No Article This Month . . .

 RIP Marles Barkley, my beloved Rottweiler of 13 years.  I'll miss you!

The Most Important Plot Point . . . or Why the Key Event is so damn Important! (part two)

 

When you strip 99% of everything away from your protagonist—their age, race, and gender because none of that matters yet—what you have left are their three most essential character traits. Their Wound, Shield, and Sword. Or their scar, their dominant character flaw, and its opposite virtue.

The Wound is a traumatic event, or more typically a past traumatic event, that has emotionally, psychologically, and sometimes also physically scarred the protagonist.

From this Wound you get their Shield, or their dominant character flaw. The Shield is what they carry around and hide behind because they believe, at least on a subconscious level, that it protects them from ever being wounded in that way or any similar kind of way ever again. Think of it as their defense mechanism to every situation you put them in.

And from this Shield we get their Sword, or its opposite virtue. The Sword is the panacea that provides the possibility to alleviate the protagonist from the burden of their dominant character flaw and eventually achieve their full potential through character growth. It doesn’t guarantee it (as with the tragic protagonist), but it does provide that possibility.

The Wound is the reason for the Shield, and the Sword is the panacea virtue of the Shield’s flaw.

Common recurring Wound (scar) = Shield (flaw) vs. Sword (virtue) arguments exist throughout all the staple genres, such as (but not limited to):

Horror: Phobia = Fear vs. Courage

Superhero: Loss = Doubt vs. Faith

Romance: Betrayal = Fear vs. Love

And sometimes the flaw vs. virtue argument is character-role specific, as with the typical selfish vs. selfless Anti-Hero.

Basically the Wound provides an emotional detriment, the Shield an insecurity because of it, and the Sword a panacea to the Shield.

Same as with the story’s dramatic question, Act 1 exists to present your flaw vs. virtue argument, Act 2 exists to debate your flaw vs. virtue argument, and Act 3 exists to reward or punish the Rubicon verdict of your flaw vs. virtue argument.

This is your scarred protagonist’s character growth arc in a nutshell which produces necessary change (whether positive or negative), and once it is complete their story is finished . . . at least for the first novel, though if you plan a sequel then the protagonist’s Wound in the second novel is something traumatic or tragic they experienced and carried over from the previous novel.

Here is the basic 7-point plot outline formula:

Act 1

1. Inciting Incident: The protagonist’s first (not full) awareness of the story’s central conflict.

2. Key Event: The event that locks in the protagonist to the story’s central conflict while becoming half committed.

Act 2A

3. Pinch Point: The protagonist discovers new clues about the story’s central conflict as the stakes are raised.

4. Midpoint: The protagonist realizes the true nature about the story’s central conflict, shifting them from reaction to proaction, while becoming fully committed.

Act 2B

5. Punch Point: The protagonist is forced to question how much they are truly willing to pay to resolve the story’s central conflict.

6. Anchor Point: The stakes are raised and the protagonist’s debt is paid while becoming absolutely committed.

Act 3

7. Climax: The protagonist confronts the external antagonist and either succeeds (triumphant) or fails (tragic) by finally answering the story’s dramatic question with either a resounding Yes (triumphant) or a resounding No (tragic).

?. Rubicon: The protagonist confronts the internal antagonist that is their dominant character flaw and either overcomes it (triumphant) or surrenders to it (tragic), becoming the physical manifestation of either the virtue (triumphant) or the flaw (tragic).

*Although the Rubicon typically takes place at the end of or immediately after the Act 2B Anchor Point, it can just as well happen anywhere in your story during or after the Midpoint, all depending upon your particular story and how you wish to tell it, thus proving that plot is not so paint-by-numbers as many pantsers ignorantly believe. This makes the Rubicon a ‘floater’ plot point which is why I’ve designated it no specific number (?), because its true number depends upon which of the other major plots points (4 thru 7) you decide to attach it to.

(to be continued . . .)

The Most Important Plot Point . . . or Why the Key Event is so damn Important! (part one)

 

There exists only one plot in all of fiction: A Hero Goes on a Journey . . . or . . . A Stranger Comes to Town. The difference between them is the protagonist’s point of view.

A good place to start yours is by utilizing the tried and true classic Quest: an object to obtain and limited time to obtain it.

Star Wars: A New Hope

Object to obtain: Darth Vader is after the stolen plans,

Limited time: before the rebels can use them to exploit the Death Star’s design flaw.

The Matrix

Object to obtain: Agent Smith is after Zion’s access codes,

Limited time: before the rebels can catalyze The One prophesied to free humanity.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Object to obtain: Sauron is after the One Ring,

Limited time: before Frodo and his fellows can destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom.

You see, most villains are after the same thing: Power.

In other words to expand and/or complete their dominance over others through tyranny and oppression.

If they already control a village then they seek to rule the whole region; if they already control a state then they seek to rule the whole country; if they already control a continent then they seek to rule the whole world; if they already control a galaxy then they seek to rule the whole universe . . . etc.

But then the unanticipated happens because of some form of ‘rebel alliance’ representing liberty and freedom who attempts to thwart them, which the missing-piece protagonist usually isn’t a part of at the beginning though joins to take up the shared cause and eventually becomes its foremost true-believer champion.

So the villain’s focus shifts to removing the rebel alliance in order to finish their stalled plans . . . which never works out when you throw a triumphant protagonist monkey-wrench into the cogs.

Star Wars: A New Hope

Darth Vader wants to eradicate the rebels and finish the Death Star to ensure the Empire’s galactic dominance.

The Matrix

Agent Smith wants to eradicate the rebels and ensure full control over the matrix simulation enslaving all remaining humans.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Sauron wants to eradicate the fellowship ‘rebels’ and ensure his world-dominating power via the One Ring.

When beginning your story from scratch, the two most important plot points are:

1. The Act 1 Key Event

2. The Act 3 Climax

An Inciting Incident has four main requirements: 1. it must happen to the protagonist, 2. it must present their first (not full) awareness of the story’s central conflict, 3. it must be tailored to their dominant character flaw, and 4. it must be linked to the antagonist.

The difference between the Inciting Incident and the proceeding Key Event is that the Key Event is what locks in the protagonist to the story’s central conflict, either by choice or by force, but most importantly it also presents your story’s dramatic question that the Act 3 Climax will eventually answer with either a resounding Yes (triumphant protagonist) or a resounding No (tragic protagonist).

This all-important dramatic question establishes the protagonist’s main objective for the rest of the story that is Act 2 and beyond, and it is one of three things which they will seek to achieve:

1. Possession of something

2. Relief from something

3. Revenge for something

To simplify, Act 1 exists to present the story’s dramatic question, Act 2 exists to debate the story’s dramatic question, and Act 3 exists to answer the story’s dramatic question.

You should never open your story with backstory because if the backstory is so damn important then it wouldn’t be backstory, it would be the story.

So where to place it instead?

What happens between Act 1’s Inciting Incident and Key Event is something special because that’s where the protagonist is trickle-fed more relevant information about the story’s central conflict, and it’s interwoven with the first real brunt of backstory, thus killing two birds with one stone.

Star Wars: A New Hope

Between Luke accidentally triggering the holographic message (Inciting Incident) and finding his aunt and uncle dead (Key Event), Obi-Wan saves him from the sand people then they have a revealing conversation providing more of the story’s central conflict while interweaving it with plenty of Anakin and Empire backstory.

The Matrix

Between Neo meeting Trinity at the club (Inciting Incident) and taking the red pill (Key Event), Neo learns why the agents are after him courtesy of his interrogation and how they intend to use him to get to Morpheus courtesy of the bug implant removed from his stomach on the way to meeting Morpheus.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Between Frodo witnessing Bilbo inexplicably vanishing during the big birthday bash (Inciting Incident) and leaving the Shire with the One Ring as its temporary ring-bearer (Key Event), Frodo learns more about the One Ring’s history and why it’s so desired by evil forces courtesy of Gandalf.

Instead, open your story by establishing protagonist empathy before the Inciting Incident, otherwise we won’t care. It’s easy to do by using Save the Cat and Kick the Dog scenes (in any number and sequence thereof).

Save the Cat is just a metaphor for showing your protagonist doing something admirable (not necessarily virtuous) to establish likeability. And Kick the Dog is another metaphor showing your protagonist suffering an undeserved misfortune to establish sympathy.

This combination of events is crucial because: Likeability + Sympathy = Empathy.

Also show the flawed protagonist’s three slices of life: home, work, and play (social) to establish relatability. This gives us a glimpse of what is most important to them during their everyday life of enabling circumstances before the Inciting Incident comes along to challenge those enabling circumstances—which is what all Inciting Incidents must do.

Because the enabling circumstances is what allows the protagonist’s dominant character flaw to fester unchallenged, and without the Inciting Incident it would remain unchallenged. But more importantly their dominant character flaw is what your story is really all about when everything else of lesser value is stripped away since every story is about one thing above all else: protagonist change, whether positive (triumphant) or negative (tragic).

So what’s the difference between them?

First, know that if you have a triumphant protagonist then you automatically have a tragic antagonist (and vice versa).

Secondly, understand that every protagonist has two antagonists: Internal and External.

The internal antagonist is the protagonist’s dominant character flaw they begin their story afflicted with.

The external antagonist is the ‘villain’ whom is the physical manifestation of the protagonist’s dominant character flaw.

So in essence you have two climaxes, the internal antagonist Rubicon confrontation at the end of Act 2B, and the well-known external antagonist Climax confrontation at the end of Act 3. This is extremely important because what happens during the Act 2 Rubicon climax determines what happens during the Act 3 Climax.

A triumphant protagonist eventually confronts the internal antagonist during the Rubicon and overcomes their dominant character flaw by embracing its opposite virtue, and this is what empowers them to win against the external antagonist as their reward during the Act 3 Climax because they become the physical manifestation of the virtue.

A tragic protagonist eventually confronts the internal antagonist during the Rubicon and surrenders to their dominant character flaw by rejecting its opposite virtue, and this is what condemns them to lose as punishment during the Act 3 Climax.

And here is where the two protagonists differ the most, because a tragic protagonist becomes the physical manifestation of their dominant character flaw during the Rubicon but the antagonist already exists, so the protagonist must replace the old antagonist (either directly or indirectly) to become the new antagonist then battle the physical manifestation of the virtue character and lose as punishment.

The Rubicon is so damn important because the Act 3 Climax it determines must be the physical manifestation of the virtue character vs. the physical manifestation of the flaw character.

With a triumphant protagonist you already have that outcome as an inevitability, but with a tragic protagonist it becomes a slight more complicated because you cannot have two antagonists in the same story so one must replace the other (I call this the ‘antagonist replacement theory’ to sound like I’m smart).

You also must replace the former protagonist with a new protagonist who embodies the virtue now that the new antagonist embodies the flaw (I call this the ‘protagonist replacement theory’ to sound like I’m even smarter).

For example, in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, General Grievous is the antagonist (one of many secondary puppet-antagonists to Palpatine, yes, but consider them the Saruman & Sauron pairing here since Star Wars isn’t a standalone story but a series in which Palpatine gets his comeuppance later on), and Obi-Wan kills Grievous during the Midpoint at the same time Anakin aids Palpatine against Mace Windu to become Darth Vader, thus the old antagonist (Grievous) is replaced with the new antagonist (Anakin).

This then leads to the Climax where the new physical manifestation of the flaw replacement-antagonist (Anakin) battles it out with the new physical manifestation of the virtue replacement-protagonist (Obi-Wan) and is punished with defeat for his Rubicon decision of surrendering to his dominant character flaw.

Do you see now why tragic protagonists are that much harder to write and should only be tackled by experienced authors?

For this same reason it’s also much harder to plot out a trilogy than a standalone novel. For example, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

The Midpoint of the Fellowship story by itself is the Council of Elrond in Rivendell when Frodo interrupts all of the arguing with his declaration that he will take the One Ring to Mordor . . . though he does not know the way. But for the overall trilogy, the Council of Elrond is not the Midpoint but the Act 1 Key Event.

See the problem?

If you do not have a firm grasp on plot, trying to map out an entire trilogy as well each of its individual books will lead only to confusion because the plot points won’t match up while getting all jumbled in your head.

Even established authors have a hard time writing trilogies—let alone an entire series of novels—because of this, which is why most of them don’t bother.

That’s why it is well-advised, at least for your first several novels, to plan them as standalones.

*A quick bit of explanation on the whole ‘physical manifestation’ term . . . take the movie Jaws as a perfect example. The man-eating great white shark antagonist is the physical manifestation of protagonist Brody’s dominant character flaw of aquaphobia (fear of open water). Brody must overcome his aquaphobia in order to kill the shark in the middle of the ocean during the Act 3 Climax.

(to be continued . . .)

I didn't post this month because . . .

I apologize but I must take this month off from posting an article due to compounding medical issues and frequent hospital visits not allowing me the time to write one--or anything for that matter. I will try to post an article next month and hopefully be able to continue to do so. Thank you.

Sprint Writing . . . or how inserting a placeholder can improve your daily word count

First off, let's get this out of the way: if you are in any way a serious writer, whether plotter or pantser, then you must have a minimum daily word count goal.

Every writer is different, so discover what minimum daily word count goal works for you then stick to it. Also, don't pick something low-bar and lazy like a measly 100 words. Not only are you doing yourself a disservice but you are not pushing yourself as you should be doing.

Writing is actual work, and I often liken having a minimum daily word count goal to an indie movie maker having a limited budget. Hollywood blockbusters that have hundreds of millions of moolah to spend during filming aren't as constrained by their bountiful budgets and this doesn't force them to think outside the box, but some of the best movies are those with a vastly limited budget that forces the film maker's creativity into an unexpected area of new wonder, and having a minimum daily word count goal will help you to think outside of the box while writing.

As well, with time, you should try to increase your minimum daily word count goal, such as bumping it up by 50 or 100 words every now and again, though obviously this isn't an infinite application otherwise writers such as Stephen King would by now have an impossible minimum daily word count goal to achieve in the hundreds of thousands. Stevie-boi, BTW, has disclosed in an interview that he targets 2,000 words to write on a daily basis.

Point being: pace yourself, but also push yourself.

This is where I liken writing to lifting weights: no one is going to show up and lift the weights for you, just as no one is going to show up and write your book for you. You have to push yourself to improve yourself. And if you don't then you only have yourself to blame.

Eventually, after years of daily writing, you will reach a point where you steady off into a comfortable though respectable number as your minimum daily word count goal.

My minimum daily word count goal is 1,000; if I can get at least 1,000 words per day then I am a happy camper.

But I always surpass this 1,000 word benchmark because my average daily word count is 5,000. I don't always get those 5,000 words, mind, but when I do it's a pleasure beyond orgasmic, and sometimes I surpass even that into the 10,000+ territory when I'm on a hot streak of writing and have the time to pursue it through.

Again, every writer is different. Some of us have all day to write while others only have an hour or two per day at most. I typically write anywhere from two to six hours per day, depending on what life sends my way. You may vary.

And by 5,000 (or 1,000) I don't mean the same word repeated over and over, I mean usable words that you honestly believe (at least at the time of writing them) are going to hopefully make it into your final draft if they survive your meticulous editing after you finish the first draft.

A great way to ensure you always achieve your minimum daily word count goal is to use a placeholder . . . which means something you insert into your writing that you are going to return to later so you don't slow yourself down in the moment.

In journalism and printing, TK is an abbreviation for "to come" which indicates where additional material will be added to a manuscript before publication. It is used as a placeholder in article drafts to indicate missing information. TK is an intentional misspelling of "TC" to avoid confusion with final copy.

I prefer to use "???" as my placeholder. Don't ask me why, I just do. And I've done this for years before ever even learning of the TK placeholder rule so I keep to it as my trusty go-to placeholder.

And because I use Word (I'll never understand why writers use expensive writing programs when Word is cheap and simple), all I have to do is use its easy search function for "???" and it takes me right to where I need to be when I go back later to add the necessary description or whatever else is required.

For example, while you're writing and you come to a part where you know you're going to spend a few paragraphs describing, say, the physical outside of a haunted mansion your detective protagonist and Scooby crew just drove up to but you're unsure of exactly how you want to describe its appearance other than spooky, as well you're on a hot writing streak, instead of slowing down and spending the next twenty minutes pining over the haunted mansion's perfect description, just type "???: spooky mansion description" as its own paragraph then move on while knowing you will return to it later when you have the time to actually spend conveying said spooky description with much more detail and appropriate creative flair.

Same with characters . . . "???: tall waiter with a lisp" or "???: short, pudgy banker who sweats a lot" or "???: mangy mutt tied to a tree that barks nonstop".

I've even used this technique that keeps the creative ball rolling to placeholder entire scenes, and some writers also use it for entire chapters, though I don't recommend the latter because then you risk setting yourself up for gaping plot holes you might have no idea how to plug later because you've pantsed yourself into a corner you don't know how to plot yourself out of.

Inserting TK: (or ???:) is a great technique to keep you writing and ensure you not only hit your minimum daily word count goal but exceed it. Pair it with my #1 rule of writing productivity (Write first, edit last) and you'll speed up your writing in no time flat while achieving and increasing your minimum daily word count goal.

Sprint writing is fantastic when you are working on getting that pesky first draft done. You can take all the time in the world afterwards rewriting and editing it, but you can't rewrite or edit a first draft that doesn't exist.

So try your hand at using a placeholder (whether TK: or ???: or your own unique version) and see how much more productive it helps you become while sprint writing that first draft on the daily.

Good luck!