My heroes trek through a weird forest, and they get caught in an ambush. There's a monster of sorts set to attack them, then it does. There's a fight that swings back and forth a bit, then the heroes kill the beast. The scenery is fine, the bits of description are mostly fine, but the narrative of the fight itself needs some work. The major trouble is structural: there's no dramatic purpose for this scene.
The shape of the story calls for the ambush where it occurs. And the heroes can't be killed, so that much of the outcome is certain. But within those constraints, I have options. The monster could be many creatures or few; humans, humanoids, or something else; big, small, well-armed, magical, etc. It can let them go, run off, get injured, or die. The heroes survive, but they could be injured or lose gear. See? Options.
As it happens, it's one non-humanoid creature that uses its natural powers to attack. The heroes struggle, but they emerge without injury. The monster dies.
What's the dramatic change from start to finish? One critter starts alive and ends dead. It might be dramatic, but it's unimportant. Otherwise, it's dramatically null.
So, the workshoppers said, "Why does this attack happen?"
And I said, "It happens because you said you wanted wilderness survival fights, and it was the right place to put it."
That was a true answer, but it is a bad one. This sequence needs a purpose.
Fresh Purpose
Logistical, pragmatic, practical: When the action is required by the premise of a situation, then one purpose it serves in a scene is verisimilitude. (If my story were based on true events, I might be locked into including the attack as it happened.)
Motivational, supportive, expository: When actions in the narrative present or near future will not make enough (or any) sense on their own, then a scene might serve to justify things. Character motives can be set in motion. Things can be explained. (Since my story takes place in a fantasy world, putting the weird and magical world on the page for the reader is important here.)
Emotional, thematic: The action can serve to evoke a desired emotion, or be framed to support a theme. This is the most purely narrative purpose of all, and it's the purpose I have the hardest time with.
Dramatic: Actions have consequences, and the action of a scene is the best way to change starting conditions into ending conditions. Similar to a supportive scene, this kind of scene sets things in motions for later. It explains later actions. The key difference is that a support scene shows how things have always been and are now, so that relevant information is available for the reader later. Dramatic scenes produce a change from the past or present, so that the new relevant conditions are clear for the reader.
Problems with Purpose
I can handle the first two types of purpose. Practical bits are easy to cope with. Expository bits are trickier: finding the right viewpoint and voice to share necessary information can be a real puzzle.
Emotional purposes are the roughest for me. When a story is meant to be scary, sweet, sad, exciting, etc., there are scenes that can do the heavy lifting of bringing those emotions forward. I have a hard time devising action solely for the purpose of hitting emotional buttons and simply meeting a theme. Giving emotional spin and content to actions that are otherwise practical or supportive is obviously a better way to go. Still...
Dramatic purposes can be easy, if I know the milestones ahead. If I know what must be established and setup, which things must be moved and changed to achieve certain situations, then lining up the dramatic shifts is usually easy. When this gets hard for me is when a dramatic change is called for, but no particular new circumstance is required. Left with a host of options, I'm stuck for which to take.
Now that I've defined my problems, I can get to work on fixing them.
- emc
The shape of the story calls for the ambush where it occurs. And the heroes can't be killed, so that much of the outcome is certain. But within those constraints, I have options. The monster could be many creatures or few; humans, humanoids, or something else; big, small, well-armed, magical, etc. It can let them go, run off, get injured, or die. The heroes survive, but they could be injured or lose gear. See? Options.
As it happens, it's one non-humanoid creature that uses its natural powers to attack. The heroes struggle, but they emerge without injury. The monster dies.
What's the dramatic change from start to finish? One critter starts alive and ends dead. It might be dramatic, but it's unimportant. Otherwise, it's dramatically null.
So, the workshoppers said, "Why does this attack happen?"
And I said, "It happens because you said you wanted wilderness survival fights, and it was the right place to put it."
That was a true answer, but it is a bad one. This sequence needs a purpose.
Fresh Purpose
Logistical, pragmatic, practical: When the action is required by the premise of a situation, then one purpose it serves in a scene is verisimilitude. (If my story were based on true events, I might be locked into including the attack as it happened.)
Motivational, supportive, expository: When actions in the narrative present or near future will not make enough (or any) sense on their own, then a scene might serve to justify things. Character motives can be set in motion. Things can be explained. (Since my story takes place in a fantasy world, putting the weird and magical world on the page for the reader is important here.)
Emotional, thematic: The action can serve to evoke a desired emotion, or be framed to support a theme. This is the most purely narrative purpose of all, and it's the purpose I have the hardest time with.
Dramatic: Actions have consequences, and the action of a scene is the best way to change starting conditions into ending conditions. Similar to a supportive scene, this kind of scene sets things in motions for later. It explains later actions. The key difference is that a support scene shows how things have always been and are now, so that relevant information is available for the reader later. Dramatic scenes produce a change from the past or present, so that the new relevant conditions are clear for the reader.
Problems with Purpose
I can handle the first two types of purpose. Practical bits are easy to cope with. Expository bits are trickier: finding the right viewpoint and voice to share necessary information can be a real puzzle.
Emotional purposes are the roughest for me. When a story is meant to be scary, sweet, sad, exciting, etc., there are scenes that can do the heavy lifting of bringing those emotions forward. I have a hard time devising action solely for the purpose of hitting emotional buttons and simply meeting a theme. Giving emotional spin and content to actions that are otherwise practical or supportive is obviously a better way to go. Still...
Dramatic purposes can be easy, if I know the milestones ahead. If I know what must be established and setup, which things must be moved and changed to achieve certain situations, then lining up the dramatic shifts is usually easy. When this gets hard for me is when a dramatic change is called for, but no particular new circumstance is required. Left with a host of options, I'm stuck for which to take.
Now that I've defined my problems, I can get to work on fixing them.
- emc
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