Arriving Upon the Scene

The fun part of writing is the excitement you feel as your story unfolds, with all of its twists, turns and discoveries. Wouldn't it be great if we could just write and not have to worry about plot outlines, characterization, pace and the like?

The problem with free-form writing, I'm sorry to say, is that most of us are not very good at it. The story wanders, becomes trapped at a dead end and can suffer from a variety of flaws ranging from plot collapse, undue length, pacing problems, etc.

What is the solution, you ask? The answer: scene outline. Wait! I heard that groan. It takes all the fun out of writing. While I disagree, I understand the sentiment. But think about it. The best film directors story-board every scene sequence before shooting. There are those who may successfully 'wing it,' but with pressure to bring films in on budget, story-boarding the movie is the norm, rather than the exception.

As the author of your story, you are also the director. You have to deal with all of the same elements of story that a film director must manage, only without the cameras.

There are actually a number of advantages to crafting an outline of the major scenes of your novel before you begin. But before we get into these, let's review some basic operating rules of storytelling:

RULE #1: Put your character in danger.
RULE #2: Keep your character in danger.
RULE #3: Ensure that the danger gets steadily worse.
RULE #4: For each action, there is a reaction – or consequence.

Rule # 4 will drive your story. What do I mean by this? If you will recall when we last left Sergei, he was about to do some serious damage to our boorish director. Remember, Sergei's goal is to leave his homicidal past behind and become a 'good American' – and ultimately a citizen.

We open our novel in the darkened theater just as "The Director" discovers two things: (1) Sergei's daughter is relatively flat-chested and (2) Sergei has the capacity for rage and violence.

Scene 1: Sergei beats up "The Director" (Mr. Di).
Scene 2: Sergei gets fired by the studio, so no more catering business. He also gets arrested and is being sued for assault by Mr. Di. Newspapers publish Sergei's photo and his former mob associates locate him. (Sergei's life gets turned completely upside down.)

In these two scenes, we have action and reaction or action and consequence. The story from this point forward will be a series of unfortunate events all of which flow from his assault upon Mr. Di.

We've also initiated the story at the point where Sergei's life is about to be altered dramatically. At this point, we need to know how the story will resolve itself. Will Sergei be able to become anything he wants? Will he be forced back into a life of crime? Will he be able to earn his citizenship? These are the questions we must answer. Once we know these answers, we can then begin placing a series of obstacles in front of our character and basically make his life miserable.

Given Sergei's criminal history, we actually have a lot of obstacle material with which to work.

Scene 3: Sergei and his daughter flee with the Russian mob in hot pursuit. He and his daughter survive a harrowing chase and escape to a friend's house. Whew! Safe at last. Wrong! The mob anticipated this move and is waiting on him. They have one last job for Sergei. The mob takes his daughter. Sergei either takes the murder assignment or risks the mob killing his daughter.

Scene 4: Sergei considers taking the job, but finds out the target is both a moral man, but a man like himself, who has daughters.

At this point, we have set five difficult tasks for Sergei:

1. Avoid being arrested by the police and / or killed by the mob.
2. Avoid killing the target.
3. Rescuing the target.
4. Rescuing his daughter and preventing her from being killed, and
5. Doing all of the above without destroying his ultimate goal of becoming a good American.

Some possible scene sequences…

ACTION: Sergei approaches the target – tells him everything and asks for his help. The target appears supportive, but...
CONSEQUENCE: Target flees, contacts the police and now the police are looking for Sergei.

ACTION / SCENE: The mob finds out about Sergei's plan and prepare to take their revenge on both Sergei and his daughter.
CONSEQUENCE: The mob captures Sergei and finds someone else to eliminate the target.

ACTION / SCENE: Sergei and daughter escape.
CONSEQUENCE: The mob is looking for them. The police are looking for them and Sergei feels an obligation to try and rescue the target whom he was originally assigned to kill.

How does Sergei do this? Well, that's your job as the author to figure out. We want him to struggle, rest briefly, struggle harder, rest briefly, and then have the largest struggle near the end of the book. We will, however, probably pull the rug out from under Sergei in the form of a deportation hearing resulting from "Mr. Di's" assault charge – providing yet one more obstacle for our unlucky hero to overcome.

What action and consequence scenes would you develop that:

1. Provide ever-increasing suspense, tension and danger?
2. What other dangers (other than physical) will Sergei face? Will his daughter, upon learning of his criminal past, no longer love him?
3. Assuming Sergei is able to outwit the mob and avoid the police, how will he convince Mr. Di to drop the assault charge?

Have fun and Happy Writing!

Bob

Warning, Will Robinson. Danger!

The classic 60's Science Fiction TV series Lost In Space consistently depicted a simple truth. Danger attracts. Danger to people we care about attracts even more. And who could not like Guy Williams, June Lockhart and Billy Mumy -- Mr. Mumy being the quintessential 'adorable kid.'

Lessons for aspiring authors:

(1) Develop interesting and likable (or at least intriguing) characters.
(2) Put them in danger and keep them there.

There are lots of types of danger our characters can face, the most obvious being physical danger. Staying in the 1960's TV show category, these shows had a number of standby 'danger' techniques. You know the ones I mean. There is the classic situation of failing brakes while traveling down a steep, curvy road. Exciting stuff. Oh, and there's my personal favorite, the cliff fight scene. This is where the hero battles impossible odds while being pushed inevitably backward towards a cliff edge. Will he prevail or fall to his death?

We can laugh about these danger moments now, but these simple danger techniques kept us glued to our old Black and White TV's back in the day. Warning! Old guy reminiscing. Danger!

So, when the Robot in Lost in Space shouted "Danger," we knew two things: (1) Will Robinson was about to be in trouble and (2) something exciting was about to happen. Audiences might be more sophisticated and demanding today, but the importance of danger in story telling is no less valid today than forty years ago.

It is important to note, however, that danger comes in many forms and need not be mortal – or even physical. A lot of early American literature concentrates heavily on the danger to a characters' immortal souls. As authors, we can put our characters in other types of danger as well. The danger can be 'a moral danger' if our character is being driven to commit a heinous act. Another type of danger is 'emotional danger.' In The Marked One, when Pella lashes out at Beryl, the reader knows he is making a terrible mistake and that he is endangering his relationship with his love interest.

Your homework assignment: What other types of danger can we expose our characters?

Setting the Stage and… LIGHTS…CAMERA…ACTION!

Okay, here's a tip. When writing a scene you must think of yourself as a stage director. So let's start there, say at the end of row three in a semi-darkened theater. But we want to do this exercise "in character" since this what you must do when you are writing your story. You must manage (juggle) character, plot, scene, setting, tone, dialogue, pace, conflict, tension and action. A lot to deal with, huh?

Let's color you in as "the director." I'm thinking short and pudgy with a bit of Napoleonic complex. Loves power. So how do we "show" these character traits? I always start with a name. We haven't determined if the director is male or female, but let's call her "Lady Di" (short for Lady Director).
This won't work? Any ideas why?
"Lady Di" is a powerful name – a name that will evoke strong images – beautiful, graceful, elegant, and tragic – to name just a few. If we called the director "Lady Di," these existing images and associations will conflict with the character we are trying to create. So, if we want to stick with "Di" as the director's name, it must be male director. Let's call him "Mr. Di."

"Carla, where's my Bloody Mary? You know I can't begin a morning stage set-up without a Bloody Mary," Mr. Di says while slapping his riding crop repeatedly against the top of a knee-high riding boot.
Mr. Di's personal assistant presents Mr. Di his Bloody Mary, her hand shaking slightly.
Mr. Di takes a sip and frowns. "Not enough Tabasco, Carla. Can't you do anything right? "

So what does this little bit of dialogue tell us about Di?

1. Possible substance abuse issue (Bloody Mary)
2. Rude, offensive, critical, and intimidating (lots of one-word descriptors fit this guy with 'Jerk' being the kindest.)
3. Given to use of "power props." (What does carrying a riding crop to work say about Di – not to mention the riding boots?)

Okay, you get the idea. Let's return to the stage where your scene is about to unfold. What kind of backdrop do we want for our stage? Tropical island? Nope. Too upbeat. A New York street scene? No. Still not right. Hint. It was a bit of a trick question. We already have the perfect backdrop. It is the semi-darkened theater and empty stage. What better place to showcase our cranky, and perhaps power-mad, "director?"

At this point we have a setting, we have tone, we have some tension, but no real conflict. To introduce some conflict, let's assume that Sergei (see prior blog post) and his teenage daughter are at the theater. But why is a fast-food worker and sometimes reluctant hitman even at the theater? Fair question. So let's assume that Sergei has opened up a small catering business. After all, this is America, where Sergei can be whoever and whatever he wants to be, right?

"You there," Di says, pointing his riding crop at Sergei's daughter. "Give me a spot on the girl," Di commands. A glaring spot light suddenly illuminates Sergei's daughter, causing her to flinch. Mr. Di grabs the girl by the hand, pulls her near, and rips open the top of her blouse.
"Carla! She won't do. She has no tits." I told you. The part calls for girl with big tits. Can't you do anything right?"
"Get your hands off her," Sergei roars, dropping the box of sandwiches he was carrying, his hands balling into fists.

Clearly Mr. Di is not a very nice person and this particular case of mistaken identity with Sergei's daughter is likely to cost him dearly. Now the scene we've just viewed is not fully developed, and the characters are still sketchy, but the point is to get you to think about your scenes in a "stage setting" context with characters entering, acting their parts, and exiting. We also want to present them against a backdrop that enhances the scene. The nearly empty theater allows us to focus almost entirely upon the boorish behavior of Mr. Di.

Think first about what you want to accomplish in a particular scene – and what you wish to reveal about your characters. In this scene, I wanted to reveal a bullying director. Think this scene unrealistic? Think again. I have a friend who is a stage actress. Her director is just as abusive Mr. Di and thinks nothing of "manhandling" her and the other actresses. To be fair, however, he does not carry a riding crop or wear knee-high riding boots to the theater.

Based upon what you know about Di and Sergei, what is going to happen next? How will Sergei and Carla react to Di's terrible behavior? Will Carla quit? Will Sergei's daughter defend herself? From whose Point of View (POV) do you want to present the scene? Whose emotions do you want to showcase? Do you wish to go with an omniscient POV? Perhaps go with Carla's POV. Sergei wasn't there for the entire scene, so we probably should not use his POV.

It's an interesting exercise. Have fun with it. Happy writing!

Bob

Building Character – Part II

Where do you find characters? Simple answer: Everywhere.

I met Sergei at a fast food restaurant in the Salt Lake City airport. If you spend as much time in airports as I do, you soon learn that here is where you will find the least friendly, least attentive service. The folks behind the counter generally could care less about you. After all, they will likely never see you again. Their only concern is how much time remains on their shift and how long it will take them to work through the twenty or so people behind you.

Not so with Sergei. Sergei made eye contact with me and assisted me with my order. He didn't act rushed or seem impatient with questions he must hear hundreds of times a day. I liked Sergei and took a seat across from his station so that I could observe him. Sure enough, Sergei's mission was to ensure each customer with whom he came in contact had the best possible dining experience.

Now, I'm sure Sergei recognized that he did not work at the top of the employment food chain – pun intended. But this clearly didn't matter. He was in America and in America you can be anything you want. And it appeared to me for the next half-hour while watching Sergei that what he wanted was to be the best fast-food worker he could be. He was attentive, courteous and a bit older than the average server and he took his job seriously.

Sergei was not a snappy dresser. His dark pants were worn and his shirt a bit faded, but he wore his white smock with pride as if he were the restaurant's executive chef. The only thing that stood out about Sergei's clothing was a pair of tricked-out sneakers that seemed out of place with the rest of his clothing. The shoes seemed to say, "Hi. Look at me. I belong to Sergei. I'm new to America and I'm going places."

Are you feeling a character coming on? Good. So, how to take this few minutes of observation of Sergei and build him into a full-fledged, I-want-to-spend-time-with-this-guy, character?

NAME: Okay, let's give Sergei his name. Let's call him. Sergei Pavlovich. But what does this name tell us about Sergei? Nothing, right? It's just a name for our character. Notice that Sergei does not have a middle name. Everyone he knew growing up had at least three names. Sergei always felt badly about this – that his parents didn't care enough to give him a decent Russian name.

OCCUPATION: What is Sergei's occupation? Fast-food worker. Got it. But what did he do before this? What if he used to be a hitman for the Russian mob? Let's work with this for a moment.

WHAT IS THIS CHARACTER'S MAJOR GOAL? He wants to escape the mob and he wants to be a 'good' American.

WHAT IS THIS CHARACTER'S MAJOR PROBLEM? He still has to support his family by acting as a freelance hitman. But, but, but… he only kills people who deserve it. He screens the assignments his anonymous clients give him. Remember… Sergei really wants to be a good American.

HOW WILL THIS CHARACTER'S PROBLEMS GET WORSE? Well, the mob could find him, but let's put that on hold for a moment. Let's say that Sergei has been set up and ends up killing an innocent man. How would Sergei react? Notice that we are moving into plot, but that's Okay. Let's say that Sergei decides to seek out his deceitful employer and take his revenge.

Now, what do we know about Sergei so far?

PERSONAL DATA:
Sex: Male
Age: 36
Birthplace: Russia – But where in Russia? Moscow? Nah, too easy. Let's say he is from Czernowitz in the Ukraine. Now this town is mostly Jewish, also poor. Let's say that Sergei is not Jewish, so he grew up as an outcast in this community. He hates religion. In fact, it was this hatred that led him into the "hitman business." Perhaps he took assignment to take out a problematic Rabbi who got in the way of mob business.

What else do we know? Well, we have lots of character contrast going on. Sergei is a killer, but he's likable. He is a killer coming from a religious community and has moved to one of the most religious parts of America. And he absolutely hates religion, but he cannot escape it in Salt Lake. This probably makes Sergei tense. Tense is good. We like tense. Maybe this is why Sergei took the job in the airport – to get away from the heavy Mormon influence in Salt Lake.

You will (hopefully) remember from the first posting on 'Building Character' that we said we want characters that react to each other, but it is also helpful to put your characters in situations in which they are uncomfortable and in environments in which they stand out.

Let's move on. Married? No. Children: One daughter, age 17. What other key relationships does Sergei have? Where is the mother of his child? Is his daughter with him? Does she know what he does? Is he a loving father? What are his plans for his daughter? (Fathers always have plans for their kids.)

What we are looking to develop is not just an understanding of Sergei, but a history that contributes to his motivations, desires, fears and dreams.

Would Sergei work as the main character of a novel? Possibly, but very difficult. While there is a lot to work with here, Sergei is, afterall, a bad guy. A conflicted bad guy, but a bad guy nonetheless. The challenge will be to make him sympathetic enough that a reader could past the fact that he kills people. Now, if Sergei were truly retired from the hitman business, this would be a lot easier, but then we have removed the major source of tension and conflict for this character.

Alright, party is over. Your homework assignment is to finish developing Sergei. Color him in. We have to know his hair color, body build, height, weight. He is far from fully developed. What are his likes, dislikes, favorite foods?