Painting oneself into a corner

Painting oneself into a corner

In writing, writers sometimes find themselves boxed in by the plot, promises made early in the story, left turns our own characters dare throw in. There are any number of reasons. How do you know it’s a corner? You don’t know what to do to move on. Do you go back and rewrite everything? Do you hope the reader will suspend disbelief?

Let me give you a concrete example. It’s only page fifty and the hero and heroine are crazy for each other. The hero declares his love. Oh no, you have 200 or more pages in which to develop the story and give them the happily ever-after they deserve. What happened to all the road blocks? What happened to making things worse? Black moments, etc.

One solution, if the hero goes overboard verbally let the heroine put on the breaks. You’ll see this technique used by Hallmark all the time.

If you are not writing a romance and the protagonist has solved the plot problem too early, then let the antagonist put a bridge over the wet paint so the hero can escape and they can play their deadly game. This often happens in Bond movies. The machine is about to laser Bond in half when the antagonist leaves it to his idiot assistant (and all hell breaks loose).

I write this tiny inspiration today just to say there may be an easy way to move on and continue writing. So follow your instincts, have paint brush and work toward the corner.

24/7 immersion

24/7 immersion

The technique of forcing the hero and heroine to be together 24/7 on a journey of change is an often used technique. Why?

If done right, it is often a mix of fish-out-of-water for both the audience and the hero and heroine. The other reason why is the 24/7 immersion of the hero and heroine with each other. How many of you wish you could have had this while dating. You’d know soon enough if you were compatible or in love. The nay-sayers say things like how could you fall in love in three days. If you date once or twice a week, how long would it be before you pile up 3 or x full days?

For romance writers who have seen It Happened One Night, 1934, we treasure the memories of one of the most perfect romances ever portrayed.

Many put down the Bachelor franchise but consider the immersion and think again. I’m not selling the show just the concept for writing.

So how does a writer handle immersion? Take care to observe the changing environment and how the hero and heroine react to it and each other. Counter-point: if you have a heroine or hero who works, has family, friends and other interests you may have a longer story. Slow down for the moment they fall in love. It is pivotal and must be believable. Don’t get me wrong. The story is not over when they realize they’re in love, whether it be immersion or slice of life. If done right there are obstacles typically both in interior thought and outside influences. Black moments are the grist for our mills.

The boy behind the cereal box

The boy behind the cereal box

Did you ever wonder why kids love to line up cereal boxes and hide behind them? They’ll sometimes play peekaboo and sometimes parents will encourage this by starting a peekaboo. Sometimes they’ll be reading the box or claiming they find the box utterly absorbing. Sometimes they’re hiding from their siblings, who they may have a love hate relationship with. They love their sib but at the same time they can’t stand them. They have a right to their own thoughts and privacy, right?

Kids grow up. How much of our behavior is dedicated to hiding behind a barrier? We choose to do one thing over another. We go to parties and sometimes wish it would end so that we can go back to normal. Or we’re shy or uncomfortable at parties and try our best to contribute.

What of the heroes or heroines in our stories? We’re all a mix of social and anti-social to put it simply. These ying-yang behaviors can be used to give your characters more depth. Another way of measuring the difference between protagonist and antagonist is in how far or close they are to putting up barriers.

Puerto Rico

Guest blogger: Robert Ricciardi

Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico means port ruler. This can aptly describe a proud people (who didn't choose statehood).

What I am about to write might seem like politics, but it’s not.

Point 1: Two weeks ago, Mr. Richard wrote about Decòr. He suggested that many men start out slobs in a marriage. And then tongue in cheek how this could lead to divorce.

Point 2: Suppose you’re married and you have a budget of $2000 each month. You must pay for food, mortgage, and various other bills. If you are lucky, you’ll save some for your children’s college education. Your back yard fence needs major repair but that will have to wait. Do you repair the fence and buy no food? Do you repair the fence and not save for your children’s education? No, and besides it still wouldn’t be enough.

PRIORITIES. Right? Good.

Point 3: Then you’ll agree that one could make an analogy to the people of Puerto Rico, all of them U.S. citizens, our family. They need help and we have a limited budget. Why is it we have to fix the fence before we completely help Puerto Rico (our family)? It turns out we are rich and can spend some on the fence or wall, but our people’s destitution comes first. Some of you will say that the people of Puerto Rico brought it on themselves by not choosing Statehood. Hey, how many of you have teenagers in your family who have a different opinion? I'm not saying Puerto Ricans are teenagers. The family still stands. We have a moral duty to all our citizens.

Point 4: Most homes have no front wall. It you are the kind of person who won’t stand for dissent in your family, perhaps you should build a wall to keep your family from escaping.

Okay, maybe this is somewhat about politics. Will Mr. Richard save me?

Bob Richard: Men who are always right should live alone. Where’s the romance in that?