Dramatic Situations Six through Ten (A FF Post)

Onward through our dramatic situations!

Last week we covered situations one through give in this post. (Always time to catch up if you need to!)

I'm sure you're starting to see familiar motifs here. Perhaps the conflict that drives your novel, or even the scene you wrote last night? Chances are, all the majority of the bricks you use to build your story will come from this pile. And with good reason, these are the basics that we use to create new and unusual. Those "cannot put downs" that agents and editors fight over. This is where it starts.

6. Disaster

• Elements: Vanquished power, Victorious enemy, or Messenger
• Summary: A calamitous event occurs, either natural or man-made

7. Falling prey to cruelty or misfortune

• Elements: Unfortunate, a Master, or a Misfortune
• Summary: Innocent is made a victim of ambitious enterprise or acciental misfortune

8. Revolt

• Elements: A Tyrant, A Conspirator
• Summary: Conspirator leads or contributes to a revolt against an oppresive tyrant

9. Daring Enterprise

• Elements: A Bold leader, An Object, An Adversary
• Summary: Prepartion for ware, adventerious expedition, or recapture of a desired object

10. Abduction

• Elements: The Abductor, The Abducted, The Guardian
• Summary: The Abducted person is taken by the Abductor, and may be rescued the the Guardian.

Like I said earlier, they are elementary and basic for a reason. They are just waiting for your creative genius to take them and morph them into a powerful scene or element that will drive your story forward.

Thinking about each scene, treat them as a fundamental building block that serves an expressed purpose (instead of randomly throwing words down until the next nookie scene!) and you no longer have wasted space that you or your editor will have to attack with a machete a few months down the line. Learn to craft each scene based (loosely or closely)on a dramatic situation, and you're on the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City itself!

Happy writing!