Tag Archives: plots

Reading

Focusing on themes & audience expectations: Brave

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This is a post about fiction. I swear. It just looks like a post about the movie Brave.

I have three kids, aged 6 & under. They’re a great excuse to go to animated movies, and last month we went to see Brave.

I enjoyed Brave, but it’s very different from Pixar’s other movies. Wikipedia says that some people have likened it to a Grimm or Andersen fairy tale, and that seems very accurate. Brave hasn’t been quite as universally loved as previous Pixar classics, and the darkness inherent in “real” fairytales might be part of it.

But I have to say, when I see people criticizing the form of the film, I’m very confused. I’ve seen a few people call the movie “unfocused” or even “plotless.”

It’s neither.

To me, focus in film or fiction is defined very simply: do most of the scenes support the central theme and plot? Brave‘s central theme and plot is a mother-daughter relationship: how Queen Elinor wants Merida to behave (like a lady) and how Merida wants to be free.

I think part of the problem starts right there. Viewers have seen variations on the princess who wants to (to quote her father King Fergus’s assessment [behind her back]) “let my hair flow in the wind as I ride through the glen firing arrows into the sunset” before. Several times:

  • Ariel
  • Jasmine
  • Pocahontas
  • Belle
  • Rapunzel
  • Seeing a trend?

It seems like the only kind of princess Disney knows how to write. So let’s look at the trope established by these movies, using another rebellious red-headed princess who wants to be free to follow her heart but her oppressive parent tries to force her to do her duty: Ariel from The Little Mermaid.

In The Little Mermaid, Ariel rebels. She goes to a witch and gets a spell to get what she wants. So far, so good: Brave‘s Merida follows the same path right down to her hair color.

Yeah, Ariel’s rebellion causes problems, but in the end, she wins. She was right and her dad is punished by being separated from her forever (though they still love and forgive one another, at least nonverbally). The trope is repeated in several movies: princess rebels, gets what she wants, was right all along, shows evil parent how wrong they were. (Exactly the message we need to send to our children!)

Dollars to donuts, that’s the movie people were expecting when they walked in, or at least as we approached the end of Act I. But then the story turns very dramatically, and about halfway through, you figure out, Hey, this movie is about mothers and daughters, not finding true love (which is a scary obsession encouraged by a lot of animated movies—do 4-10 year olds really need romance and marriage marketed to them?). One of Brave‘s greatest strengths was the fact that it’s fresh. But violating audience/genre expectations can result in unhappy audiences.

So some dislike the movie for not following a clichéd trope that we’ve already seen at least half a dozen times. (Come on, like they really wanted to see an Ariel Goes to Scotland retread.) But to call the movie plotless or unfocused? No. Just no.

Every event either developed the conflict or moved the story forward, often by showing character changes. An unfocused story features subplots that don’t support or influence the main plot, focus on characters who are superfluous (okay, the younger brothers did kind of seem that way, but weren’t in all that many scenes), and either no theme or competing themes. In my opinion, Brave did none of these.

Actually, it seemed like Brave was an animated version of a character-driven story. I’ve defined character-driven before as “When the basic story is more about the character’s internal growth and change.”

There is an external plot (and external subplot), and they’re resolved in unexpected (and maybe just slightly too-neat, but it’s an animated film, so hey) ways. But at its heart, Brave is about the growth and change in Merida and her mother Queen Elinor, and how they come to love and accept and understand and change for one another. Did it go over my kids’ heads? Yep, most of it. Will they be able to discover new layers of meaning in the movie in ten years? Yep, most likely.

Was Brave the best movie evar? Probably not. It was good and well-told and unique, and no, not everyone liked it. But I think that probably had more to do with its strengths than its weaknesses.

What do you think? How do you define focus in fiction? How can character-driven stories translate to film? Have you seen Brave?

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Technique

Plotting a novel with a beat board

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This entry is part 23 of 24 in the series The plot thickens (Mwahahaha)

Our series on plotting is a perennial favorite on the blog, so we’re expanding on that series with a few guest posts! Ali introduced me to Save The Cat! and I really loved using it on my most recent manuscript, so she’s here this week to explain the basics of this plotting method and how to use a beat board.

By Ali Cross
Used with permission from this post

I use a corkboard, (but you can use a wall, or whatever) and a stack of index cards (or sticky notes). My crit group just gave me a new package of index cards–they know me so well! Thanks guys! 

Don’t freak out over the size or color of your cards. Just use whatever. You can use colored pens if you want (I usually only use colored pens if I’m beating out a story with multiple points of view–each main character gets their own color.)

Now, using a couple strips of masking tape, divide your corkboard (or whatever) into four even sections (three strips of tape.) This denotes Act I, Act II part one, Act II part two, Act III.

It should look like this:

ACT I
ACT II part one
ACT II part two
ACT III

Now, get out your beat sheet and your index cards.

On your first card, jot down your notes for the Opening Image. Tack it/tape it/whatever right at the beginning of your Act I section.

Your next card is #6 on the Beat Sheet; the Break into Two card. Place it at the very end of the Act I section.

Next, #7, B Story, at the beginning of the Act II, part one, followed by #9, Midpoint, at the end of that section.

#10, Bad Guys Close In, goes at the beginning of the second Act II, followed by #13, Break Into Three.

Your last section starts with #14, Finale, and finishes with #15, Closing Image.

Now, fill out your cards for the remaining beats and tack them to your board where they belong. You’ve probably got some scenes in your head, so jot them down on a card and figure out where they belong. Your beat sheet should give you a pretty clear idea where it goes on the storyboard. Go ahead and stick your cards up there.

Action scenes, or beats that involve multiple scenes to play out, get stuck to the board in cascading groups. You can see what I mean in the photo of my board:

It’s easy to see where the holes are, but I’m not worried. In fact, I’m kind of happy about it. This outline keeps me in line by pinning down the beginning, middle and end, but allows me the freedom to work out all that fun middle stuff.

If I get an idea for a scene I can write some notes on it and add it where it belongs. That way, I’ll know exactly where to add that scene once I catch up to it. And when I’m sitting there, all out of Mike ‘n Ikes, my mouth hanging open as my gears try to get the writing going, I can look at the board and know what I’m supposed to work on next.

Whew! That was a lot of info! If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer in there. 

About the author

Ali Cross is the sensei of the writer’s dojo where she holds a black belt in awesome. She lives in Utah with her kickin’ husband, two sparring sons, one ninja cat, two sumo dogs and four zen turtles.

She’s the author the young adult urban fantasy series Desolation, and a member of the Author’s Incognito Executive Committee.
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Technique

Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat plotting method

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This entry is part 22 of 24 in the series The plot thickens (Mwahahaha)

Planning out a novel? Be sure to join my newsletter for a FREE plotting/revision roadmap, and check out the full series on plotting novels in a free PDF!

Our series on plotting is a perennial favorite on the blog, so we’re expanding on that series with a few guest posts! Ali introduced me to Save The Cat! and I really loved using it on my most recent manuscript, so she’s here this week to explain the basics of his plotting method.

By Ali Cross
Used with permission from this post

A couple weeks ago I posted some pictures of my office, including a pic of my new “beat board”.



Several of you asked me to explain what this is and how I use it. I’m borrowing heavily from a post I did pre-NaNo 2011, so some of you will have heard this before. But for those of you who are new to the wonder of Beat Boards, strap in and let’s go!

I am completely gaga over the screenwriting book, Save The Cat. If you haven’t read it yet, I completely, 100%, highly recommend it. In the meantime, here are the highlights as they apply to me and how I write a novel.


Using the document below I fill in a sentence or two that addresses that “beat” or plot point (I’ve also included a question that helps me in this task). You can go here to get a fantastic beat-by-beat breakdown of where these beats should land in your manuscript, depending on the anticipated length of your novel.

THE BLAKE SNYDER BEAT
If you’d like more information, there’s lots to learn on Blake Snyder’s website

PROJECT TITLE:
GENRE:
DATE:

1.Opening Image: Set the scene. Who is/are your main character(s) and what is their world like before your story begins?

2.Theme Stated: What will your character’s arc be? What is the moral of your story? Usually the theme is stated by a supporting character. What is the moral of your story?

3.Set-up: Pretty self-explanatory, right? This is where all the pieces are put into play. Who are the main players and where is your story set?

4.Catalyst: Again, you know this one. A chain of events that set things into motion. What happens to change your main character’s world?

5.Debate: This is where your MC has to make some decisions about what he’s going to do. What choices does your main character have to make?

6.Break in to Two: The transition from static MC to MC on the move. What new adventure is your character on?

7.B Story: This is where you move into the second act of your story, or, the dreaded middle section. (duh duh duhhhh) It’s usually the B story, or the love story, or the big action/adventure story of your book. What is the new relationship in your main character’s life?

8.Fun and Games: Pretty much more of all the love, the action or … whatever! (Yeah, you can tell I love mid-sections!) What kind of trouble does the main character get into?

9.Midpoint: This is like a mini act-break. It’s the corner you turn toward the second half of your book, like your MC is standing on a cliff and needs to decide: fight or flight? What happens to make the character think everything is awesome or everything is awful?

10.Bad Guys Close In: Your MC hasn’t jumped, but the bad guys are almost there and …. maybe there’s still time to jump! What stands between your characters and what they want?

11.All is Lost: It looks like the Bad Guys are going to win. Sad. 🙁 What happens to make your character think they’re not going to get what they want?

12. Dark Night of the Soul: Your MC has to decide if he’s just going to give in, or if there’s still some fight left in him. Why does your character consider giving up?

13.Break into Three: Another all-important corner. This is where the MC makes his DECISION. And we being our movement forward with purpose. What does the character do to make a last ditch effort to get what they want?

14.Finale: Wrap up the B story, wrap up the A story. What does your main character do to turn things around?

15. Final Image: Usually a mirror image of the opening scene. This shows us how the MC’s life has changed, how the theme played out and how all the questions you posed are answered. What is your character and their world like now that their adventure is over?

Yes these are overly simplistic, but you get the point. Answer these questions, get these “beats” straight in your head and ta da! You now have all the building blocks necessary to get to work on your manuscript.

Next time: how to use the the beat board . . .

What do you think? Have you read Save the Cat? Come join in the discussion!

About the author

Ali Cross is the sensei of the writer’s dojo where she holds a black belt in awesome. She lives in Utah with her kickin’ husband, two sparring sons, one ninja cat, two sumo dogs and four zen turtles.

She’s the author the young adult urban fantasy series Desolation, and a member of the Author’s Incognito Executive Committee.
Blog | Facebook | Twitter

Is your writing any good? Join my writers' email group to find out how you can get a free edit & skill assessment!

 
Technique, Publishing

Sorry, this idea’s taken

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As you know, there are only fill-in-the-blank number of plots. Millions of novels have been written in the last few centuries, and before that, there were stories and plays and operas and songs and poems.

Face it: even your zombie-vampire-werewolf-romance-action-horror-tragedy isn’t really new or original. (Though it does sound very tragic.) All the ideas ever have already been thought of. They’re taken.

There are a few things we can do with this news. We can worry about trying to prove it wrong and come up with something so completely new and original and unheard-of that people will stop and stare (and probably run away, because that’s what happens). We can hang our heads and trudge off in defeat. Or we can learn to stop worrying and embrace the idea that there may not be anything new under the sun—but we can certainly put our own spin on it.

I know I often come across the seed of an idea and quickly reject it because it’s been done before. But honestly, some of the most popular and best literature we read today isn’t “new”—it’s an unapologetic take on something that’s been done before, and done really well the first time.

For example, it is a truth universally acknowledged that works like Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Jane Austen’s Emma and Pride And Prejudice are classics, or at least fairly well known. Students and scholars alike study these works centuries after their original publication.

And yet we see “retakes,” adaptations and riffs on these works all the time. And they’re not relegated to the rubbish bin, or automatically rejected because “That’s been done before.” If anything, drawing on those classics seems to have helped The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, Clueless, Bridget Jones’s Diary and most especially Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

All of those stories use classics as their models, often taking their full plots from the original and simply updating or adapting them. And yet all of those stories stand on their own as well, with new elements and a fresh take (usually) from the author. Just because something has been done before doesn’t preclude you from doing it again with a new spin.

What do you think? Have you ever discarded an idea because it had been done before?

Photo by Thomas Levinson

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