Dynamic Duos
Earlier this week, I was working on plotting out a new novel. I'd been having trouble getting past the beginning of said WIP--I pretty much just did the pantser approach to starting the book and had written a good few chapters that way, but then I got completely stuck. I just couldn't go on. Luckily I know myself enough to know the reason: I just didn't know what had to come next. In the past, plotting out the rest of the book in detail had helped me past writing stoppages, but this time, the plot just wasn't coming easily. I needed outside inspiration, so I picked up a craft book my boyfriend bought me five or six years ago called, The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing. Like many of these books, this one was a compilation of articles on craft written by well-known authors.
Plot arises out of opposing forces--forces that come out of the characters. [...] All good plots come from well-orchestrated characters pitted against one another in a conflict of wills. The "Boss" and Zorba, Santiago and the marlin, Scrooge and Bob Cratchit are all well-orchestrated pairs, which by their natures will push the plot forward toward resolution.That got me thinking about all my favorite books and movies. Almost all of them have a protagonist pair who are pitted against each other in a very real way. Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy: obviously. Scarlett and Rhett: similar characters in many ways but rarely able to find common ground. Jane Eyre and Rochester: a strong-willed, young governess and a weak, rich, and experienced landowner.
3 comments:
You named some of my favs. You show me a new way to approach getting stuck. As I am a pantster, I appreciate it!
Ditto what Reina said--you referenced my favorite examples.
Except one.
Ever see the 80s crime-comedy-drama Moonlighting? David Addison and Madeline Hayes were equal but opposite forces, drawn together, yet always pulling apart.
She was Park Avenue. He was the Bronx. And as long as the writers kept that formula in play, and threw in some mystery to thicken the stew, the show sizzled.
But the show lost writers, lost the formula, lost track of what the show was about. They let the characters migrate from the plus and minus poles, and meet in the middle.
Blue Moon Detective Agency closed up shop shortly thereafter.
Great post ... an comments! LOL. I happen to love author Karen Marie Moning, and her pairing of MacLayla Lane (beauty) and Jericho Barrons (beast). She's from the south, he's European sophistication, from Dublin. She's 22, he's of indeterminate age, but closer to 10 thousand than 1. She's sunshine, he's smouldering anger. smiles.
I totally agree with Joe's assessment of Moonlighting!
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