Marketing for Romance Writers Magazine May, 2019 Volume # 2, Issue # 5 | Page 14

MAY, 2019
CREATIVE CALISTHENICS CONTINUE—GET IN TROUBLE
By: Alice Orr
Creative Calisthenics
Continue. Last month
we performed some
“Imagination Muscle
Aerobics,” five brain-
storming exercises to
generate story and
scene ideas. Which of
those, or any, ideas
will work best for your writing project?
Ask yourself these questions. Among
the ideas I‟ve come up with, which ones
have the most story complication poten-
tial? Which promise the most upheaval
between characters? Which put my char-
acters in passionate opposition to one
another, the more passionate, the better?
You‟re looking for Trouble. Ask
yourself, “Could this situation lead to
Trouble for my main character?” Mike
Nichols said this about storytelling. “All
we care about is the humanity.” Charac-
ters are the true focus of our fascination
with stories, characters in Trouble.
Trouble leads to Conflict which
bonds us with your character. We want
to know how she‟ll react in the extreme
circumstances you‟ve created for her.
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How will she resolve her predicament, or
fail to resolve it? Trouble and Conflict
make us care about her and keep us turn-
ing pages.
Trouble and Conflict always involve
one or more of the following dramatic
elements.
Betrayal
Guilt
Duty
Cowardice
Deceit
Loss
Heroism
Devotion
Obsession
Greed
Redemption
Hatred
Envy
Privation
Disgrace
Love
Revenge
Sacrifice
Cruelty
Compassion (If It Is Passionate)
Imagine your main character in Trouble.
Put one of these elements in her story. Imag-
ine her in this dramatically charged situation.
Experience her state of mind by asking,
“How does my character feel in this situa-
tion? What does she do? What happens to
her?”
Keep your responses specific and con-
crete. Focus on behavior. You are concerned
with the character‟s emotional journey
through this experience, but what are her
actions in response to those emotions? How
does she illustrate what she feels in specific,
concrete behaviors?
Take rapid notes. Don‟t stop to con-
template. Let your instinct and imagina-
tion take charge and do so as energeti-
cally as you can. Next, organize these
notes in order of dramatic potency or
chronology, whichever feels most useful
for you and the story you are writing.
Story situations that immerse charac-
ters in Trouble are pay dirt for a fiction
writer. They are often uncomfortable to
read. They carry the reader into that trou-
ble along with the character. The conse-
quences they create, the actions and reac-
tions they force from her are Intense.
Intensity is essential to strong story-
telling. With this exercise, you have pro-
duced Intense story material. You have
piled up heaps of Trouble for your main
character, and you‟ve done so by working
your own fertile imagination. You can
leave the gym now. Your Creative Calis-
thenics session has been a powerful suc-
cess.
For more insights into writing and pub-
lishing—visit my teaching blog at
www.aliceorrbooks.com.
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