All stories contain a certain architecture. To understand your story, learn how to “beat it out.”

All stories contain a certain architecture. To understand your story, learn how to “beat it out.”

by | Jul 26, 2021 | Slow Pieces Blog

Last weekend I had the privilege of speaking at the 44th annual Compassionate Friends Conference. For those of you unfamiliar with this organization, Compassionate Friends supports parents, grandparents, siblings, and others as they grieve. 

The conference was an opportunity to bear witness to some heartfelt grief stories, share my own, and immerse myself in the conversations people are having around loss, acceptance, and letting go. 

Grief is a story we live. Sometimes the pain is so profound, it’s like crawling through a reedy swamp. The going is messy and slow; it’s hard to see what’s ahead. 

This lived story has an architecture that’s frequently represented by stages or seasons. There are common experiences that happen during the early, middle, and later stages. Along the way, people grow. 

When you’re hurting, it can be difficult to know what stage you’re in or how to make it to the next one. 

While I would never conflate grief with storytelling, writers frequently experience similar struggles. The process of writing a story can feel overwhelming. We can get so attached to the words on the page or so mired in what they mean, that our revision process feels slow and messy, and it can be hard to see what’s ahead. 

As writers, we can turn to Blake Snyder and Save the Cat!: The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need for support. 

So far, we’ve talked about loglines and building the perfect character. 

“Let’s Beat It Out!” is likely Snyder’s most popular chapter. In it, he discusses the three-act structure (which he describes as thesis, antithesis, and synthesis) and then shares his invaluable beat sheet where he maps out the moments every story needs. He even gives you page numbers so you’ll know precisely where certain elements should occur. 

The page numbers he refers to are based on the screenplay, which is always one hundred ten pages. You can simply extrapolate based on the size of your manuscript. 

Because I want you to read this invaluable chapter, I’m only going to talk about one of its many important points: The Six Things that Need to Be Fixed. 

The first act of a story establishes the ordinary world. This is the world before the big, life-altering event that catapults your character onto their quest. Act one always ends on a plot point that’s frequently called the point of no return. 

In The Fellowship of the Ring, the point of no return is the moment when Gandalf tells Frodo his uncle’s ring is the One Ring forged by the evil Lord Sauron.

In The Hunger Games, it’s when the game begins. 

In The Glass Castle, it’s when Jeanette Walls’s family arrives in Welch, West Virginia. 

Most writers struggle with the first act. Some find the revision process downright painful. They worry about what to include and how much backstory to share. 

That’s where Snyder’s Six Things that Need Fixing come in handy. 

Snyder’s phrase “stands for the laundry list you must show—repeat SHOW—the audience of what is missing in the hero’s life. Like little bombs, these Six Things that Need Fixing, these character tics and flaws, will be exploded later in the script, turned on their heads, and cured.” 

He uses the Tom Hanks movie Big as his first example. At the beginning of the movie, our main character, Josh Baskin, isn’t tall enough to ride a certain ride. He’s awkward around girls and he sees being a kid as a total drag. 

The point of no return occurs when Josh’s wish to be big is granted. 

At first this is grand, but eventually, those things that need fixing show up in hilarious ways.

In the final act, those six things are what get resolved.

He realizes being big isn’t as great as he originally thought. Even adults struggle with girls, and while adults might be able to do what they want, that freedom comes with responsibility. 

Snyder maps additional movies so you can see their beats and how each screenwriter tackles his concepts. 

These beats can work for all prose genres, including memoir.

If you’re struggling with how to tackle your opening, or you’re trying to revise a first act that’s too long (psst: if it’s over 70 pages, it’s probably too long!), read the chapter then ask yourself the following questions:

What six things need fixing in my main character’s life? 

What act-one scenes illustrate these problems? 

If more than one scene illustrates the same problem, which one is essential?  

While some scenes plant an important seed that blossoms later in the story, many scenes that serve the same purpose can be deleted. 

Cutting those scenes might feel painful at first, but your story will be stronger, which will increase your reader’s satisfaction. 

It’s hard to believe, but we’ve reached summer’s halfway point. I’m heading to the beach for a little R & R, so I’ll see you soon. 

While I’m gone, consider what stories you’re currently living out. 

How do they impact your writing life and the stories you tell? 

How are you caring for yourself as you live them? 

Heroes are only as strong as their urges. Learn what can make a good protagonist great.

Heroes are only as strong as their urges. Learn what can make a good protagonist great.

by | Jul 13, 2021 | Slow Pieces Blog

Over the weekend I went to an old-school arcade filled with the video games I played as a kid—Ms. Pacman, Galaga, Kangaroo. For twelve bucks, I could fight as many arcade bosses as I wanted and play pinball until my pointer finger ached. 

Walking into that steamy, dark room was like stepping back into my childhood. 

Only this time, I’d entered my kid version of heaven. 

Be still my Gen-Xer heart! 

My adult version of heaven is a story that works. And for around twelve bucks, Blake Snyder is showing me how to make that happen.

Last week, we explored the ingredients in a good logline, and why it might be better to create one before you write.

Once you’ve finalized your logline, your next task is to figure out who the story is about.

Snyder says, “a market-tested logline proves you have a story, but the hero is what makes the story work better.” 

Your hero, or protagonist, is the person who “faces the most conflicts and has the longest way to go emotionally.” They’re also the person who needs to change the most. 

Snyder says readers “want you to tell them stories about characters who

  • they can identify with, 
  • they can learn from,
  • they have compelling reasons to follow,
  • they believe deserve to win,
  • and have stakes that ring true for them.”

Once you know who this person is, you need to give them a dramatic need. Snyder’s advice: go primal. “Think survival, hunger, sex, protection of loved ones, or fear of death.” Because “primal urges get our attention,” he encourages you to make your stakes primal too. 

As part of his explanation, Snyder uses the logline for the movie Ride Along. “A risk-averse teacher plans on marrying his dream girl but must first accompany his overprotective future brother-in-law—a cop—on the ride from hell.”  

This pitch is double primal. The teacher wants to marry his fiancé (sex) but first, he has to survive a life-threatening test (death). 

When it comes to who you “cast” in your story, Snyder says we connect with characters we can relate to. In his list, he includes “husbands and wives, fathers and daughters, mothers and sons, and ex-boyfriends and girlfriends.” That doesn’t mean your characters and stories must fit this mold but consider the roles your characters play.

For example, if a boy hero befriends a dragon, is the dragon a buddy, surrogate parent, sibling, or something else?  

Snyder says it’s also helpful to apply some Jungian archetypal roles to your characters. Archetypes are images and themes that arise from the collective unconscious. They show up in the dreams, literature, and art of most cultures. 

Psychoanalyst Carl Jung identified twelve archetypes that show up in literature. You can find them here.

You can also study the works of Joseph Campbell, who wrote extensively about the hero’s journey and its archetypes.

Inspired by Jung and Campbell, Snyder created his own list of archetypes for the cinema. 

While Snyder makes some important points in this chapter, his archetypes and the “cast of characters we related to” focus solely on traditional gender roles and assignments that are a bit outdated. They don’t take into account the diversity of experiences readers might have and they might not represent yourreaders.

For instance, Snyder talks about Hollywood’s obsession with youth and encourages writers to cast young, “demographically pleasing” characters (whatever that last term means), because young people are the ones generating box office sales.

When it comes to book sales, that’s not always true. 

While the average age of readers for genres like YA and horror is fairly young, the average science fiction, fantasy, romance, and memoir reader is in their mid-forties. That’s why it’s important to understand the readers of your genre. 

Instead of canceling Snyder, I encourage you to read his work with a grain of salt.

Use his book to find out what’s been cinematically successful and why, then if it speaks to you, use your own writing to successfully turn those archetypes and roles on their heads. 

So, what do you know about your characters? 

What are their primal needs? 

What roles do they play? 

What archetypes can you come up with to augment or counter Snyder’s list? 

Whether the sun is shining in your part of the world, or you’re enduring the heart of winter, take time to play and celebrate your life.  

After you’ve found a little joy, return to your writing desk.

Your stories are waiting for you. 

Do the words logline or elevator pitch make you cringe? Use Blake Snyder’s three ingredients to create a winning pitch.

Do the words logline or elevator pitch make you cringe? Use Blake Snyder’s three ingredients to create a winning pitch.

by | Jul 6, 2021 | Slow Pieces Blog

What’s your book/essay/short story/project about? 

This is the question authors are most frequently asked. 

But how do you distill art into a few lines—especially when you’re mid-project?

Most writers, including myself, tighten their neck scarves when hearing the words logline or elevator pitch. The stakes can feel so high—especially if you’ve worked for years to create something.

To keep the stakes low, Blake Snyder, belated author of Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need, believed writers should create their loglines before writing their first word. 

Whether you agree with him or not, learning to craft a logline or elevator pitch is an important skill all writers must learn. Effectively summarizing your work will help you understand your story and spend less time awkwardly rambling to fellow writers and agents.  

You don’t need to become a screenwriter to learn from Save the Cat! In fact, I encourage all fiction writers and memoirists to study screenwriting. It helps you develop lean, page-turning prose. 

According to Save the Cat! all pitches must contain irony, a compelling mental picture, and a killer title.  

Irony

When summarizing your story, think about the protagonist’s main conflict and the stakes for failing to achieve their goal. Ask yourself the following questions: What does my character want above all else? How do they change? What are they afraid of? 

You don’t have to stuff everything into your logline, but the stakes and conflict should be baked into your sentence. 

Here are a few movie examples Snyder shares in his book.

“A newly married couple must spend Christmas Day at each of their four divorced parents’ homes—4 Christmases”

“A just-hired employee goes on a company weekend and soon discovers someone’s trying to kill him—The Retreat”

After identifying your conflict and stakes, your next job is to look for irony or a major plot twist we wouldn’t ordinarily expect. 

According to Snyder, “irony gets [your] attention…. it hooks you with interest.” 

Here’s another one of Snyder’s examples:  

“Businessman falls in love with the hooker he hires to be his date for the weekend—Pretty Woman” 

To build irony into your plot, ask yourself the following questions: 

  • What does the audience expect to happen?
  • What wouldn’t they see coming? 
  • What reversal could I insert into a key plot point that capitalizes on my audience’s expectations? 

 
 If your current draft is low on irony, crafting a logline with a plot twist can help you create a more satisfying narrative arc.

Struggling to come up with ideas? Check out this blog post on twelve ironic situations.

Compelling Mental Picture 

According to Snyder, “the second most important element that a good longline has is that you must be able to see a whole movie in it. Like Proust’s madeleine, a good logline, once said, blossoms in your brain.”

He uses the pitch for Blind Date as an example. “She’s the perfect woman—until she has a drink.” 

Even if you don’t like the premise, I bet you can imagine the potential hijinks. 

As you create your pitch, think about how you can establish a situation that creates a visual image that blossoms in the reader’s head. 

A Killer Title 

The last ingredient for a good logline is a killer title. Snyder says the logline and title are “the one-two punch that makes a good sale.” A good title should “nail the concept without being so on the nose it’s stupid.” 

Here are a few examples: 

Legally Blonde
The Silence of the Lambs
Fast and Furious
Se7en

If the story has already been written, search your document for the most compelling lines. Many great titles have been found inside their manuscripts. If you’re working strictly from a logline, make a list of contenders then pitch them to friends and see which one fits Snyder’s definition. But don’t let yourself get stuck. You can always change the title once your project has been written. 

Synder considered the world his test market and regularly pitched coffee shop patrons while waiting for his latte. As he shared his ideas, he paid attention to the listener’s reactions. Wide eyes and questions, he had a winner.  Yawns or shifty looks, he moved on to his next pitch.

If cold pitching in a coffee shop sounds daunting, consider attending a writing conference. Conference attendees are nice people who will be genuinely interested in hearing about your work. They won’t shun you for a bad pitch. Instead, they’ll ask questions that help you devise a better one. Plus, listening to other writers’ loglines can serve as inspiration.  

If you’re interested in a couple of great conferences, consider HippoCamp or the James River Writers Conference. You can also check out AWP’s conference directory to see what’s happening in your area. 

Because loglines take practice, creating them for books and movies you love can help you build the skills needed to create your own. 

And, if you don’t have any works in progress, Snyder has some great suggestions. 

Here’s an exercise from the chapter titled “What Is It?”: 

“Pick a drama, thriller, or horror film and turn it into a comedy. Example: Funny Christine – The haunted dream car of a teenage boy that ruins his life now becomes a comedy when the car starts giving him dating advice.” 

 If you’ve purchased the book, try some of his exercises then pitch me one of your ideas. I’d love to see what you come up with.

Who knows—the outcome might lead to a new project.

If you’ve spent time in the logline-writing trenches, what obstacles did you face? 

If you’ve successfully completed one, what advice do you have for other writers?  

And, if you’re feeling unmotivated right now, you’re not alone. Burnout is currently rampant. Take time to step away from your work and your computer screen. Rest. Find unique ways to enjoy your days and trust that your writing life will be there when you’re ready to reconnect with it. 

 Need a quick pick me up? Check out NPR’s Joy Generator. 
 
 

How to Rewire Your Brain and Your Writing Experiences

How to Rewire Your Brain and Your Writing Experiences

by | Jun 22, 2021 | Slow Pieces Blog

On Saturday, my husband and I made our annual trek up to Seamans’ Orchard. I never tire of their spectacular mountain views or their berries. 

Each year, we pick around twenty pounds of fruit then scarf down as much as we can. The rest ends up in our freezer.

Halfway through our berry picking, a family arrived. The mother and her four-year-old daughter claimed the row in front of me. The father and baby walked the row just beyond them. I love listening to the reactions children have when picking berries for the first time, so I cocked my ear in their direction. 

The little girl scampered along the blueberry bushes and called to her sister “tater” whenever she found a “blue one.” She delighted in all the “samples” she found.

Apparently, she was also a big fan of farting. Every few minutes she excitedly asked if anyone was ready to let out a stinker. 

I admired her confidence and easy joy. She reminded me that sometimes life is that simple. 

You pick a berry, eat it, and smile. 

Brené Brown says joy is the most vulnerable emotion. It requires us to completely let go.

When life gets difficult, letting go can feel dangerous. Afraid to let down our guard, we armor up, hoping to prevent future pain. But that never works. 

Wherever we go, life follows. 

Anne Lamott calls earth a forgiveness school. 

If she’s right, then painful events are our teachers. 

Some faith traditions talk about the power of spiritual discomfort and how dis-ease fuels our desires and dreams. Along the journey toward something better, we grow. In this way, pain is our ally. 

But it doesn’t have to dominate our experiences. 

I’m currently reading the memoir Swing by Ashleigh Renard. Toward the end of the book, the narrator starts writing love letters to herself. In them, she re-envisions her experiences. Last month I finished a class that included a similar practice. 

The instructor said writing new endings for our experiences is as effective as experiencing a different outcome. Both create new neural networks. In fact, the brain doesn’t know the difference between a rewrite and a new event. 

In other words, my graduate school mentor was right. We can’t change the past, but we can change the story we tell about it. 

During this month’s newsletter series, I’ve talked about the importance of recommitting to your why, sharing your work for the fun of it, and giving yourself permission to share your first draft work.

Here’s my final invitation: write a love letter to yourself. 

Think back on a writing challenge you’ve faced, whether it’s a rejection, writer’s block, or a nasty thing your asshole internal editor said. Write the original version so the story no longer lives in your head. Then rewrite it so the outcome is positive. 

Here’s my rewrite of The Doozy I mentioned at the beginning of the month.

Dear Lisa, 

What an engaging read! I see how hard you’ve worked to turn this painful experience into art. Your grief is palpable, and yet it’s tempered by a healthy dose of humor. I laughed out loud when reading about some of your character’s antics. And boy do I love Klaus! 

I’d like to partner with you as we prepare this story for publication. I think it’s one of many books you’ll write across your career, which I’d like to represent. 

Sincerely, 

Agent who loves your writing 

See? It really is that simple. 

What would you like to rewrite? 

What will it take for you to try this experiment? 

After you’ve re-envisioned your experience, send me an email, and let me know how it feels.

I’d love to hear about the new neural networks you created. 

You and your writing are worth the effort.

Keep writing on! 

Procrastination can sneak up on you. Break the cycle by sharing with other writers in this unique way.

Procrastination can sneak up on you. Break the cycle by sharing with other writers in this unique way.

by | Jun 16, 2021 | Slow Pieces Blog

Two days ago, I bought a new bathing suit. 

I’d kept the last one until it dry rotted. 

I know. 

Ew. 

I hate shopping in general. Bathing suit shopping exists in a level of hell that includes Chuck E. Cheese, ingrown toenails, and organizing closets. 

The dressing room lights bring out The Adams Family in my skin. 

The funhouse mirrors reveal every flaw. 

It seems like most suits have some weird ruffle or thing that’s probably going to chafe or dig into my skin. 

So, I avoid this nightmare until it’s clear my old suit is done. 

Sometimes we treat our important writing projects the same way.

 We fill our writing calendars with “legit” work like easy-to-publish essays, work projects, or classes to beef up our skills. Sometimes we workshop our friend’s stories because they need us. Or we churn out blog posts. 

Being told our work is less than stellar or entering a high-stakes part of the writing process like finishing a long project, querying, or preparing to go on submission can cause a spike in our tactical avoidance maneuvers. 

How can you tell the difference between legit work and procrastination? 

When you’re in balance, you prioritize appropriately. 

When you’re procrastinating, you feel an urgent need to work on a certain project but believe there’s too much else to do.

Most of the projects on your must-do lists are for other people or they’re lower on your if-I-were-to-die-tomorrow priority list. 

But there are things you can do to break this cycle. 

Last week, I shared a piece I wrote for The Keepthings. The week before, I talked about the importance of persevering.

This week, I want you to lower your project’s stakes by sharing some shitty first drafts with other writers. Schedule a gathering IRL or on Zoom. Set a timer for twenty minutes. Then write. No editing. Definitely no crossing things out. When time’s up, read what you’ve written to the group. Give each other positive feedback using the Amherst Writers and Artists (AWA) Method. 

I teach entire classes based on this method. 

During these sessions, writers experience the power of sharing raw and vulnerable first-draft work. Many discover the sneaky ways their internal editors lie to them. They leave with a sense of confidence and rekindle their creative joy. 

I worked in a group like this for seven years. Most of the pieces created during these sessions were like sandcastles at high tide. Flipping the page washed the idea’s power away. But several of my published pieces came from these meetings. 

The process taught me that showing up is all we need to do. 

The rest will work itself out. 

Last week I found myself choosing “legit” work over my memoir. 

I soon discovered that fear had amped my procrastination up to eleven.  

So, I scheduled a meditative writing session with a group of my favorite peeps. 

As soon as the meeting was on my calendar, I got back to work. 

Often, we give the experiences we fear—the rejections, the iterations that aren’t quite right, the moments of discouragement—too much power.  

But like bathing suit shopping, they’re survivable. 

Trying again and again in a low-stakes environment can stamp this lesson onto your bones. 

It took nine tries to find the right bathing suit. But I bought one.

Completing that task freed my mental energy to focus on more valuable things, like my memoir. 

What do you hate doing? 

How do you avoid your most important writing projects? 

What helps you get back on track? 

Pin It on Pinterest