Things Just...Known | Sherrie Lord
Things Just...Known
Jul / 28 / 2009
I can’t explain why I know how to plot so that
the right things happen at the right times. It
feels sort of like an
instinct-thing.
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Not A Poser
Victory! I completed the worksheets from Story Mastery, the workshop screenplay guru Michael Hauge taught at the novelists’ retreat in Denver.
Yikes! That was only 11 days ago? I feel like I wrestled those worksheets for 11 weeks.
I had a lightbulb moment last night. Everything made sense, and I filled in the blanks as if I was describing my day and answering questions about two close friends. Which is what fictional characters become after you spend so much time together.
Some of the worksheets deal with the elements along the arc of emotional growth the hero and heroine each travel from the beginning to the end of the story. As strong as others say I am in characterization, my elements felt fuzzy. The worksheets forced me to sharpen the focus; I had to write something in the blanks.
The other worksheets are about plot structure, how the right things must happen at the right times. I thought I struggled most with this. Like, is this the turning point, or is it that? Apparently I only needed names for those landmarks, for Book #3’s plot already fits the structure. Except for the climax; that’s the only thing I need to fix.
That amazes me. I can’t explain why I know how to plot so that the right things happen at the right times. It feels sort of like an instinct-thing. That she should pause after she tells him this, that he should notice that item across the room, that the scene should end abruptly here — these are the things I just...know. God seems to hardwire such into writers, the nuances of the craft that can’t be taught. Not easily. Maybe not at all. Because they appear...all by themselves.
Hugs, Sherrie ;-}
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