NARRATIVE SCIENCE
- A story is an analogy to a single human mind trying to solve a problem.
- Motivations, methodologies, evaluations, purpose
- Motivation -> character -> representation of mind/different motivations
- Methodologies -> plot -> proactive, reactive
- Evaluations -> theme -> morality vs. self interest
- Purpose -> genre -> personality of mind at work
- Inequity
- that's where stories come from; stories are justification
- develop inequity = develop backstory
- no balance; find solution to it--find solution to solution
- it's the imbalance between things, and if aware, deal with it
- source of all motivation/desire, the greater the imbalance, the greater the drive
- Difference between tale and story: one is an argument (story) and the other is linear progression (tale)
- TALE
- straightforward
- not meaningful
- is a statement
- linear progression; goes from one point to another and explores a single issue and its outcome
- not very complex, no subplots or thematic issues
- only applies to one case
- not infinitely watchable
- STORY
- is argument
- course of reasoning aimed at demonstrating truth or falsehood
- feeling of completeness
- long-term emotional impact
- can be applied to similar situations
- stands up to repeated viewpoints
- something you can't get irl
- PERSONAL OBSERVATION: "story needs to be an argument" and "art needs to be a thought"
- Story is art, argument is thought. Not all art are stories, not all thoughts are arguments. There are poor arguments and there are shallow thoughts.
- Essentially, similar idea, but from different starting points.
- Story is art, argument is thought. Not all art are stories, not all thoughts are arguments. There are poor arguments and there are shallow thoughts.
- TALE
- Experience vs process - can't do both at the same time
- Always ask, "What is it the story is trying to argue?"
- Ingredients
- actions - story drivers
- relationships
- linear - main character problem-solving style
- Argument vs. message
- message = leaves out conclusion to the argument
- message < argument - but basically the same thing
- It'd bad when a character's motivation changes..
- MY QUESTION TO IT: what if it's well-executed character development? Say, a person realizes what he/she truly wants to do, probably after some introspecting? Their motivation is not what they thought it originally was. Can't that be possible?
- Author is GOD - no objective meaning
- THE FUNDAMENTALS
- Context - that which surrounds + gives meaning
- shift in perspective
- keep context consistent so you can fulfill your intention
- the things that affect the MC + things that affect surroundings are two different things
- Conflict - two opposing view points
- the stronger you feel about the story, the better the story'll be
- it is 2 things that can't exist at the same time
- can have conflict only if there's an exception to what you're saying
- Story - author creates conflict in order to share universal meaning
- Context - that which surrounds + gives meaning
- MAIN CHARACTER - the character which an audience identifies with
- personal pov - personal throughline; no main character throughline = no audience
- when MC can't see their own baggage, they don't change; instead they focus on something else
- purpose of story = remove blinders/make them see their baggage
- character must come to a point where he/she asks him/herself "Was I on the right or wrong path?"
- not every MC needs to change in order to grow
- growth is not always transformative
- growth does not happen in a vacuum
- character is about growth, NOT change
- influence character (previously known as obstacle character but mistaken for antagonist) - purpose is to shine light on MC
- Resolve, growth, approach, mental sex
- Resolve - change or steadfast
- Growth - stop or start
- Approach - Do-er (external) or Be-er (internal)
- Mental sex - male (linear) or female (holistic)
- Linear vs. holistic
- show positive + negative by showing motivators as to avoid "on-the-nose" writing
- would you rather be able to do something you need to do (linear) or would you rather want to do something that you should do (holistic)
- LINEAR (male)
- focuses on purpose
- seeks satisfaction
- tries to gather evidence
- set up requirements
- "how" "when" "what"
- argues issues
- pulls all together
- blind spot is usually problem-solving style
- HOLISTIC (female)
- focuses on motivation
- seeks fulfillment
- tries to see connections
- set up connections
- "why"
- puts issues in context
- holds all together
- blind spot is usually story limit (especially timelock)
- TRAINING (top left), MENTAL SEX (top right), EXPERIENCE (bottom left), THINKING (bottom right)
- OPTIONLOCK/TIMELOCK
- Linear + optionlock = for everyone/male/female-oriented stories (usually romantic comedies)
- Linear + timelock = male-oriented stories
- Holistic + optionlock = female-oriented stories (chick flicks)
- Holistic + timelock = NO ONE (most challenging, people tend to not understand stories of this combination)
- ELEMENTS OF CHARACTER - TABLE OF STORY ELEMENTS
- archetypal character - eight characters that exhibit familiar patterns of motivations
- Protagonist (clashes with antagonist)
- pursues goal
- commonly combined with main character role, but truth of matter is protagonist and main character are two different roles (main character is just the point of view the audience looks through)
- if main character isn't protagonist and vice versa, it can be more interesting
- Antagonist (clashes with protagonist)
- prevents goal
- antagonist isn't big = not a complex character
- if antagonist is also influence character, he/she is a villain
- action: prevents/avoid - prevents goal
- decision: reconsider - urges other to reconsider attempt to pursue goal
- Reason (clashes with emotion)
- logical
- action: control - calm and controlled, can also control
- decision: logic - makes decisions logically
- logical
- Emotion (clashes with logical)
- emotional
- action: uncontrolled - frenzied and out of control
- decision: feeling - makes decisions based on emotion
- emotional
- Sidekick (clashes with skeptic)
- faithful character (commonly to protagonist, but can be to antagonist, too)
- usually influence character
- action: support - direct assistance
- decision: faith - unwavering belief
- Skeptic (clashes with sidekick)
- cynical disbeliever
- action: oppose - argues and objects
- decision: disbelief - belief is untrue
- cynical disbeliever
- Guardian (clashes with contagonist)
- helpful teacher
- can be an influence character
- action: help - aids effort to the goal
- decision: conscience - restraining oneself
- Contagonist (clashes with guardian)
- one who gets in the way
- difference from antagonist is that contagonist doesn't necessarily actively prevents protagonist from reaching his/her goal
- action: hinder - undermines effort to achieve goal
- decision: temptation - indulging oneself, embracing his benefits
- Complex characters - ARCHETYPAL SWAP
- Resolve
- how main characters find resolve determines how they problem solve:
- stay steadfast + continue to do what they always have
- change approach + adjust a new way of solving problems
- how main characters find resolve determines how they problem solve:
- Protagonist (clashes with antagonist)
- The system of archetypal characters is convenient, but not always interesting
- There is growth in subjective characters, but no growth ever in objective characters (they stay the same)
- archetypal character - eight characters that exhibit familiar patterns of motivations
- DYNAMICS OF PLOT
- Plot - that which drives a story forward
- Story driver
- two kind of drives
- actions that cause decisions
- decisions that cause actions
- ask "Which came first?"
- If x hadn't happened is it likely y would've happened anyway?
- If yes, then x was not driving the story forward
- If no, then x may have been driving the story forward
- There are Four Acts in a complete story
- Inciting incident (act 1) and concluding event (act 3) have same driver
- two kind of drives
- Story limit
- Story is limited by either timelock (how long character has to solve the problem) or optionlock (how many things character can try to solve problem)
- Timelock examples: bomb going off, deadlines, etc.
- Optionlock examples: Road travel; when character reaches the destination it can only end
- Story needs to be limited otherwise audience becomes bored and feels story is dragged out for too long; they begin to wonder when it'll end
- Story is limited by either timelock (how long character has to solve the problem) or optionlock (how many things character can try to solve problem)
- Story outcome & story judgment: work together for ENDINGS)
- Triumph - good guys win, MC is happy
- Personal triumph - good guys lose, MC is happy
- Tragedy - good guys lose, MC is sad
- Personal tragedy - good guys win, MC is sad
- Story driver
- Story goal - goals don't exist without consequences
- Plot - that which drives a story forward
- STORY DEVELOPMENT - THE BIG PICTURE (THROUGHLINES)
- The four perspectives
- I - personal throughline
- main character
- You - opposition throughline
- impact character
- We - relationship throughline
- heart of the story
- They - big picture throughline
- the plot
- I - personal throughline
- All meaning derived from these contexts
- It's about getting something out of it you don't get on your own no matter how good the director and cinematographer are
- big picture, personal, opposition w/o relationship = stories w/o heart
- big picture, opposition, relationship without personal = stories lack involvement, nothing to relate to
- opposition, personal, relationship, without big picture = stories don't make sense ex. Twilight
- complete story will assume each kind of problem in all throughlines
- Defining the problem
- External
- situation - fixed; trapped in circumstances
- something stuck (I)
- activity - running around -- something out of control
- something out of control (you)
- situation - fixed; trapped in circumstances
- Internal
- attitude (anger, love, etc.)
- clash of ideologies (what) (we)
- way of thinking (trouble coming to conclusions)
- dysfunctional thinking (how) (they)
- attitude (anger, love, etc.)
- context creates meaning
- relationship + object, main character + impact character; opposites of each other
- External
- The four perspectives
INTRO TO FICTION
- FOREMOST
- know your character
- pick a POV and stick with it
- tell the truth
- POINT OF VIEW - central to dramatization; also central to the whole concept and structure of the novel
- In third person the voice is less strong, but it still operates in that the character's thoughts are given, if not precisely in their own words, at least in a suggestion of his own personality.
- More detachment is possible in third person. The price may be less intensity, but the rewards are much greater flexibility and variety.
- First-person narration contains two time frames:
- In the past, as we have seen, the action is complete by the time we hear of it from the narrator.
- In the present, which usually frames the past, the narrator is looking back from his present situation and knowledge to that past action.
- Moving back and forth between these two times, the time of event, and the time in which it is being related, can create a fine tension--and a suspense of knowing that something momentous has happened while awaiting the disclosure of the details. These withholdings and revelations can be enormously effect (ex. The Great Gatsby)
- The interval between past and present can also possess great importance; during the time between, the narrator has had leisure to reflect upon the meaning of the past action from a more mature point of view.
- All this, however, from much usage, has become formulaic. The narrator, in the present, faces some crisis in his life. He turns to the past, where the bulk of the story is remembered. The climax, and the lesson of the past, bear upon the present, and determine the narrator's present decision. As in all fiction, it is necessary to find a new slant amongst hoary situations and devices.
- The greatest problem of first-person narrator is the manipulation required always to have him present to witness the necessary events.
- First-person narration of a long novel can become monotonous, and novelists resort to many different devices to bring in varying points of view.
- Maintaining a single point of view in a long novel may be limiting, but a too-casual switching from consciousness to consciousness will make the reader aware of the author as a manipulator and thus detract from the reality of the fiction.
- In novels with shifting points of views it is more difficult for the author to conceal himself as the ultimate manipulator.
- Too hard to switch POVs in paragraphs, especially in first person. Always safe to switch POVs in chapters
- Try writing from all characters' POVs to see who'd work best to tell the story
- First person seems easier but is actually harder because limited to perception
- Third person unreliable narrator is even harder to pull off
- In third person the voice is less strong, but it still operates in that the character's thoughts are given, if not precisely in their own words, at least in a suggestion of his own personality.
- WHY OUTLINES CAN BE DETRIMENTAL (keyword "can"; there are ppl who write better with outlines and others who don't)
- Outlines can make things more difficult because stories usually don't end up the way you want them to, and that can throw you off
- Sometimes, when you write it as you did have it planned, it simply just doesn't work together and you have to figure out another solution
- "If the characters aren't taking over the story, chances are it's not gonna work."
- BEGINNING
- a common device known to mystery-story writers is the "had-I-but-known" technique. (ex. "Had I but known of the incest and cannibalism that were to result, I would not have been driven out to the old manse that day.")
- CONTINUING
- Hemingway's principle was to "leave water in the well."
- Through-lines
- Characters, as they begin to curve into roundness, will contribute to the progress of the novel. Decisions as to their personalities, relationships, and fates may have to be rethought because of demands of the characters themselves.
- Each will have his through-line--his overall objective, as well as his objective in a particular scene. In that scene will be other characters with their own objectives, and if those characters quarrel, we will get to know their objectives and natures more rapidly than if they merely chat.
- In a book for acting, Acting One (Mayfield Publishing Co., 1984) Cohen employs the acronym VOTE:
- V: Victory - his objective and intention
- O: Others - with whom, for whom, or from whom the Victory is sought
- T: Tactics - tactics to be used to gain his end
- E: Expectation, Excitement, Energy, and Enthusiasm - with which the scene must be invested
- The Evolution of Theme
- As the writing progresses, the novelist begins to uncover connections and relationships she had not realized in her outlines or planning. The themes, major and minor, begin to appear in different forms. The writer must learn to capitilize on these gifts from the Prince of Serendip, for through them she will begin to discover what her novel is really /about/. (YES, I EXPERIENCED THIS.)
- The ability to discover relationships between elements in a work is, in a sense, the primary faculty of the novelist.
- Through-lines
- Hemingway's principle was to "leave water in the well."
- Thoughts are not italicized
- If it helps you to write in present tense, do it
- For fiction, thinking too much is bad
MISC. SOURCES
- "Remember that colons are followed by full lists or new thoughts, semi's are proceeded by continued thought with addition, and hyphens are continued but sudden thoughts." -THANK YOU ERIN
sep 26 2013 ∞
mar 9 2014 +
mar 9 2014 +