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Aug

31

Perfectionism & Themes

Posted by : E.v.R. | On : August 31, 2007

Category: Characters, Story Structure

I’ve been having some problems with a few scenes in my story, relating to theme. You see, I spent so much time plotting things out, and that worked out well because the plot remains solid. But as I go to execute certain scenes I have trouble finding the best way to convey the themes.

For example, I have a scene featuring one of my villains who happens to be the chief of a government agency. Since corruption and hypocrisy are themes of my dystopia, I’ve been trying to find the best ways to bring those out through the actions & dialogue of the characters.

In one scene, the villain is assembling his men and about to engage in a raid against people who would be honest law-abiding citizens in a 21st century democracy. In this future society, they are perceived as criminals by the authorities, and through authority’s manipulation of public perception, they have become enemies of the society itself.

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Jun

27

Several Scenes a Day Keeps the Story Doctor Away

Posted by : E.v.R. | On : June 27, 2007

Category: Creative Process, Story Structure

My story, novella, treatment, or whatever you want to call it is done. But it’s not.

“Wait,” You might be saying, “What the hell is he talking about?”

I’m continuing to add and develop some extra scenes just for good measure. When it comes down to the chopping block, some scenes may have to go. All the more reason to create a few extra ones so in your chopping you have more to choose from, right?

I’m beginning to live in a persistent daydream of my story. All the scenes are there, I can run forward and back through them in my head, or in SuperNotecard. Things feel almost right. Almost…

There is a better reason to keep adding scenes, and it has to do with this whole scene wrangling process from start to finish. Each time I add a scene, two, or three I find that it brings greater clarity to the scenes around it, and to the story as a whole. As I add scenes the visual image of my story becomes clearer, and more focused.

And then there’s that word again, nagging at me. “Almost.”

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Jun

11

Why One-Offs Are Commercially Inferior

Posted by : E.v.R. | On : June 11, 2007

Category: Media Franchise, Story Structure

Since I started writing, everyone has advised me to write short stories. Here are a few of the more common things people say:

“It’s easier to try and break into the biz by selling a short story first.”

“A short story is the only way to keep your early work manageable.”

“Once you’ve done a ton of short stories then you can graduate up to doing novels.”

My problem is… I just don’t have any interest in writing short stories. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. I don’t have anything against them, I just find myself more invested in full stories.

Jane Espenson has an interesting post that gets to the heart of the matter.

“I recently read one of those collections of short stories. You know the kind, the “Best Short Stories of two thousand and whatever it is now” kind of thing. In the introduction, the editor talked about how she would have thought that short stories would be the increasing in popularity now, as we all lead fast lives with small amounts of leisure time. A short story for the subway ride, a short story before turning out the light to refresh for another hectic day… it seems to make sense. She was puzzled as to why this doesn’t seem to be happening, that novels still seem to be the preferred unit of prose-based fiction.

Well, I can tell her why. Start-up costs. You have to invest a lot of attention in the start of a short story. Who are these people? Are they firemen? What year is this? Hey, are we in China or something? Picking up a short story requires an investment in attention and care far beyond what reading the next chapter of a novel requires. There, we already know what we’re in for and we only have to worry about what our guy is going through next.”

That’s exactly it. I’ve got a pretty high reading comprehension, and I still sometimes find it difficult to get into a story at first. The ramping up process for the reader takes quite a bit of investment. The reader does all this hard work getting to know your characters, wrap their head around the premise and the plot, and then the story is over.

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