I only had one job: get literary agent Sandra Bishop to the airport. We had spent the weekend teaching together at a private writing seminar in the middle of Minnesota, and woke up early Sunday morning with a three plus hour drive in front of us for her flight out of Duluth. I had mapquested the trip, so I knew that the journey would take us three hours, but I added an hour cushion just to be safe and declared we’d leave at 10am. We pulled out around 10:30, but since I’d allotted the time, I figured..we’re all good here. The little town we taught in had a convenience store for a coffee shop, so we hustle by for a pitiful version of coffee and then hustled […]
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Peripheral Plotting – a trick to widening your suspense plot
You need to employ some Peripheral Plotting! Peripheral Plotting is the technique of pulling in ancillary elements and using them to create more tension in your plot. Ideally, they will make your character have to tap into a more noble instinct and push them along their journey. How does Peripheral Plotting work? I’m going to veer away from Cellular and Eagle Eye for a moment – only because they are such straightforward plots, and look at Live Free or Die Hard the latest in the Bruce Willis saves the world saga. Live Free or Die Hard is a perfect example of peripheral plotting. Basically, through the Internet, the bad guys are trying to take over all the transportation, finances and utilities in the United States, and if they succeed, the […]
Read the RestBut I’m not a hero, am I? Helping your hero discover his heroic side!
A great story has a great hero – someone who discovers they are hero along that way. Acts of Heroism are those character-change actions that take your character from an everyday Joe to a Hero. It’s not the grand gestures, the great sacrifices…Acts of Heroism are the everyday acts of our character that push him beyond himself. Ideally in a story, every choice your character makes and every step beyond his comfort zone that he or she takes, is going to push your character farther and farther from the person he starts as, until finally he becomes a full- fledged hero. Let’s go back to two of my favorite movies – Eagle Eye and Cellular Eagle Eye is the story of an everyday guy faced with the accusation that he’s […]
Read the RestLet the fight begin! How to use stakes and motivations to build a powerful story!
Last week we talked about how to discover Stakes and Motivations. But, how do you use them to create a powerful story? Let the Fight Begin! One of my favorite movies for continually raising stakes and forcing the viewer to the edge of her seat is the thriller, Cellular. Just to recap, in a nutshell, it’s a movie about a woman who is kidnapped. She uses a demolished phone to call for help and gets hold of a young man whose girlfriend has broken up with him because of his irresponsibility. A deadline of sorts hangs over their conversation (an essential element in any suspense), because, at any moment, they could get cut off, and she may never be able to dial out again. She must convince this random guy […]
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