I’m having issues with the story I’m writing. I don’t know my bad guy. I don’t have a climax for the story. Yeah, this is working.
But there are certain things I do know. In the climax, the protagonist prevents the antagonist from achieving his goal. Specifically, this wizard wants to kill a certain character (to use his blood in a spell).
You’d think that would be enough information, but I’m having issues putting all the needed characters in the same room. What was this spell? How would it work? How would the threatened character get lured into all of this?
You’d think a plotter would have already figured all of this out. To a certain extent, I had. But I focused more on the overall picture, and small details, like why this wizard was doing this spell, were overlooked. Oops.
It’s time to figure out exactly what the antagonist is up to and why. It is time to sit down and write the antagonist’s story.
Last week, I sat down and did just that.
Have you ever taken time to write from the antagonist’s point of view? Did it help?
Showing posts with label climax. Show all posts
Showing posts with label climax. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Monday, August 6, 2012
Story Problems
I’m having problems with the ending of my current story. And it’s making me a little crazy.
I got stuck on my last novel, too. It got to the point where I had to set the thing aside and let it rest for a while. Luckily, it’s my new normal to have several stories going at once, so I had something to jump to.
However, this time what I jumped to wasn’t as fully thought out as my stories usually are. I know that this will be a trilogy. I know where each part begins and ends. But now that I’m actually writing the first one, I find that there are certain weaknesses.
The ending.
I know where the end needs to go. I know what my characters need to be at that point. I know where the next story begins. The one thing I’m missing is a climax.
Back to the drawing board.
Have you ever abandoned a project because it wasn’t coming together? Should I just trash this and move on?
I got stuck on my last novel, too. It got to the point where I had to set the thing aside and let it rest for a while. Luckily, it’s my new normal to have several stories going at once, so I had something to jump to.
However, this time what I jumped to wasn’t as fully thought out as my stories usually are. I know that this will be a trilogy. I know where each part begins and ends. But now that I’m actually writing the first one, I find that there are certain weaknesses.
The ending.
I know where the end needs to go. I know what my characters need to be at that point. I know where the next story begins. The one thing I’m missing is a climax.
Back to the drawing board.
Have you ever abandoned a project because it wasn’t coming together? Should I just trash this and move on?
Monday, July 23, 2012
Walking backwards: starting at the climax
Climax
This is the scene I often see first -- the big, dramatic one where everything has come to a head. The characters are shouting, fighting, blowing stuff up. Or maybe it's an emotionally charged scene, where relationships are at stake and everything hangs on a single word. Either way, the big question is: how do we get there?
Earned wins
Characters must earn their victories. They have to put the work in, take the risks, suffer the consequences. Getting to the climax had to be difficult. The climax itself has to be difficult. How is this scene a "win" for the characters involved? Is it a big win, or just scraping by? How much anguish did they go through to get here?
Good solution to the problem, and why
Needless to say, this all must make sense and work. It needs to have been clearly defined and explained, and the consequences of failure laid out. It's clear and obvious why this was a problem, and why it needs to be solved this way.
Since you may not know what's going on, entirely, make note of all the elements involved. Things said, things done, emotional states. If one character comes into the scene furious, you'll need to figure out why. If a vase is smashed to make a point, you need to know why the vase is significant -- or what the act of smashing meant, if the vase itself was not important.
Promises you made
A climax is a chance to pay off your readers. There will be many opportunities to keep the promises you've made to your readers, but this is a big one. The nature of a climax -- action-oriented or highly emotional -- is often influenced by genre expectations, so bear that in mind as well. What are your readers going to want to see? This may not be entirely clear until you've worked out more of the plot, but it's good to be thinking about it throughout.
Be flexible
Expect things to change while you're working all of this out. That line about murdering your darlings may come into play. Do not be flexible about logic, however. Yes, anything can be pulled off (he wants to kill my sister, therefore I must marry him) with enough character development and explaining, but the less logical it is, the more work you'll have to do to sell it.
Which is not an argument against doing something wild and different, of course. Don't expect the reader to come along quietly -- you've got to persuade them that all of this makes perfect sense given the circumstances.
This is the scene I often see first -- the big, dramatic one where everything has come to a head. The characters are shouting, fighting, blowing stuff up. Or maybe it's an emotionally charged scene, where relationships are at stake and everything hangs on a single word. Either way, the big question is: how do we get there?
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| Photo courtesy of sxc.hu |
Characters must earn their victories. They have to put the work in, take the risks, suffer the consequences. Getting to the climax had to be difficult. The climax itself has to be difficult. How is this scene a "win" for the characters involved? Is it a big win, or just scraping by? How much anguish did they go through to get here?
Good solution to the problem, and why
Needless to say, this all must make sense and work. It needs to have been clearly defined and explained, and the consequences of failure laid out. It's clear and obvious why this was a problem, and why it needs to be solved this way.
Since you may not know what's going on, entirely, make note of all the elements involved. Things said, things done, emotional states. If one character comes into the scene furious, you'll need to figure out why. If a vase is smashed to make a point, you need to know why the vase is significant -- or what the act of smashing meant, if the vase itself was not important.
Promises you made
A climax is a chance to pay off your readers. There will be many opportunities to keep the promises you've made to your readers, but this is a big one. The nature of a climax -- action-oriented or highly emotional -- is often influenced by genre expectations, so bear that in mind as well. What are your readers going to want to see? This may not be entirely clear until you've worked out more of the plot, but it's good to be thinking about it throughout.
Be flexible
Expect things to change while you're working all of this out. That line about murdering your darlings may come into play. Do not be flexible about logic, however. Yes, anything can be pulled off (he wants to kill my sister, therefore I must marry him) with enough character development and explaining, but the less logical it is, the more work you'll have to do to sell it.
Which is not an argument against doing something wild and different, of course. Don't expect the reader to come along quietly -- you've got to persuade them that all of this makes perfect sense given the circumstances.
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