The Writing Life Too

The morning sky is the color of smoke and life has been too hectic lately to visit the blogosphere. Yesterday was especially lovely here—sun so bright it would break your heart and buds popping out with wild profusion. As I mentioned, I missed so many movies lately I’m trying to catch them while they’re still showing on the big screen. So I saw Michael Clayton with a friend on Friday night and loved the frame story structure and the tension so thick you felt wound tight as you watched the story unfold.

After the movie we stopped at a wine bar and were talking about this phase of our lives. She mentioned that she believed that most of life was simply fate, that on any day we get to choose the clothes we wear, but pretty much else is preordained. I’ve been mulling this over since—and can’t agree. But then again we hear stories about how fate taps someone on the shoulder and summons them for ruin or greatness. In fact, Oprah has a new reality show the Big Give that is about intervening in fate. I like that this show reminds us that giving needs to happen every day, but why is every part of life turning into a reality show? Isn’t reality better?

But I want to get back to the essentials of writing compelling fiction. Here are some more tips:

Truths about our shared humanity lie at the core of fiction. We read fiction to be distracted from the dailiness of our lives, to be entertained, to walk among a different time and place; but mostly to further our understanding of what it means to be human.

So fiction is one of our best teachers, our easily-loved companion, and it resonates so deeply with the reader since we’ve all heard stories since we were small. And since we were small, stories brought meaning to our lives.

Stories begin at a moment of change or just before the moment of change and the change threatens the protagonist’s well being and sets the story in motion.

All the major players have an agenda.

All the major moments and the ending are foreshadowed.

Characters are developed through action and dialogue.

The situation of the story world is inescapable.

Excursions into the past via recollections and flashbacks exist only to illuminate the front story.

The story is anchored via the theme and premise.

It is written for all the senses and weather, lighting, shadows, seasonal details create a world that breathes.

Know how far your protagonist and antagonist will go to achieve their goals. Also know their emotional range.

Uses emotional moments for impact to reveal truths, realizations, epiphanies, and the like without resorting to melodrama. This is best achieved by slowly escalating tensions and conflict.

The writer pays attention to language to maximize the drama, create moods, and enhance tension while invoking a subtle, lingering resonance.

Scenes are based on a goal or mission meeting an obstacle, but are also embedded with tension. This is often done by finding small ways to make the protagonist uncomfortable or at odds with his environment.

The middle of a novel comprises more than half its length. At about the midpoint of most novels, a dramatic reversal occurs. The hunter becomes the hunted; a second murder occurs proving the detective has been wrong in his suspicions; a former lover arrives in town to complicate a budding romance. This reversal keeps the middle from bogging down and becoming predictable and also breathes new life and often a new direction into the story.