Good morning, Scribes.
Most of you know I'm going through some personal things right now, some time of self-reflecting, of deciding what my own truth is and admitting it aloud, if only to myself. And there are three things really helping me along in this time of great upheaval.
One, my friends. Folks I met here and have formed intimate friendships and partnerships with. Thank you so much. You really push me to be better. I need you to make me uncomfortable, because i seem to be unable to do it to myself.
Two, I began watching Game of Thrones when I saw it at the library, and though I didn't make it past chapter 8 of the first book, I thought why not give the TV series a try, since I couldn't commit to the actual reading.
Three, while at the library to pick up more seasons of my movie and fill my bag with kid books for a kindergartener who voraciously reads anything with a Disney princess on the cover, I happened upon a book written by Donald Maass--Writing 21st Century Fiction: High Impact Techniques for Exceptional Storytelling.
And together, these three ingredients have become something of an emotional experience for me right now, and I just wanted to share it with you. (But I will spoil some things in GOT, so stop reading if that'll offend you).
First, Donald Maass is not who I thought he was. When I first submitted to him (as sort of a crap shoot, I have to admit) back in 2010, I pictured him as some crusty old man, sitting at a dark wooden desk from a bygone era, piled high with paper manuscripts. But that isn't who he is at all, I've come to realize. He's current, excited about his job, and his hobbies apparently include boat-rocking. He reaches out to writers, begging for something that will thrill him. And his book feels much less an instruction manual for how to "write right" and more a plea to all writers to wow readers by pushing themselves further than they ever knew possible. He asks us to be brave.
The one thing he asks over and over, is for us to "make it worse" and I've struggled with this concept for a few years now, never quite understanding HOW to actually make situations for my characters worse. How far to push it. When to up the ante. Why should things even GET worse?
Last night I was watching season 4, and it really hit me. It hit me like someone exploded MY skull in a tournament I thought was won...how WE the writers can truly MAKE IT WORSE!
I was sort of pissed when Robb Stark and his family were murdered at supper. I liked them and wanted to see them win. But that didn't happen. And as I picked my spirit up off that bloody floor in Frey's dining hall (sorry, I'll probably misspell all the names, because I didn't read the books, so please bear with me), I looked toward the future. I rationalized that if Arya had been returned to her family, her story would have ended. And I suspect she's going to be an assassin, and I really wanted to see that happen. And I like the Hound, so I wanted that story line to continue, and I realized that if everything went smoothly, I wouldn't ever see that eventuality. So I got over the massacre and put my hope into one little girl I wanted to see succeed, though her future probably isn't one I'd wish for my own daughter under the circumstance.
But last night, when the foreign prince met with Tyrion in his prison cell, offering to be his champion for the trial by combat, I felt my hope soar. Because let's be serious, we're all rooting for Tyrion, right? But as you all probably know, that didn't happen either. And it was such a spectacular failure, I burst out laughing, and I think my husband thought I lost my mind as that prince's head got caved in and Tyrion was sentenced to death. But to me, it was a victory! I had finally SEEN a situation that I thought was resolved, a happy ending that I wanted so badly, get MADE WORSE. I imagined that Mr. Maass would have reveled in how WORSE it got!
And until that moment, I had no concept of how a writer could take their story, where they're holding hope and success just out of reach for their characters, and simply "make it worse" without totally wrecking their story. I wanted Tyrion to go free, absolved of the crime I knew he didn't commit. I wanted the prince to get his revenge. I wanted the Lannisters to be taken down a peg. I wanted the stupid boy king to rot in hell and only wished the poison had taken months to kill him, and I wanted to see his mother weep when her imp brother walked free. But I got none of what I wanted. And now I can't WAIT to see what happens in the two episodes I'll watch tonight.
And that is what Mr. Maass has been whispering in my ear for days, weeks, months, YEARS. Make the whole damn situation worse. Don't give the character a moment of happiness. Don't let them get comfortable. Don't let their plans go accordingly. Don't let them win their freedom. Don't let them have their victory. Don't let them find their salvation, or family, or their home.
Burn their home, kill their family, torture their friends, cut them off from everything they know and care about. Make them survive against the odds (and it looks like the odds are particularly low in that book).
Make it worse. And then when that tragedy passes, make it worse again!
I don't have a question today. I might not even have a conversation, because it appears I'm just musing to myself again. But, I wanted to share this really moving experience with you all, my friends, because I finally understand what people have been talking about. I finally understand that I've never made things worse for my characters. I've followed a logical path, I've thrown obstacles at them, I've dealt out pain with an unkind slap, but I've never crushed a prince's skull and doomed an imp to die unjustly. I've never come close to the kind of MAKING IT WORSE that makes for impactful story-telling. And I'm done playing nice. I'm over my need to tell happy and cute tales with a hint of grit clinging to the hems of beautiful characters' dresses. It's time for the gloves to come off and this fight to get dirty. And while I'm not writing a story that I can turn into a wedding feast slaughter, I can certainly shame my character more, punish her more inside herself, and generally wear down her hope in a new and interesting way.
Whereas in GOT, WORSE usually involves blood and death, there are an infinite number of ways to simply make social situations worse, insert some more raw human emotion into a situation. And with this very vivid mental picture of a chance for salvation gone awry, I will forge onward toward what I hope will be a riveting story, that just keeps getting worse and worse.
I'm going to be brave. And I charge you, scribes, to join me, if you have the stomach for it. Find a way to make that situation worse, today. Find a way to strip your character bare and parade her through the streets in all her shame. Try to break her. And let your reader wonder whether you're some sort of sadistic beast unfit to belong in nature for your very inability to experience sympathy. Because that's something that develops a reader's sympathy and keeps them turning pages.
Most of you know I'm going through some personal things right now, some time of self-reflecting, of deciding what my own truth is and admitting it aloud, if only to myself. And there are three things really helping me along in this time of great upheaval.
One, my friends. Folks I met here and have formed intimate friendships and partnerships with. Thank you so much. You really push me to be better. I need you to make me uncomfortable, because i seem to be unable to do it to myself.
Two, I began watching Game of Thrones when I saw it at the library, and though I didn't make it past chapter 8 of the first book, I thought why not give the TV series a try, since I couldn't commit to the actual reading.
Three, while at the library to pick up more seasons of my movie and fill my bag with kid books for a kindergartener who voraciously reads anything with a Disney princess on the cover, I happened upon a book written by Donald Maass--Writing 21st Century Fiction: High Impact Techniques for Exceptional Storytelling.
And together, these three ingredients have become something of an emotional experience for me right now, and I just wanted to share it with you. (But I will spoil some things in GOT, so stop reading if that'll offend you).
First, Donald Maass is not who I thought he was. When I first submitted to him (as sort of a crap shoot, I have to admit) back in 2010, I pictured him as some crusty old man, sitting at a dark wooden desk from a bygone era, piled high with paper manuscripts. But that isn't who he is at all, I've come to realize. He's current, excited about his job, and his hobbies apparently include boat-rocking. He reaches out to writers, begging for something that will thrill him. And his book feels much less an instruction manual for how to "write right" and more a plea to all writers to wow readers by pushing themselves further than they ever knew possible. He asks us to be brave.
The one thing he asks over and over, is for us to "make it worse" and I've struggled with this concept for a few years now, never quite understanding HOW to actually make situations for my characters worse. How far to push it. When to up the ante. Why should things even GET worse?
Last night I was watching season 4, and it really hit me. It hit me like someone exploded MY skull in a tournament I thought was won...how WE the writers can truly MAKE IT WORSE!
I was sort of pissed when Robb Stark and his family were murdered at supper. I liked them and wanted to see them win. But that didn't happen. And as I picked my spirit up off that bloody floor in Frey's dining hall (sorry, I'll probably misspell all the names, because I didn't read the books, so please bear with me), I looked toward the future. I rationalized that if Arya had been returned to her family, her story would have ended. And I suspect she's going to be an assassin, and I really wanted to see that happen. And I like the Hound, so I wanted that story line to continue, and I realized that if everything went smoothly, I wouldn't ever see that eventuality. So I got over the massacre and put my hope into one little girl I wanted to see succeed, though her future probably isn't one I'd wish for my own daughter under the circumstance.
But last night, when the foreign prince met with Tyrion in his prison cell, offering to be his champion for the trial by combat, I felt my hope soar. Because let's be serious, we're all rooting for Tyrion, right? But as you all probably know, that didn't happen either. And it was such a spectacular failure, I burst out laughing, and I think my husband thought I lost my mind as that prince's head got caved in and Tyrion was sentenced to death. But to me, it was a victory! I had finally SEEN a situation that I thought was resolved, a happy ending that I wanted so badly, get MADE WORSE. I imagined that Mr. Maass would have reveled in how WORSE it got!
And until that moment, I had no concept of how a writer could take their story, where they're holding hope and success just out of reach for their characters, and simply "make it worse" without totally wrecking their story. I wanted Tyrion to go free, absolved of the crime I knew he didn't commit. I wanted the prince to get his revenge. I wanted the Lannisters to be taken down a peg. I wanted the stupid boy king to rot in hell and only wished the poison had taken months to kill him, and I wanted to see his mother weep when her imp brother walked free. But I got none of what I wanted. And now I can't WAIT to see what happens in the two episodes I'll watch tonight.
And that is what Mr. Maass has been whispering in my ear for days, weeks, months, YEARS. Make the whole damn situation worse. Don't give the character a moment of happiness. Don't let them get comfortable. Don't let their plans go accordingly. Don't let them win their freedom. Don't let them have their victory. Don't let them find their salvation, or family, or their home.
Burn their home, kill their family, torture their friends, cut them off from everything they know and care about. Make them survive against the odds (and it looks like the odds are particularly low in that book).
Make it worse. And then when that tragedy passes, make it worse again!
I don't have a question today. I might not even have a conversation, because it appears I'm just musing to myself again. But, I wanted to share this really moving experience with you all, my friends, because I finally understand what people have been talking about. I finally understand that I've never made things worse for my characters. I've followed a logical path, I've thrown obstacles at them, I've dealt out pain with an unkind slap, but I've never crushed a prince's skull and doomed an imp to die unjustly. I've never come close to the kind of MAKING IT WORSE that makes for impactful story-telling. And I'm done playing nice. I'm over my need to tell happy and cute tales with a hint of grit clinging to the hems of beautiful characters' dresses. It's time for the gloves to come off and this fight to get dirty. And while I'm not writing a story that I can turn into a wedding feast slaughter, I can certainly shame my character more, punish her more inside herself, and generally wear down her hope in a new and interesting way.
Whereas in GOT, WORSE usually involves blood and death, there are an infinite number of ways to simply make social situations worse, insert some more raw human emotion into a situation. And with this very vivid mental picture of a chance for salvation gone awry, I will forge onward toward what I hope will be a riveting story, that just keeps getting worse and worse.
I'm going to be brave. And I charge you, scribes, to join me, if you have the stomach for it. Find a way to make that situation worse, today. Find a way to strip your character bare and parade her through the streets in all her shame. Try to break her. And let your reader wonder whether you're some sort of sadistic beast unfit to belong in nature for your very inability to experience sympathy. Because that's something that develops a reader's sympathy and keeps them turning pages.