Painting yourself in a corner.
This is another term I like to use for myself when I am writing. It is exactly as it sounds. I go with the flow and sometimes on occasion I find myself in this scenario. I went with a great idea but ended up in some impossible situation that may or may not work. But because I like where it took me, I need to figure out how I am going to make this work.
Most of the time I think things through, but on occasion, an idea takes me on a detour and I end up painting myself in a corner. This little hiccup is awesome. I don’t see it as a reason to panic. I see it as a reason to be creative. Assuming we go back to our serial killer situation with a father and a boyfriend and they meet up ready to kill each other… We love the situation as to how they got there, we love the idea of them meeting but we are not ready for the fight. We can use several mechanisms to relieve the stress and prolong this climactic moment.
We can use a planted seed or another character to pop up at the moment we need them to help us get unstuck. This could be a point where they need to temporarily work together to get out of a sticky situation. Comic relief is certainly one way to go. Even the most dramatic situation could be broken up by something interesting, funny or unusual. We could have someone flying a drone or practicing flying a drone. This could be a neighbour near the house and the two guys are caught on camera. It could be an annoying dog that comes and pisses on one of the characters.
The possibilities are endless and so we need to figure out the setting the time the place for all these incidents. If a man always says good morning to the elderly neighbour and its clockwork because the old lady is always on the porch. It would seem interesting if one day she is not.
· Routine
· Comedy
· Hobbies
· Vices
These are just some of the things we can and need to count on to make things fun and make it easier to write. Without these additional tools, it is very difficult to keep things alive and moving in a book or a script. Additionally, we can use pets or animals to add to the story. Kids too are a fun way to keep things moving because kids and pets are unpredictable.
I once did a small class for a Montessori school. A young lady asked a question. Her dad was a gardener, they owned a large business and she wanted to write a story about a tree. Well the tree itself could be boring. However, an old tree could have seen so much. It could have experienced so much. There is a story right there. If we took it a step forward and the tree would be cut down, would its life flash before its eyes?
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Zsolt Zsemba 