Tip O'Day #401 - Elements of a Scene

Guest blogger Bill Hopkins says, “List? A writer don't need no stinkin' list!”

I've attended many writing conferences in my lifetime, enough to have several lists of things a writer (especially a fiction writer) must do to have a successful story.

But first, let me tell you where you can find a real-life example of the list I'm about to share. My selection of books is wide-ranging. I read The Kon-Tiki Expedition: By Raft Across the South Seas when I was in high school. I read every one of the books in The Mushroom Planet series when I was in the sixth-grade. Robin Hood books were my favorite when I was even younger.

However, the book that has affected me and my writing most is one I finished recently. Stephen King's 11/22/63 tells the story of a man trying to change the past by stopping the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It's pure science fiction (flavored only the way King can do it) and it adds a new twist to the canon of time-travel stories. (I think I've read every time travel story available; trust me on this.)

That's only part of what makes this book great. Things that King shows are elements that each scene of a successful story must have. A lot of these items are obvious, yet I've read books by high-powered authors who don't include some, making for confusion.

(1) Source of light. Every scene must explain the time of day and, if the scene takes place inside, show the reader where the light comes from. Are we outside in the middle of the night? Full moon? New moon? Starlight? Clouds?

(2) Participants. Every scene must also tell the reader who is there and where "there" is. One novel I read recently started a new chapter that ran for over a page before I knew the who and the where. This is frustrating and irritating to readers.

(3) Senses. Every scene should deliver the six senses. Six? That's right. Not only smell, sight, hearing, touch, and taste, but the emotional state of the character needs to be explored. Briefly and surreptitiously, of course, unless you want to have a list at the beginning of every scene. (Not advisable.)

(4) Resolution. In every scene, somebody must want something, somebody must oppose that want, and there's a clear winner and loser. Otherwise, what you've written is a lecture on morality. A good exercise is to write a scene about what Jack and Jill do with that pail of water. Each needs it and there can be no compromise.

There are tons of lists. Two more, by Kurt Vonnegut, can be found at these two sites: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut and also http://peterstekel.com/PDF-HTML/Kurt%20Vonnegut%20advice%20to%20writers.htm.

Finally, to paraphrase Vonnegut, if you're a great writer, you can ignore all those lists.

Learn more about this author at his website www.judgebillhopkins.com. Bill’s latest novel, Courting Murder, was released ahead of schedule just a few days ago, and is available on Amazon and B&N. Here’s the Amazon link. http://tinyurl.com/Bill-Hopkins-Courting-Murder

Speaking of writing conferences, there’s a dandy in Kalispell, Montana this coming weekend, Oct 6-7. Guest speakers include John DeDakis, writer/editor for “The Situation Room” with Wolf Blitzer on CNN, and Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords. It’s remarkably entertaining, educational and inexpensive, and there’s still time to register. Go to http://www.authorsoftheflathead.org/conference.asp

Tip O'Day #395 - Where Ideas Come From

“What do I write about?” is a commonly heard plaintive question, whether from novelists, poets, essayists or short story writers. Often we start our writing career with a focus on things we are drawn to: our favorite literary works, character types, hobbies, sports, movies and TV shows. However, it doesn’t take long to exhaust those topics, or to feel we’re treading down a path already trampled by far too many authors.

Instead of the subjects that naturally attract you, consider exploring the abhorrent ones. What was it about the idiot truck driver during rush hour last week that made road rage seem justifiable? What is it about the other members of your critique group that makes you grind your teeth? What is it about a particular literary agent, political candidate, waiter, traffic cop, retail clerk or blind date that makes you wonder about the cost of a contract killer?

For example, look at Jen Campbell, a London bookseller, poet and writer. She loves her day job, and probably could write 25 pages or so about the joys of selling books before running out of steam. One day, she was surfing the ‘Net when she came across the question, “What are your pet peeves?” Having had occasional encounters with the customer from Hell, she thought the subject of wacky things said in bookshops had enough material to fill a series of books, and would appeal to retailers as well as writers, publishing professionals and book lovers the world over.

Jen wrote down all the goofy situations she could recall. She also started blogging on the topic, and contacting other booksellers about their experiences. The result is the recently published WEIRD THINGS CUSTOMERS SAY IN BOOKSHOPS in the UK (or …BOOKSTORES in the US and Canada). I’m an avid follower of Jen’s This Is Not the Six Word Novel blog, and the excerpts I’ve read are simply hilarious. I can’t wait for my hardcover edition to arrive in the mail. (Not sure if an eBook version is imminent.)

Getting back to our pet peeves, those are merely situations. How do you turn one into a story? Take a look at the first example: the pickup-truck-driving moron who cuts you off in traffic and nearly forces you into a ditch. Did his father mock him when he played with his Hot Wheels? Did a pint-size neighborhood terrorist enjoy knocking him off his trike? Did the school bully hold his bike hostage for lunch money? Or did he truly emerge from the birth canal angry and aggressive, elbowing his more passive twin out of the way?

As for the victim in your story, what is her reaction to nearly getting road rash? Does she storm after the idiot, honking the horn while she scribbles down the truck’s license number and scans traffic for a police car? Does her reaction change when she notices the rifle in the truck’s Easy Rider gun rack? What if she loses sight of the truck, but then notices it three vehicles behind her, following her home? What if she catches up to the reckless driver, who turns out to be her son’s schoolteacher?

Every decision fleshes out the situation into something closer to a story, and each unique decision you make moves it away from every other road rage incident you’ve read about or seen in the media. With each decision, you will see more scenes taking shape further up the road. As E.L. Doctorow once wrote, “Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way."

Jen Campbell’s book is available through Constable (UK/Commonwealth) or Overlook Press (US/Canada), as well as Amazon.com and Amazon.UK. Her This Is Not the Six Word Novel blog can be found at http://jen-campbell.blogspot.com/.

By the way, popular and prolific author Scott Nicholson has been kind enough to provide a guest post about the changing publishing environment for my humble Wredheaded Writer blog, and it will appear here tomorrow (Monday, September 17th). Mark your calendar.

Tip O'Day #229 - Write in Scenes

Guest blogger Colleen Cross on borrowing a screenwriting technique.

Like many writers, I start new books with a general idea, a rough chapter outline, and a vague idea of the ending. At the start it's fresh and exciting, and I'm sure I'll knock out a first draft in no time at all. Then, just as we reach double-digit chapters, disaster strikes. My characters hijack the story. Or, even worse, they go on strike, and steer me off the highway and onto that no-exit road called Writer's Block Hell.

How can they do this to me?

Thankfully, I read some screenwriting books. Syd Field's Four Screenplays and Blake Snyder's Save the Cat! offer great advice for screenwriters, and novelists can benefit too.

One idea made all the difference; I started to write in scenes. Modern stories are based on a three act story structure: the beginning, the middle and the end. I determine the three most important scenes for each act, and then write them. Now I've got nine scenes which form the main plot and provide the theme. I don't worry about what happens before or after these scenes, or exactly what order they appear in. I can fill those in later with smaller connecting scenes. I save each scene in a separate Word file, and then I knit them into my novel's first draft.

My characters haven't mutinied on me since I started using this method. They seem happier, and while I still give them free rein, they don't take over my story, or stop it. Writing in scenes is a little messier, but it frees me to be more creative.

Visit Colleen's website and blog at http://colleencross.com and read more about Exit Strategy, Book 1 in the Katerina Carter suspense series.

Dixon says: I had coffee with writing friend (and Amazon Top 50 reviewer) Roxanne McHenry the other day. She is excited about the first draft of her dark YA novel, which consists of a series of unconnected scenes. When she gets further along, she'll worry about whether the scenes are in the right order, and how to hook them together. An interesting approach - I'm not sure I'd have the courage to try it.