This week: What A Story Needs Edited by: Legerdemain  
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What A Story Needs
In Freytag's description of narrative structure, a story needs these things: Exposition - Rising Action - Climax - Falling Action - Resolution. In writing action - adventure stories, your character will probably encounter several bouts of rising action before the climax is revealed. If your character is strong, they will overcome some of the obstacles and continue. In writing this action, think about not only the dialogue in the situation but their personal response to danger. Not every character will charge into a volatile situation and conquer their fears. Some may cower behind a rock and reassess their strategy.
When involving your characters in an action, it is crucial to understand the body's response to fear. Built into our human genetic code, is a "fight or flight" animal response mechanism, once used to deal with threats to our survival. When such a threat is perceived, a part of our brain called the hypothalamus kicks a series of nerve cell firings and chemical releases (adrenaline) into action and gets the body ready for response - running or fighting.
These patterns of nerve cell firing and chemical release cause our body to undergo a series of very dramatic changes. Our respiratory rate and pulse increase. Blood is shunted away from our digestive tract and directed into our muscles and limbs, which require extra energy and fuel for running and fighting. Our pupils dilate and tear production is inhibited. Tunnel vision can occur. Hearing loss could be a response. Our perception of pain diminishes and our immune system mobilizes with increased activation. Flushing, paling, or sweating can happen.
It is also helpful to know that the rational mind begins to bypass what we would see as "normal" and begin to perceive everything around us as a threat. If the body is unable to react, for example - in a car crash, inappropriate fight reactions might occur as the body needs to react to the stimulus from the adrenaline. Males tend to react more with a "fight" response and females tend to activate the "flight" response and turn to others for help, or attempt to defuse the situation – 'tend and befriend'. During stressful times, a mother is especially likely to show protective responses toward her offspring and affiliate with others for shared social responses to threats.
Stress response can also be a result of mental disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder, in which the individual shows a stress response when remembering a past trauma, and panic disorder, in which the stress response is activated by the catastrophic misinterpretations of bodily sensations. The trigger for these can be a myriad of things, smell, a sight, even words.
Knowing how your character's body should respond in a "fight or flight" situation is important, whether you decide to twist that response in your scene or use it to enrich your description. Using the right responses will give your story authenticity and your character more dimension. Write on!
This month's question: What are some of your typical character triggers? Any clever responses? Send in your answer below!  Editors love feedback!
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| | | Chasing Shadows (E)
A Heartwarming tale of second chances and redemption. - Write From The Heart Contest
#2320441 by Dee  |
Excerpt: The roads of Willow Creek wound like a snake ready to strike, but Eleanor pressed her vintage convertible faster through the curves. Nostalgia and unease twisted within her as the sun dipped below the horizon. She knew these roads, this town—but did it know her anymore? The familiar sight of the quaint town nestled between rolling hills and whispering woods brought back memories of her childhood. Despite the passage of years, fate brought her back to where it all began. Like a snowfall in spring, her return was unexpected.
Excerpt: The sky was darkening when Elias stumbled back to his small village, clutching a bundle of wildflowers he'd picked for his mother. As he neared his home, a sense of dread settled in his stomach. The usually lively village was eerily silent. He quickened his pace, the flowers falling from his hands as he broke into a run.
Excerpt: "One satchel of coins to trade. One bag for teeth." Traxel patted the bags that hanged below each wing. He bounced, floating from three tiny toes on one foot to the other and back again. "I'm ready, Granna."
Excerpt: New York, 1972
I didn’t have a tent – I had a booth on oddities row. Go figure. I really shouldn’t complain. Ringling Brothers didn’t want me. They said my fortune telling was bogus, but Circus Vargas didn’t care. They scooped me right up. After all, I was tall, skinny, and blonde. I wore large flowy blouses, big hoop earrings and baggy pants. I looked the part of a fortune teller. Also, it didn’t hurt that I’d stowed away on a boat from Romania to get here.
Excerpt: Ryan knew it was going to be a bad day from the minute he woke up. His head was congested and throbbing, cluttered with vaguely premonitory dreams, and his old-fashioned analog alarm clock refused to be shut off by the usual means. It filled his small, shabby apartment with a metallic fire alarm ringing until he grabbed it and threw it across the room to burst into a pile of springs and gears against the wall.
Excerpt: He heard a soft pitter-patter, and turned around. A tan marsh rabbit leaped a few feet behind him. The critter froze, staring ahead, making Patrick think he startled it.
Excerpt: "Hey," she shouted, and took off at a furious pace, focused on the futile task of retrieval. Head down, looking under bushes and trees, she ran headlong into another person, knocking them both on their butts.
Excerpt: Milton Faust dreamt he was drowning, gasping for air beneath a torrential waterfall that pounded him deeper and deeper beneath its thundering weight and held him there.
He awoke screaming, flailing his arms as if he were trying to swim his way to the surface of consciousness. Bolting upright, skin all a-prickle, he gawked about the room with his one good eye to reassure himself that he was still in bed. The large candle that he kept lit in the corner of his room flickered brightly, buttering the walls with fluid shadows. A cold chill coiled through him, and Milton tried to shiver it away pushing the horrible dream out of his mind, but it only pretended to go away and kept creeping back like a thick darkness that hung with folded wings around his heart.
Excerpt: A pair of strong hands spun Brenn around and pinned his shoulders against the wall. The ill-fitted mask hid Brenn's face but also obscured most of his vision. He darted his eyes beneath the cloth mask, trying to peak through the small openings in the weave of the knitted fabric.
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This month's question: What are some of your typical character triggers? Any clever responses?
Last month's "Short Stories Newsletter (April 24, 2024)" question: How do you show pain or depression in your writing?
dragonwoman : I describe body language of the character, and sometimes show in what they say and how they say it.
QueenNormaJeanGreeneggs&vegham  : Pain is disabling - for body, mind and soul. I'm currently battling pain on all those levels. It's almost a year, and I pray things will be sunnier soon. I now find solace in writing for a local paper. It exercises my creativity and forces me to think outside my pain. It forces me into deadlines. It forces me to interact with society. It forces me to smile. Perhaps it will force my pain out.
buddhangela  : Great newsletter. This is definitely something we need to consider as we write about injured warriors who continue on a journey or other characters with old injuries that still ache ("ever since I took an arrow in the knee...") Those characters might be stoic and grit their teeth a lot, but now and then it would make sense for them to uncharacteristically lash out at companions when holding it in gets to be too much. Great stuff to keep in mind–thank you!
Elisa: Middle Aged Stik  : Since depression can be rather variable in symptoms, I take some time to learn how it appears in my characters. From there, I can decide if other characters will cotton onto the depression in the character(s) or if they'll confuse it for something else.
TheBusmanPoet  : The pain and depression if there in my writings will be shown. If not, nothing will be shown.
MagicIan  : TheBusmanPoet - You're quite right. A lot of actors say the same thing about doing emotionally powerful scenes in certain films. That they have to think of something really sorrowful to basically cry on cue. David Duchovny, for instance, must've had to do that to shed tears so convincingly for that one scene, in RETURN TO ME, just after the death of his character's first wife.
TheBusmanPoet : That's how I have to write something that emotional. I can only write from a position of emotion and passion. To do otherwise, would be an injustice to what I may write.}
Scarypotato is okay : The general tone or word choice. Either that or having the character that got a concussion throw up in the other person's lap.
Sometimes using sensory words and descriptors. For example, "Towards the end of the procedure, anesthetic wore off, the dental drill sent bolts of agony into Carson's mouth."
Writing_Fanatic : By delving deep into these emotions, one can extract raw, authentic feelings that resonate with readers on a profound level. Using personal experiences as inspiration, weaving in metaphors, and exploring the complexities of these emotions can result in evocative prose or poetry. By transforming pain into art, individuals cannot only find solace and catharsis but also connect with others who may be going through similar struggles, fostering empathy and understanding through shared storytelling.
oldgreywolf scribbles : Behavioral change(s) (including clothing condition and hygiene), physical impairment, pet's reactions, other's reactions who knows them, bandages (or bloody bandages),
Remember that a person's/pet's personality can be affected by the condition of their nervous system.
preksha : Sometimes, writers procrastinate in pain and depression and are unable to put pen to paper. I use the show and don't tell technique in writing to give my words life on the page. I show the pain or depression in writing by using imaginary characters in crafting children's stories to create an intriguing content so that the readers get hooked to it. By penning down my emotions I feel less depressed and despondent like sorting out feelings to make my writings lively and full of life.
Joto-Kai : I also look at connotation out of context. So describe the emotion you are portraying then project it out.
If the depression is hollow, empty, cold, hard, forlorn, forgotten.
What things are those and similar things:
The cold wind, she chokes down the cold latte throws away the empty cup, that had been sitting there forgotten. The hard bench.
Same things in a cheerful scene
The sprightly breeze. She savors the last surprise swallows of sweet, sweet latte that had been patiently waiting on the corner of her consciousness. and places the finished cup in the recycle bin. The solid bench.
keyisfake : flashback and my characters confessions
Thanks to everyone for your responses! L~ |
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Short Stories: May 22, 2024 Issue [#12565]
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