An LA's Writers' Lab Writing Exercise in Fear

Because our fears are often mirrored by those of our protagonist’s, Alan Watt of the LA Writers’ Lab has come up with what he calls the Fear Exercise. It goes something like this: write for five minutes as fast as you can starting with “I’m afraid to write this story because. . .” He recommends making a list of as many fears as you can think of. The following is his list from his book The 90-day Novel of the possible fears you may have:

·         I will fail.

·         I will succeed.

·         My family will hate me.

·         I will discover that I am not really a writer.

·         I will discover that I am a writer and then I’ll have to keep doing this.

·         I will die.

·         I am wasting my time.

·         I am not good enough.

·         It will be superficial.

·         I won’t be able to figure it out.

·         I won’t do it right.

·         I will find out I am a bad person.

·         Nobody will care.

·         I will be alone.

Whatever your fears, most writers have them. You may even find that some of your fears correspond to those of your protagonist. Just don’t let your fears stand in the way of your writing. In fact, let them motivate you and even enhance your story. Your readers will be able to relate to your fear. Watt makes this point when he writes, “If we give ourselves permission to write from this raw, vulnerable place, our work becomes relatable.” Don’t fear your fear when beginning your novel, embrace it.  

Using Viewpoint Character to Show and Not Tell in Your Ficiton Writing

If you have ever taken a course on creative writing or read a book on the subject, you understand the importance of showing and not telling.  The showing verses telling aspect of fiction writing sets it apart from the way most of us were taught in school.  Reports and research papers both required facts without a lot of  the emotion or sensory perception afforded in fiction writing.  In fiction you must move from fact to feeling without telling your reader how or what to feel.  Doing this effectively requires that you allow your readers to experience your story world in the same way they would the real world—through their senses.  One of the best ways for your readers to experience your story world is through the senses of your viewpoint character.  One of the hazards of writing in the omniscient viewpoint is that it can limit the reader’s ability to fully experience the world within the story. 

 

In his article “Mastering Fiction’s First Rule,” Jack M. Bickham  breaks down the process of  showing, not telling, into four essential steps:

·         Selection of, and adherence to, a single character’s viewpoint

·         Imagining the crucial sense or thought impressions that character is experiencing at any given moment

·         Presenting those impressions as vividly and briefly as possible

·         Giving those impressions to readers in logical order

He says that when you stay solidly in a viewpoint character, you are less likely to lecture readers.  You are more likely to let the readers experience the story world as it is revealed through the thoughts, feelings and experiences of the viewpoint character.  What the readers experience is more real and more credible because they are learning and perceiving along with the viewpoint character. 

Stick with one viewpoint character per scene, and you will be more likely to show and not simply tell.

Six Types of Endings for Your Novel or Short Story

In his article “Don’t Just Conclude the Plot. . . Nail the Landing,” for the Complete Handbook of Novel Writing, Michael Orlofsky says that even though each ending should be unique there are four main types of story endings: death endings, recognition endings, framing with repetition endings, surprise or revelation endings, journey endings, and responding to theme endings.

Death Endings 

Orlofsky tells his writing students this: "Don’t kill off characters."  He says that death can be a cheap way to achieve closure and that none of his students have ever been able to convince him that a character killed off is deserving of a point of view.  However, there are always exceptions. Orlofsky gives the last line in Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls as an example of a death ending that worked. As the character Robert Jordan lay badly injured and facing a troop of Franco’s cavalry, he writes the following line: “He could feel his heart beating against the pine needle floor of the forest.”

Recognition Endings

Recognition endings, according to Orlofsky, are the kind of endings employed in stories about an idea rather than a character’s struggle with an idea.  He writes: “The dialogue sounds like philosophical debate; the exposition reads like a set of instructions.”  He continually reminds his students that it is not what an ending means, but how it means.  He adds, “The best endings never conclude or close; they open.”

He gives one skillful example of a story ending in more of a how rather than a what-type scenario.  He uses the last line of James Joyce’s “Araby” to illustrate. A boy arrives a too late at bazaar where the lights are dimming and things are shutting down.  The story ends with this internal monolgue: “Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger.” 

Framing with Recognition Endings

Concerning this type of story ending, Orlofsky says, “In fiction, well-handled repetition creates richness and resonance—like two parallel mirrors reflecting endlessly.”  For instance, Hemingway begins and ends A Farewell to Arms with rain.  Orlofsky also sites Carson McCuller’s short story “The Ballad of the Sad Café,” which begins and end with the same sentence. He says this kind of ending “satisfies the reader’s esthetic need for pattern.”

Surprise or Revelation Endings

Orlofsky says that for today’s sophisticated reader, surprise endings have lost their appeal.  There are very few surprises left.  He writes this about surprise endings: “Surprise endings work best when they evoke irony, anguish, pity, or wonder at human capacity.”

Journey Endings

This ending shows a character beginning a journey, whether physical or spiritual.  Orlofsky says that leave-taking allows the author to use emotion to his advantage.  He also writes, “Leave-taking also satisfies one of the basic requirements of the ending:  Things can never be the same.”  One example he gives is the ending of Huckleberry Finn where Huck packs up and decides to head out for the Territory to escape his Aunt Sally’s intention to civilize him.

Response to Theme

All endings respond to theme, one way or the other.  This type of ending, according to Orlofsky, works best when “emotional and intellectual power are  balanced.”  He also says that this type of ending requires the most skill because the balance can easily be easily upset.  Too little, and the ending falls flat; too much, and it can sound contrived.  He gives as an example the ending of D.H. Lawrence’s “Odour of Chrysanthemums.”  At the end, a wife is preparing the body of her husband who has just been killed in a mining accident. 

 

Then with peace sunk heavy on her heart, she went about making tidy the kitchen.  She knew she submitted to life, which was her immediate master.  But from death, her ultimate master, she winced with fear and shame.  

Keep these types of endings in mind as you decide how your novel or short story will end.