Outlining #3 – Setting that makes a difference

From the list of screenwriting techniques from the Gideon Media and Film Festival, the third technique you can work with to enhance your story is using setting to make a difference in your story.

3. Setting should be specific and used to deepen characterization and conflict, not just a place to plop characters. Setting influences the storyline because it influences the lifestyle of the characters, and it affects their needs and wants or their ability to reach these goals.

All Writers know that in fiction “setting” means establishing a sense of place. You don’t want “talking heads,” characters having a conversation where the reader can’t envision where the characters are. Not only in a little town or the bustling city, but the kind of town and what part of the big city is important. Take the TV show and movie, Sex in the City, and move it from the bustle of Manhattan---Fifth Avenue, Central Park, Wall Street—to the Bowery or to Harlem. The story would change. Crime might be more prevalent, the women’s glamorous, professional lives would be downplayed, and the situations might be dealing more with lack of money or fear of being out at night. They would be dropping by sleazy bars, approached by panhandlers, and eating in diners. I think you can see the difference, and that’s just taking them from one part of the city to the other.

So where you set your story also provides a “tone.” A small town atmosphere, where everyone knows everyone, would create a story much different from an urban area where the person is lucky to know the neighbor. In a small town, gossip, nosey neighbors, people helping people, secrets, tradition, fighting change, etc. would be characteristics that would influence the plot and the conflicts. Secrets are easier to hide in the city but not in a small town where everyone knows everything.

Setting allows you to create unique secondary characters who bring with them interesting subplots---the nosey neighbor in the next apartment to the crotchety old man who runs the candy shop.

Beyond a sense of place, setting can deepen characterization by allowing the reader inside the head of the character reacting to the setting---a young woman who feels stifled in the small town, the man caught up in a high-powered job who longs to open a garage in his small hometown in the mountains. It reflects the attitudes of the characters played against the attitudes and social/political influences of the. And finally, use setting to reflect the character’s mood and emotions. I’ve written on this before. A woman gazes at the sun as a cloud passes over it, and shadows fall over her. She shudders, knowing that her own sunny spirit has been darkened by the abandonment of her husband. This is one example but I know you can think of many.

Think of movies you’ve seen --- rain in sad scenes, sun in happy ones, panning cameras over the sweep of landscape to reflect loneliness, dark basements or attics to reflect fear, a shadowy figure through a shower curtain (think Psycho). The impact of setting on plot and characterization can be very effective.

Outlining #2 - Creating Character Arcs

In the Outlining for Screenwriting blog provided early, the second point deals with the topic of creating characters arcs.

2. Create individual character arcs. What does the character want? What does the character need? The need factor is often the hidden desire of the character. The difference between the want and the need are sometimes in conflict and an effective technique is to create a situation where to gain what the character needs means to give up what he wants. This is an excellent technique to create conflict.

A character's arc is the growth of one character as to who he is when the story begins and how he changes as the story ends. It has to do with viewpoint and attitude. A character may be prejudice against an ethnic group, for example, but by the end of the story, his experiences will lead him to a new understanding and an appreciation for people of that ethnic group. He will have changed.

This arc is needed for the major characters in your novel. In real life, we often want things. We want a new job, a new boss, a new spouse, a new home, or a trip to Europe. Sometimes our wants are more internal. We want to be more outgoing, to be funnier, to be more beautiful or handsome, to be more talented, to be more discerning and to be secure. Other times we want to be left alone, we want to suffer silently, we want to run away from life. But our wants do not always match what we need.

The conflict comes when we see a solution to a problem that isn't realistic or that won't equal the result we want. Let's look at the person who wants a new job. Why? What's wrong with the job? Is it the job or is it something inside the person that's causing the job to be unpleasant or unsuccessful? Would updating the character's education help the character to be more adept at his work and therefore more happy? Rather than wanting a new job, the character perhaps needs a better education to give him the feeling of confidence and success.

The want in this case seems the easy way out. Walk away and get a new job. Would he find another job that will make him happier and successful? Not necessarily. If the problem is in the inner workings of the character's attitude and feelings, then a new job will lead to unhappiness again.

Someone who wants to be left alone is usually depressed, unhappy, and lonely. Instead, this person needs to face the internal issue that is holding them back from feeling comfortable with people and the help they are offering. As someone strives to draw out a character who is depressed and unhappy, conflict will be created. What makes a good novel? Conflict? In fact, a novel must have lots of conflict to be a novel.

So take a good look at your characters and ask yourself, what do they want, and then ask what they need. This will stimulate a story that offers conflict and growth of the characters which is a sure way to grab readers. Why? Because we've all been there.

Outlining #1 - Creating A Theme Or Purpose

Recently I listed five points to outlining a screen writing project presented in a class at Gideon Film Festival. These same five points work for fiction as well, and I believe that many screen writing techniques can enhance fiction. I was asked by one of my blog readers to expand on these ideas so this is the first.

The first point was: Define the overall theme or meaning of your work. What will happen and why does it matter? Why? If your story does not make a difference, if it doesn't matter, then why write it? How can it serve the reader?

Think first of non-fiction novels. Can you imagine reading a book that didn’t have a point. A non-fiction book focuses on a topic or theme, It has a purpose. Fiction is no difference. Your purpose could be to point out the foibles of the human condition. It could be to dramatize how a mother’s love can push her to give her life for their child. A novel can be a story of good verses evil and shows the power of good. It can show the power of love. It can dramatize that we are not alone, that others share our fears, worries, or sinfulness.

When a novelist sets down to write a book, he has an idea. It may begin as people doing things, but if it doesn’t have direction or purpose, it falls flat. Think of Gone With The Wind without the backdrop of the Civil War. How long would anyone remember that book?

As an author of Christian fiction, my purpose is often focused on a Bible verse that sums up a major idea in the book. For example, Proverbs 16: 9 reads: In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. This book would be about someone who has made a life plan— a career, a goal, success, fame, an accomplishment—but things happen, and the character realizes to reach that goal, he may have to give up something else equally important.

I know this works because of reader mail. Letter after letter reveals how my novel has made a difference in someone’s life. They tell me what they learned about themselves or about someone else. They tell me how they found an answer to a question or how they realize they need to ask questions about their life. They walk away with something that has made a difference.

While you might not write Christian fiction, you can, writing any genre, also sum up in a sentence what the major theme or purpose of your novel seems to be---good wins over evil, love is worth fighting for, a parent will give their life for their child, lies tangle lives, gossip only begets gossip, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and laughter can heal. You can think of many more. These themes work for a romance, a thriller, a western, or any genre.

When you sit down to write a novel, ask yourself what you want the reader to take away when she finishes. If you can’t answer the question, this is the reason your story is not making an impact on an agent or editor. It might be why a reader enjoys it for the moment and can’t remember the title or what it was about two days later. Write so that you make an impact on your readers with a purpose. Create a theme or a message that you want to leave readers with at the end of your novel, and you will have written a memorable story that makes a difference.

A New Resource for Novelists

I occasionally tell you about a book or writing resource that I have found helpful, and recently a fellow author has written a book that I have found an excellent resource so I want to tell you about it.

The Art & Craft of Writing Christian Fiction is not just for writing Christian fiction. This book is an excellent resources for any genre. It covers many techniques of writing fiction and will help you excel as a writer. Although I've sold forty-one novels, I found some great ideas on the craft of wrting and will use them. Gerke not only explains the aspects of writing but also provides good examples from popular movies and fiction so that it helps the writer understand. Some of the topics covered in the book include: beginning a novel, using setting effectively, dealing with point of view, showing vs. telling, dumb puppet trick (a great resource), using description, word choices, dialogue and more.

Jeff Gerke is a popular writer's conference teacher, professional book doctor, and Christian novelist. A Christy Award-winning editor, Jeff Gerke entered the Christian fiction publishing industry as a novelist. Under the pen name Jefferson Scott, Jeff has had six of his Christian novels published. He has served on the editorial staff of Multnomah, Strang Communications, and NavPress. Novels that Jeff has edited or acquired have won multiple Book of the Year awards. He is the founder and publisher of Marcher Lord Press.

You can purchase this book at Amazon Click here: Amazon.com: The Art & Craft of Writing Christian Fiction: Jeff Gerke: Books or in Jeff's store through Paypal at http://www.marcherlordpress.com/Store_Stand-In.htm

Impacting Fiction Writing with Script Writing Techniques

I have heard that authors can learn some great writing techniques through studying screenwriting. So I decided to act on this idea, and I'm away from home attending the Gideon Film Festival Conference. This unique conference has pulled together award-winning authors with multiple published books, movie producers, actors, screenwriters and more to open doors for the purpose of networking and learning.

Yesterday I attended the Art and Craft of Screenwriting, presented by Sarah Anne Simpolec. A part of the workshop on pre-writing activities included outlining, ten a fiction writing technique and a place where index cards can be useful. Sarah explained many techniques used for screenwriting but the section on outlining for screenwriting works extremely well for fiction writing.

Outlining

1. Define the overall theme or meaning of your work. What will happen and why does it matter? Sarah made an excellent point about the why. If your story does not make a difference, if it doesn't matter, then why write it? How can it serve the reader?

2. Create individual character arcs. What does the character want? What does the character need? The need factor is often the hidden desire of the character. The difference between the want and the need are sometimes in conflict and an effective technique is to create a situation where to gain what the character needs means to give up what he wants. This is an excellent technique to create conflict.

3. Setting should be specific and used to deepen characterization and conflict, not just a place to plop characters. Setting influences the storyline because it influences the lifestyle of the characters, and it affects thier needs and wants or their ability to reach these goals.

4. Develop subplot arcs that affect the main plot. Weave these subplot arcs through the novel rather than dropping them into the story and then resolving them early. A subplot must make an impact on the main story and change it in a meaningful way by adding conflict.

5. Pacing needs to flow like a river with all its hidden dangers. Through outlining the author can visual pacing before writing the book. He can see the river's calm and the turbulence and then place these scenes in the most meaningful way to impact the story.

By considering these five points, an author can impact the power of story and create a book that grabs the reader and keeps him hanging on for the amazing ride.

This is only one small way in which screenwriting can enhance fiction writing so learning more about writing scripts can help you grow as a writer.