Looking for a great book on play writing? I highly recommend “Immediate Fiction: A Complete Writing Course,” by Jerry Cleaver. Like me, Jerry struggled for years, doing what he could on his own, taking useless writing classes and getting nowhere. Then he finally took one class, one good class after years of so-so instruction, and that course changed everything. Jerry realized that you would never ask painting students to bring in a painting, then proceed to rip the painting to shreds in front of everyone than blurt out, “Now you know what’s wrong with your stupid painting. Go paint another one. If you quit now, you’re a looser!” There is an actual craft to writing fiction and it starts with the basics.
Here are the basics of good fiction writing:
- Desire
- Obstacle
- Action
- Victory or defeat
Every scene must have someone who wants something. No desire, no story. Then, there has to be someone or something in the way. No resistance, no drama. Next, your character (our hero) has to take action to overcome the obstacle. No action, no character. Of course, every scene needs to leave the hero in a slightly worse situation than when they started. No victory or defeat, no payoff, no climax, no release!
It doesn’t matter if the story is “Romeo and Juliet” or “The Shining.” Every scene of every good story has these elements. If you can’t read over every single scene and find these elements on the page, I mean literally circle them with a red pen, then you’re story is in trouble. The cool thing is that any time you notice one of these elements is missing or weak, you are in the perfect position to write a better story. When you look at your stories this way, you can actually SEE what’s missing! All you have to do is FIX it! That’s the CRAFT of writing fiction.
I ordered “Immediate Fiction” from Amazon.com, but you can also check it out at the ImmediateFiction.com website. You can even get personal coaching from Jerry. It’s ain’t cheep, but it’s a way less expensive than my MFA, and tightly focused on the true fundamentals of writing. I haven’t taken the on-line course, but I gotta tell ya, the book is just wonderful. Highly recommended for playwrights, screenwriters and authors.
PS
Go RodneyRobbins.com and scroll down to “Recent Files.” Read over my sample scripts for “House of Many Rooms” or “Big Feet, Big Love” and see if I follow Jerry Cleaver’s rules. Can you find places where I could have made the need or the obstacle stronger or presented it sooner? Are my heroes active? Does every scene really have a payoff? It’s a fun exercise. Give it a try.