After David Powers King posted on tension, he suggested I share a few thoughts of my own. Well, the night is late, but here are a few thoughts:
1. Tension depends ultimately on having something to lose. If you don't have a stake in losing something, then there's no reason to be worried about much of anything. You have no reason to be anxious. With story, as David noted, that is created in part through conflict.
2. But conflict itself is only a matter of interest to us if we fear for one of the parties. I remember one of my early mentors saying that if you don't care about the characters, then starting with a battle is a difficult thing to do with a story.
3. Of course the benefit with starting a story right in the middle of conflict is that you automatically up the odds for your main characters. The trouble is, we don't know them yet, so you have to do something to bring us in.
4. Star Wars is a great example of this. The first thing we get is the spoiler explaining the situation. This prologue tells us very clearly that the empire is the bad guy, and the Princess Leia and her team are the good guys racing away from them. So even before the ships come into play, we know to root for her ship. Then we meet the comical yet daring droids, R2-D2 and C-3PO. How can you now like them? And of course, Princess Leia is courageous and beautiful, and we know she is supposed to be taking on the evil galactic bad guys. Underdogs like her just grab us without even thinking. We're hooked. Darth Vader could have looked like Harrison Ford and we still would have hated him. But it doesn't hurt that he's this villainous looking half robot full of frightingness and killing guys for the mere fun of it.
5. Which takes us back to what we have to lose. We know Princess Leia needs to survive--or at least get those stolen plans away--or there is no story. So when Vader captures her ship, and we know that the only hope in the galaxy are those plans, tension goes sky high. What will happen? We don't know.
It also helps if you can entice the reader or viewer quickly with a sense of romance, peril to that romance, and peril to the very lives of the people we now know we want to like. It's a pull on our emotions, but it's not a joke or playing on them. We fear that our expectations may not be met. And even when we think deep down that the good guys will somehow win--just like we do in a classic epic like Star Wars--we want it to be nearly impossible, that they could die, they could lose everything, because that is the very basis of tension and conflict.
OK, those are some thoughts. Let me know what you think.
Showing posts with label Craft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Craft. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Interesting Post on Tension
A friend and fellow writer, David Powers King, wrote a really thoughtful post on building tension. It's worth checking out. I was thinking of writing some similar things on this topic, and I may just yet do it. But I think I'll let him speak for me for now. Enjoy!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Character and Purpose
In my previous post on character, I talked about motivations of developing a good character and why that is important to story. In this post, I want to take that concept a little further.
The power of character in a story lies in our ability to relate to that character or the character's adventure or story. It is through our common experience with that character that the story itself resonates with us. The plot and setting create the milieu and circumstance for excitement. They also provide the element of fantasy common to all story, it is the place where our minds go when we read.
But the character itself is who we see, or who we see ourselves as being, or the person we don't want to be. That person exists through the process of story, but only as through the interaction with the reader.
I've heard Tracy Hickman say that story exists only when the reader reads it (he may have been quoting someone else, I can't recall, but he shared it so intimately that it was definitely part of his personal feelings of writing). That means that stories, whether they be in books, songs, or good, old fashioned tales told out loud, come to life when they are transmitted to another person.
That interaction is why I believe that characters have power to influence other people. It is why we have a responsibility when we write to ensure that our characters are not just believable, but that we are aware of what their existence will do to those who read. Everything we do, everything we write, everything we create, will have an impact on other people, whether we are aware of it or not. That is the way of things, the way the world works.
And so what we say, do, and write, can either be an influence for good or an influence for bad.
I don't mean that we have to be moralistic or preachy, or cynical or some other opposite. I mean that we need to be aware and purposeful.
That's why I don't believe that art for art's sake is sufficient of an excuse for creating story that may in some way lessons or weakens or in some way cheapens humanity. In fact, we have a responsibility to see that its impact is as good as it can be.
The challenge for writers is to build a better world but do it in a way that is subtle enough that readers still enjoy the journey. In fact, it may have to be so subtle that they aren't aware it is there. Again, I don't mean subliminal coercion. It is something deeper that lies at the heart of our work.
This is a concept I'm still developing. More next time.
The power of character in a story lies in our ability to relate to that character or the character's adventure or story. It is through our common experience with that character that the story itself resonates with us. The plot and setting create the milieu and circumstance for excitement. They also provide the element of fantasy common to all story, it is the place where our minds go when we read.
But the character itself is who we see, or who we see ourselves as being, or the person we don't want to be. That person exists through the process of story, but only as through the interaction with the reader.
I've heard Tracy Hickman say that story exists only when the reader reads it (he may have been quoting someone else, I can't recall, but he shared it so intimately that it was definitely part of his personal feelings of writing). That means that stories, whether they be in books, songs, or good, old fashioned tales told out loud, come to life when they are transmitted to another person.
That interaction is why I believe that characters have power to influence other people. It is why we have a responsibility when we write to ensure that our characters are not just believable, but that we are aware of what their existence will do to those who read. Everything we do, everything we write, everything we create, will have an impact on other people, whether we are aware of it or not. That is the way of things, the way the world works.
And so what we say, do, and write, can either be an influence for good or an influence for bad.
I don't mean that we have to be moralistic or preachy, or cynical or some other opposite. I mean that we need to be aware and purposeful.
That's why I don't believe that art for art's sake is sufficient of an excuse for creating story that may in some way lessons or weakens or in some way cheapens humanity. In fact, we have a responsibility to see that its impact is as good as it can be.
The challenge for writers is to build a better world but do it in a way that is subtle enough that readers still enjoy the journey. In fact, it may have to be so subtle that they aren't aware it is there. Again, I don't mean subliminal coercion. It is something deeper that lies at the heart of our work.
This is a concept I'm still developing. More next time.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Character and Arc
I've always had an easy time creating plot. In fact, my stories tend to be plot driven. I understand that's often the way guys think--especially guys who write SF&F.
For me, it's a natural outgrowth of daydreaming, of simply imagining fun, fantastic, dangerous, supernatural things that take place and being a part of it.
Like many writers, I often imagine myself in the middle of my own stories. It's part of what makes the creative outlet so enjoyable. I get to be there doing those amazing things with magic, swords, dragons, you name it. And it's a lot of fun.
But plot is only part of what makes a story work. Ultimately, stories are about people. I've read this a gazillion times. Everyone has something to say about how character must drive story, about how it's their struggle that ultimately is what makes a story good.
That's not the most intrinsically easy thing for me to understand. But I think I've finally begun to understand this process a little better--for two reasons:
1. Characters are what make a story, deep down, interesting to readers. They of course love the action and imagery and movement of plot and setting. But within they have to relate to the characters, be able to see themselves in the role or near the role somehow. That's why even the bad guys have to have good qualities, and why the good guys, if they are too good and perfect, don't engage readers the way they need to. It's something about us doing things and being part of things that speaks to us on a deeper level.
Thus, the character drives the story. That's because a character with no real emotion, with no arc, no sense of becoming something different or more or evolving in some way, seeing the world differently by the end, or gaining hidden strength, or some such, that's part of the human process. Our lives are mundane and boring if nothing ever changes. And stories where the character is cookie cutter, exactly the same person in all reasonable senses, in terms of how they think, act, or do on all levels, from page one to the end, feels just like that: a non character. Our lives may get mundane, but usually things happen that cause us to answer deep questions about what we believe and feel or do--and not too infrequently, really.
2. I want to enjoy the story, so I don't have to decide from the beginning: the character must change, therefore make it happen. Rather, I think about what their motivations are and what causes those motivations to be in jeopardy. Then I think about what kind of message their responses will send. Some have taught that their responses will flow naturally from the situation. But I find that only partially true. Most of us are complicated enough that Sherlock Holmes would fail--that we are not always predictable in how we respond to life. Thus, I have to weigh how the characters respond because that will ultimately mean something, as well as determine the flow, weight, feeling, tone, and result of the novel.
Thus, character for me is becoming deeply important, even essential, to the make up of the story. And that's both refreshing and a bit scary. I still love to just daydream and see what happens!
For me, it's a natural outgrowth of daydreaming, of simply imagining fun, fantastic, dangerous, supernatural things that take place and being a part of it.
Like many writers, I often imagine myself in the middle of my own stories. It's part of what makes the creative outlet so enjoyable. I get to be there doing those amazing things with magic, swords, dragons, you name it. And it's a lot of fun.
But plot is only part of what makes a story work. Ultimately, stories are about people. I've read this a gazillion times. Everyone has something to say about how character must drive story, about how it's their struggle that ultimately is what makes a story good.
That's not the most intrinsically easy thing for me to understand. But I think I've finally begun to understand this process a little better--for two reasons:
1. Characters are what make a story, deep down, interesting to readers. They of course love the action and imagery and movement of plot and setting. But within they have to relate to the characters, be able to see themselves in the role or near the role somehow. That's why even the bad guys have to have good qualities, and why the good guys, if they are too good and perfect, don't engage readers the way they need to. It's something about us doing things and being part of things that speaks to us on a deeper level.
Thus, the character drives the story. That's because a character with no real emotion, with no arc, no sense of becoming something different or more or evolving in some way, seeing the world differently by the end, or gaining hidden strength, or some such, that's part of the human process. Our lives are mundane and boring if nothing ever changes. And stories where the character is cookie cutter, exactly the same person in all reasonable senses, in terms of how they think, act, or do on all levels, from page one to the end, feels just like that: a non character. Our lives may get mundane, but usually things happen that cause us to answer deep questions about what we believe and feel or do--and not too infrequently, really.
2. I want to enjoy the story, so I don't have to decide from the beginning: the character must change, therefore make it happen. Rather, I think about what their motivations are and what causes those motivations to be in jeopardy. Then I think about what kind of message their responses will send. Some have taught that their responses will flow naturally from the situation. But I find that only partially true. Most of us are complicated enough that Sherlock Holmes would fail--that we are not always predictable in how we respond to life. Thus, I have to weigh how the characters respond because that will ultimately mean something, as well as determine the flow, weight, feeling, tone, and result of the novel.
Thus, character for me is becoming deeply important, even essential, to the make up of the story. And that's both refreshing and a bit scary. I still love to just daydream and see what happens!
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