Examples

Here's a quick example of how the nine sentence synopsis works.

1. The trouble starts when.....  Linda wants ice cream.
2. The protagonist makes a plan to cope by... going to the freezer.
3. The trouble gets worse when...there is no ice cream there!
4. The protagonist regroups and presses on harder by...checking her purse for money
5. The protagonist reaches the point of no return when...she gets in her car to go to the store.
6. The protagonist is pushed to the brink when...all the lights are red on the way to the store.
7. She appears to have lost when...there is no Coconut Bliss!
8. She fights on by...looking behind all the other ice cream containers.
9. Everything is on the line and only one will win when...she stands up on tiptoe, drags the last container out by the tips of her fingers, and barely avoids pulling over the display!

Even this little silly story about ice cream has rising and falling action. It also describes my GMC and how it changes. For example:

Goal: Get ice cream (what I want)
Motivation: Hungry (because)
Conflict: None in the freezer (but)

My goal and motivation remain the same, but the conflict changes as the story goes on. In a more complicated story, the protagonist examines if her goal is worth what she thought it was. In a tragedy, the story would go like this:

1. The trouble starts when.....Linda wants ice cream
2. The protagonist makes a plan to cope by...going to the freezer
3. The trouble gets worse when...there is no ice cream !
4. The protagonist regroups and presses on harder by...looking her purse for change
5. The protagonist reaches the point of no return when...she is out of money!
6. The protagonist is pushed to the brink when...she ransacks the sofa cushions for change
7. She appears to have lost when...there is nothing there either.
8. She fights on by...checking her bank account
9. Everything is on the line and only one will win when...she can't afford the ice cream.

This little tool tells you how you want to run your story, and what needs to happen between each section. The writer can add the setting by talking about how blisteringly hot it is out, by what her house looks like, what kind of ice cream is haunting her.

Story Basics, Part III: A quick and dirty introduction to story structure

Some writers love outlines - sailing from island to island in an archipelago to reach the mainland. Some like to sail into the fog, boldly striking out on their own to find their story.

Both ways are correct. Both will make fabulous stories.

For those of us who run aground at the slightest notice, story structure helps keep the boat on track. I love to use this little tool called the nine sentence synopsis. This will help you figure out the turning points of your story, where your characters are going, and what needs to happen next in order for everything to make sense to your reader.

The Nine Sentence Synopsis 

1. The trouble starts when.....
2. The protagonist makes a plan to cope by...
3. The trouble gets worse when...
4. The protagonist regroups and presses on harder by...
5. The protagonist reaches the point of no return when...
6. The protagonist is pushed to the brink when...
7. She appears to have lost when...
8. She fights on by...
9. Everything is on the line and only one will win when...

I know I got this from a genius writer, but I can't find the original handout to give credit. Damn! I'll keep trying to find that.

This quick and dirty tool helps you shape the rising and falling tension of your story. I'll go more into explanations next time!

Why I like writing more than anything.

In what other career can one research the rise of Safavid Persia, the intricacies of the Sophia archetype, and the appeal of extreme SM - all in one day?

Sexy, sexy, sexy.

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Out and about some more!

Cool things can happen even when you don't seek them out. For example, the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile made an appearance today!

Story Basics, Part II

In the endless quest to understand your characters, I'm revisiting a post I did a couple of years ago. One of the most useful tools in a writer's toolbox is an exercise called GMC.
 

For each of your main characters, you determine their Goal, Motivation, and Conflict. You come up with with a basic description of their personality (which for me is incredibly difficult), a Tagline (which could be lessons she needs to learn, or perhaps his personal motto), and then, you start in on determining what they want, what makes them want it, and what is keeping them from achieving their goals.

The amazing Debra Dixon came up with this shorthand in her amazing book called (oddly enough), Goal, Motivation & Conflict: The Building Blocks of Good Fiction.

One hint before you dive in - when you are working on this exercise, make sure your character's external goal is a concrete one. "World Peace" is a nice goal, but it's completely undo-able. Make it something that he can attain. Instead of World Peace, write "Obliterate X Terrorist Cell" or "Get President to sign X Peace Treaty on time and alive". For something less Earth shaking, try, "Buy childhood dream home" or "Open coffee shop in six weeks". What kind of story you have often depends on the antagonist's Goal.

For example, let me show you one of the GMC charts that Ms. Dixon uses in the book - Rick Blaine from Casablanca.

Rick Blaine
Description: Cynical Loner
Tagline: (lessons he needs to learn)
One person can make a difference in this world
Women in war must make desperate choices (think of the newlywed)



Goals: (what he wants)
External

1. Keep bar open
2. Punish Ilsa
3. Get Ilsa and Victor on that plane

Internal

1. Regain the love he had in Paris
2. To do what's right in the world

Motivation: (because)
External

1. Needs money and people depend on him
2. Because she left him in Paris
3. Insure her safety

Internal

1. The pain of losing Ilsa has never gone away
2. Daily, he sees what war is doing to people around him

Conflict (but)
External

1. The French Prefect has all the power
2. Punishing her puts her in more danger
3. Victor has been put in jail

Internal

1. Ilsa is married
2. He must put aside his own happiness

Looks easy, doesn't it?

It's actually a difficult chart to fill out because you are constantly learning more about your characters and your story. The big part of a good character arc is discovering how their GMCs change from the beginning of the story to the end.