Wham Bam: the power of eventful thinking
by Damon Suede
So as fate would have it, next Monday (12
March 2018) I have a new book called
Verbalize
on characterization and story craft coming out inspired in part by
posts I've done here at Romance University and conversations I've
had in the comments. One of the techniques the book tackles is way
events can amplify characterization and simplify structure.
Events are instinctive. Every story’s
power emerges in moments of collision. Characters collide as they
confront obstacles and opponents in
pursuit of happiness, and these intersections change
everything.
Each collision between your characters releases energy, much like
nuclear fusion or fission, as they reveal their internal struggle in
the face of external challenges. How much energy your story accesses
depends entirely on your ability to tap their essential nature via
actions and reactions.
Your audience reads to experience a satisfying emotional ride. Your entire job as an author is to provide that experience as seamlessly as possible. Everything happening in your story doesn’t mean squat unless the reader feels something entertaining and satisfying.
For a story move anyone, characters have to make your
readers care.
Each collision releases more mojo into the story’s world,
disrupting the circumstances, unleashing disasters, and forcing
characters to make high-stakes choices. Whether these clashes are
internal or external, public or private, intentional or impulsive,
these moments in the story become
events…pivotal,
irrevocable shifts in the flow of the character’s options.
An event is any
significant disruption of the status quo…
As Henry James said, “What is character but the determination of incident, what is incident but the illustration of character?”
Events force the characters and the readersto stop everything and pay attention. They are watershed moments because they
mark points of no return for one or more characters. Smart writers
tend to show events happening for the first or the last time because
the irrevocability alters
the character and shifts the plot.
Instinctively, most people who enjoy books, movies, games,
or comics gravitate toward events. They are the fabric of pop
culture and most showbiz spirals around them inexorably: ramping
toward each event and then navigating the fallout before lurching
toward the next dramatic crest. Think about the ways your favorite s
entertainment is structured: promises, fights, reunions,
confessions, disasters, makeovers, betrayals, seductions,
confrontations, redemptions. By definition events scramble the
options available to a character, altering their options and then
forcing them to choose.
The schlockiest mass media revels in shameless
event-mongering. Small wonder: events require no explanation and
attract instant rubbernecking from most humans. The average viewer
can tune in and find themselves unable to touch that dial…because
their monkey mind wants to know what happens next…after the wedding,
funeral, promotion, birth, bonus, arrest, etc. They’re audience bait
coasted in superglue.
Events create
instant, fascinatingcontext.
Wise writers learn to think
eventfully, because those
dramatic collisions motivate characters, galvanize audiences, and
anchor any story. You want your characters to do things that matter,
that have a meaningful impact, then you need to start thinking about
the kinds of impact possible for those characters before you put a
word on the page.
I always tell my students to look for the
WHAM. Events erupt from a
stories steady rhythm anytimetwo
opposing viewpoints slam together: goals, ethics, beliefs,
philosophies, opinions. Everyone in the story’s world sits there
safe and sedated until—WHAM—the
ex-husband moves in next door or your car starts to levitate to the
in-laws deep-fry your kid for lunch. Your protagonist just bumbles
along until—WHAM—she
sprouts fangs or inherits a castle or catches bubonic plague. The
delicious rub between what characters expected to happen, and how
things turned out sucks the audience into the narrative. That
contrast draws our attention and the ironic tension rewards us for
noticing the disparity.
An event is
contrast
turned into context.
Like a caffeinated truth serum, events force characters to confront
their illusions about the world and the reality they’ve been
ignoring. First they show you what’s going on and
then they kick your butt
until you do something about it.
Even better, because characters can cause events or simply
deal with events caused by other characters, they must make
terrible, beautiful choices that have fascinating consequences.
Their conflict becomes character growth in front of our eyes and in
our hearts…because we live the choice alongside them. And because
this happens in a book rather than our real lives, we get to
experience impossible decisions at a safe distance. All of the
emotion with none of the direct danger to our safety. Yay, genre
fiction!
Thinking eventfully will save you from writer’s block and ramp up the emotional punch of any project. One easy way to tackle events is to think of them in the context of a movie trailer… look for the highlights:
-
What three or four moments would fans of your story want to see on screen in 30-second preview?
-
What characters would receive the most screen time and how can you give them something fun and physical to do that conveys character?
-
How can you signal your vibe, voice, and subgenre clearly in these preview moments without explanation or exposition?
-
What details or elements help these events cohere so that they obviously come from a single story?
-
How can you make these big events stand out from every other event of their types in your genre and subgenre?
-
If you had to cut one of these preview moments from the trailer, which one would you ditch and why? Weigh what makes this the weakest event in the list to see if you can improve it.
Whether pantser or plotter, noob or veteran, you can gather rough events almost like a mise en place… assembling the components to create a dish. You may not use all of them but you can compile the tasty options. Look for the fun possibilities, the surprising depths, the startling reveals that might crack your characters’ (and audience’s) emotions wide open. Consider the events native to your subgenre… rom-com loves meet cutes and makeovers, historical thrives on social sparring and scandal, erotic romance revels in fresh trespasses and transformative firsts. When you’re weighing an event, look for opportunities to give readers what they want in a way they couldn’t have expected.
As director Sydney Pollack once said, trashy pulp fiction
teaches us a valuable lesson in the power of bold choices. Events
set you free to explore the limits of your story. Whenever you stall
are stray, just ask yourself what the worst possible event would be
and then MAKE IT HAPPEN. How do characters react to that impossible
collision or make that impossible choice?
And for any of you pantsers out there blanching at the idea
of preplanning events…fret not! You can wander and improv to your
heart’s content, but wandering towards and away from pivotal,
critical events will help you steer that story even when you aren’t
sure where it’s headed.
Remember: what the audience wants from you is an unforgettable emotional ride. The events are the big structural posts that let you build a thrilling rollercoaster for all those hearts. Or is that feel overwhelming, keep it simple: list the critical moments guaranteed to happen in your book and build from them. Dwight Swain once said that all you need to write a book is three or four big events and a satisfying resolution. Even before you know the particulars of character and context, the events can help you lay the tracks.
Whenever you feel the story sag or characters stagnating
look to the event(s) before and behind them so you know where
they’re headed and how they got there. Events will help you track
your character’s path and perspective as the story changes them. Use
those events to crack them open like a piñata so you can shower the
readers with candy.
Think eventfully and every story will become an
unforgettable event of its own.
Originally published as a lecture for Romance University.
If you wish to republish this article, just drop me a line.