The Explaining Tendency

In the context of storytelling I liken "explaining" to the human tendency of "complaining."  In other words it's a bad habit.

Allow me to explain. (HA! Caught me, didn't you?) But this is a brief expository essay, not a story.)

Last week my class played the What's in the bag? game. Briefly, the goal is to write an original scene and in it conceal an object, allowing the secret to generate excitement and momentum. (See 9/2/07 for a fuller description.) I had everyone break up into writing teams of three.  What I observed was all but one team revealed what was in the bag by the end of the scene. Which meant end of interest, end of story. So we ended up with a lot of blackout scenes that led no where, because most fell into the sand trap of the desire to explain. 

Notice that explaining is qualitatively different than describing. The latter is an integral part of our craft. I've noticed in my own work my tendency to under-describe the details of the action and the physical world. I may have a vivid picture in my mind's eye, but neglect getting that picture on the page so that readers can share it with me. 

 

Which leads me to the confession that in the last two weeks all the rewriting I've done on Green Tara has been focused on expanding descriptions.  I'm talking an added twelve pages out of what is now 150 and I'm only 20% into the story. At this rate I'll add another fifty pages to my young adult novel! Though I'm not sure it will follow, because it's in the beginning of a story that the reader needs enough detail to fully picture the story world. 

I'll report soon, and forgive me for taking so long between posts. My attention has been very much on my novel rewrite and how to fully describe without falling into the sand trap of explaining.

Character Sketches

Here's a tried and true method for creating memorable characters.

TIP: Write the character sketch in first person, as if you're inside the character's skin.

Some questions to stimulate ideas about what to include:

• What do you look like?
• Where are you coming from? (ethnicity, educational background, religion, geography)
• Talk about the quality of your relationships with family, friends, romantic partners, co-workers.
• What's your talent? Handicap?
• What do you want? What will you do to get it?
• What do you need to learn?
• What do you fear most?
• How do you respond emotionally when things don't go your way?

TIP: Remember that physical attributes are only a tiny fraction of what makes up a three-D character.

Now rewrite the character sketch in third person, as if it is a set of notes by the character's psychological counselor or priest. The author can compare how the character perceives himself to how the outside observer sees him.

Story Poker

This story generating game works best with a group of people 5-25. Part of the game includes building and shuffling the playing cards, so you'll need blank index cards and pencils. We're using six basic element (or suits of cards): character, plot, storyworld, dialog, image, & theme.

For each story element the players write specific, concrete details on one card. For example, if I'm making a card for the storyworld suit I might choose:

An Island in the Great Lakes, accessible only by boat. There are no private automobiles, only bicycles and horses. The resort side of the island feels a little like a theme park without the rides. Outside the town, the blue sky and crystal clear water stretch endlessly, or at least as far as the eye can see.

Every player writes a card for at least two suits. All the cards are organized in piles (not shuffled) according to suit. Now, each player selects two cards (not his or her own) from different suits.

TIP: to help build the deck, some of the cards might describe a favorite film story. For example, for the dialog suit I might choose a man's pick-up lines: "We lost so many good men. (crying) I wish I were stronger." (from THE WEDDING CRASHERS)

The players work in teams of three to five. Using the story cards as inspiration, the goal is to take a wild collection of ingredients and generate an original story. Everyone has the option to trade in cards to find story elements that might make better sense together. But use caution when looking for 'better' cards. Some of the most delicious surprises come when unlikely story elements are put together.

After twenty minutes, each team pitches an original full-length story.

What's in the Bag?

A writing exercise inspired by William Froug and his book Zen and the Art of Screenwriting. It's about the importance of creating the need to know. The scene below is a synopsis of the scene in the chapter "What's going on? Don't tell me."

Imagine a rough looking fellow walking into an upscale jewelry store. He's carrying a paper bag. He steps up to the diamond counter and asks to see the manager. He's in a hurry. Everyone, the sales clerk at the diamond counter, the customer trying on pearls, and especially the security guard's wondering what the dude's got in the paper bag. The audience is desperate to know, too. The longer the writer keeps whatever's in the bag, in the bag the better.

TIP: If he whips out a gun, the audience will be instantly disappointed. Too obvious. Surprise is key.

exercise:

• write down ten things your character wants to keep secret.
• write down ten cool bags or hiding places for the secret objects.
• mix up the lists, putting secrets into different bags and see what happens

Lightning* Writing --a daily warm-up exercise

Inspired by Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg

The goal of this warm-up exercise is to keep our hands moving across the page. It is a writing practice that is done without self judgement.

No attention is given to spelling or grammar. No attention is given to "good" or "lovely" words, "fly" or "marketable" ideas, "gripping" or "sympatico" characters.

Our full attention is given to stringing words together, one after another. Our goal is to envoke our subconscious creative source. Some days the writing will be extraordinarily lame. That's good and as it should be. But sometimes we'll actually strike gold and discover something wonderful, like a character's deepest fear or the most hilarious line of dialog.

Instructions: Begin with a simple prompt, such as "I remember . . . Or I smell . . . I want to write . . . " If you realize that your hand is no longer moving, write the prompt down and begin again. Write without thinking for 20 minutes.

TIP: We're inviting the muse to come and play. If we open that dialog every day she'll join us, sometimes when we least expect it.

* notes on the name: "Lightning writing" is Goldberg's name. Because I first came to this practice when I read her book, that's what I call it. (I've noticed many other writers describe a similar practice, but call it different names.) 'Lightning' might refer to speed, though I don't believe speed is the goal. For me the 'lightning' refers to a still place where a spark of inspiration may strike and, if the conditions are right, light a fire. The bonus is when I practice regularly, I notice a lightening that goes with everything I do, from creative efforts to less attractive chores.