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This week: Kishōtenketsu Edited by: Jay's debut novel is out now!  
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This Short Stories Newsletter is dedicated to readers and writers of short fiction and to those who want to know more about the art of telling big stories in small spaces.
This month:
Kishōtenketsu
While it's a difficult approach for short stories, kishōtenketsu is an alternative view on conflict-driven plot. |
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This past week, in one of my writer's groups, we've been discussing an article that a friend discovered, which revolves around the philosophical application of kishōtenketsu -- a Japanese term for a form of "plot without conflict" which occurs, most often in certain types of Japanese and Chinese writing.
Kishōtenketsu , per Wikipedia, consists of four components, the ki, shō, ten, and ketsu. For our purposes, these four concepts would be approximately thus:
ki -- the setup or establishment of the conditions of the story or poem.
shō -- continuing from the established details, elaborating on the condition of the story.
ten -- the twist or change or alteration.
ketsu -- the resulting new thought after the change.
The conditional qualities of kishōtenketsu, then, to some thinking, are a means of characterizing story without direct conflict. Using contrast (one of those things we talked about last month, eh?) instead of the Western view of conflict and resolution to tell the story.
Some theorists say this is actually pretty close to conflict-oriented storytelling, in the sense that certain types of conflict-- notably, man vs. situation, and similar configurations-- can be equally subtle. Based on the examples and details that I've seen, it looks like the differentiation is that kishōtenketsu is a poetic form as well as a narrative form. The poetry tends to take on a logical, metaphorical quality-- the third line of a four line poem usually provides an image or suggestion which completely changes the meaning of the previous two lines and the conclusion.
It's interesting to think about ways to use contrast instead of direct, situational conflict as a narrative device. I'm working on a story which uses some different narrative threads in contrast to show change, and I'm thinking this philosophy might be just the way to get there.
Until Next Month,
Take care and Write on!
~jay |
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Feedback from last month's editorial: "Context Matters"
brom21 writes:
I was intrigued by the concept of presenting flaws or reality based elements to villains who may come across as cliché. I’ll use this piece of information for my next antagonist to ground his or her resolve. A problem I have is not grounding characters with the proper reactions or personalities that better explains their situations. Sometimes I overdo it with details as well after I got a review for a story where the reviewer basically said it was dry and in need of description. Thanks for this tid-bit of helpful advice. Oh, and I found the workshop experiment with the wide eyed smile enlightening and funny; can’t wait for the next newsletter. Kudos!
 thanks! And yeah, it makes sense to overdo it with details-- easier to write the details and then streamline them later to get just the strongest, crispest images in the final draft. I have been known to craft one sentence several ways in an early draft and slice them up later.
Elfin Dragon-finally published writes:
I love this edition in regards to context. Especially when you bring up "The Wizard of Oz". I thought it hilarious and then I thought of the TV series "Dr. Who". There are so many aspects in which context really does matter. For instance my own fantasy character gets bent out of shape when called a changeling instead of a shape-shifter. Why? It all has to do with the context of the world I've built. In one world they could be the same thing, however in mine they are completely different. One evil and can be foul smelling and change into anything and anyone. The other has limits on what it can be and cannot be anyone else. Thus we see context matters even when world building.
Yep, the internal designs of a world should serve the storytelling!
Quick-Quill  writes:
I loved this NL! It was right on target. I have difficulty at times SHOWING a character's traits. I have a story that is character driven. It has a plot but it's weak. I want the readers to see the characters and why they do what they do/did. At the end it's the connection they have to each other that makes the reader go WOW. I have backstory for each one and how they are connected. Its the plot that gets them together that I struggle with.
Well, character relationships are difficult for many of us, it's interesting to delve into those backstories-- but make sure the bulk of what the reader needs happens on the page somehow so they aren't feeling lost at what should be your most emotional moments!
An apple a day....  writes:
Lots of info in this newsletter. I love the smile vs the wide-eye effect! Thanks for sharing.
It's really the little things that draw the line between villainy and heroics.  Like whether or not they smile right, eh? ha!
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Short Stories: June 25, 2014 Issue [#6399]
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