How We Write Wednesdays: James Scott Bell's Doorway of No Return
James Scott Bell Writer's Page is a wonderful resource to explore, and Jenni and I are thrilled to have him at How We Write to discuss what he sees as the core of every successful novel. Ever wonder why one story sings and another falls flat? Check out this week's inspiring guest blog!
Come back next weekto hear #weWrite regular PW Creighton's take on Setting Moods!
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I believe a successful novel is the record of a character dealing with death. There are three kinds of death: physical, professional, psychological. One of these needs to be in play, at least as far as the lead character is concerned. Physical death is the hallmark of thrillers, and obviously means high stakes.
But there's also psychological death. In a romance, for example, if the two soul mates don't end up together, it will be a kind of death—their lives won't be complete, ever (we sometimes say someone "died on the inside"). Professional death: An FBI agent on a case might have her entire career on the line, as Clarice Starling does in The Silence of the Lambs.
Death should be hovering even in comedic writing. Think about it: the characters in a comedy think they're in a tragedy (psychological death) over something trivial. Oscar's life as a happy slob is threatened by neat-freak Felix. Every Seinfeld episode is about some minor pursuit blown out of all proportion (e.g., the soup in "The Soup Nazi" episode).
This is fundamental to understanding the 3 Act structure and what I call the Doorways of No Return.
In the classic 3 Act Structure there are two major turning points, the breaks into Act 2 and Act 3, respectively. I refer to these breaks as "doorways of no return." That's because I want to convey the idea of being forced through the doorways, and once that's done, the Lead can't go back again. Life will never be the same for her again. So if you understand Act 2 as a "death struggle," you'll see why there has to be a major "push" into Act 2. No one wants to go out, and possibly die, if they can help it.
So Doorway #1 is an event that thrusts the Lead into the conflict of Act 2. It is not, and this is crucial, just a decision to go looking around in the "dark world" (to use mythic terms). That's weak. That's not being forced.
A good example of a first doorway is when Luke Skywalker's aunt and uncle are murdered by the forces of the Empire in Star Wars. That compels Luke to leave his home planet and seek to become a Jedi, to fight the evil forces.
In Gone With the Wind it's the outbreak of the Civil War. Hard to miss that one. No one can go back again to the way things were. Scarlett O'Hara is going to be forced to deal with life in a way she never wanted or anticipated.
In The Wizard of Oz, it's the twister.
In The Fugitive, the first doorway is the train wreck that enables Richard Kimble to escape, a long sequence that ends at the 30 minute mark (perfect structure) and has U. S. Marshal Sam Gerard declaring, "Your fugitive's name is Dr. Richard Kimble. Go get him!" Kimble doesn't want to be a fugitive. But he is forced into it now, and must stay ahead of the law long enough to find the one-armed man who murdered his wife.
Look at classic films and search for that Doorway #1 event at around the 25 minute mark, give or take. You'll start to get a feel for it. And you know what? Once you get it you'll be set up for a solid structure throughout your novel, each and every one you write.
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JAMES SCOTT BELL is the bestselling author of Watch Your Back and many other thrillers. Under the pen name K. Bennett, he is also the author of the Mallory Caine zombie legal thriller series, which begins with Pay Me in Flesh.
Jim served as fiction columnist for Writer's Digest magazine, to which he frequently contributes, and has written three bestselling craft books for Writers Digest, including the #1 bestseller for writers, Plot & Structure.
Jim attended the University of California, Santa Barbara where he studied writing with Raymond Carver. He graduated with honors from the University of Southern California law school, and has written over 300 articles and numerous books for the legal profession.
A former trial lawyer, Jim now writes and speaks full time. He lives in Los Angeles. His website is http://www.JamesScottBell.com .
