Follow up on Damon Suede (from previous post).
His book is called Verbalize.
Damon strongly suggests
setting scenes with action both interior and exterior. About half way through the book two sentences captured the essence of the book and could be used as a pitch or logline. He writes, “All too
easily a character can simply start to yearn or gossip or interfere without an
object, leaving them marooned inside their own head and heart. Result: passive
beat, dead scene, inert character, boring book.”
What? “Object” above
means something the audience (readers) can see. Set the scene with action. For
instance, Humphrey spied a notice on the student board. It read, if there is no
god, how can all men be created equal? Join us tonight at the student center
for a discussion. He crumbled the notice. Not knowing why.
The paper is the object
and Humphrey’s act, one of a conflicted young man was to push the doubts away
by becoming upset with others. Luckily, Alicia, his guardian angel eventually
led him out of the quagmire of amoral thought.
Damon Suede’s book is
unusual is style, which this reader enjoyed. If you get it, strap yourself in
for a wild ride through the mind of a genius.
Well, I wasn't just going to take Damon's word for it, so I reread Blake Snyder's Save The Cat! Strikes back. I needed a different perspective and one even more visual since Cat is on screenwriting. (actually the principles of screen writing can well serve the novelist.) On page 79 the author writes about theme and issues five points. The third is "What's on your mind? What statement, issue, or ax to grind finds voice in your characters?"
Compare, contrast, and get back to me. (Hint, the statement, issue, or ax is the object, IMO.)
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