Christian Writer's Workshop - 12 & 26 September 2000
Guest Speaker: Rosey Dow (http://www.roseydow.com

(Introduction - 9/12/00) WTYates: Welcome to the Christian Writer's Workshop. Our guest tonight is Rosey Dow...You all know Rosey! :) Our Chaplain, MBagnull, is not here tonight so I will ask Marcia to open in prayer for us. Marcia... MBananas: Father, we thank You for this chance to be together and share this precious gift that You have given each of us. We pray that we will each learn something from tonight to use to Your glory. Amen. (Introduction - Tuesday, 9/26/00) WTYates: Welcome to the Christian Writer's Workshop! Our guest tonight is Rosey Dow, author of the new mystery, "Reaping the Whirlwind" and other books. Her topic is "The Art of the Story". We will open with a prayer from our Greeter, Marcia... Marcia: Father, thank You for this wonderful time to be together again. Thank you for Rosey and her willingness to share her writing expertise with us again. Help us to learn what You would have each of us take from this meeting tonight and guide Rosey in her presentation. Amen. WTYates: Rosey will make some opening remarks, give her presentation, and then be open for questions...Rosey, take it away... Rosey: I'm going to ask that you hold your questions until I'm finished with the lecture portion of the workshop. Jot them down, we'll get to you. Thanks so much for coming, everyone.

(Rosey's Presentation...9/12/00 & 9/26/00) Rosey: I'm excited about what we're studying tonight. I got much of my information from a SECULAR book. But there was so much for us to glean from it in a spiritual sense. You'll see what I mean in a minute. I'm going to ask you to hold your questions--jot them down-- until the end of the lecture. Then we'll open for questions and have some interaction.     Let's go! From the beginning of time, storytelling has been a powerful medium. Everyone, young or old, is captivated by a story. Think of your own differing reactions to a school lecture or a school play. A well told story makes time fly on silken wings. Two full hours can vanish in a heartbeat. This technique bolsters both fiction and nonfiction.     Though he writes nonfiction books on deep spiritual truths, Philip Yancy's use of story pushes his books to the top of the charts. Examples and anecdotes bring his points across in Technicolor because he has perfected story technique. He talks about childhood objects lessons, about relationships and his own struggles. He grips his readers with emotion while pouring his philosophies into their minds.     I've heard nonfiction authors say, "I'm not worried about fiction techniques. They don't apply to me." The wise writer knows better. Story gets as point across like ten thousand words of rhetoric can never do. We don't need to talk about the effect of UNCLE TOM'S CABIN on American history. And after the release of BAMBI, deer hunting reduced 80% in one year. This is a powerful medium. We're going to talk about several aspects of story--starting with plot structure--so don't get discouraged. I'm going to deal with some vital points when we finish with plot.     Much of my information came from STORY by Robert McKee. This book is well worth the money if you're interested in more depth and detail about what we discuss tonight.     Story is a creative demonstration of truth. That's a direct quote from McKee. It is a series of events that build to a climax which produces a fundamental and irreversible change in the hero's values. To let that statement soak in, I'll repeat it. Story is a series of events that build to a climax which produces a fundamental and irreversible change in the hero's values. Does that sound like Christian fiction?     In short, we all write our inner convictions about life. Everyone subscribes to a worldview. In his book, WHAT THEN SHALL WE BELIEVE? Chuck Colson explains several worldviews: Christianity, naturalism, post-modernism, and more. Worldview simply means an outlook on life. Three things determine worldview: 1. How man got here 2. What went wrong 3. How to fix it. Each man has an answer for those three questions, and his answer will come through in his stories.     The substance of the story comes from the heart of the author. If you write about issues that are important to you, your story will be meaty. If you decide to write about a popular issue but have no vital interest in it, your story will be like a balloon minus the air. Writing is risky business, folks. It calls for the courage to bare your very soul. No one can record a person's entire life. That story would take too many pages and, besides, it would be BORING. We must select a few incidents to show our hero's entire life-his hidden desires, his secrets, his Self. These incidents are building blocks set together in a definite design. Scenes lead to Chapters which lead to Acts which lead to the Story.      A scene is an event that arouses specific EMOTIONS and portrays a specific WORLDVIEW.     This event changes the hero's life in some way that touches his values. In the first scene of my latest release, Reaping the Whirlwind, Deputy Sheriff Trent Tyson finds a dead woman inside a locked house. He just got fired from the Chattanooga police force for digging too deep into affairs that a crooked police chief didn't want brought to light. But instead of drawing back when this new situation is treated lightly, Tyson continues to dig. He had to make a conscious decision based on his values.     A chapter is a series of scenes (2-5) which ends with a greater impact than any of the previous scenes. It is a high point, a pinnacle of tension. This can be positive or negative, good or bad. The hero may be feeling good or he may be dejected. The Nancy Drew and Hardy Boy books took this to extreme. Their chapters always ended with someone appearing with a gun or the floor opening up to swallow our hero. We call them cliffhangers. When each chapter ends this way, the reader finds it amusing after a while. However, to keep the reader turning pages, each chapter must end on a point of tension-a turn of conversation, an unexpected or unwelcome guest, something to pull the story forward. This is often called a hook.     An Act is a series of chapters that peak into a climactic scene to produce a major reversal of values. Generally, we see books laid out in three-act format. These acts should be well defined.     Think of Jane Eyre as we go through these. The first act sets up the situation and ends with the event that rocks the hero to the core. It's the event that sets him on a quest that he doesn't want, that he never intended to embark on. His unwillingness is important In the first act Jane Eyre is a child in her aunt's house and at school. She gets a job at Thornfield hall at the end of the first act.     The second act follows the hero through a quest with several advances and setbacks. This is where Jane is at Thornfield and falls deeply in love with Mr. Rochester. She meets her beautiful rival and wonders at Rochester's moods. In the end she agrees to marry him and is stopped at the very altar. That is a major reversal. The final act brings the hero to the end of himself--the Dark Moment--when all is lost. Then from the ashes of ruin comes the answer to everything he has worked so hard for. This final interchange shows what he is really made of and changes him forever (for better or for worse). Jane Eyre leaves Thornfield and her beloved. She thinks she'll never see either again. Then she'd drawn back and learns that Thornfield has burned and Mr. Rochester is now blind. From the ashes of her lost hopes, she finds what she's wanted after all: Mr. Rochester needs her and is humbly grateful for her presence. She can be all to him that she couldn't be when he was so proud. From tragedy springs life.     Again, a story is a series of scenes which BUILD TENSION to a climax that produces a fundamental and irreversible change in the hero's values. To recap, scenes produce minor changes in values, chapters produce moderate changes in values and acts cause significant changes, a major reversal. What the hero thought he wanted is no longer valid. He now has a new outlook, a new goal. Remember, each scene is designed to produce specific emotions, so a story is an idea wrapped around an emotional charge. This emotional charge is the power. The greater the emotion, the bigger the impact. Blockbusters always deal with life-and-death issues-the survival of the planet, the safety of a country or an endangered species, a man's family and personal existence--some essential value.     The structure of the story should provide greater and greater pressures that force the hero to more and more difficult choices involving greater and greater risks until the hero's baseline nature is revealed. We must see what he's made of. If you like lists, the story could be broken down into 7 parts:     1. the ordinary world-Dorothy meeting Toto in the lane after school. an inciting incident (the moment the world goes off balance) which should be within     2. the first quarter of the story-the tornado the quest where the hero desperately wants to restore balance to his world but things become progressively worse as forces of opposition spring up to thwart our hero from     3. getting what he desperately needs for the balance to return-her trip through Oz     4. the dark moment when all is lost-the balloon takes off without her the climax when life comes from the ashes and the hero is transformed-she realizes     5. that her attitude toward home is the key. If she realizes that there's no place like home, she can go.     6. the resolution or the new ordinary world. The hero is now on a new course, forever     7. changed-she wakes up in her own bed with her family around her In a tragedy, #5 and #6 would be switched.     First, he would think his wildest dreams were fulfilled and then comes the dark moment when he knows he's lost everything. Romeo and Juliet get married and think their problems are solved. Two hours later, they're both dead. Can you get more depressing? The story's hero must have certain qualities. He must have a conscious desire. This is his external goal. He must also have an internal conflict, a point of personal growth (remember his value system). He must have the ability to go after the goal and a slight chance of winning it. He must pursue his goal to the maximum human limit. And last, he must be empathetic. We must understand him, feel his hurts and his joys. The story should begin at the moment when the character takes conservative action toward his goal and finds unexpected opposition. Powerful opposition.     In IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE George Bailey wants to travel and he applies at a college so that he can get a job that involves travel. Then his father dies. George's overwhelming sense of responsibility is his powerful opposition. Later the opposition grows when Potter tries to bring him down, but George's most aggressive opponent is himself. How much he wants to reach the goal will determine how much risk he's willing to take to get it. He has to want it with all his being.     Think of Harrison Ford in THE FUGITIVE. How much did he want to find his wife's murderer? He didn't care if it cost him his life. He was ready to risk everything. Here's where the author's values come into play. We must write about issues that are emotionally gripping to us in order to portray the emotional journey of our hero. We must be able to answer the question: "How would I act if I were in that situation?" If we don't know, the story characters will turn into paper dolls, flat and lifeless.     Here's the key point you've been waiting for. The story's internal energy comes from the gap between what the character EXPECTS his actions to do and what ACTUALLY happens. The wider the gap, the more powerful the story. It's the constant struggle and reversal that keeps us reading. The author has the perverse task of keeping his hero off balance and the reader guessing--right to the final struggle. At the climax when life comes from the ashes, the reader sighs, content, and he is also changed by what he has just experienced. That's the power of story.

(Q&A, Discussion - 9/12/00) WTYates: Rosey, can you apply story technique to 'non-personal' non-fiction? I mean, things like science and other popularizations of technical stuff. Rosey: If you're talking about textbooks, it would be more difficult. It depends how much application is involved. WTYates: I just read Brian Greene's "The Elegant Universe" which explores modern theories in physics. It reads very well, and I think to some degree he uses some of these techniques to carry you from one chapter to the next as he unfolds the history of modern physics. AnnieM: How does pacing fit with this? Rosey: Good question. Pacing should be a series of positives and negatives. Like peaks and troughs of a wave. The hero should succeed on one point, then be knocked back. Rest periods and tension. Dip and sway. AnnieM: Basically like real life?... Rosey: You got it. Also, the pacing depends on the genre. A suspense novel will be much faster paced than a cozy mystery. AnnieM: How does pacing differ between the romance and the mystery? Rosey: Again, it depends on the level of suspense and the romantic tension. I don't like that word "romantic tension" because it brings sensuous scenes to my mind. But the magnitude of what's at stake, how deep their feelings are for each other, etc. would make a romance faster or slower paced. WTYates: How much of this is planned out before you put pen to paper (or hit the keyboard)? Rosey: Much of it. You should know what the theme is, what opposition your hero will face (basically not necessarily detailed) and what type of person he must be to overcome. This is the crux of the story. If you don't know these things your tale will be weak.

Let's talk about YOU'VE GOT MAIL. Can you identify the parts of the story? Can you identify the parts of the story? the ordinary world WTYates: the electronic world of the Internet Rosey: We're talking about Kathleen Kelly's life. She's our hero. The internet was a part but not the whole picture. AnnieM: Kathleen is not satisfied with the way her life is. Rosey: Did she know it? Was her dissatisfaction realized or hidden? AnnieM: She only had a vague feeling...hidden Rosey: Right. that's her inner conflict. What was her ordinary world? Patty: Books AnnieM: Her bookstore Rosey: Right, Patty. The bookstore. She felt safe in the bookstore. What was the inciting incident? AnnieM: Meeting the guy on the internet Patty: The new bookstore went up Rosey: Right. Fox Books went up across the street. A threat to her ordinary world. The romance is really a sideline to the main part of the story. That seems odd, I know, but it's true. Suddenly Kathleen's world goes off balance. There is a THREAT to her bookstore. Remember, her bookstore is strongly linked to her mother. And her mother defines her identity at the beginning. That is her value system. What was her quest? AnnieM: She wanted to know what her purpose in life was. that is why she questioned Frank Rosey: Okay, she starts seeking. That's the inner conflict. MBananas: To survive the threat to her livelihood when the new book store went in business. Rosey: What about her outer conflict? Right, Marcia. MBananas: How will she continue to support herself? Rosey: She tries to save her ordinary world--her bookstore. Her values are coming into question here. How will she pay her rent? But more than that, what will her new identity be? she's having a major crisis here. What is the dark moment when all is lost? Patty: When she loses the store AnnieM: When her bookstore closes Rosey: Right. She has no more apron strings to hold onto. She has to face the cold world without her mother's defining image. the climax when life comes from the ashes and the hero is transformed This is harder to define. AnnieM: She decides to write her own book Rosey: Exactly!! Patty: I think its when he brings her the daisies Rosey: She gets a life. That is part of the turning process--the daisies. She begins to see him as a person, not the enemy. But in her journey, writing is a statement of her new independence. Her ability to stand on her own. What is the resolution? This is the new ordinary world. AnnieM: When she realizes that she loves her former enemy, but she still has to go through with meeting the guy from the internet? Rosey: Almost there, Annie. I think it's when she discovers that Tom Hanks is HIM. Patty: When she accepts Joe as a person rather than an enemy AnnieM: Ahh! Rosey: Their promise of a life together--both more whole than when they started--is the new ordinary world. Now, Tom Hanks had his own journey. In a romance, often both parties share the main character role. That is one of my all time favorites. BTW :+)

Rosey: I want to make up a plot and brainstorm on it. Here's the situation: It's the German invasion of France. The hero is a rough-and-tumble spy who is trying to get out of France with time-sensitive information before the German troops reach his area. He steals a plane to fly out then discovers a woman stowaway on the plane. She's a dignitary's cold, proud daughter who is also fleeing the Germans. Shortly before the English Channel the plane is shot down. Both people are shaken up but not hurt. The spy realizes that he can't get the information out in time and must go back to take action himself. What are the points of this story? I've given you some. You can make up others. the ordinary world WTYates: What is he to do with the girl? Rosey: That's part of the quest, Bill. AnnieM: He still has to get the information to the right hands WTYates: Will she help or hinder him? Rosey: Where did he start? Before things got hot. WTYates: He was in France. He still is. Rosey: He was just doing his spy thing. WTYates: Only now the Germans are really after him. MBananas: Does he really want to reach and pursue his original goal? Rosey: He had gathered some information and needed to get it out of the country. His information is vital. Something like a massive ammo dump that must be taken out. WTYates: Plan #2 AnnieM: and it still needs to get out...he disguises it and arranges for the girl to get out? Rosey: What is the inciting incident? WTYates: Discovering the girl. AnnieM: The plane crash? Patty: Plane crash Rosey: The invasion of France. Before the invasion, he could have used his normal channels. Now he has to improvise. Okay, the quest. You've already given me some of this. Patty: to get the info out Rosey: Stealing the plane is a positive move. AnnieM: he tricks the girl into getting the info out Rosey: finding the girl is a negative move WTYates: Getting shot down isn't. Rosey: getting off the ground is positive; getting shot down is negative. See the dip and sway? What do you think would be the Dark Moment? Make one up. WTYates: Captured? AnnieM: When the girl is captured? Rosey: good. All is lost. WTYates: Of course they get away later... :) Patty: Finding out the girl has betrayed him AnnieM: And he must rescue her, but he's injured Rosey: Great. We've got to be ruthless and put these poor folks through their paces. Okay, the climax? AnnieM: He manages to get to where she is, and takes on her captives? WTYates: He has to take out the ammo dump himself. Patty: Coming face to face with her after his capture AnnieM: and discovers she has hidden his information well Rosey: Yes, Bill. He has to meet the foe personally. Never cheat the reader by having a minor character save the day. AnnieM: good one, Bill. I'm lousy at war stories. Rosey: Then, the new ordinary world? AnnieM: He finds out she never betrayed him the Germans are routed Rosey: There's got to be a love story in here somewhere :+) WTYates: They either escape to England or they go underground in France for the duration of the war. Rosey: She loses her high and mighty attitude AnnieM: and they ride off into the sunset together Rosey: He gains respect for her and they're both changed forever. WTYates: War will do that to you... Rosey: One reason why war stories are so popular is because of the tremendous dynamics involved. Big crisis scenes, lots of values to test major changes. Okay, let's talk about our hero. What type of person would he have to be? WTYates: Like me? :) AnnieM: Very Strong willed Patty: secretive WTYates: Resourceful. Rosey: He must be a pilot. WTYates: Able to change his mind - not wedded to his original ideas. Patty: LOL Rosey: He must know how to act and react--well trained. AnnieM: Determined Rosey: He must have some diehard grit, right. Rosey: Yes, Bill, not too stubborn when it counts. Patty: John Wayne type of guy Rosey: Sensitive too, don't forget the girl. :+) Rosey: Right. WTYates: Able to analyze the situation. Rosey: Of course, we have to give him some fears, too. He can't be superman. AnnieM: He is afraid of trusting women Rosey: Maybe he's afraid of snakes and must swim through a pond full of them. Rosey: Right. He may have an aversion to cold, beautiful women. Patty: afraid to trust anyone right at this moment WTYates: That's Indiana Jones! :) Rosey: Okay, any other questions? WTYates: When can we read it? Rosey: Read what? WTYates: This story! :) Rosey: LOL! This one is just out of my head. AnnieM: When you write it, Bill Rosey: You can write it, Bill. AnnieM: lol Rosey: LOL! You're elected. AnnieM: cut that out, Rosey WTYates: I haven't even finished my mystery yet... MBananas: So Bill, when can we read the first chapter? <vbg> AnnieM: well, just keep a copy of this workshop handy, then tackle it after the mystery WTYates: (sigh!) MBananas: and if we each did that, we'd each have a different story! Rosey: That's the beauty of this craft. Thanks so much for having me, Bill. WTYates: Thanks, again Rosey! Your presentations are always full of great info! We'll close in a brief prayer... Father, Thank you for Rosey and her willingness to share with us. Help us to use this to improve our writing for your glory. In Jesus' name, AMEN!! (Q&A, Discussion - 9/26/00) WTYates: Rosey, how long did it take you to learn about story telling? Did you start knowing all this?/ Rosey: No way. I've taken several courses in these various elements. Then I attended a writers conference and sat in a continuing session that pulled it all together. Then I bought McKee's book, STORY Lots of study. Peg: Knowing all this and putting it to paper are two separate things :) How much trial and error does it take to get it right.? Rosey: Peg, you have to take one element at a time. It's like juggling six balls and keeping them all straight. I started out working on my characters first. Then I'd put together a plot. I'd write a first draft. And go back using find & replace to recheck my characters' dialogue and actions to make sure they were consistent. Then I'd work on setting, description, etc. I rewrote my first novel 5 times. Rewrote, not edited. It's a matter of honing the craft and dedication to getting it right. However that novel was a reader's favorite the year it was released. It's worth it. Patrick: When you talked about cliffhangers at the chapter's end, you made the comment that the reader finds it amusing? What do you mean by that? Rosey: I mean that when you're too obvious the cliffhanger becomes trite. We all smile when we think of Frank Hardy stuck in a life-threatening place---Again. So, our chapter endings should have tension but they should be varied so the reader doesn't start expecting certain things of us every time. Patrick: How did you find the delicate balance between keeping the reader guessing and being trite? Teena: !I am reading a mystery right now and have had a heck of a time sticking with it because they don't use any cliff hangers. It is dull, dull, dull. There are several reasons besides the omission of cliff hangers. Rosey: Patrick, you have to vary your methods. Sometimes use action, sometimes use emotion. Don't let your technique fall into any certain pattern. Karenw: I write devotional sin which the first 2/3's (200 words are a fictional vignette in which I show tension then solution. Any suggestion? Rosey: Karen, you should have the same elements as a novel. There should be a conflict, a problem. There should be a character who is trying to solve the problem in the face of conflict or opposition. The character should have our sympathy, etc. For such a short piece, your conflict probably wouldn't get too deep. As a basic principle, the greater the conflict, the longer the story. A 100,000 word novel takes a big conflict. WTYates: Rosey, are there special considerations when the conflict is mostly internal? Rosey: An internal conflict that is the main focus of the story would be very touchy to handle. If you're not careful it will become didactic and heavy. The best way to handle something like that is to put a big external conflict with the internal one to make a smashing, all-encompassing problem. Actually, that's what the best books do, isn't it? Kaydee: Can you give an example of that? Rosey: Wow, let me think. Anyone have an idea? Karenw: It's a wonderful life, as you mentioned before. You mentioned both an external and internal conflict. Is that it? Rosey: I just thought of that. Yes, George Bailey had a massive internal conflict. The author added the external conflict of the failing S&L plus Potter. I love that story. It's so rich. Teena: Hamlet Rosey: Right. The Hunchback Karenw: What makes Jan Karon's story telling in the Mitford series so compelling? Rosey: Excellent question. My husband is reading them now and we've been talking about it. Her stories are loosely plotted. The conflicts are varied throughout the book with no main theme running throughout. At least I haven't seen one. Her writing style is very endearing, We LOVE her characters. And she gives you a nugget every once in a while that you just love. Teena: What do you mean by loosely plotted? Rosey: A tight plot has one main external conflict. One character wants to get something really bad and something stands in his way. That desire plagues him throughout the book. He's got to have it. That forward impetus isn't as strong in the Mitford books. Teena: Do you mean these are more character driven than plot driven? Rosey: Yes. And, believe it or not, her main character is actually the town. Patrick: An agent reading my mystery novel told me that there actually too many plot twists in order for her to empathize with the character. Do you know of other books that suffer this? Rosey: Yes. I've read mysteries where the plot was so complicated that I got lost. Is that what you're talking about? Patrick: She didn't say she got lost. She was saying the twists (cliffhangers) detracted from knowing the main character. WTYates: Perhaps not enough time was given for the main character to absorb the challenge before the next one came along. Peg: Maybe the time spent on the 'red herrings' caused the character to become secondary. DixieMRN: sometimes it'd be helpful if the character's names were listed like plays, when they speak so I don't get lost in the verbiage. Rosey: I'd like to talk about a popular movie, You've Got Mail. Can you identify the parts of the story? Patrick: YGM is a pretty classic boy/girl story Rosey: What is the ordinary world? Kitane: external conflict=distance? Jane: boy meets girl and instantly dislikes her Peg: The world outside the internet? Lynette: the hero and heroine are both business owners, one large and one small, both butting heads.... Kitane: or was that the other one, oops Jane: they meet over the internet and fall in love Rosey: We're talking about Kathleen Kelly now as our heroine. What is her ordinary world? WTYates: Her bookstore Rosey: Right. She's happily minding her mother's bookstore. What is the inciting incident? DixieMRN: b meets g, conflict betw them, fall in love, resolve conflict Patrick: The big bookstore comes to town Rosey: Actually, the romance is not the main conflict for Kathleen Jane: saving her business Rosey: Yes, Fox Books rocks her stability. There is opposition to her desire for security. Rosey: What is her quest? Lynette: stay in business DixieMRN: to maintain her status quo Jane: to beat the opposition Rosey: Right, Dixie, she wants to keep things the same. She takes several steps to do this. Each one bigger than the last. She gets more desperate. Rosey: What is the dark moment when all is lost? WTYates: She loses the store. Rosey: Her world is lost to her. Remember that poignant scene where she remembers her mother twirling her in the empty store? DixieMRN: when she sits in Fox Bks kids section & realizes THEY have a good thing there Kitane: lost the ties with her mother Lynette: closing a door on part of her life Rosey: Her Dark Moment is when she loses the security of her mother's identity. She has lost herself in her mother. Kathleen is not an individual and she's afraid to be one. Rosey: What is the climax when life comes from the ashes and the hero is transformed? WTYates: Love! :) DixieMRN: then the scene in Fox Bks is actually the start of her enlightenment--after the darkest pt Rosey: The scene if Fox Books is where she grieves her loss. It's part of the healing process. Rosey: What is the climax? No one knows? Kitane: when he models his bookstore after hers, new setting, new life Lynette: they finally meet in the park, and she realizes WHO what's his name really is. and she knows she doesn't hate him. DixieMRN: the PARK at the end, when she see him Rosey: It's when she gets her own identity and becomes a writer. Both her inner conflict and outer conflict have to do with her personal identity. When she becomes a writer and steps out as herself, not a prototype of her mother, she is now mature enough to enter a love relationship. Before she wasn't ready. Remember Frank? Lynette: yes LOL Kitane: been awhile, forgot a lot of parts Rosey: That scene on the park bench is actually the climax of the book. Rosey: What is the resolution or the new ordinary world? DixieMRN: resolution: last scene in park?? Rosey: Right, Dixie. That's the resolution, not the climax. She now has a new world with new values. She is changed forever. Rosey: Okay, let's brainstorm a little. Here is a situation sketch. It's the German invasion of France. The hero is a rough-and-tumble spy who is trying to get out of France with time-sensitive information before the German troops reach his area. He steals a plane to fly out then discovers a woman stowaway on the plane. She's a dignitary's cold, proud daughter who is also fleeing the Germans. Shortly before the English Channel the plane is shot down. Both people are shaken up but not hurt. The spy realizes that he can't get the information out in time and must go back to take action himself. Rosey: What is the ordinary world? WTYates: Peaceful France. Kaydee: the plane? Lynette: hero is used to doing things himself, not trusting anyone Jane: the war? Rosey: I'd say the spying life of our hero. He's doing his normal thing, scoping out the area. Rosey: What is the inciting incident? Jane: finding a stowaway Peg: the secret information Patrick: Getting this secret info Lynette: the plane crash, it's unexpected DixieMRN: getting shot down Rosey: The invasion of France sets our hero's world to imbalance. Now he's got a problem. Patrick: I would say the stowaway and the crash are the complications Rosey: What is the gap here? Patrick: He's got to get the info to his side Rosey: The difference between his expectation and reality? DixieMRN: yes, his status quo is upset by the invasion Lynette: He expects a routine mission. He doesn't expect a stowaway and getting shot down and not completing his mission. Peg: the plane gets shot down. Rosey: All right! He's like a contestant at a game show. He tries door #1 expecting great things and gets a pie in the face. Rosey: the quest. What is his quest? Peg: getting the information out of France DixieMRN: to get the info OUT Lynette: ditto Rosey: Right. When he finds out he can't get out in time, his quest changes. He shifts gears and heads in a new direction. This is called the midpoint. The center of the book where the hero starts knocking on door #2. The quest must have two steps forward and one step back. Any ideas about what he would face on his quest? WTYates: Germans. Jane: what to do with the woman for one thing? DixieMRN: enemy territory again Lynette: maybe she's a spy too! Rosey: That woman is a big complication. Good, Lynette. Peg: pretty tough odds on acting on the information. Kaydee: Her father Rosey: yes. What if he gets wounded? Jane: and how is he going to take the action to prevent whatever is happening? Rosey: What if she turns out to be an agent for the other side? Yes, Jane. He isn't prepared to do it himself. Jane: yay , one right! Rosey: Anyone want to think of a dark moment when all is lost? Jane: how does he conceal his mission from her if she IS a spy Rosey: Our hero has to be quick thinking, doesn't he Jane? Jane: for sure Peg: She IS a spy and reports him to the 'Gestapo' Rosey: Great, Peg. DixieMRN: & she's tagging along--maybe getting in the way in any case WTYates: But she falls for him... Peg: one for me! Jane: or could they fall in love and still get caught? Rosey: good Jane. That was my choice. They fall in love and get captured. DixieMRN: or he falls for her & she betrays him Rosey: Now he has to watch out for her safety. Jane: and try to get themselves out of enemy territory Rosey: Yes, Dixie. It depends how you want to end the story, sweet or thoughtful. Rosey: What about the climax? Lynette: she could have remorse for what she's done, hatches her own plan and rescues HIM. Rosey: Yay! DixieMRN: when he discovers whether or not she's a spy Jane: him completing his mission in the face of death and being wounded terribly Rosey: Unless you're writing a tragedy, he'd have to complete his mission. In a tragedy, he'd THINK he'd completed his mission and at the last minute find out he's been unsuccessful. Rosey: What would be the resolution or the new ordinary world? DixieMRN: he completes the mission & she's true blue Patrick: The husband and wife spy team Rosey: Great, Patrick. Lynette: he's learned to trust...spoiled rich girl grows up Rosey: I like that one. Peg: Mr. & Mrs. North Rosey: LOL DixieMRN: The Thin Man Lynette: The Man in the Brown Suit Rosey: Right. They start a new life together doing...whatever, you can make it up. Maybe he wants to give up spying and become a tailor. Whatever it is, you must lay the groundwork for it in the earlier parts of the book. Patrick: Are you talking about foreshadowing the ending or the sequel? Rosey: I'm talking about set up and pay off. Where you lay the ground work and then use that for the basis of further action in the story. The set up in You've got Mail was the internet relationship of those two people. The pay off was having them meet and fall in love. Patrick: Gotcha. When you mentioned sequel I was a little sideways. / Rosey: Any more questions before we finish? WTYates: Rosey, thanks so much for coming! Great as usual! Rosey: Thanks for having me. I've enjoyed it! WTYates: Anyone who wants the CWW newsletter, email me at WTYates@aol.com. Rosey: Please stop by my website, too. http://www.roseydow.com.

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This page was last updated 2/20/01
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