Imagine for a moment that you are writing a story. Your protagonist has the option to do anything in the universe that s/he wants. Imagine that the protagonist makes choices and those choices mean he can still do anything in the universe. Not much of a story, eh? That is because story is about the narrowing of options. Story comes from the consequences of the choices that a character must make. The more choices you allow a character to make, the deeper your story becomes. I mention this as I prepare to teach a summer fiction workshop. Usually the workshop writers are obsessed with the idea that story is ‘what happens’ and how cool the happening is. Moreover there is an inordinate amount of attention placed on how visual those ‘what happens’ scenes are–how well the reader can absorb the word picture and make that a part of the fabric of their story understanding.
When a character makes choices they close the door on what could have happened if they chose something else. Every story situation is made up of these doors. It is the writer’s job to present them to the character and step back and allow the character to choose which to close. When all the doors are closed, you’ll have your story.
Some Thoughts:
- The Place Beyond the Pines is the kind of film you need to be in the right mood to fall into. Turns out I wasn’t in the right mood.