 Drama: August 18, 2021 Issue [#10917] |
This week: Chance and Coincidence in Plots Edited by: Joy  
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"I'm aware of the mystery around us, so I write about coincidences, premonitions, emotions, dreams, the power of nature, magic."
Isabel Allende
“Well-timed coincidences can catapult a story forward, but a poorly planned one can bring your readers to a dead stop.”
Steven James
“Sometimes life coughs up coincidences no writer of fiction would dare copy.”
Stephen King
“The probability of a certain set of circumstances coming together in a meaningful (or tragic) way is so low that it simply cannot be considered mere coincidence. ”
V.C. King
“We do not create our destiny; we participate in its unfolding. Synchronicity works as a catalyst toward the working out of that destiny.”
David Richo
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Hello, I am Joy , this week's drama editor. This issue is about using coincidences and chance happenings in our stories.
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Welcome to the Drama newsletter
Our daily lives are bombarded with accidental meetings, chances, and sudden tragedies that seem to have come out of nowhere and have no apparent connection to the flow of events. We may not even notice the great majority of such chances and coincidences, but they do happen a lot in real life. It’s in our nature to attribute successes and tragedies to controllable factors while opting to be blind to luck and fate and the part played by them.
Then, rightfully so, some authors and a few writing instructors want that gift of a chance to be planned and explained in detail. This is because randomness, especially when carried too far out of its bounds, disturbs the readers and works against a character-induced story.
Yet, some of the best stories where characters are important start with or contain chance meetings. Anna Karenina by Tolstoy, for example: Anna Karenina meets Vronsky at the train station where someone was run over by a train. Then, at the end of the novel, Anna throws herself under a train. Do you see how a capable author like Tolstoy can make good use of a simple accident?
In the same vein, how about the resemblance of Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton in the Tale of Two Cities. Also, in the same novel, Dr.Manette was imprisoned by the family of Charles Darnay. This coincidence is the underneath driving force for the entire plot.
Similarly, Dr. John Hamish Watson, a former British Army doctor and the best friend and assistant of Sherlock Holmes, met Sherlock Holmes while looking for a place to rent. People have to meet somehow, mostly by chance, and that's when the chemistry begins.
Alfred Hitchcock’s movies, too, use the idea of coincidence to a large degree. Just think of the beginning scenes of The Birds. The coincidences are countless. Then, here’s one of my Hitchcock favorites, if for nothing but for the smart quips in it: North by Northwest. In the movie, Roger Thornhill, a man that is supposed to be boring, hails--by mistake--an errand boy who was looking for a government agent. As the result, a mistaken-identity spy story begins. Here is small part of the script.
Roger Thornhill: Who are you?
Valerian: Mere errand boys carrying concealed weapons. His is pointed at your heart, so, please, no errors of judgment, I beg of you.
Roger Thornhill: What is this? A joke or something?
Licht: Yes, a joke. We'll laugh in the car.
In all fiction, some coincidences are necessary to get a story started, but ending a story suddenly as if with an act of God takes all the meaning out of the preceding events of the plot. Such an ending is called a Deus ex Machina, which we need to stay away from.
Yet, a coincidence or an unlikely event, when at the right time, can launch and propel the plot forward. Thus, learning from the best authors, we can use coincidences, chance meetings, or unlikely events by:
 Making sure the genre we’re writing in is more tolerant of coincidences. Case in point, Journey stories, Fantasy, Horror, some Sci-fi and Romance genres. (Never mind Jane Austen. She planned everything meticulously.)
Using and profiting from the coincidence, accident, a chance happening, etc. by analyzing how the cause and effect of it can propel the story forward.
Not trying to explain or justify any tiny coincidences that the readers already may have accepted. Our explanation takes the joy out of the flow and fixes the attention on the coincidence rather than what that coincidence has brought on.
Conclusions and climax must depend on character actions and choices. Beware of the climax (and ending) where no coincidences should occur. If it is inevitable, go back to the earlier chapters and foreshadow its happening.
To wrap it up, coincidences can initiate a story, can become the reason for the entire plot, or they are so commonplace that, including the characters, nobody notices them. A rule of thumb is to use the bigger ones in the beginning and lesser ones sporadically but without overdoing it. In other words, if you are not sure of the placement of these coincidences and such and you think they are diverting the attention instead of helping the story, stay away from using them in the end sections of your stories.
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