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(It's my mom's birthday. Happy birthday, Mom!)
As I've mentioned, I try to read a book on craft every month. You get a lot of the same advice, but sometimes it's presented in a new way that piques my interest.
Currently, I'm reading The Idea: The Seven Elements of a Viable Story for Screen, Stage or Fiction by Erik Bork. It's written by a screenwriter, so focuses more on TV and movie writing, but still contains nuggets of wisdom for general fiction writers.
I'm not very far into it, but I like the way it's written, and it hasn't said anything I disagree with. In fact, the second chapter ("Punishing") made me stop and go, "Huh. That's a good idea!"
What Was the Good Idea?
Uh-uh, not yet. First, you need the setup.
Fine, What's the Setup?
"Audiences are basically sadists," Bork says, and many professionally represented scripts are lacking in punishment for their protagonists.
An anonymous professional script reader in 2013 went through a buncha scripts and made an infographic about their common issues. The top three issues were:
“The story begins too late in the script.”
“The scenes are void of meaningful conflict.”
“The conflict is inconsequential, flash-in-the-pan.”
So, what's a good method to ensure your story has meaningful, consequential conflict?
Just Tell Us Already!
Okay! Here's the good idea:
When you're looking for new story ideas, start by brainstorming meaningful problems.
When we’re looking for an idea for a story (or series), what we’re really looking for are problems, more than any other single thing—problems that will defy our characters’ attempts to solve them. Erik Bork, The Idea
There are, of course, many ways to brainstorm ideas. Maybe you start with the theme, a character, or the setting.
But this is a fresh angle to consider, and it immediately made me want to brainstorm.
I hope it works for you, too!
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