I’m very excited to be teaching one
of the writing Master Classes for the Bloody Scotland crime writing festival
next month, along with the brilliant Denise Mina, one of my all-time favorite
authors and a major inspiration for my Huntress
Moon thrillers.
I always like to give my workshop
students some optional homework in the weeks before classes, so that we get the
most out of our workshop time – and also so that those of you who can’t make
the workshop can play along at home!
What I teach in my Screenwriting
Tricks for Authors workshops is basic
film story structure: the Three-Act, Eight-Sequence structure.
USC film school teaches it, the
screenwriting story structure gurus teach it, all film execs and producers are
aware of it even if it’s only in a vague way, and even screenwriters who claim
not to follow this structure pattern do it to some extent or another. And it
translates beautifully to novel writing. Not only does it make writing novels
much easier – this is a rhythm of storytelling that readers (and audiences) are
so used to that if you aren't using it to your advantage, they’re going to feel like something’s
missing! You don’t want that to happen.
But I want my students to analyze
examples that are meaningful to them, so the first assignment I give my
workshop students is THE MASTER LIST: a list of ten novels and films that are
specific to the story and genre you’re working on, and more importantly, that
have had the maximum emotional and intellectual effect on you.
> ASSIGNMENT: List
ten books and films that are similar to your own story in structure and/or
genre (at least five books and three movies if you’re writing a book, at least
five movies if you’re writing a script.).
Or if you’re trying to
decide on the right project for you to work on, then make a list of ten books
and films that you wish you had written!
And you people who
feel like you’ve done this for me already – remember that it’s good practice to
make a master list for every new project you’re working on! Your lists will be
different for different books.
It’s very simple: in order to write
stories like the ones that move you, you need to look at the stories that
affect you and figure out what those authors and filmmakers are doing to get
the effect they do.
Every genre has its own structural
patterns and its own tricks. Screenwriter Ryan Rowe says it perfectly: “Every
genre has its own game that it’s playing with the audience.”
For example, with a mystery, the
game is “Whodunit?” You are going to toy with a reader or audience’s
expectations and lead them down all kinds of false paths with red herrings so
that they are constantly in the shoes of the hero/ine, trying to figure the
puzzle out.
But with a romantic comedy or
classic romance, there’s no mystery involved. 99.99% of the time the hero and
heroine are going to end up together. The game in that genre is often to show,
through the hero and heroine, how we are almost always our own worst enemies in
love, and how we throw up all kinds of obstacles in our own paths to keep
ourselves from getting what we want.
So if you’re writing a story like It’s A Wonderful Life, it’s not going to
help you much to study Apocalypse Now.
A story that ends with a fallen hero/ine is not going to have the same story
shape as one that ends with a transcended hero/ine. (Although if both kinds of
films end up on your list of favorite stories, you might find one is the other
in reverse. That’s why you need to make your own lists!)
Once you start looking at the games
that genres play, you will also start to understand the games that you most love, and that you want to play
with your readers and audience.
I’m primarily a thriller writer, and
my personal favorite game is: “Is it supernatural or is it psychological?” I
love to walk the line between the real and unreal, so I am constantly creating
story situations in which there are multiple plausible explanations for the
weird stuff that’s going on, including mental illness, drug-induced
hallucinations, and outright fraud. That’s why my master list for any book or
script I write will almost always include The
Haunting of Hill House and The
Shining, both classic books (and films) that walk the line between the
supernatural and the psychological.
But what works for me structurally
is not necessarily going to do it for you.
If you take the time to study and
analyze the books and films that have had the greatest impact on you,
personally, or that are structurally similar to the story you’re writing, or
both, that’s when you really start to master your craft. Making the lists and
analyzing those stories will help you brainstorm your own unique versions of
scenes and meta-structures that work in the stories on your master list; it will
help you figure out how your particular story will work. And doing this
analysis will embed story structure in your head so that constructing a story
becomes a fun and natural process for you.
Another great benefit of making the
master list is that it helps you “brand” yourself as an author. Agents,
editors, publishing houses, publicists, sales reps, bookstores, reviewers,
media interviewers, librarians, and most importantly, your readers — all of
these people want to be able to categorize you and your books. You need to be
able to tell all of these people exactly what it is you write, what it’s
similar to, and why it’s also unique. That’s part of your job as a professional
author.
Remember, the list isn’t written in
stone! You can change anything on it at any time. And honestly, when you’re
doing these lists, it’s often most useful to write the first ten films and
books that come to mind. Doing it fast and without thinking about it too
consciously might show you something you never realized about what you’re
writing.
And I encourage you to splurge on a
nice big beautiful notebook to work in. We writers live so much in our heads
it’s important to give ourselves toys and rewards to make the work feel less
like work, and also to cut down on the drinking.
Do your list, and share it in the
comments if you feel like it – next post we’ll be analyzing the lists!
-
Alex
All the material from my workshops and on this blog, and much much more is available in my workbooks: $3.99 ebook, $14.99 print textbook:
Print book all countries
e book
Enter to win a copy of the book!
You can sign up for my mailing list to get free breakdowns of The Silence of the Lambs, The Wizard of Oz, Chinatown, and other classic movies as I analyze them for my students and blog readers.
