Learning From Episodic Television

I believe that if we find a television program that hooks us immensely, it is worth it to study that program and see what makes it so gripping to us as an audience.

What can it teach us about writing, you ask? Plenty!

For starters, an episode of television has a finite amount of time to tell a story. Usually this amounts to about forty-five minutes during which it must give us a beginning, middle, and end. That means the hook needs to grab us in the first thirty seconds or we will tune out. As an example, I have been re-watching the first season of American Horror Story and am amazed that once I get a minute into the show, I'm hooked until the credits roll.

What else can we learn from a show like Horror Story? Well, we can learn about structuring overall story arcs. If you're like me and you want to write a trilogy of novels, you need to have a beginning, middle, and end for each book, but you also need to have a beginning, middle and end for your entire trilogy. That makes those books feel like a complete story. What good would a season of television be if we only felt the need to watch a single episode and skip to the end? All those episodes need to fit into the overall story that the writers are telling, and the same can be applied for your series of novels.

Last, but not least, episodic television teaches us that we don't have to tell everything all at once. Watch Downton Abbey. Our first impressions of Lady Mary are that she's a cold, selfish woman. After three episodes we learn that there's so much depth to her as a person that we can't help but sympathize with her as she struggles with her place in the world. We need to harness this ability to reveal only what is absolutely necessary in small chunks in our own novels. We don't need to tell the audience our protagonists whole life story in the first chapter. We have an enormous number of chapters to utilize as we slowly pull back the layers of our characters to reveal their heart and soul within.

So, the next time that someone gives you guff for watching an episode of television, tell them that you're studying!

Old Dog, New Tricks

I just did something that I only do once in a while: I bought a few Kindle books.

Did you read that correctly? I actually paid real monies for a product that someone else wrote. If you know me, this is a little shocking because I am infamous for prowling the "Top 100 Free" list on Amazon daily. I have only read one book from the hundreds that I've downloaded, mostly because I am very busy and my free time is very limited - but I am also nearing the end of two other books I've downloaded recently that kept my attention. Those were also free promo books for a day or two.

Why this leap into spending money for something? Well, I just got my first ever Kindle Paperwhite. I debated for a month whether or not I should buy a new eReader (my other options being my iPad, which hurt my eyes after an hour of reading, and my original Kindle 2 with keyboard and buttons) but, I finally broke down. I am thrilled with the device, and it has jumpstarted my book consumption back to a healthy level that I haven't seen since my high school days. I was very turned off by my old Kindle 2's single, computerized font. The Paperwhite looks like real printed type, and I love the backlight. I've read everywhere, and it's rejuvenated my imagination.

But, enough about the eReader. My point for this blog is that I've struggled with something mentally that I read about a while back when it comes to eBooks. I downloaded so many for free that they started losing their value in my mind. Why is this? I'm still not really sure. I think it may have something to do with the genre that is most often free, and that's coincidentally related to the genre that I am trying to write: romance.

I'll be honest. I'm a sucker for a good love story. I am a man, but that doesn't stop me from crying like a baby when I see Lady Mary and Matthew Crawley share a kiss in the snowfall on Downton Abbey. I am sucked in to the stories of these characters and their relationships. They're fascinating and engaging when done right.

However, I've noticed that there are a lot of half-baked ideas floating around in eBook-land. Technology is good to us and gives writers opportunities that we didn't have five years ago. But it's a double-edged sword. The ability to publish anything means that as a reader I am now forced to wade through thousands of books to find one to read. Many of these books are not my taste. Many of them are not bad, but there have been quite a few that had me scratching my head thinking, "What was this writer trying to do?" I suppose some of these stories are too simplistic for my liking. I need high stakes, even if those stakes are simply who will inherit a sprawling estate. I have come across many books that believe that I should be completely interested in reading about every little thing that the heroine does for her daily routine. This isn't the case. I need urgency. I need to feel that everything that is happening has a point for the overall story. It's something that I'm currently sorting through in my own manuscript.

Even with all this wading, I believe I have found a few eBooks that are worth my money. I'm hoping, at least. I need escapism. Better than that, I need to be well-read in my chosen genre. There are many how-to books out there, but nothing teaches better than a great novel on its own. It's also an added bonus when that book is a page turner!

Skeleton of the Novel

I recently found an amazing eBook by CJ Lyons that talks about three-act structure. I was skeptical to check it out at first because I have not found many of the writing formulas to be very helpful in the past, but, boy, am I glad I gave this eBook a shot!

I love movies. I watch many of them. I also watch many television programs, mostly fictional, and I am always amazed when something hooks me. It's hard to figure out what really drags me along when I watch something like Downton Abbey, or Lord of the Rings - but it's undeniable that something catches me and gives me the desire to follow the episode or movie through to the end. I never thought it was the structure of the story. I always believed it had something to do with the plot, the setting, or any other myriad of things. But, the structure of the story? That sounds crazy!

But, I started a test outline of a novel using the three act structure the past two days, and I am blown away at how exciting it is to see the structure of a story as I come up with ideas for the plot and characters. It's like seeing the track of a roller coaster before actually zooming down the loops and curves. What I previously believed about fitting into a mold when it comes to story structure, that it would make me feel stuck and rigid - I am glad to say that the exact opposite has happened. Instead I feel like a million opportunities have laid themselves before me. Having a map before diving into a large project is essential for me.

If you have struggled with pacing, building tension, or any other novel-related issues in your own work, check out No Rules, Just Write! by CJ Lyons. It is well worth the time. I feel energized every time I read another section about the three-act structure. Now, for more time working with Scrivener...my new obsession!