Step One: Weakness and Need, part three

I'm sucking all the goodness out of John Truby's book, THE ANATOMY OF STORY. He offers seven steps to building a successful story structure. In the last two posts, I outlined Step One, how Weakness and Need were important parts of creating a believable character. Today I'll finish up the discussion of this first step.

To recap, all characters need a psychological need, or a major flaw that hurts themselves in some way, and a moral need, which hurts others. (See the previous post if you're still confused, or if you want a couple of examples.)

But if your hero is missing that critical moral need, how do you build one? Truby offers two techniques for creating the necessary moral need. Here's the first:

1. Begin with the psychological weakness, the inner flaw that hurts only the hero.
2. Figure out what kind of immoral action might naturally come out of that weakness.
3. Identify the deep-seated moral weakness and need that are the source of this action.

The second technique is to push a strength so far that it becomes a weakness:

1. Identify a virtue in your hero. Then make him so passionate about it that it becomes oppressive.
2. Come up with a value the hero believes in. Then find the negative version of that value.

Hope that helps. In the next post I'll look at the second step in this seven-step process.

-Sonja

Step One: Weakness and Need, part two

I'm dissecting John Truby's book, THE ANATOMY OF STORY. In the last post I introduced the concept of the hero having a weakness and a need at the beginning of the story. Today I want to dive deeper into this concept and look at two types of need: moral and psychological.

"In average stories," Truby says, "the hero has only a psychological need." This involves overcoming a serious flaw that is hurting the hero, but doesn't impact any other story characters.

"In better stories," Truby continues, "the hero has a moral need in addition to a psychological need." The hero needs to overcome this moral flaw and learn how to act properly toward the other characters. "A character with a moral need is always hurting others in some way at the beginning of the story." Worse, he is unaware that he's hurting others.

It's important to give the hero both of these needs because it makes the character richer. It moves the reader more powerfully. It keeps the hero from being too perfect, and therefore unbelievable, predictable, and boring.
In addition to weakness and need, the hero has a problem. It's the crisis, the trouble, that the hero finds himself in early in the story. In TOOTSIE, Michael's weakness is that he's arrogant, selfish, and a liar. His problem is that he's an excellent actor, but he's overbearing and no one will hire him.
In THE GODFATHER, Michael Corleone is young, inexperienced, untested, and overconfident (his weakness). His psychological need is that he must overcome his sense of superiority and self-righteousness. His moral need is to avoid becoming ruthless like the other Mafia bosses while still protecting his family. His problem is that rival gang members shoot his father.

In your work in progress, does your hero have a psychological need (a flaw that hurts only himself) AND a moral need (a flaw that hurts others)? If not, stay tuned. In the next post I'll offer the technique Truby offers for creating a moral need.

-Sonja

Step One: Weakness and Need

I'm studying a new book, THE ANATOMY OF STORY by John Truby. The subtitle is 22 steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller. This book is a Must-Buy, for me, and I'm going to spend several posts discussing bits of it. (I seriously tried to limit myself to seven, but it's not going to happen. There's too much good stuff in there to skip over.) The 22 steps he offers pertain to building a great plot. But first, you need a great structure. Truby offers seven steps to building a great story structure.

Step number one is Weakness and Need. "From the beginning of the story," Truby says, "the hero has one or more great weaknesses that are holding him back. Something profound is missing within him, and it's ruining his life. The need is what the hero must fulfill within himself in order to have a better life. It usually involves overcoming his weaknesses and changing or growing in some way."

Here are some examples. In TOOTSIE, Michael's weakness is that he's arrogant, selfish, and a liar. His need is that he must overcome his arrogance toward women and stop lying and using women to get what he wants.

In SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, Clarice's weakness is her inexperience, and she's suffering from haunting childhood memories. She's also a woman in a man's world, so that doesn't help her any. Her need is to overcome the ghosts of her past and gain respect as a professional in a man's world.

"Need is the wellspring of the story and sets up every other step," Truby says. And the hero must be unaware of his need at the beginning of the story. If he already knows his need, then where's the story? He becomes aware of his need near the end of the story in the moment of self-realization (which I'll cover in a later post). The self-revelation comes only after having gone through a great deal of pain and/or struggle.

Think about your work in progress. Does your hero have a weakness and a need? Does he overcome his weakness at the end of the story? If not, brainstorm how you could make your work deeper by adding this character angst. More on Weakness and Need in the next post.

-Sonja

Categories of Suspense: Techno-Thriller

We're to the last post in this mini-series, Categories of Suspense, as outlined by T. Macdonald Skillman's book, WRITING THE THRILLER. Today's topic is Techno-Thriller.

This category is also easily explained. "Technology drives the plot," Skillman says. Think of THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER by Tom Clancy. The reader didn't need to understand the submarine's caterpillar drive, but the story wouldn't have been the same without it. Most books in this category rely heavily on scientific advances in weaponry or spy gear.
Knowledge and research on the writer's part are critical in this category. Readers are unforgiving if you offer them something completely implausible. Using theoretical stuff is allowed, but "no quirky gimmicks or Star Trek-like transporter beams--unless they'll likely become reality in the very near future. Span too many years of technology and you'll wind up writing science fiction," Skillman says. So be careful, writers. You don't need a specialized education, but you do need a great imagination and some research skills.

Other titles in this category include THE TIN MAN by Dale Brown, FLIGHT OF THE INTRUDER by Stephen Coonts, the Kay Scarpetta series by Patricia Cornwell, and the P.J. Gray series by Shirley Kennett.

That wraps up this discussion on categories of suspense. Hopefully, you found something worthwhile within them. At the least, you've found a name for the genre you're writing. For what it's worth,
-Sonja

Categories of Suspense: Women-in-Jeopardy

This is the second to the last post in the series of categories of suspense, as given in T. Macdonald Skillman's book, WRITING THE THRILLER.
Women-in-Jeopardy, also called Fem-Jep or Child-Jep, is easily blurred with the category of Romantic Relationship Suspense. Both contain women characters who "face increasingly frightening series of dilemmas, decisions, and crisis." Women in jeopardy are in personal danger. Sometimes it's not the woman in danger, but her child. Villains range from family members to total strangers. As the problems escalate, these women find themselves facing it down alone, their support structure gone. No one believes they are in danger. Authorities dismiss her claims. Evidence disappears. Onlookers doubt this woman's sanity.

In this category, the protagonists motivations are critical, or the reader won't believe it. The women in these books can easily fall into the Too-Stupid-To-Live category. You've seen these women in the scary movies: the young woman babysitting late at night during a storm; the TV announces a serial killer on the loose in the neighborhood; the girl hears a noise from the attic and heads up to investigate. The audience doesn't, for a second, believe that this woman is brave. We're all screaming at her to get out and call the police. She's entirely too stupid to live through the scene. The protagonist MUST have an extremely good reason for doing the things she does in the novel, or the reader won't believe it.

Some titles from this genre include WHERE ARE THE CHILDREN? by Mary Higgins Clark, NATHAN'S RUN by John Gilstrap, BLOOD RELATIVE by Carolyn Hougan, SOMEONE'S WATCHING by Judith Kelman, and LOST ANGEL by Marilyn Wallace.

Skillman says, "Writers who tackle fem- or child-jep walk a fine line between empowerment and victimization." So tackle this category with great care, if you decide this is what you want to write. Critics of this category are brutal.

-Sonja

Categories of Suspense: Romantic Relationship Suspense

I'm almost finished with this min--series of suspense categories, as outlined by T. Macdonald Skillman in her book, WRITING THE THRILLER. Today's topic is Romantic Relationship Suspense.

This category usually has a bit of a gothic twist to it. The American Heritage Dictionary defines gothic as "a style of fiction that emphasizes the grotesque, mysterious, and desolate." Skillman brings up REBECCA by Daphne Du Maurier as an example of romantic suspense with a gothic twist. In these types of books, the ending is definitely in doubt: the protagonist might prevail, but then again, she might not.

The major difference between a straight romance and romantic suspense, says Skillman, is: "The relationship that exists--no matter how passionate--will not be the focus of the book," and the overwhelming majority of the protagonists are women.  One exception from Hollywood is FATAL ATTRACTION. Other titles in the category include SEE JANE RUN by Joy Fielding, THE CIRCULAR STAIRCASE by Mary Roberts Rinehart, and HEARTBREAKER by Karen Robards.

This isn't my favorite genre, but I'll admit I loved the book REBECCA. The movie was good, too, despite the changed ending. For what it's worth,

-Sonja

Categories of Suspense: Psychological Suspense

I'm looking at T. Macdonald Skillman's categories of suspense, as listed in her book WRITING THE THRILLER. Today's category is brought to you by the letter "aaaarrrrrrgggggghhhh!"

The psychological suspense is a broad category that spans basically anything that doesn't fit in the other categories and always packs a wallop. These babies go over the top with psychological angst for both the reader and the characters. "Not only do they keep you on the edge of your seat," Skillman says, "they make you stop breathing for a moment."

The success lies in in the characters. The protagonist and the antagonist have bared their mental states and motivations before the reader. Their pasts, strengths and weaknesses, their darkest secrets are filleted for the reader's enjoyment all for the lofty goal of sending the reader on a roller coaster ride through Hell. We're talking SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. Other titles include THE POET by Michael Connelly, A MAIDEN'S GRAVE by Jeff Dever, SWF SEEKS SAME by John Lutz, and UNDER THE BEETLE'S CELLAR by Mary Willis Walker.

Emotional emphasis is the defining element that separates this category from the others. For what it's worth, I can't read these things without having nightmares for weeks. My husband conned me into seeing the movie SILENCE OF THE LAMBS year ago ("it won't be that scary"), and I still can't think about it without shuddering.

-Sonja