“Free Range Characters” featured on Victoria Dixon’s blog

Victoria summarizes my "Free Range Characters" workshop on her blog today - Take the test - how "free" are your fictional characters?

Good morning.  I just had the pleasure of reading my characterization workshop, “Free Range Characters,” summarized on Victoria Dixon’s blog. 

I met Victoria at the Crested Butte Writer’s Conference.  Since then, we have been blogging about the excellent workshops and panels there.  She enjoyed my workshop and presented an excellent summary of it.  For those of you who have enjoyed my summaries, drop by Victoria’s and read about my workshops and others.  Makes for great summer reading, and maybe a little writing inspiration, as well.  Thanks, Victoria!

Click here or on the Ron Empress red logo to read the craft workshop summary.

Plotting your fiction novel a la Avatar

Cameron's characters, Jake and Neytiri have vastly conflicting goals that create good conflict in Avatar.

This is the third of a three-part blog about what you can learn from James Cameron’s hugely successful film, Avatar.

 In parts one and two, universal theme, high stakes, and new twists were discussed. Today, we’ll look at the tried-and-true concept of GMC .. or GMCD (Goal-Motivation-Conflict-Disaster).

Solid story, good old GMC. Cameron’s stories are character-driven, his characters highly motivated and invested in their stories. This engages the reader and makes him or her care about the characters’ fates, as well, creating memorable, satisfying stories.  Because character-driven plotting makes for seamless, compelling stories, it’s my favorite workshop to present.                                                    

See Avatar.  Use it for the colorful, fantastic inspiration it is to create your own best work.  I’ll leave you with the delicious tidbit that inspired this column.  It’s taken from James Cameron’s February, 2010 TED talk.

Cameron says:   Take risks.  NASA has this phrase that they like to use: “Failure is not an option.” But failure has to be an option in art and in exploration because it’s a leap of faith.  No important endeavor that required innovation was done without risk. You have to be willing to take those risks. So that’s what I’d leave you with, is that, in whatever you’re doing, failure is an option–but fear is not.

 

Strengthen your writing using Avatar

Cameron added high stakes and new twists to proven plotting staples to create his record-breaking movie, Avatar.

In yesterday’s blog, we studied James Cameron’s Avatar and how he used tried-and-true universal themes in this futuristic, dazzling story.  Because I refer to material from yesterday’s blog, you might want to read that first.

Think of a universal theme that has proven to resonate with huge audiences, and strengthen it with the following story elements. 

Stakes. Stakes. Stakes.  Dust off your Donald Maass workbook about the breakout novel.  Create high public stakes, high personal stakes, and keep raising them. I can still hear Donald’s mantra from RMFW’s May workshop in 2002, I think. He would have us turn to a scene we had already written, and he asked us to write down what was at stake in that scene.  Once we answered that, he would ask, “How can you make it  worse for your protagonist?” then “How can you make it even worse?” In Avatar, the Na’vi’s entire world is at stake.

Take your universal theme and ask these questions until you have a theme with high stakes.

New twists. Why change a uniform when you can create a living, breathing body to inhabit? Why tell the story of a sinking ship when you can weave an unforgettable love story within its decks?  Cameron topped his Terminator with a newer, more powerful villain made of liquid metal and polymorphic abilities.

 What can you do with plot, character, setting and/or style that will present this universal, high-stakes theme in a new, refreshing light?  Cameron chooses a unique setting, and the plot twist is that Sam … oops, spoiler material. Another twist is what happens to Sam.

Another brilliant twist in Avatar: the protagonist is handicapped, but finds himself in a world and time when his physical impediments can be instantly erased.

Tomorrow we’ll look at GMC (Goal-Motivation-Conflict-Disaster) because, no matter how fantastic, futuristic or ancient your setting, no matter how horrific, romantic or mysterious your story, good story needs this critical spine.

What you can learn from Avatar

Cameron's Avatar plot offers classic examples of universal theme, high stakes, and strong GMC.

Have you been enchanted yet by Avatar? James Cameron directed this film, which has become the newest, highest grossing film of all time, knocking off Cameron’s last major film, Titanic, which has enjoyed that exalted position for lo, the past thirteen years.

 Avatar became the first movie to earn over $2 billion worldwide, and it was nominated for nine Academy Awards. Cameron has enjoyed major box office and Academy Award success with a string of movies – Terminator, Alien, True Lies, Titanic. How can he so consistently hit a home run? 

 The story is involves a fish-out-of-water protagonist in a new world, and features eye-popping special effects.  In the future, Jake Sully, a paraplegic Marine war veteran, is brought to another planet, Pandora, where the Na’vi, a gentle humanoid race, leave in idyllic harmony with other species and their world.

 When his brother is killed in a robbery, Jake takes his place on a mission to the distant world of Pandora. There he learns of greedy corporate plans to claim the natives’ rich woodland, thereby gaining access to the precious mineral below.  In exchange for the spinal surgery that will fix his legs, Jake assumes an “avatar” identity to gather intelligence for the military unit, lead by Colonel Quaritch. In a plot development reminiscent of “Pocahontas,” a romance develops between Jake and the beautiful alien Neytiri, as she teaches him the way of the Na’vi.  Ultimately, the ruthless Colonel advances his extermination plan, forcing Jake to take a stand and fight back in an epic battle for Pandora.

 What can you learn about Avatar that can strengthen the appeal of your next novel?

 Universal theme.  In order to defeat the enemy, the protagonist, Sam Worthington “joins” the Na’vi enemy by donning the “uniform” of the enemy. This is a frequent theme in literature, where the protagonist eventually learns enough about the enemy that he or she “turns coat” and joins the enemy, attacking his home team.  Other examples: Paul Bettany in “Legion.” Ethan Hawke in “Daybreakers.” Arnold Schwarzenegger joining the humans in “Terminator 2.” Kevin Costner in “Dances with Wolves.”  Think of a universal theme that has proven to resonate with huge audiences, and strengthen it with the following story elements.

 From the general themes in literature – bravery, loyalty, friendship, good v. evil; historical, cultural, and social – select the top-selling novels in your genre and isolate the theme.  It should be a universal theme, transcending race, gender, sexual preference, and creed.  Select the one that resonates most to you.  Tomorrow, I’ll post more about Avatar, including raising stakes and maximizing good old GMC.