I’ve been thinking about my writing process lately.It goes like this.
A feeling, idea or character will pop into my consciousness and BANG. I’ll have the Beginning and End of a story. Multiple scenes that go here and there. Almost always the theme, although I may not be able to frame it in a sentence at first. More characters and a nice juicy Villain.
What’s missing?
Always. Always. The entire Second Act.
Sometimes. Usually. I’ll vaguely know that, oh, say, something like this needs to happen in the middle before we get to the lovely planned End.
The script I’m writing now … haven’t a clue.
I have the entire First Act. The complete Third Act. What are the characters doing between pages 30 and 90? Currently, sitting in their homes until it’s time to gather for the Finale.
I said to myself, What the heck happens in the Second Act?
And Self said back, How should I know? Why are you asking me?
It’s a good thing I fall in love easily, or I’d never stick with any of the characters long enough to find out what happens in the middle.
Oh, it’s like life, she says philosophically. You’re born. That’s exciting. You die, that’s sad.
Everything else is the Second Act.
But what's their motivation?
ReplyDeleteI read your blog about that. Why, oh why, is she torturing herself with a treatment, I wondered.
ReplyDeleteOne time before I started writing a script, I listed all the characters, what they wanted, why they wanted it and what was keeping them from getting what they wanted. Even down to the pets. I don't know if it made that script any better, but it was fun.
I loved that script. Unfortunately, everyone else who read it hated it, so perhaps that is not good advice.