups and plants. Very often you will have set up a weakness for your hero/ine. That weakness that has caused him or her to fail repeatedly in previous tests, and in the battle he hero/ine’s great weakness will be tested.
PLACE is a hugely important element of an ending. Great stories usually, if not almost always, end in a location that has thematic and symbolic meaning. Here, once again, creating a visual and thematic image system for your story will serve you well, as will thinking in terms of SETPIECES (as we’ve talked about before) Obviously the climax should be the biggest setpiece sequence of all. In SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, Clarice must go down into the labyrinth to battle the monster and save the captured princess. In JAWS, the Sheriff must confront the shark on his own and at sea (and on a sinking boat!). In THE WIZARD OF OZ, Dorothy confronts the witch in her own castle. In RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, Indy must infiltrate the Nazi bunker. In PSYCHO, the hero confronts Tony Perkins in his basement – with the corpse of “Mother” looking on. (Basements are a very popular setting for thriller climaxes… that labyrinth effect, and the fact that “basement issues” are our worst fears and weaknesses).
And yes, there’s a pattern, here - the hero/ine very often has to battle the villain/opponent on his/her own turf.
A great, emotionally effective technique within battle is to have the hero/ine lose the battle to win the war. AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN did this beautifully in the final obstacle course scene, where the arrogant trainee Zack Mayo, who has always been out only for himself, sacrifices his own chance to graduate first in his class to help a classmate over the wall and complete the course, thus overcoming his own flaw of selfishness and demonstrating himself to be true officer material.
Another technique to build a bigger, more satisfying climax is is to have the allies get THEIR desires, too – as in THE WIZARD OF OZ.
And a particularly effective emotional technique is to have the antagonist ma have a character change in the end of the story. KRAMER VS. KRAMER did this exceptionally well, with the mother seeing that her husband has become a great father and deciding to allow him custody of their son, even though the courts have granted custody to her. It’s a far greater win than if the father had simply beaten her. Everyone has changed for the better.
Because CHANGE may just be the most effective and emotionally satisfying ending of all. Nothing beats having both Rick and Captain Renault rise above their cynical and selfish instincts and go off together to fight for a greater good. So bringing it back to the beginning – one of the most important things you can design in setting up your protagonist is where s/he starts in the beginning, and how much s/he has changed in the end.
I bet you all can guess the question for today! What are your favorite endings of screen and page, and what makes them great?
- Alexandra Sokoloff
=====================================================
STEALING HOLLYWOOD
This new workbook updates all the text in the first Screenwriting Tricks for Authors ebook with all the many tricks I’ve learned over my last few years of writing and teaching—and doubles the material of the first book, as well as adding six more full story breakdowns.
STEALING HOLLYWOOD ebook $3.99 STEALING HOLLYWOOD US print $14.99 STEALING HOLLYWOOD print, all countries
WRITING LOVE
Writing Love is a shorter version of the workbook, using examples from love stories, romantic suspense, and romantic comedy - available in e formats for just $2.99.
- Smashwords (includes online viewing and pdf file)
- Amazon/Kindle
- Barnes & Noble/Nook
- Amazon UK
- Amazon DE
You can also sign up to get free movie breakdowns here:
Get free Story Structure extras and movie breakdowns
It's the last day of #Nanowrimo. Next to the last. One of those. The thing is, it doesn't REALLY matter. What matters is that you use the momentum of this month to get your book done. That may very well NOT be tomorrow. That's okay! Wherever you are is where you need to be.
But if you ARE in that endgame, let's talk about climaxes. Come on, admit it - one of the great things about being writers is that we get paid for them.
(If you're new to this blog, start here: Get free Story Structure extras and movie breakdowns)
I was watching “The Making of Jaws” the other night. I swear, the bonus commentaries and docs like these are the best thing that EVER happened for writers and film students.
Peter Benchley, the author and co-screenwriter, was talking about the ending of the film. He said that from the beginning of production Spielberg had been ragging on him about the ending – he said it was too much of a downer. For one thing, the visual wasn’t right – if you’ll recall the book, once Sheriff Brody has killed the shark (NOT by blowing it up), the creature spirals slowly down to the bottom of the sea.
Spielberg found that emotionally unsatisfying. He wanted something bigger, something exciting, something that would have audiences on their feet and cheering. He proposed the oxygen tank – that Brody would first shove a tank of compressed air into the shark’s mouth, and then fire at it until he hit the tank and the shark went up in a gigantic explosion. Benchley argued that it was completely absurd – no one would ever believe that could happen. Spielberg countered that he had taken the audience on the journey all this time – we were with the characters every step of the way. The audience would trust him if he did it right.
And it is a wildly implausible scene, but you go with it. That shark has just eaten Quint, whom we have implausibly come to love (through the male bonding and then that incredible revelation of his experience being one of the crew of the wrecked submarine that were eaten one by one by sharks). And when Brody, clinging to the mast of the almost entirely submerged boat – aims one last time and hits that shark, and it explodes in water, flesh and blood – it is an AMAZING catharsis.
Topped only by the sudden surfacing of the beloved Richard Dreyfuss character, who has, after all, survived. (in the book he died – but was far less of a good guy.) The effect is pure elation.
Spielberg paid that movie off with an emotional exhilaration rarely experienced in a story. Those characters EARNED that ending, and the audience did, too, for surviving the whole brutal experience with them. Brilliant filmmaker that he is, Spielberg understood that. The emotion had to be there, or he would have failed his audience.This is a good lesson, I think: above all, in an ending, the reader/audience has to CARE. A good ending has an emotional payoff, and it has to be proportionate to what the character AND the reader/audience has experienced.
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE is another terrific example of emotional exhilaration in the end. Once George Bailey has seen what would have happened to his little town if he had never been born, and he decides he wants to live and realizes he IS alive again, the pleasures just keep coming and coming and coming. It is as much a relief for us as for George, to see him running through town, seeing all his old friends and familiar places restored. And then to see the whole town gathering at his house to help him, one character after another appearing to lend money, Violet deciding to stay in town, his old friend wiring him a promise of as much money as he needs – the whole thing makes the audience glad to be alive, too. They feel, as George does, that the little things you do every day DO count.So underneath everything you’re struggling to pull together in an ending, remember to step back and identify what you want your reader or audience to FEEL.
Another important component in an ending is a sense of inevitability – that it was always going to come down to this. Sheriff Brody does everything he can possibly do to avoid being on the water with that shark. He’s afraid of the water, he’s a city-bred cop, he’s an outsider in the town – he’s the least likely person to be able to deal with this gigantic creature of the sea. He enlists not one but two vastly different “experts from afar”, the oceanographer Hooper and the crusty sea captain Quint, to handle it for him. But deep down we know from the start, almost BECAUSE of his fear and his unsuitability for the task, that in the final battle it will be Sheriff Brody, alone, mano a mano with that shark. And he kills it with his own particular skill set – he’s a cop, and one thing he knows is guns. It’s unlikely as hell, but we buy it, because in crisis we all resort to what we know.
And it’s always a huge emotional payoff when a reluctant hero steps up to the plate.
It may seem completely obvious to say so, but no matter how many allies accompany the hero/ine into the final battle, the ultimate confrontation is almost always between the hero/ine and the main antagonist, alone. By all means let the allies have their own personal battles and resolutions within battle – that can really build the suspense and excitement of a climactic sequence. But don’t take that final victory out of the hands of your hero/ine or the story will fall flat.
Also, there is very often a moment when the hero/ine will realize that s/he and the antagonist are mirror images of each other. And/or the antagonist may provide a revelation at the moment of confrontation that nearly destroys the hero/ine… yet ultimately makes him or her stronger. (Think “I am your father” in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK)
The battle is also a chance to pay off all your setups and plants. Very often you will have set up a weakness for your hero/ine. That weakness that has caused him or her to fail repeatedly in previous tests, and in the battle he hero/ine’s great weakness will be tested.
PLACE is a hugely important element of an ending. Great stories usually, if not almost always, end in a location that has thematic and symbolic meaning. Here, once again, creating a visual and thematic image system for your story will serve you well, as will thinking in terms of SETPIECES (as we’ve talked about before) Obviously the climax should be the biggest setpiece sequence of all. In SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, Clarice must go down into the labyrinth to battle the monster and save the captured princess. In JAWS, the Sheriff must confront the shark on his own and at sea (and on a sinking boat!). In THE WIZARD OF OZ, Dorothy confronts the witch in her own castle. In RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, Indy must infiltrate the Nazi bunker. In PSYCHO, the hero confronts Tony Perkins in his basement – with the corpse of “Mother” looking on. (Basements are a very popular setting for thriller climaxes… that labyrinth effect, and the fact that “basement issues” are our worst fears and weaknesses).
And yes, there’s a pattern, here - the hero/ine very often has to battle the villain/opponent on his/her own turf.
A great, emotionally effective technique within battle is to have the hero/ine lose the battle to win the war. AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN did this beautifully in the final obstacle course scene, where the arrogant trainee Zack Mayo, who has always been out only for himself, sacrifices his own chance to graduate first in his class to help a classmate over the wall and complete the course, thus overcoming his own flaw of selfishness and demonstrating himself to be true officer material.
Another technique to build a bigger, more satisfying climax is is to have the allies get THEIR desires, too – as in THE WIZARD OF OZ.
And a particularly effective emotional technique is to have the antagonist ma have a character change in the end of the story. KRAMER VS. KRAMER did this exceptionally well, with the mother seeing that her husband has become a great father and deciding to allow him custody of their son, even though the courts have granted custody to her. It’s a far greater win than if the father had simply beaten her. Everyone has changed for the better.
Because CHANGE may just be the most effective and emotionally satisfying ending of all. Nothing beats having both Rick and Captain Renault rise above their cynical and selfish instincts and go off together to fight for a greater good. So bringing it back to the beginning – one of the most important things you can design in setting up your protagonist is where s/he starts in the beginning, and how much s/he has changed in the end.
I bet you all can guess the question for today! What are your favorite endings of screen and page, and what makes them great?
- Alexandra Sokoloff
=====================================================
STEALING HOLLYWOOD
This new workbook updates all the text in the first Screenwriting Tricks for Authors ebook with all the many tricks I’ve learned over my last few years of writing and teaching—and doubles the material of the first book, as well as adding six more full story breakdowns.
STEALING HOLLYWOOD ebook $3.99 STEALING HOLLYWOOD US print $14.99 STEALING HOLLYWOOD print, all countries
WRITING LOVE
Writing Love is a shorter version of the workbook, using examples from love stories, romantic suspense, and romantic comedy - available in e formats for just $2.99.
- Smashwords (includes online viewing and pdf file)- Amazon/Kindle
- Barnes & Noble/Nook
- Amazon UK
- Amazon DE
You can also sign up to get free movie breakdowns here:
Get free Story Structure extras and movie breakdowns
November 27, 2017
#Nanowrimo home stretch: Elements of Act III
by Alexandra Sokoloff
Okay!! It's the last week - we're into Act III, now! Or maybe, even probably, you're not that far yet, which is perfectly fine. As long as you're writing, it's all good. The book will be done when it's done.
But if you are into Act III, here are the prompts for that last act.
Get free Story Structure extras and movie breakdowns
- Alex
ELEMENTS OF ACT THREE
Act Three is generally the final 20 to 30 minutes in a film, or the last 70 to 100 pages in a 400-page novel. The final quarter, and the shortest quarter.
It is often divided into these two major sequences:
1. Getting there (STORMING THE CASTLE)2. The FINAL BATTLE itself
Plus a shorter RESOLUTION/NEW WAY OF LIFE.
And it usually contains these elements:
• Either here or in the last part of the second act the hero/ine will make a new, FINAL PLAN, based on the new information and revelation of the second act climax.• There may be a TICKING CLOCK• The Hero/ine may REASSEMBLE THE TEAM, and there may be another short TRAINING SEQUENCE and/or GATHERING THE TOOLS sequence• The team often goes in together, first, and there is a big ENSEMBLE BATTLE• In this battle, we possibly see the ALLY/ALLIES’ CHARACTER CHANGES and/or gaining of desire • We also get the DEFEAT OF SECONDARY OPPONENTS• Then the hero/ine goes into the FINAL BATTLE to face the antagonist alone, MANO A MANO• The final battle takes place in a THEMATIC LOCATION: often a visual and literal representation of the HERO/INE’S GREATEST NIGHTMARE, and is very often a metaphorical CASTLE. Or a real one! It is also often the antagonist’s home turf.• We see the protagonist’s character arc• We may see the antagonist’s character arc, too (but often there is none)• We get a glimpse of the TRUE NATURE OF THE ANTAGONIST• Possibly there is 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)• FULL CIRCLE: Not every story uses this, but often the hero/ine returns to a place we saw at the beginning of the story, and we see her or his character growth.• RESOLUTION: We get 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• FINAL BOWS: We need to see all our favorite characters one final time• CLOSING IMAGE: Which is often a variation of the Opening ImageAll right, let’s look at these more closely.
The essence of a third act is the final showdown between protagonist and antagonist.
And sometimes that’s really all there is to it: one final battle between the protagonist and antagonist. In which case some good revelatory twists are probably required!
By the end of the second act, pretty much everything has been set up that we need to know — particularly who the antagonist is, which sometimes we haven’t known, or have been wrong about, until it’s revealed at the second act climax. Of course, sometimes, or maybe often, there is one final reveal about the antagonist that is saved till the very end or nearly the end, as in The Usual Suspects and The Empire Strikes Back and Psycho.
We also very often have gotten a sobering or terrifying glimpse of the TRUE NATURE OF THE ANTAGONIST — a great example of that kind of “nature of the opponent” scene is in Chinatown, in that scene in which Jake is slapping Evelyn and he learns the truth about her father.
There is often a new, FINAL PLAN that the hero/ine makes that takes into account the new information and revelations. As always with a plan, it’s good to spell it out.
There’s a locational aspect to the third act: the final battle will often take place in a completely different setting than the rest of the film or novel. In fact, half of the third act can be, and often is, just getting to the site of the final showdown. One of the most memorable examples of this in movie history is the STORMING THE CASTLE scene in The Wizard of Oz, where, led by an escaped Toto, the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion scale the cliff, scope out the vast armies of the witch (“Yo Ee O”) and tussle with three stragglers to steal their uniforms and march in through the drawbridge of the castle with the rest of the army (an example of a PLAN BY ALLIES). The Princess Bride also has a literal Storming the Castle scene, with the Billy Crystal and Carol Kane characters waving our team off shouting, “Have fun storming the castle!”
A sequence like this, and the similar ones in Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, can have a lot of the elements we discussed about the first half of the story: a PLAN, ASSEMBLING THE TEAM, ASSEMBLING TOOLS AND DISGUISES, TRAINING OR REHEARSAL.
I’m not just talking about action and fantasy movies, here. You see a truncated version of this team battle plan and storming the castle scene in Notting Hill, when all of Will’s friends pile into the car to help him catch Anna before she leaves.
And of course speed is often a factor — there’s may be a TICKING CLOCK, so our hero/ine has to race to get there in time to – save the innocent victim from the killer, save his or her kidnapped child from the kidnapper, stop the loved one from getting on that plane to Bermuda…
NO. DO NOT WRITE THAT LAST ONE.
Most clichéd film ending ever. Throw in the hero/ine getting stuck in a cab in Manhattan rush hour traffic and you really are risking audiences vomiting in the aisles, or readers, beside their chairs. This is in fact the most despised romantic comedy cliché on every single “Romantic Comedy Clichés” website out there.
But when you think about it, the first two examples are equally clichéd. Sometimes there’s a fine line between clichéd and archetypal. You have to find how to elevate —or deepen — the clichéd to something archetypal.
Even if there’s not a literal castle, almost every story will have a metaphorical Storming the Castle element. The hero/ine usually must infiltrate the antagonist’s hideout, or castle, or lair, and confront the antagonist on his or her own turf, a terrifying and foreign place: think of Buffalo Bill’s basement in Silence of the Lambs, and the basement in Psycho, and the basement in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. The castle can be a dragon’s lair (How to Train Your Dragon), or a dream fortress (Inception), or a church (a million romantic comedies).
Putting the final showdown on the villain’s turf means the villain has home-court advantage. The hero/ine has the extra burden of being a fish out of water in unfamiliar territory (mixing a metaphor to make it painfully clear).
I’ve noticed that in most films, there is a TEAM BATTLE first. The allies get to shine in this one: their strengths and weaknesses are tested, PLANTS are paid off, and allies who have been at each other’s throats for the whole story suddenly reconcile and work together. We also often get the DEFEAT OF SECONDARY OPPONENTS (if we’ve come to hate a secondary opponent, we need to see them get their comeuppance in a satisfying way — think of Fanny and Lucy Steele cat fighting each other in Sense and Sensibility, and Belloq, General Strasser, and Major Toht’s faces melting in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
The TEAM BATTLE is generally a big, noisy SETPIECE scene.
And then, almost always, the hero/ine must go in to the FINAL BATTLE to face the antagonist alone, mano a mano.
So if this is the pattern we see over and over again, how can we possibly make it fresh?
Well, of course — look at books and films to see how your favorite storytellers do it.
Silence of the Lambs is a perfect example of elevating the cliché into archetype. The climax takes place in the basement, as it also does in Psycho, and Nightmare on Elm Street. This basement setting is no accident: therapists talk about “basement issues” —which are your worst fears and traumas from childhood — the stuff no one wants to look at, but which we have to look at, and clean out, to be whole.
But Thomas Harris, in the book, and the filmmakers, bringing it to life in the movie, create a basement that is so rich in horrific and revelatory and mythic (really fairy tale) imagery, that we never feel that we’ve seen that scene before. In fact I see new resonances in the set design every time I watch that film… like Mr. Gumb (Buffalo Bill) having a wall of news clippings just exactly like the one in Crawford’s office. That’s a technique that Harris uses that can elevate the clichéd to the archetypal: layering meaning.
But even more than that: Gumb’s basement is Clarice’s GREATEST NIGHTMAREcome to life. Lecter has exposed her deepest trauma, losing the lamb she tried to save from spring slaughter, and now she’s back in that childhood crisis, trying to save Catherine’s life (if you’ll notice, even the visual of Catherine clinging to Mr. Gumb’s fluffy white dog looks very much like a little girl holding a lamb…)
Nightmare on Elm Street takes that clichéd spooky basement scene and gives it a whole new level, literally: the heroine is dreaming that she is following a suspicious sound down into the basement, and then there’s a door that leads to another basement, under the basement. And if you think bad things happen in the basement, what’s going to happen in a sub-basement?
Comedy characters have a different kind of GREATEST NIGHTMARE.
Suppose you’re writing a farce. I would never dare, myself, but if I did, I would go straight to Fawlty Towers to figure out how to do it (and if you haven’t seen this brilliant TV series of John Cleese’s, I envy you the treat you’re in for). Every story in this series shows the quintessentially British Basil Fawlty go from rigid control to total breakdown of order in the side-splitting climax. It is the vast chasm between Basil’s idea of what his life should be and the chaotic reality that he creates for himself over and over again that will have you screaming with laughter.
Another very technical lesson to take from Fawlty Towers —and from any screwball comedy or farce — is how comedies use speed in climax. Just as in other forms of climax, the action speeds up in the end, to create that exhilaration of being out of control — which is the sensation I most love about a great comedy.
In a romance, the Final Battle is often the hero/ine finally overcoming his or her internal blocks and making a DECLARATIONor PROPOSAL to the loved one. And I’ve noticed that a lot of romances do the declaration in a one-two punch, two separate scenes: the recalcitrant lover makes his or her declaration, even does some groveling, apparently to no avail, and only in a later, final scene does the loved one show up with a declaration of his or her own.
An archetypal setting for the Final Battle in romantic comedy is an actual wedding. We’ve seen this scene so often you’d think there’s nothing new you can do with it. But of course a story about love and relationships is likely to end at a wedding.
So again, if you’re writing this kind of story, make your list and look at what great romantic comedies have done to elevate the cliché.
One of my favorite romantic comedies of all time, The Philadelphia Story, uses a classic technique to keep that wedding sequence sparkling: every single one of that large ensemble of characters has her or his own wickedly delightful resolution. Everyone has their moment to shine, and insanely precocious little sister Dinah pretty nearly steals the show (from Katharine Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart, and Cary Grant!!) with her last line: “I did it. I did it all.”
(This is a good lesson for any ensemble story, no matter what genre — all the characters should constantly be competing for the spotlight, just as in any good theater troupe. Make your characters divas and scene-stealers and let them top each other.)
Now, you see a completely different kind of final battle in It’s A Wonderful Life. This is not the classic, “hero confronts villain on villain’s home turf” third act. In fact, Potter is nowhere around in the final confrontation, is he? There’s no showdown, even though we desperately want one.
But the point of that story is that George Bailey has been fighting Potter all along.
There is no big glorious heroic showdown to be had, here, because it’s all the little grueling day-to-day, crazymaking battles that George has had with Potter all his life that have made the difference. And the genius of that film is that it shows in vivid and disturbing detail what would have happened if George had not had that whole lifetime of battles, against Potter and for the town. In the end, even faced with prison, George makes the choice to live to fight another day, and is rewarded with the joy of seeing his town restored.
This is the best example I know of, ever, of a final battle that is thematic — and yet the impact is emotional and visceral. It’s not an intellectual treatise; you live that ending along with George, but also come away with the sense of what true heroism is.
And the wonderful final battle in The King’s Speech is just Colin Firth facing a microphone and delivering a nine-minute radio broadcast. But we’ve seen him fail this moment because of his speech impediment time and time again in SET UPS; and this time the STAKES couldn’t be higher: it’s his first radio broadcast as King, and he has to convince his already war-weary country to support a war against Hitler.
So when you sit down to craft your own third act, try looking at the great third acts of movies and books that are similar to your own story, and see what those authors and filmmakers did to bring out the thematic depth and emotional impact of their stories (We’ll be doing more of that in the next chapter, too.)
RESOLUTION AND NEW WAY OF LIFE
After the final battle is fought and won, we want to get a sense of the NEW LIFE the hero/ine is going to lead now that they’ve been through this incredible journey.
One of the greatest images of a NEW WAY OF LIFE ever put on film is from Romancing the Stone: the yacht parked in the Manhattan street outside Joan Wilder’s building, and Jack standing on deck waiting for her, with those alligator boots on. It’s a complete PAYOFF of his and her DESIRE lines (and the alligator boots are a great light touch that keeps it all from being too sugary), and a clear indication of what their life is going to be like from now on. Would this have worked as well if that yacht were in a harbor? No way. It’s the extravagance and quirkiness of the gesture that makes it so grandly romantic. It never fails to spike my endorphins, and that’s what these endings are all about.
FULL CIRCLE
Not all stories use this technique, but very, very often at the end of the story the hero/ine returns to the setting of the beginning. And often storytellers use a visual contrast in how that setting appears in the beginning and the end, to show the protagonist’s change in character or attitude.
In the beginning of The Godfather, Don Corleone is in his study, sitting behind his desk in a chair that looks like a throne, holding court and deciding the fates of his supplicants. In the final moments of the story, Michael Corleone stands at that same desk with his subordinates kissing his ring: he has become the Godfather. Early on in Act I of Romancing the Stone, pathologically shy Joan Wilder attempts to leave her apartment and is immediately set upon by street vendors, and we see how incapable she is of handling people and life in general. In Act III, she has returned from her adventure a changed woman, and we see her walking down that same street in her full Kathleen Turner goddesslike radiance, waving off those same street vendors both regally and casually.
You don’t have to use this Full Circle technique, but it can work well to bookend a story and depict CHARACTER ARC. Start to look for it in movies and see how often it’s used! And be aware that these mirroring scenes don’t have to be the very first and very last scenes of the story: often the Full Circle moment comes at the beginning of Act III, or at the start of the Final Battle sequence. This method also works to let an audience or reader know we’re heading into the final stretch, which is always both an exciting and comforting thing for an audience.
We’ll talk more about great endings in the next chapter. But first, try a little brainstorming of your own.
> ASSIGNMENT: Take your list of top ten best endings of movies and books, and write down specifically, in detail, what it is about those endings that really does it for you.
> ASSIGNMENT: What is your hero/ine’s greatest nightmare? How can you bring that to life in your final battle scene?
=====================================================
All the information on this blog and more, including full story structure breakdowns of various movies, is available in my Screenwriting Tricks for Authors workbooks. e format, just $3.99 and $2.99; print 14.99.
STEALING HOLLYWOOD
This new workbook updates all the text in the first Screenwriting Tricks for Authors ebook with all the many tricks I’ve learned over my last few years of writing and teaching—and doubles the material of the first book, as well as adding six more full story breakdowns.
STEALING HOLLYWOOD ebook $3.99
STEALING HOLLYWOOD US print $14.99
STEALING HOLLYWOOD print, all countries
WRITING LOVE
Writing Love is a shorter version of the workbook, using examples from love stories, romantic suspense, and romantic comedy - available in e formats for just $2.99.
- Smashwords (includes online viewing and pdf file)
- Amazon/Kindle
- Barnes & Noble/Nook
- Amazon UK
- Amazon DE
---------------------
You can also sign up to get free movie breakdowns here:
Get free Story Structure extras and movie breakdowns
Okay!! It's the last week - we're into Act III, now! Or maybe, even probably, you're not that far yet, which is perfectly fine. As long as you're writing, it's all good. The book will be done when it's done.
But if you are into Act III, here are the prompts for that last act.
Get free Story Structure extras and movie breakdowns
- Alex
ELEMENTS OF ACT THREE
Act Three is generally the final 20 to 30 minutes in a film, or the last 70 to 100 pages in a 400-page novel. The final quarter, and the shortest quarter.
It is often divided into these two major sequences:
1. Getting there (STORMING THE CASTLE)2. The FINAL BATTLE itself
Plus a shorter RESOLUTION/NEW WAY OF LIFE.
And it usually contains these elements:
• Either here or in the last part of the second act the hero/ine will make a new, FINAL PLAN, based on the new information and revelation of the second act climax.• There may be a TICKING CLOCK• The Hero/ine may REASSEMBLE THE TEAM, and there may be another short TRAINING SEQUENCE and/or GATHERING THE TOOLS sequence• The team often goes in together, first, and there is a big ENSEMBLE BATTLE• In this battle, we possibly see the ALLY/ALLIES’ CHARACTER CHANGES and/or gaining of desire • We also get the DEFEAT OF SECONDARY OPPONENTS• Then the hero/ine goes into the FINAL BATTLE to face the antagonist alone, MANO A MANO• The final battle takes place in a THEMATIC LOCATION: often a visual and literal representation of the HERO/INE’S GREATEST NIGHTMARE, and is very often a metaphorical CASTLE. Or a real one! It is also often the antagonist’s home turf.• We see the protagonist’s character arc• We may see the antagonist’s character arc, too (but often there is none)• We get a glimpse of the TRUE NATURE OF THE ANTAGONIST• Possibly there is 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)• FULL CIRCLE: Not every story uses this, but often the hero/ine returns to a place we saw at the beginning of the story, and we see her or his character growth.• RESOLUTION: We get 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• FINAL BOWS: We need to see all our favorite characters one final time• CLOSING IMAGE: Which is often a variation of the Opening ImageAll right, let’s look at these more closely.
The essence of a third act is the final showdown between protagonist and antagonist.
And sometimes that’s really all there is to it: one final battle between the protagonist and antagonist. In which case some good revelatory twists are probably required!
By the end of the second act, pretty much everything has been set up that we need to know — particularly who the antagonist is, which sometimes we haven’t known, or have been wrong about, until it’s revealed at the second act climax. Of course, sometimes, or maybe often, there is one final reveal about the antagonist that is saved till the very end or nearly the end, as in The Usual Suspects and The Empire Strikes Back and Psycho.
We also very often have gotten a sobering or terrifying glimpse of the TRUE NATURE OF THE ANTAGONIST — a great example of that kind of “nature of the opponent” scene is in Chinatown, in that scene in which Jake is slapping Evelyn and he learns the truth about her father.
There is often a new, FINAL PLAN that the hero/ine makes that takes into account the new information and revelations. As always with a plan, it’s good to spell it out.
There’s a locational aspect to the third act: the final battle will often take place in a completely different setting than the rest of the film or novel. In fact, half of the third act can be, and often is, just getting to the site of the final showdown. One of the most memorable examples of this in movie history is the STORMING THE CASTLE scene in The Wizard of Oz, where, led by an escaped Toto, the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion scale the cliff, scope out the vast armies of the witch (“Yo Ee O”) and tussle with three stragglers to steal their uniforms and march in through the drawbridge of the castle with the rest of the army (an example of a PLAN BY ALLIES). The Princess Bride also has a literal Storming the Castle scene, with the Billy Crystal and Carol Kane characters waving our team off shouting, “Have fun storming the castle!”
A sequence like this, and the similar ones in Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, can have a lot of the elements we discussed about the first half of the story: a PLAN, ASSEMBLING THE TEAM, ASSEMBLING TOOLS AND DISGUISES, TRAINING OR REHEARSAL.
I’m not just talking about action and fantasy movies, here. You see a truncated version of this team battle plan and storming the castle scene in Notting Hill, when all of Will’s friends pile into the car to help him catch Anna before she leaves.
And of course speed is often a factor — there’s may be a TICKING CLOCK, so our hero/ine has to race to get there in time to – save the innocent victim from the killer, save his or her kidnapped child from the kidnapper, stop the loved one from getting on that plane to Bermuda…
NO. DO NOT WRITE THAT LAST ONE.
Most clichéd film ending ever. Throw in the hero/ine getting stuck in a cab in Manhattan rush hour traffic and you really are risking audiences vomiting in the aisles, or readers, beside their chairs. This is in fact the most despised romantic comedy cliché on every single “Romantic Comedy Clichés” website out there.
But when you think about it, the first two examples are equally clichéd. Sometimes there’s a fine line between clichéd and archetypal. You have to find how to elevate —or deepen — the clichéd to something archetypal.
Even if there’s not a literal castle, almost every story will have a metaphorical Storming the Castle element. The hero/ine usually must infiltrate the antagonist’s hideout, or castle, or lair, and confront the antagonist on his or her own turf, a terrifying and foreign place: think of Buffalo Bill’s basement in Silence of the Lambs, and the basement in Psycho, and the basement in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. The castle can be a dragon’s lair (How to Train Your Dragon), or a dream fortress (Inception), or a church (a million romantic comedies).
Putting the final showdown on the villain’s turf means the villain has home-court advantage. The hero/ine has the extra burden of being a fish out of water in unfamiliar territory (mixing a metaphor to make it painfully clear).
I’ve noticed that in most films, there is a TEAM BATTLE first. The allies get to shine in this one: their strengths and weaknesses are tested, PLANTS are paid off, and allies who have been at each other’s throats for the whole story suddenly reconcile and work together. We also often get the DEFEAT OF SECONDARY OPPONENTS (if we’ve come to hate a secondary opponent, we need to see them get their comeuppance in a satisfying way — think of Fanny and Lucy Steele cat fighting each other in Sense and Sensibility, and Belloq, General Strasser, and Major Toht’s faces melting in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
The TEAM BATTLE is generally a big, noisy SETPIECE scene.
And then, almost always, the hero/ine must go in to the FINAL BATTLE to face the antagonist alone, mano a mano.
So if this is the pattern we see over and over again, how can we possibly make it fresh?
Well, of course — look at books and films to see how your favorite storytellers do it.
Silence of the Lambs is a perfect example of elevating the cliché into archetype. The climax takes place in the basement, as it also does in Psycho, and Nightmare on Elm Street. This basement setting is no accident: therapists talk about “basement issues” —which are your worst fears and traumas from childhood — the stuff no one wants to look at, but which we have to look at, and clean out, to be whole.
But Thomas Harris, in the book, and the filmmakers, bringing it to life in the movie, create a basement that is so rich in horrific and revelatory and mythic (really fairy tale) imagery, that we never feel that we’ve seen that scene before. In fact I see new resonances in the set design every time I watch that film… like Mr. Gumb (Buffalo Bill) having a wall of news clippings just exactly like the one in Crawford’s office. That’s a technique that Harris uses that can elevate the clichéd to the archetypal: layering meaning.
But even more than that: Gumb’s basement is Clarice’s GREATEST NIGHTMAREcome to life. Lecter has exposed her deepest trauma, losing the lamb she tried to save from spring slaughter, and now she’s back in that childhood crisis, trying to save Catherine’s life (if you’ll notice, even the visual of Catherine clinging to Mr. Gumb’s fluffy white dog looks very much like a little girl holding a lamb…)
Nightmare on Elm Street takes that clichéd spooky basement scene and gives it a whole new level, literally: the heroine is dreaming that she is following a suspicious sound down into the basement, and then there’s a door that leads to another basement, under the basement. And if you think bad things happen in the basement, what’s going to happen in a sub-basement?
Comedy characters have a different kind of GREATEST NIGHTMARE.
Suppose you’re writing a farce. I would never dare, myself, but if I did, I would go straight to Fawlty Towers to figure out how to do it (and if you haven’t seen this brilliant TV series of John Cleese’s, I envy you the treat you’re in for). Every story in this series shows the quintessentially British Basil Fawlty go from rigid control to total breakdown of order in the side-splitting climax. It is the vast chasm between Basil’s idea of what his life should be and the chaotic reality that he creates for himself over and over again that will have you screaming with laughter.
Another very technical lesson to take from Fawlty Towers —and from any screwball comedy or farce — is how comedies use speed in climax. Just as in other forms of climax, the action speeds up in the end, to create that exhilaration of being out of control — which is the sensation I most love about a great comedy.
In a romance, the Final Battle is often the hero/ine finally overcoming his or her internal blocks and making a DECLARATIONor PROPOSAL to the loved one. And I’ve noticed that a lot of romances do the declaration in a one-two punch, two separate scenes: the recalcitrant lover makes his or her declaration, even does some groveling, apparently to no avail, and only in a later, final scene does the loved one show up with a declaration of his or her own.
An archetypal setting for the Final Battle in romantic comedy is an actual wedding. We’ve seen this scene so often you’d think there’s nothing new you can do with it. But of course a story about love and relationships is likely to end at a wedding.
So again, if you’re writing this kind of story, make your list and look at what great romantic comedies have done to elevate the cliché.
One of my favorite romantic comedies of all time, The Philadelphia Story, uses a classic technique to keep that wedding sequence sparkling: every single one of that large ensemble of characters has her or his own wickedly delightful resolution. Everyone has their moment to shine, and insanely precocious little sister Dinah pretty nearly steals the show (from Katharine Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart, and Cary Grant!!) with her last line: “I did it. I did it all.”
(This is a good lesson for any ensemble story, no matter what genre — all the characters should constantly be competing for the spotlight, just as in any good theater troupe. Make your characters divas and scene-stealers and let them top each other.)
Now, you see a completely different kind of final battle in It’s A Wonderful Life. This is not the classic, “hero confronts villain on villain’s home turf” third act. In fact, Potter is nowhere around in the final confrontation, is he? There’s no showdown, even though we desperately want one.
But the point of that story is that George Bailey has been fighting Potter all along.
There is no big glorious heroic showdown to be had, here, because it’s all the little grueling day-to-day, crazymaking battles that George has had with Potter all his life that have made the difference. And the genius of that film is that it shows in vivid and disturbing detail what would have happened if George had not had that whole lifetime of battles, against Potter and for the town. In the end, even faced with prison, George makes the choice to live to fight another day, and is rewarded with the joy of seeing his town restored.
This is the best example I know of, ever, of a final battle that is thematic — and yet the impact is emotional and visceral. It’s not an intellectual treatise; you live that ending along with George, but also come away with the sense of what true heroism is.
And the wonderful final battle in The King’s Speech is just Colin Firth facing a microphone and delivering a nine-minute radio broadcast. But we’ve seen him fail this moment because of his speech impediment time and time again in SET UPS; and this time the STAKES couldn’t be higher: it’s his first radio broadcast as King, and he has to convince his already war-weary country to support a war against Hitler.
So when you sit down to craft your own third act, try looking at the great third acts of movies and books that are similar to your own story, and see what those authors and filmmakers did to bring out the thematic depth and emotional impact of their stories (We’ll be doing more of that in the next chapter, too.)
RESOLUTION AND NEW WAY OF LIFE
After the final battle is fought and won, we want to get a sense of the NEW LIFE the hero/ine is going to lead now that they’ve been through this incredible journey.
One of the greatest images of a NEW WAY OF LIFE ever put on film is from Romancing the Stone: the yacht parked in the Manhattan street outside Joan Wilder’s building, and Jack standing on deck waiting for her, with those alligator boots on. It’s a complete PAYOFF of his and her DESIRE lines (and the alligator boots are a great light touch that keeps it all from being too sugary), and a clear indication of what their life is going to be like from now on. Would this have worked as well if that yacht were in a harbor? No way. It’s the extravagance and quirkiness of the gesture that makes it so grandly romantic. It never fails to spike my endorphins, and that’s what these endings are all about.
FULL CIRCLE
Not all stories use this technique, but very, very often at the end of the story the hero/ine returns to the setting of the beginning. And often storytellers use a visual contrast in how that setting appears in the beginning and the end, to show the protagonist’s change in character or attitude.
In the beginning of The Godfather, Don Corleone is in his study, sitting behind his desk in a chair that looks like a throne, holding court and deciding the fates of his supplicants. In the final moments of the story, Michael Corleone stands at that same desk with his subordinates kissing his ring: he has become the Godfather. Early on in Act I of Romancing the Stone, pathologically shy Joan Wilder attempts to leave her apartment and is immediately set upon by street vendors, and we see how incapable she is of handling people and life in general. In Act III, she has returned from her adventure a changed woman, and we see her walking down that same street in her full Kathleen Turner goddesslike radiance, waving off those same street vendors both regally and casually.
You don’t have to use this Full Circle technique, but it can work well to bookend a story and depict CHARACTER ARC. Start to look for it in movies and see how often it’s used! And be aware that these mirroring scenes don’t have to be the very first and very last scenes of the story: often the Full Circle moment comes at the beginning of Act III, or at the start of the Final Battle sequence. This method also works to let an audience or reader know we’re heading into the final stretch, which is always both an exciting and comforting thing for an audience.
We’ll talk more about great endings in the next chapter. But first, try a little brainstorming of your own.
> ASSIGNMENT: Take your list of top ten best endings of movies and books, and write down specifically, in detail, what it is about those endings that really does it for you.
> ASSIGNMENT: What is your hero/ine’s greatest nightmare? How can you bring that to life in your final battle scene?
=====================================================
All the information on this blog and more, including full story structure breakdowns of various movies, is available in my Screenwriting Tricks for Authors workbooks. e format, just $3.99 and $2.99; print 14.99.
STEALING HOLLYWOOD
This new workbook updates all the text in the first Screenwriting Tricks for Authors ebook with all the many tricks I’ve learned over my last few years of writing and teaching—and doubles the material of the first book, as well as adding six more full story breakdowns.
STEALING HOLLYWOOD ebook $3.99
STEALING HOLLYWOOD US print $14.99
STEALING HOLLYWOOD print, all countries
WRITING LOVE
Writing Love is a shorter version of the workbook, using examples from love stories, romantic suspense, and romantic comedy - available in e formats for just $2.99.
- Smashwords (includes online viewing and pdf file)- Amazon/Kindle
- Barnes & Noble/Nook
- Amazon UK
- Amazon DE
---------------------
You can also sign up to get free movie breakdowns here:
Get free Story Structure extras and movie breakdowns
November 21, 2017
Nanowrimo Week 3: Act II, Part 2
by Alexandra Sokoloff
While I am moving on to prompts for the second half of Act Two, remember that wherever you are in this process is just fine. Personally I think it would be a little crazy to be into the second half of the second act in just three weeks!
So if you're not this far, just save this post for later.
If you're new to this blog, start here:
Get free Story Structure extras and movie breakdowns
A few general things about Act II, Part 2. This is almost always the darkest quarter of the story. While in Act II, Part 1, the hero/ine is generally (but not always) winning, after the Midpoint, the hero/ine starts to lose, and lose big. And also lose very fast. In fact, this is the quarter that is most often shortened if you are writing a shorter book or movie, because it's not all that hard and doesn't take all that much time to pull the rug out from your protagonist.
Just knowing that basic, very general distinction between the two halves of Act Two can be very, very useful.
But getting more specific...
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
Happy Solstice!!
- Alex
=====================================================
STEALING HOLLYWOOD
This new workbook updates all the text in the first Screenwriting Tricks for Authors ebook with all the many tricks I’ve learned over my last few years of writing and teaching—and doubles the material of the first book, as well as adding six more full story breakdowns.
STEALING HOLLYWOOD ebook $3.99 STEALING HOLLYWOOD US print $12.99 STEALING HOLLYWOOD print, all countries
WRITING LOVE
Writing Love is a shorter version of the workbook, using examples from love stories, romantic suspense, and romantic comedy - available in e formats for just $2.99.
- Smashwords (includes online viewing and pdf file)
- Amazon/Kindle
- Barnes & Noble/Nook
- Amazon UK
- Amazon DE
You can also sign up to get free movie breakdowns here:
Get free Story Structure extras and movie breakdowns
While I am moving on to prompts for the second half of Act Two, remember that wherever you are in this process is just fine. Personally I think it would be a little crazy to be into the second half of the second act in just three weeks!
So if you're not this far, just save this post for later.
If you're new to this blog, start here:
Get free Story Structure extras and movie breakdowns
A few general things about Act II, Part 2. This is almost always the darkest quarter of the story. While in Act II, Part 1, the hero/ine is generally (but not always) winning, after the Midpoint, the hero/ine starts to lose, and lose big. And also lose very fast. In fact, this is the quarter that is most often shortened if you are writing a shorter book or movie, because it's not all that hard and doesn't take all that much time to pull the rug out from your protagonist.
Just knowing that basic, very general distinction between the two halves of Act Two can be very, very useful.
But getting more specific...
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
Happy Solstice!!
- Alex
=====================================================
STEALING HOLLYWOOD
This new workbook updates all the text in the first Screenwriting Tricks for Authors ebook with all the many tricks I’ve learned over my last few years of writing and teaching—and doubles the material of the first book, as well as adding six more full story breakdowns.
STEALING HOLLYWOOD ebook $3.99 STEALING HOLLYWOOD US print $12.99 STEALING HOLLYWOOD print, all countries
WRITING LOVE
Writing Love is a shorter version of the workbook, using examples from love stories, romantic suspense, and romantic comedy - available in e formats for just $2.99.
- Smashwords (includes online viewing and pdf file)- Amazon/Kindle
- Barnes & Noble/Nook
- Amazon UK
- Amazon DE
You can also sign up to get free movie breakdowns here:
Get free Story Structure extras and movie breakdowns
November 12, 2017
Nanowrimo Week 2: Act II Part 1 Questions and Prompts
ACT TWO, PART ONE
by Alexandra Sokoloff, from STEALING HOLLYWOOD: Screenwriting Tricks for Authors
(Elements of Act I checklist is here).
Get free Story Structure extras and movie breakdowns
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 Act II, Part 1 starts at about p. 100 and climaxes at about p. 200.
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.
=====================================================
All the information on this blog and more, including full story structure breakdowns of various movies, is available in my Screenwriting Tricks for Authors workbooks. e format, just $3.99 and $2.99; print 14.99.
STEALING HOLLYWOOD
This new workbook updates all the text in the first Screenwriting Tricks for Authors ebook with all the many tricks I’ve learned over my last few years of writing and teaching—and doubles the material of the first book, as well as adding six more full story breakdowns.
STEALING HOLLYWOOD ebook $3.99
STEALING HOLLYWOOD US print $14.99
STEALING HOLLYWOOD print, all countries
WRITING LOVE
Writing Love is a shorter version of the workbook, using examples from love stories, romantic suspense, and romantic comedy - available in e formats for just $2.99.
- Smashwords (includes online viewing and pdf file)
- Amazon US
- Barnes & Noble/Nook
- Amazon UK
- Amazon DE
Get free Story Structure extras and movie breakdowns
by Alexandra Sokoloff, from STEALING HOLLYWOOD: Screenwriting Tricks for Authors
(Elements of Act I checklist is here).
Get free Story Structure extras and movie breakdowns
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 Act II, Part 1 starts at about p. 100 and climaxes at about p. 200.
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.
=====================================================
All the information on this blog and more, including full story structure breakdowns of various movies, is available in my Screenwriting Tricks for Authors workbooks. e format, just $3.99 and $2.99; print 14.99.
STEALING HOLLYWOOD
This new workbook updates all the text in the first Screenwriting Tricks for Authors ebook with all the many tricks I’ve learned over my last few years of writing and teaching—and doubles the material of the first book, as well as adding six more full story breakdowns.
STEALING HOLLYWOOD ebook $3.99
STEALING HOLLYWOOD US print $14.99
STEALING HOLLYWOOD print, all countries
WRITING LOVE
Writing Love is a shorter version of the workbook, using examples from love stories, romantic suspense, and romantic comedy - available in e formats for just $2.99.
- Smashwords (includes online viewing and pdf file)- Amazon US
- Barnes & Noble/Nook
- Amazon UK
- Amazon DE
Get free Story Structure extras and movie breakdowns
