Breaking Writing Rules Right: "Only One Impossibility"

You may have heard of the "one impossibility rule," the idea that the audience's suspension of disbelief can only handle one impossible thing. In this article, I'm going to talk about what the rule is, why it's a rule, and when and how to break it.

What's the Rule?

When we write, we invite the audience into our fictive universe. In order to take part, the audience must have what's called a "willing suspension of disbelief," meaning that they are willing to enjoy the story even though it's not real.

For example, maybe your story has fairies in it. But fairies aren't real. However, the audience is willing to accept that for the story.

The Rule:

In a story, only one impossibility can exist.

Why It's a Rule

Most audiences can only take in so much impossibility before their suspension of disbelief is no longer . . . suspended.

They might accept with the premise of the story that there are fairies. But if your story has not only fairies but also aliens invading the planet, there is going to be a problem.

That's two different impossibilities.

And they don't go together.

Take that a step further and add the fact that in your fictive universe, dogs have overcome humans in the species hierarchy, so they are the ones running society--and now we have three impossibilities.

It's too much. Every time you add an impossibility, you narrow your audience. With these three, I've really narrowed audience. 

My examples are a bit exaggerated, but these are the sorts of things that the one impossibility rule is referring to.

However, it can sometimes be used in other situations.

One thing the audience has very little tolerance for is when human behavior doesn't make sense. Maybe your protagonist's mom dies, and he doesn't even grieve. That seems impossible. And the more you stack on unlikely human behavior, the more the audience's suspension of disbelief wanes.

For more on problems with unbelievability, see "Inconceivable! Dealing with Problems of Unbelievability."

How to Break It

By now you may have thought of one or more stories that clearly have more than "one impossibility." In a high fantasy, you may have fairies and dragons and dwarves and elves and centaurs . . . the list goes on.

Or maybe you thought of a rarer rule break, like a story that deals with both an alien invasion and restoring faith in God. Putting a belief of God in can be considered a big no-no in the industry when writing science fiction. From one perspective, you are dealing with two impossibilities. (I'm not saying I feel this way, I'm just talking about the industry.)

Or maybe you thought of something stranger still, a story where part of your soul lives outside your body in the form of an animal, where one of the intelligent species are (randomly) bears, where there is a clan witches, and some of the main characters are quite literally at war with God.

Clearly this rule can and has been broken. So let's talk about how to do that.

1. Use an Umbrella

The reason high fantasy gets away with so many impossibilities is because everything actually fits under one big impossibility: an imaginary world.

Sure, in our reality dragons and elves and dwarves don't exist.

But in a completely fictional world, like Middle-earth, all of them do, and more.

Tolkien, like basically all high fantasy writers, gets away with so much impossibility by lumping them together under one big one. Other examples include Alice in Wonderland, The Chronicles of Narnia, and even Star Wars (in a galaxy far, far away).

Even though Harry Potter includes the real world, it does this same thing--everything impossible comes from a magic society within our world, that's the umbrella.

The umbrella does not even necessarily need to be a world or society. Those are just the obvious examples. It could be an origin, history, or something else. The idea is that the one impossibility encompasses and explains all others.

2. Make Connections

Similarly, the audience is more likely to take in more than one impossibility if they connect in some way. Maybe you are reading a novel that has vampires in the real world. Then the second book in the series deals with werewolves. What?

But it's okay, because Stephenie Meyer made them connect by explaining that werewolves exist because of the vampires--they are the natural predators of vampires (yes, I just used Twilight as an example) (yes, I know other stories put vampires and werewolves together as enemies).

When you use this method, you usually want to build off what the audience already knows. They already know about the vampires, great. So when you explain the werewolves, make sure to relate it to the vampires. This will make it easier for the audience to swallow.

Of course, there are some stories that don't do that. Usually in those cases, the writer may introduce them as two separate things and explain the connection later. If you chose to do this, you should know that it's more difficult to pull off, and it will likely narrow your audience, because people might be rolling their eyes and stop reading before they get to the connection. However it has and can be done.

In rare occasions, the connections may not be concretely obvious, but instead thematic. What do invading aliens have to do with regaining faith in God? Well, nothing, directly. Except that it works together thematically in a beautiful way in Signs. Keep in mind, though, that this is one of the reasons some people hate that movie. So for some people, it did not work--in other words, it narrowed the audience. That's fine, if you are willing to pay that cost and take that risk.

3. Shift Context

Sometimes you can get away with multiple impossibilities if you don't present them as all impossibilities to begin with. In Interstellar, we are dealing with some pretty heavy science fiction, but then on the other hand, one of the main characters believes there is a ghost in her room.

I would hazard a guess though, that most of the audience didn't believe there was a real ghost in the room. Instead we can accept that the character believes that. As we get more information and the context shifts, we realize the "ghost" really was a person.

Though worth noting is that it is still ultimately explained by science, so the movie also connects it the other impossibilities.

But my point is, you may be able to do something similar. Maybe we think the second impossibility is something other than it actually is, and it's truly explained later.

4. Foreshadow

 Sometimes you can get away with more than one impossibility if you foreshadow it right.

I know a writer who saw Arrival and loved it up until the ending, where the entire story was "ruined" because it "broke the one impossibility rule."

I'm going to have to agree to disagree with that. All of the impossibilities, especially the last, were foreshadowed from the beginning, so when I encountered them, as an audience member, I was prepared.

Also notice how that movie also incorporates context shifts and connections.

The story essential has three impossibilities in it, but in my opinion, they pulled them off stunningly.

However, it didn't work for that one writer, so, like I said above, you are always taking that risk.

But then there are people like me and my family, who loved the story even more and were brought to tears because of how it incorporated three impossibilities.

Basically if you are breaking the one impossibility rule, you are probably polarizing your audience, which is sometimes a good thing, if you want word-of-mouth advertising.

5. Utilize Tone

Tone can go a long way in letting you get away with the impossible. This is especially the case with what are called "unreality" stories.

Unreality stories take place in what's recognized as the real world . . . but it isn't. It's an unreality. It's best explained through examples. Here are some unreality stories:

A Series of Unfortunate Events
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Matilda
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Edward Scissorhands 
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Like I talked about in the last section, you may realize that unreality stories can be very polarizing: You either love it, or you hate it.

Notice how all of the examples I gave have more than one impossibility (sometimes completely unconnected), but for audiences okay with the unreality genre, that's not a problem. (Which reminds me, it's also worth noting genre does play a role in what you can get away with).

If you establish the right tone, you can get away with almost anything.

6. Acknowledge the Impossibility

In some cases, you can get away with multiple impossibilities if you validate to the audience how impossible, unlikely, or strange it is, on the page. Since I have two posts that go into this, I'm not going to reiterate everything, but you can read more here and here.

7. Keep the Reader Hooked and Invested

Sometimes you can get away with more than one impossibility if the reader is already deeply invested in the story. They may be so hooked, so pulled in, that adding a second impossibility isn't going to ruin it--as long as you don't do anything too crazy.

Ask yourself (and maybe your beta-readers), is adding this one impossibility really going to stop the reader from reading and enjoying the story? It might give them pause, but you might be able to get away with it. After all, it is a story.

8.  Start with the Most Familiar Impossibility

Everyone knows what a dragon is, even if they aren't real. So it's easier for the audience to accept that.

In Spider-verse we are dealing with two impossibilities that don't . . . really even connect . . . or fit under an umbrella. 1 - that radioactive spiders can bite people and turn them superhuman. 2 - that there are parallel realities. Those are both impossibilities, and they don't actually go together.

But the audience is willing to accept it, because they are so familiar with Spider-man and superhero movies. Adding parallel universes to it isn't a big deal. (Not to mention that parallel universes have been long established as part of the comic book world.)

The more familiar something is, the easier it is for the audience to accept and digest it.

Kitchen Sink Stories

There is a term in the industry called "kitchen sink." It's the basic idea that a writer has a lot of ideas, but they are throwing them all into one story. It's like a kitchen sink. It has a bit of this and a bit of that. A scrap of old pizza, an onion peel, a soggy fry. Sometimes when writers are trying to include a lot of impossibilities, it turns into a kitchen sink story. In some cases, you may definitely need to divvy out ideas into different stories. But in other cases, it's amazing which seemingly unrelated ideas you can make work, especially using these methods I outlined.

It's hard for me to tell everyone that their "kitchen sink story" isn't going to work. Because it might.

I feel like the best example of this is His Dark Materials. It has everything, and the kitchen sink. But in England, it became a hugely successful series. Yet so many of the concepts don't seem to belong in one story.

- Parts of people's souls live outside their bodies in animal forms.
- There is an intelligent species of bears (bears?? Why? That's so random!)
- Oh yeah, and there are also witches. (oookay . . .)
- And angels
- By the way, there is also a religion reminiscent of Christianity, but it's antagonistic
- Also, God is in it
- And there is this device that allows the user to know all truth
- It takes place in England . . . but it's sort of . . . somewhat . . . steam-punky
- Oh yeah, also, not only is this fantasy, but it's also science fiction. We will definitely be talking about dark matter and running experiments with computers
- Also, surprise, I know you didn't know this from the first book, but our world, the real world, is actually part of this same universe
- Aaaand there are spectors
- We'll also be following people into the afterlife. . . .

Okay, seriously, that whole series is a kitchen sink story!

. . . which is also why it was so revolutionary. It was unprecedented.

So . . . while it's very difficult to pull off . . . it's not impossible.

You might be thinking, "but everything fits under the umbrella of a parallel world." Dude, it doesn't. We don't even know parallel worlds exist until the second book.

It's a kitchen sink.

You Can Break the One Impossibility Rule . . . with These Risks and Consequences

Depending on what impossibilities you decide to use and how you implement them, you run these risks:

- Ruining the suspension of disbelief 

Your audience may still not be able to accept your impossibilities. In truth, some readers are unwilling to even accept one. So they may stop reading.

- Narrowing your audience

This may lead to a narrower audience. Maybe most people don't like M. Night Shyamalan's movies (he breaks a lot of writing and film rules). That's okay. Enough people like him, and he obviously isn't trying to appeal to the masses.

- Polarizing your audience

Some people will absolutely hate stories that use multiple impossibilities. But other people love them. Polarizing your audience isn't actually necessarily a bad or good thing in and of itself--it depends on your goals.


These are risks and consequences, but they do not necessarily influence success. Some people cannot read any fantasy, yet it's one of the most popular genres. Not everyone likes Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but it's now a children's classic. Even a kitchen sink story has been highly successful.

Can you break the one impossibility rule? Yes! But like breaking any rule, it can be tricky.

Next week I'll be talking about critique letters and editorial letters, and how I write one. See you then!

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Surprise vs. Suspense--Which is Better?

 

You've probably heard about the concepts of surprise and suspense in writing. You may have even heard them compared and contrasted. From more than one source, I've heard it illustrated with the following story, which I think might actually come from an old Hitchcock movie, but I'm not sure, so if you know where it comes from, please feel free to leave it in the comments.


Surprise

Imagine watching a show where a bunch of guys are playing poker. As an audience we are watching, watching, and watching them play poker. They are talking about everyday things.

Then suddenly a bomb goes off.

That's surprise.


Suspense

In the suspense version, we are watching the same story, except before the poker starts, we see a scene where someone plants the bomb, with a countdown.

The players arrive and we watch essentially the same thing--them playing, talking about everyday things. The only difference is that every once in a while, we get a glimpse of the countdown on the bomb.

That's suspense.


In one version we don't know the bomb is coming. In another we are worried about it.

Usually the follow-up question to this lecture, is, which is better? Surprise or suspense?

Well, with this example, suspense, obviously.

The "surprise" version was actually pretty boring until the bomb went off.

But here is where my opinions start to deviate from this example.

Surprise

The surprise example isn't actually that great. I mean, don't get me wrong, this is a prefect, fast, and easy way to explain the difference to beginning writers, but good surprises are more than that. And in this example, we start with nothing.

A surprise is more effective when you start with at least something. I mean, to write a good surprise, the story still needs to be interesting. It should have other material. It should probably have foreshadowing of some sort.

In fact, some of the best surprises have foreshadowing, but we've misinterpreted it, were blind to it, or didn't have the full context for it.

A great example that comes to mind is The Sixth Sense. People may nitpick at the movie today, but when it came out, audiences' minds were blown. And it wasn't so much over the suspense. It was over the surprise of finding out Bruce Willis's character was actually dead. Sure, you can call those sorts of things "twists"--but I'd argue every twist has an element of surprise. That's why it's a twist.

Some of the best uses of surprise are twists.

It's where you provide the audience with something.

Sometimes the information you provide does not even have to correlate with the surprise. They can be two different things, but what matters is that the audience has something so that they aren't just sitting there getting bored watching people play poker. Usually that something does need to be resolved or play a part in the story, but my point is, the audience should still have story movement and direction.

Sometimes the best surprises happen in stories that take us in one direction, but then suddenly pop up with something unforeseen, completely unforeshadowed.

Surprises often have a place in mysteries, where you think the villain will be one person, only to discover it's someone else. In Sorcerer's Stone, the trio are convinced that Snape is the villain. Sure, there is suspense, about how to get the stone and deal with Snape. But the surprise is discovering that the villain is Professor Quirrell, not Snape like we all thought. Like the Sixth Sense, one of the things that makes this surprise great is that we can look back at the events of the book with more context and see how it all makes sense. But it was never stated on the page that Quirrell was even a suspect.

Surprise needn't lack power. 

I think the point where some people get confused about the surprise-vs.-suspense-and-which-is-better argument is that suspense is required to write a great story. Surprise isn't.

Suspense

Suspense means the audience is worried about what could happen. In the example above, the audience is worried the bomb could go off and kill someone, but they are hoping it doesn't, or that it's discovered, or that the characters get away. Suspense contains an element of worrying.

A classic example is when a character is trying to sneak somewhere without someone else, perhaps someone on guard, knowing. Maybe they are carrying something that might be noisy and give them away. Maybe they have to walk across a forest floor that is littered with twigs that can snap or little rocks that clack. As they make their way to their destination, the audience is sweating it out and on the edge of their seats. Can the character be quiet? Will the guard notice him? The character accidentally snaps a twig. Did the guard hear it? Will he spot the character?

Suspense comes out of tension. It's worry that something (usually) negative may happen. That means there is a hope in the audience that somehow something may not happen. Suspense isn't created by the inevitable. It's created through possibilities. Will the bomb go off? Will the character snap a twig?

Tension is often the promise or potential of problems colliding. Suspense takes place when the audience is invested in and worried about that, and often hoping it doesn't.

Maybe it should be noted, though, that suspense can also actually come from the possibility of something positive happening. Will Suzy get the job of her dreams? Will Frodo be able to throw the Ring into Mount Doom?

So you can hold readers with the promise of something good.

However, you can argue that most suspense set-ups innately have a positive or negative possibility. The positive part of the bomb, is the possibility that the characters will notice it under the poker table and get away safely. The negative part of Suzy's is that she may not get her dream job.

But I'd probably still argue that the bomb set-up is more closely related to the potential for the negative while the Suzy set-up is more closely tied to the positive.

You can play around with this sort of thing in stories. You can give the audience the potential for a really bad and a really good outcome to hike up suspense. Either Frodo destroys the Ring and saves the world, or he doesn't and the world is destroyed. Those are high stakes. The high positive and high negative amplify suspense.

You can have two negatives. Will Prim or will Katniss have to participate in The Hunger Games? Will Katniss have to die or will she have to kill other children? Both options of each are horrible.

You can have two positives. Will Bella find love with Edward or with Jacob? Finding love with either person would be a good thing, except you can't have both. So you get the "Team Edward" and "Team Jacob," and that's where the suspense comes from.

In a double-negative set-up, what pulls the reader in is the dread that something bad probably will happen and wondering what the outcome will be or if there is some way to avoid both possibilities. In a double-positive, what pulls the reader in is the hope that the protagonist gets the same outcome the reader desires.

Epic fantasies like Lord of the Rings, tend to have high positive and high negative set-ups. Dystopians or horrors tend to have double-negatives. Romances are more likely to have double-positives. This is a generality of course, and it's entirely possible to mix-up any one of these. For example, while I feel that in many romances, the protagonist has to pick between two good things (whether they be two people, love vs. a job, love vs. travel), there are still many many set-ups within the story that have a positive and negative, or even a double-negative. So this isn't so much a rule, as it is an observation, and may give you some idea of what your audiences expects.

Which is Better?

Usually this lecture ends with the idea that suspense is a better choice than surprise. While suspense is necessary for a good story, in some story parts, you might find that surprise is actually a more desirable option. The Sixth Sense was great because the people were surprised.

But here's the thing: Why are we telling writers to pick one?

Why not both?

Surely a fantastic story has suspense and surprise.

We know the bomb is under the poker table, but what surprises us is that there is more than one--someone else had the same idea, and it goes off earlier.

We know the bomb is under the poker table, but what surprises us is that one of the players actually came to play with his buddies with a similar intention. He pulls a gun and wants to kill one of the players who previously wronged him. He's actually a cohort of the bomber's, but the bomber didn't know he'd be there.

We know the bomb is under the poker table, but we didn't see the face of who planted it. The surprise is that we later learn it's the target's soft-spoken sister.

Consider when you can choose both.

My Blog Won an Award!

Hi everyone, quick note that some of you may have already seen on social media. I found out Sunday night that my blog, this one that you are reading, won the Writer's Digest award as one of the top writing websites for 2017! I'm so surprised and excited! I had no idea anyone even nominated me or anything.

Here's what's even crazier. I apparently won it in April, and I had NO idea until two days ago! There are only 20 websites listed in my category (writing advice), and I can't believe I was listed! It's like a dream come true!

Writer's Digest is the top magazine in the writing industry, and basically everyone who does writing stuff online knows about the awards. I'm so excited, and I get to put the award up on my site (already did actually).

I have daydreamed of someday having this award on this website--I had no idea that "someday" was last April! What?!

The only way I found out, was because Writer's Digest made a list of the top 20 out of the top 101 listed sites online on Sunday, and I noticed I was getting traffic from a Writer's Digest page (which shocked the pants off me), so I followed the link and saw myself listed! I don't know who or how many people nominated me, but thank you so much for helping make one of my dreams come true!

If you would like to nominate a writing website for 2018, send an email to writers.digest@fwmedia.com with "101 Websites" in the subject and which website(s) in the body. I'm not opposed to winning again ;) But I'm just floored I won and had no idea nor did I know anyone had even nominated me! Merry Christmas everyone!

 

P.S. The winner of my 10-page edit giveaway has been selected! I'm waiting to hear back from the winner before I announce who it is.

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Meeting Elijah Wood (Frodo), Seeing Back to the Future Actors, Among Other Things

So over the weekend, this happened . . .

Now, I'm not saying I'm the coolest aunt, but . . .

That's Elijah Wood (Frodo in Lord of the Rings) showing us The Ring.

I've heard that one of the reasons they cast Elijah Wood as Frodo was because he has such big, bright, blue eyes.

They weren't kidding.

When I was standing this close to him and talking to him, his eyes were so big and bright and blue--it was like he had these two huge flashlights shining out of his sockets.

Okay, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but they were so big and bright, like, not just in color, but happy-bright. And he just seemed so present and so happy, and energetic, but it was like, contained and controlled.

I get that he's an actor, and he was technically working at the time, but considering the fact he was meeting literally thousands of people, he was really present and happy. (But of course, after you've endured 16 months straight of filming, what's a convention?)

(More on Elijah Wood below)



Also last week, I had pit tickets to see Muse and 30 Seconds to Mars!

You probably aren't as big of a Muse fan as I am (who am I kidding? No one is.), but imagine being that close to your all-time-favorite band or musician, in a big pit full of the best audience you've ever been surrounded by in all your concerts throughout the years. Yeah. If you haven't experienced that, you need to.

The people I was next to in the pit were HUGE fans--so naturally I fit right in. We were freaking out the whole time Muse was on stage. One of the guys was jumping and dancing around almost the entire time.

30 Seconds to Mars said it was the best audience that they'd played for on this tour (and it was the last performance of the tour). When Muse was done, they said Salt Lake City was always their favorite audience in the U.S.A. Matt, their frontman, even broke his guitar, and chucked it in the air, and pieces were falling out before it hit the stage.

They are so dang talented. I would give anything to be as good at writing as Matt is at vocal range, guitar, piano, songwriting, and stage presence. 30 Seconds to Mars was really wonderful too! Definitely some of the best performers I've seen.

It was so fun being so close to my favorite band and being surrounded by so many people all rocking out and singing along too! If I could, I would turn around and buy that same ticket and experience it all over again.

Comic Con also had Christopher Lloyd ("Doc") and Tom Wilson ("Biff") from Back to the Future. And all I want to say is that Tom Wilson is hilarious! And super entertaining.

Fun fact: the word "Butthead" was invented by him, because he didn't want to say "a-hole" which was in the script. 😆 From there, he invented all the other off and wrong things Biff said.

Tom sang us two ridiculous songs that had everyone laughing, one included all the FAQs he gets about Back to the Future and their answers, so no one needed to ask him those questions. Oh and he sang us this dumb KFC biscuit jingle he still remembered from pre Back to the Future, when he did commercials. He was in the commercial that introduced the first ever KFC buttermilk biscuits.

They had the DeLorean there too. I wanted to get a picture with it, but every time I went by it, they were doing photo ops with the actors (which I hadn't bought) or I had other things going on. Oh well.

Of course, Comic Con always has tons of pop culture booths--like tons. I found this cool terrarium booth. It was amazing. And I totally fell in love with this one.

I did four panels this year.  My favorite was probably the one on Harry Potter characters. There was a really great energy between the panelists and the audience. Way fun. But something new I did this year was help out with the kid section. For the first time, Salt Lake Comic Con wanted to do panels for the kids, so they put me on the Pokemon one. GREAT turn out. All the seats were full and kids were sitting on the floor (mind you, the sitting area for the kid panels are much smaller than the others, but still). I brought Pokemon cards to give out to all the kids, and it was a hit. (Maybe too much so, because they got a little difficult to control after that). But it was so fun because they were so excited.

Salt Lake Comic Con is so amazing, because, like the concert, everyone is there having a great time, celebrating what they love, and everyone is so friendly and nonjudgmental, and you can strike up happy conversations with any stranger. 

This has definitely been the most fun I've had this year so far. I mean, it's pretty hard to beat those concert tickets AND meeting Elijah Wood. Everything was a blast. Everything. I didn't want to come home!

Overall, this trip reminded me how great life can be. Yes, there are low moments and difficulties, but life can be just so dang good sometimes. If you ever feel like it will always be doom and gloom, please know that there are wonderful moments and experiences to be had in the future. And never forget to make time to have fun! When you are having lots of fun, many, if not all, those things you worry about, were annoyed about, stressed about, melt away and feel small and insignificant--all that matters is that you are doing what you love.


Elijah Wood's panel highlights:

- His first film role was in Back to the Future 2, when he was 8 years old. (And the group who got a picture with him before us, actually had him hold a hoverboard haha)

- He actually did a lot of film as a child actor, and of course, his mom had to travel around and everything and be with him. (Imagine all the things his mom did to help him with his career and no one even  knows what she looks like or what her name is.)

- The Hobbit feet took a while to put on, and they had to glue them to their own feet. They were made of silicon, so their feet were all sweating like crazy.

- When he returned to the role of Frodo for The Hobbit, it was so easy to slip back into, that it was as if no time had gone by.

- "By the time The Hobbit was being filmed they had Hobbit feet boots." (Elijah Wood getting very animated) "The actors had it so easy. They had NO IDEA what it was like!"

- "They were still silicon though, so your feet still sweat like crazy! You'd take them off, and it was just like this huge river of sweat coming out!"

- "And the cast of The Hobbit, I mean, they have no idea what it was like." (Still animated and jokingly) "They have like layers and layers, and huge jackets, and boots, and everything. Meanwhile in the Lord of the Rings, we filmed in so many locations that were freezing, and we are in shorts and thin shirts, and we're progressively wearing less and less clothes and they are getting more and more raggedy."

- "And in Mordor, it was freezing! And it's supposed to be really hot and volcanic and we're supposed to be all sweaty. They didn't want to spray me with water, so they put baby oil all over my shirt like sweat. And it was freezing, and my costume was all tattered, and I was all sticky and smelled weird." (Everyone is laughing.)

- The most emotionally difficult scene for Elijah to film was near the end of the series, before Frodo collapses and Sam carries him. And having to keep getting into that emotional state for each shot was something.

- Someone asked him to say his favorite Frodo line, and he had a hard time picking one, and then said he was getting really nervous and was afraid he'd remember it wrong in front of everyone, and that he was afraid he wouldn't be able to do Frodo's accent anymore. (And I'm thinking, Frodo had an accent? . . . I guess a little.) So he did this one:

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Coming up with a Plot (from scratch)

Anonymous said: I often have ideas for a scene or a character but there is no plot. How can I expand these ideas into stories? I just don't know what to do with my ideas to get a story out of them. Most plotting tips require that I know at least the beginning and the end of my story. But I don't even have that.

Hi Anonymous,

I've heard of other writers having this same problem, so you are not alone! Here are some ideas that come to mind when I think about this.

First off, you have ideas for characters or scenes, and that's a starting point, and you probably (I'm assuming, because it wasn't that long ago) saw my post What to Outline When Starting a Story, which can give some guidance on what to consider. However, if you have no idea where to even come up with a concept for your plot that post can only be so much help.

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Rendering Temptations

I'm not sure how I got on the topic, but today I was thinking about temptations in fiction. Unfortunately, when I hear people talk about "temptations," I automatically think of shallow or cliche temptations used in fiction. In fact, usually I think of the sex symbol love interest you can often find in blockbusters that have a lot of action but little character development. Sometimes, though, I think of a protagonist who is having an affair.

But good temptations aren't shallow and they are heck-a-tense when done right. Sure, we understand that Frodo and many other people are tempted to keep The Ring for themselves--but that temptation becomes very powerful when employed in a key moment, like when Frodo makes it to Mount Doom, and no longer wants to throw The Ring in. You may have heard the story enough times that that moment of temptation might not have such a significant impact on you, but think back to the first time you witnessed it. After all the struggles and hardship, Frodo finally makes it Mount Doom, and we see him tempted to keep The Ring. We hate it. Maybe we almost even want to hate Frodo, but we can't really, because we understand it.

Temptations aren't just for the sinners, villains, and weaklings. Everyone has them, even people we admire, and they can be used for a powerful effect in fiction.

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Birthday Giveaway!!! Harry Potter, Sherlock, The Hobbit, Trigun, FMA

(This giveaway is now closed)

Fun fact: the more birthdays you have, the longer you live.

Today is my birthday! Yay!! I'm older than I've ever been!

To celebrate, I'm doing a pick-your-prize giveaway, where the winner gets to pick an item from one of my favorite stories. These are a few of my favorite things: Harry Potter, Sherlock, The Hobbit (but more than that, Lord of the Rings), Trigun, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. I tried to find a cool Hunger Games thing to giveaway, but had no luck.

Here's what the winner gets to pick from:

• Harry Potter Time Turner Necklace (Need a few extra minutes? No problem!)
• Trigun Decal (Meyaaaw)
• A key to 221b Baker Street--who wouldn't want that ;) --key chain, so you can entertain Sherlock when he's bored.
• (followers' favorite) Fullmetal Alchemist Pocket Watch (become a dog of the military)
• The Ring from The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings (Renders you invisible. Side effects include fleeing for you life from Ring-wraiths)
• A Dark Mark temporary tattoo (Become a Death Eater . . . temporarily)
• One of my favorite writing resources The Emotion Thesaurus. Learn how every mood is expressed physically, internally, mentally, and how it is suppressed, then learn how to write it! (This is an ebook copy, no a physical copy.) (I use this book almost every week.)

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Corny Quotes vs. Wise Quotes

Today's topic comes from my friend Michael. He says:

I like it when books have wise quotes that can apply to life in general. We all know them. Gandalf and Dumbledore have plenty. Have any of you put such quotes in your books? How has it turned out? I could imagine it turning out kind of obvious or corny if not done correctly?

I actually have thought a little about this topic. But I thought about it some more when I saw Michael's post, specifically about how quotes can become corny. I haven't come to a completely sound conclusion about how to write wise quotes the right way, but here are my thoughts so far.

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How to Pick the Right Character Names

(Listen to this tip on Youtube.)

sabryth said: I can't for the life of me get my character's names right. I have two main characters and I just can't find satisfactory names for them. Do you have any tips on how to find the right names?

(with examples from Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Lord of the Rings, Trigun, Divergent, How to Train Your Dragon, and more.)

Hmmm, names can be tricky. Setting and origin is an important factor. If I lived in China, my name might be "Li Ming Fan." Names like "Alohilani Smith" suggest a mix of ancestral heritage or perhaps the character's mother is Hawaiian and the father American. I have one friend who has a Native American name and she's super pale, yet she has Native American blood, so you could even play around with things like that to make your character a little unique.

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Plotting Tool: Death by Surprise

Today I'm bringing you a plotting technique I call "Death by Surprise," and it works as a great pinch to your readers. It can give them a twinge of suspense, shock, dread, and sorrow all at once. It works like this:

Your character is battling his way through your story, facing villain, monsters, or whatever kind of obstacles you are throwing his way. Then something out of the blue actually inflicts a fatal wound to him. It's something the character (and maybe the reader too) never saw coming. The intensity of this plotting technique comes from the shock and surprise the character has as he realizes, he's come so far only to die from this.

Let's look at examples to see some different ways "Death by Surprise" can be done.

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What I've learned about Writing Action Scenes

With examples from Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, Pirates of the Caribbean, Lord of the Rings, DBZ, and Die Hard.

I came to the realization last year that I didn't really know much about writing action or fight scenes. I knew some basic things like how you should keep your sentences short and use words with few syllables (that gives the scene a fast pace), how you need to make sure your action sequence is realistic, how you shouldn't give a blow-by-blow description because that gets boring. I took Tae Kwon Do as a teenager, so I do know a little about fighting people. I'm also a pretty good shot with a gun.

But I wanted to know more. I wanted to dig deeper. 

I wondered, what really makes an action scene great? What makes one better than another? What makes one bad? Not in the writing style, but in the content itself.  Are there cliche action scenes? Is it bad to use one? How do you improve an action scene?

I didn't know.

I asked people for references, blog posts, books, something, about writing great actions scenes. I couldn't find a book, and most people couldn't give me much guidance. But my friend James went out of his way to find a few sources for me, like this podcast from Writing Excuses, and a blog called Grading Fight Scenes, and he did his own podcast on the subject with author C. Michelle Jefferies.

But I wanted more. (I get kind of obsessive about writing.) I wanted to develop an eye for writing action scenes myself.

So I decided to start studying instead of just reading or watching action scenes.

And I quickly ran into my first problem.

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What You Need to Know Most About Character Voice

I'm kind of embarrassed to admit I didn't have much of an understanding of character voice at the beginning of this year. None of my professors in college really talked about it. I think I remember learning the definition in high school and reading it briefly in a few writing tips.

In truth, I've probably heard the fact that "Voice is one of the biggest draws for getting an agent or editor" more than I've actually heard tips on writing voice. Since then, I've gotten to the heart of what voice is. Or so I think. You'll have to judge for yourself. Here's what I found for anyone who might be struggling like I once was, or anyone who wants to learn more.

Sometimes when people think of character voice, they think of first person narration, but really, all characters have a voice of their own, even if they aren't telling the story.

To illustrate, here are three lines from Harry, Ron, and Hermione:

• "Don't go picking a row with Malfoy, don't forget, he's a prefect now, he could make life difficult for you..."
• "Can I have a look at Uranus too, Lavender?"
• "I don't go looking for trouble. Trouble usually finds me."

If you've read the books, I bet you can tell who said what.

Voice is made up of two things: What the character talks (or sometimes thinks) about, and how she says it. In other words:

What the Character Thinks or Talks about + How She Says it = Voice

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2 Types of Truth in Fiction: Do You Know Which One You are Telling?

Did you know there are two types of truth in fiction?

Whatever stories we write include statements about the world, whether or not we want them to. Brilliant authors use theme to their advantage; they use story as a means to tell others about poverty, slavery, love, and courage. Less attuned authors, on the other hand, might imply messages unintentionally. Stephenie Meyer, for example, has been ridiculed for presenting females as weak and dependent, although she never meant to. I happen to like Twilight, but the arguments are legitimate.

Writers, like other artists, use fiction to tell truths.

“It is not our abilities that show us what we truly are, but our choices,”
“Sometimes it is harder to follow than it is to lead,” 
"to hurt is as human as to breathe,” 
“Many that live deserve death. Some that die deserve life,” 
“It takes ten times as long to put yourself back together as it does to fall apart,”

are all truths writers have penned. But there are different kinds of truths. Some truths are steady and consistent while others are more subjective or relative.

When it comes to the arts, I see two kinds of truths: the Absolute Truth and the worldly truth. (Please note that when I say “worldly” I mean “of the world” without the “wicked” connotation.) The Absolute Truth is comprised of eternal, ideal teachings—love conquers all, be true to yourself, never give up—and presents us with how life should be. The worldly truth is comprised of teachings that hold true in the imperfect world we live in—feed and entertain a people to make them lose political power, sometimes the oppressed grow more ruthless than the oppressors—and presents us with how life is.

Both truths are important. Both truths are powerful. Lord of the Rings can inspire me to press on during trials just as effectively as The Hunger Games can provoke me to reevaluate our entertainment industry. Here are some points I use to define Absolute Truth and worldly truth, with some pictures for examples.

Absolute Truth

Characters rewarded for choosing the right and enduring to the end

Good overcomes evil

Uplifts and encourages

Inspires others to be better

Worldly truth

Illuminates one's understanding of the world

Increases awareness of issues in the world

Sparks reflection and incites worldly changes

Leaves audience "sadder but wiser"

Sometimes, these truths can overlap. In Les Miserables, for example, Jean Valjean witnesses worldly truths while seeking Absolute Truth. The worldly truths are evident in the poverty and lack of freedom the characters' experience, while the Absolute Truths appear in the themes of mercy, redemption, and love. This works well in Les Miserables partly because in the end we follow the characters beyond death, bringing both the worldly and Absolute truths to a satisfying close.

But what about stories that don’t tell truths? Unfortunately, they exist. And they’re dangerous because under the guise of entertainment, they deceive us. . .

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A Trip to Hobbiton, New Zealand

One does not simply post about Hobbiton, which is why I invited someone who has actually been there to share her travel adventures with us. I hope you like pictures. Lots of pictures. And hobbit holes.

Heather Ostler and I have a lot in common: Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, pugs, ballet, writing, and a love for traveling. She is the author of The Shapeshifter's Secret, which you can find online, in stores, and even at the Barnes and Noble in Hawaii. The cover for the second installment in the series, The Siren's Secret was recently revealed on her blog.

A few months ago she visited Australia and New Zealand. So, of course, she toured Hobbiton:

The Hobbit Movie Set in New Zealand

In the heart of New Zealand's north island you will find rolling, grassy hills, bleating sheep, and small, round, colorful doors. This is Hobbiton.

When Peter Jackson and his crew began looking for a location to film the shire, they flew in a helicopter to get a bird's eye view of the perfect spot. When they found the Alexander family sheep farm, they asked the family to sign a contract without releasing what movie they were filming. The Alexander family said yes, and the nine month construction began for The Lord of The Rings' set.

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(Don't) Tell Me How You Really Feel

I’ve been thinking about dialogue lately. Particularly, I’ve been interested in dialogue where characters don’t say what they mean. In Making Shapely Fiction by Jerome Stern, Stern notes,

“Advice about dialogue generally starts with discussing what your characters say. It might be better to start off with what your characters don’t say and the way they don’t....the more intense the feelings, the more likely people are to say the opposite of what they really mean. If you want to keep a high level of tension, keep the dialogue evasive, filled with suppressed information and unstated emotion.”

He also says that how a character sits, stands, fidgets, pauses, or adverts eyes can be as important as his or her words.

Three examples of narratives that follow Stern's advice are The Office, The Hunger Games, and The Lord of the Rings.

Here are some clips to illustrate. The first video takes place when Michael Scott, one of the main characters of The Office, leaves Dunder Mifflin. Watch how Jim avoids (and gets Michael to avoid) saying what they actually think and feel. The second video is very short, but you can clearly tell through Ryan's tone and facial expression that his words are an understatement of what he actually thinks.


Often The Office plays with the gap between what characters say and actually think for humor.

For The Hunger Games I couldn't find the clip I wanted, but it's the scene at the starting where Katniss and Gale are talking in the forest. In the book, Gale says "We could do it, you know...Leave the district. Run off. Live in the woods. You and I, we could make it." In the same conversation, when Katniss says she never wants to have kids, Gales says, "I might. If I didn't live here." And later, Gale gets frustrated and snaps at Katniss.

What Gale really wants is to be in a relationship with Katniss, but he can't say it straight out. And Katniss, who never intends to live a lifestyle that includes a significant other, doesn't catch on. Gale's real frustration lies in the fact that Katniss doesn't pick up on what he's getting at. That's why he snaps back at her.

And for my last example, I have the very last scene of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Here is the dialogue between Frodo and Sam.

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Playing with Foils

 The Basics—

Foil: “a foil is a character who contrasts with another character (usually the protagonist) in order to highlight particular qualities of the other character.” (This definition is from wikipedia, but as an English graduate, I can tell you it's accurate)

Creating a foil for your character helps highlight your characters’ qualities. In Harry Potter, Harry and Voldemort are foils for each other. Harry is protected by love while Voldemort is harmed by it. Harry sacrifices himself to save others. Voldemort sacrifices others to save himself. Harry ultimately greets death like an equal. Voldemort does everything he can to escape it.  Because they are opposites, it's easier for readers to notice their attributes; Harry knows love, has courage, and serves others while Voldemort, in reality, doesn't have any of those.

In Les Miserables, Jean Valjean and Javert are foils. Valjean is full of mercy. Javert is full of justice. Valjean believes people can change and change for the better. Javert doesn't. Valjean breaks laws. Javert goes above and beyond to keep them. Their differences are more obvious when they have each other for comparison.

Often you'll see the protagonist foils the antagonist, (and often they will share similar origins,) but foils can be any two characters.

Taking it Further—

While by definition, foils refer to two characters contrasting one another, you can take it further. You can use foils in other aspects of your story. You can foil settings, creatures, dialogue, relationships, and pretty much anything else. In Lord of the Rings, the elves, with their beauty and grace, foil the orcs—each is more striking because of the other. Do you want to create a stunning setting? Create a foul one to contrast it. The more prevalent the foul, the more beautiful and special the stunning.

This concept is what makes Katniss in The Hunger Games such a remarkable character. The fact she volunteers to take her sister’s place is more astounding when we learn no one else has done such a thing in District 12. Ever. She is extraordinary compared to others.

In my story, I want to highlight how exceptional a particular relationship is, so I’m making sure to include horrible relationships in my plot as well.

Giving a Character Two Foils—

Another way to take this concept further is to give your character two foils and fit her in the middle of the two extremes. I can’t take the credit for this idea; I learned about it from my professor in my Shakespeare class, because Shakespeare used this method.

In Henry IV Part 1, Prince Hal is a character with two foils. On one side of him, there is Hotspur, who is obsessed with glory and honor, on the other side, there is Falstaff, who rationalizes that honor isn’t that important; after all, it doesn’t provide food or guarantee his life. Hal fits in the middle, and as such, the audience perceives him as “just right”--he is the perfect balance.

Like Hal, Frodo has two foils. While going to Mordor, he travels with Smeagol and Sam, who are opposites. Smeagol is obsessed, tormented, and consumed by the Ring. Sam, however, is free of the Ring’s power, having never held it. He sees the Ring for what it really is and regards Smeagol with disgust. Frodo fits in the middle. He relates to Smeagol, perceiving the creature as what he could become, and at times longs to keep the Ring. But Frodo is like Sam in his determination to destroy it. Sam and Smeagol help illustrate Frodo’s complexity.

(And as opposites, Hotspur and Falstaff, and Smeagol and Sam, foil each other as well.)

A Warning—

Be careful what direction you take your foils. For example, you wouldn’t want to make a woman look stronger by making all the men in the story complete idiots. So be smart about it.

So, I'm just wondering, what are everyone else's favorite foiling characters?

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