Anne Lamott: "Until They've Done It"

 

"Very few writers really know what they are doing until they've done it."

~Anne Lamott

    This quote is funny! And also very inspirational; a good phrase to remember when one's feeling doubts about a project. And personally, I think this marvelous quote can be applied to every part of the writing process, not just one.
    During the plotting of a story, a writer thinks up the basic ideas and tries to graph it all out, either in their mind or on paper. During this period, some ideas can sound too crazy or too random to work well, and it can be difficult every now and then to finding ways to connect two events in the story together ("now how does the main character get from their epiphany to the climax scene?"). There could be a whole lot of plot holes and unknown factors in this planning stage, like what a character is actually like when they're written, and this could make the story seem skeletal. But this is okay, because the plotting stage isn't the final result, but the launching pad for the next steps, the time to go crazy with "what ifs."
    Then there's the first draft stage of writing. While writing this draft, it can seem like everything's a mess in comparison to how beautiful it was while imagining it; but fortunately this isn't a disaster because the first draft is supposed to be that way! It's the draft meant for walking the grounds of the story for the first time, getting an insider's view of who the characters actually are, what the scenery is like, and which actions work well in the story. It's the discovery draft, and discovery expeditions can come across a couple unexpected finds before reaching what they were seeking in the first place.
    After the first draft is done, the rewrites (or the editing stage) can happen. And this might be even more difficult than the first draft, because now a writer has the task of bringing change to factors in the story that need improvement without changing things that were actually done well. But throughout this whole stage of the process, the question of "Which changes are the right ones?" is always there, and very pressing because no one wants to accidentally get rid of something good. Making those decisions can seem blind sometimes (a really frightening thought), but the revision stage is more than just taking things out; it's putting more things in, making additions. It's as much as a creative process as plotting the story and writing the first draft was, and this means that new awesome things can be created in the revisions.
    So in every area of writing, this quote by Anne Lamott can be applied and used to give encouragement. Do you agree? :)

Writing Games: Never and All the Time

    Have you ever gotten bored of trying to describe characters in one sentence? "John is a sullen person," "Jane is happy-go-lucky." Short summarizing statements like this can be good for making a character's personality consistent, but it can get pretty tricky sometimes to keep from using the same term for multiple characters.
    But what if instead of focusing on one character and one adjective, a sentence like this was used to summarize: "John never smiles, but Jane does it all the time."
    There are numerous helpful things about never/all the time sentences like this. For one, it helps come up with a defining characteristic for not one but two characters, and it does it in a more creative way than coming up with just one word to describe them.

Squirrels in the park are never very
dramatic . . .


    Secondly, writing never/all the time sentences is an exercise that helps one remember characters in their story. It jogs the memory of what they're like and how they might have associated with each other.
    Thirdly, a never/all the time statement might uncover a parallel trait that wouldn't usually come up. Using the John and Jane example: if John never smiles, he could just be a pretty serious person, or he could be hiding his emotions behind a continual scowl; similarly, if Jane's always grinning from ear to ear, she's got to be either uniquely peppy or someone who's very accustomed to masking her real feelings, like John. In this context, the never/all the time sentence doesn't show opposing personalities, but opposing reactions, which can make a relationship between these characters more interesting.

. . . but spoiled housecats, on the other
hand, are dramatic all the time!

    Fourthly, writing never/all the time statements for characters is useful because they could point out a weaknesses of each character, which could be focused more on in the written story. John could look at Jane and think that he's never as happy as her, or Jane could look at John and think that she's never as focused and respected as he is; either of these could add conflict to the story or build on a recurring theme.
    Finally, coming up with never/all the time sentences is also just fun to do; it's a writing game!
    Can you think of a "never and all the time statement" for two characters in one of your stories? :)

Humor and Dramatic Irony

    Dramatic irony. Basically, it's when the audience/reader knows something that the characters in the story don't. Usually when dramatic irony is used (like in all suspense novels), tension is created, but when dramatic irony is used in the context of humor, it can build anticipation.
    For example: a character can be used to create dramatic irony. In a scene where a particular character (usually someone mischievous or characteristically "unlucky") steps into the room the main character/s are in, the reader would be thinking "Oh boy, here we go" but the characters have no idea something strange is bound to happen. And as the scene goes on and the other characters neglect to understand the peril they are in (be it danger or just an unfortunate and comical inconvenience), the anticipation for the little catastrophe gets stronger and larger until it finally happens.
    Another way to use dramatic irony for humor is through a certain object. Something that will cause the character who naively picks it up a world of trouble. I think a perfect example of this is the classic scene of the movie Home Alone. You know, where young Kevin is in the bathroom, trying out his father's aftershave. All the adults watching probably knew what would happen, which made Kevin's abrupt realization that the stuff stings even funnier (and pitiable).
   Scenes where a character is mistaken or being tricked can also be hilarious. There's a great example of this in the movie Esther (the 1999 version). Basically, there's a scene where the king of Persia is trying to come up with a way to honor one of the main characters. As he does so, the villain Haman (who hates the aforementioned main character) shows up, and the king asks him for assistance in coming up with a reward. Thinking that the honor is for himself, Haman starts listing a bunch of lavish rewards. The king accepts the ideas readily, and in the very next scene . . . bam! Not only is that following scene hilarious, but the build-up of Haman's eager dialogue makes the viewer chuckle the whole time. There's also an example of this kind of thing in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, involving a contagonist, a cruel prank, and a forged letter. One can't help but feel sorry for the deceived Malvolio as he gets excited about a trap, but at the same time it's hard not to snicker just a little bit as he arrogantly struts into the setup.
   "The little bubble of obliviousness." That's what I like to call this next example of humorous dramatic irony. It's most effective in something visual like a movie or a TV show, but I've seen it in at least one book, and it was so hilarious that I burst out laughing. The bubble of obliviousness is basically a short scene (usually near the climax) where the main characters are running around in a panic trying to solve (or just survive) a problem, and the situation is hectic and tense, but right smack in the middle of it (either walking into the scene or lingering in a small corner of it) there's another character being completely unaware of the panic. The character is usually doing something casual and relaxed like reading or eating a banana, and maybe interrupting the others to ask what's happening, and the response that character gets and the contrast between them and the others is hugely laughable!
    Do any other examples of dramatic irony being used humorously come to mind? Please feel free to share in the comments section! :)

Jules Renard: No Interruptions!

"Writing is the best way to talk without being interrupted."

~Jules Renard

    Okay, so who else aside from me has a particular dislike for being interrupted while speaking?
    Probably most people, right? It's frustrating--particularly when you're saying something really cool and interesting. A moment when one's sentences are well-crafted and not awkwardly worded in the slightest (which, for some of us, doesn't happen every day) . . . but then someone--the listener or a conversation-hijacker--interrupts to say their own thing. Less interesting, but nevertheless attention is pulled to it, and the awesome moment is ruined.
    That. Stinks.
    And it's such a fantastic thing that we get to avoid it when writing. Alone, with total (well, most) control over what comes out on the paper/screen, no one can cut us off mid-sentence and squander the awesome dialogue. We can say the fabulous things we want to say and have it complete its course (and then proceed to alter it almost completely in the editing process, but that's another topic).
    Isn't it great to write uninterrupted? Does your story have at least one scene where an interruption would spoil something important?

Humor and Verbal Irony

    In a nutshell, verbal irony is when somebody says something that's completely different than what they really mean. It's a tool that lots of satirical writers use, and sometimes it's applied in serious works, but it can also be used in creating humor in a story.
    Sarcasm is possibly the most identifiable and common example. You've got to be really careful when using it in real life (it can seriously hurt people's feelings), but in fiction, in certain scenes, it can be hilarious and endearing. For example: Low, unhappy groans sounded from the other side of the wall. "Dude, are you all right?" Guy #1 asked. "Oh yes," responded Guy #2, "I just love it when old bookshelves decide to dump their contents on me." You can picture the tone of Guy #2's voice, right? And maybe the look on #1's face.
    Another example of funny uses of verbal irony is what I call a "fake" simile. It's when someone says something like "she's about as happy as a cat who just crawled out of a pond." The description is understood in a more illustrated way, and the mental picture it sketches can be more funny. It's not actually amusing when a poor cat gets dumped into a pond, but when picturing the cat's feline glower on the face of an irritated person, isn't it slightly funny?
    Wit. Not exactly sarcasm, but it does usually annoy the person it's directed towards and highly amuse the person watching. It's a little hard to describe, but sometimes it's when a person states the obvious in criticism to the person to whom they're talking, sometimes it's when someone says something "punny" (get it? Puns? Funny? Punny?), and sometimes when someone being witty, they're acting like a smarty-pants. Wit is saying something clever (or obvious but un-thought of) at just the right moment, making the random statement laugh-worthy.
    Exaggeration. Most of the time it holds hands with sarcasm, but it's not uncommon or ineffective to have a "funny character" who tends to un-sarcastically exaggerate most of the time. With an eager or excited tone, a couple enthusiastic bouts of arm waving, and an unintentional rising voice, this kind of character can draw out a couple chuckles. Though exaggerations, in my opinion, aren't quite as strong as its counterpart . . .
    Understatements. These are hilarious moments waiting to happen! The effect is more powerful in a movie or TV show, but they work in novels too when the wording is right. An understatement could fit in fantastically as the final line of a chapter, even opening doors into the next one. Example: "How bad is it, really?" Person 1's eyes turned upward as he thought. "Not terribly bad." (Next chapter) It was terribly bad. It takes a little more build-up and character investment than this example, but there's potential for funniness, right?
    The harbinger sentence. You probably know it well. A little cliché, and whenever it's spoken, you know for sure that something huge and not particularly fortunate for the heroes is going to happen. But when you're writing a humorous story or trying to thread in some humor, it can set a stage. The phrase is also useable for all age-groups because it's something that children, teenagers, and adults would all potentially say. The statement, of course, is: "What could possibly go wrong?"
    Have you ever read a book filed under the "humor" genre? What is it? Is there a particular factor in it (perhaps one of the ones listed above?) that is the chief funniness factor?

Humor And Situational Irony

    There are three basic types of irony: dramatic, verbal, and situational. Most people know what all of those are. All of them can be really useful tools in adding humor to a story. Today I'd like to talk a little bit about ways I've noticed that situational irony has been used.
    Situational irony is basically when something totally unexpected happens that neither the characters nor the readers foresaw. "Didn't see that coming!" That kind of thing. This might be the most powerful irony tool used to make people laugh--when not used too often, it can cause readers/viewers to burst out laughing rather than just chuckle.
    There's more than one way to be ironic. The situational irony action/event could be uniquely comical (like a duck randomly landing on a guy's head and trying to eat his hair) or it could be a "natural", every-day thing (like having another character--bonus points if he/she's annoying!--waltz in and naively spoil a special moment between a budding couple). It could be something huge that throws the whole scene into a tailspin, or it could just be a disruption that creates an "awkward silence" moment.
    A well-set mood tends to be important. Usually the mood of the scene is serious, or something important is about to happen, or characters are pondering large decisions. The scene's set for seriousness, or suspense, or another kind of tension . . . then wham! Something unexpected happens that knocks the character off their feet, or at least jolts them. And the action is timed just right to make it hilarious to witness.
    A really popular show that uses situational irony well is Sherlock (you might have heard about it), mainly in the main character's behavior. In the series, Sherlock's attitude and the way he acts is so contrary to normalcy and the expected that most of the other characters think he's crazy. But the viewers love it! It's what makes the character memorable and the show naturally funny.
    Do you know any other examples of books or shows that use situational irony like a pro?