This session we covered:
- The session 3 exercise, considering the setting of the inciting incident
- The benefits of Beta readers
- Dialogue across genres
Last session's exercise: The setting of your inciting incident
By first looking at how the setting of the inciting incident functioned is some popular films (
https://screencraft.org/2015/09/08/10-strong-inciting-incidents-in-screenplays/) we looked at its function in our own works.
- What significance does that location have with relation to the theme and tone of the work at large?
- Do the characters return to this location?
- When, and why?
The inciting incident works like a point of no return, a moment in which a fuse is lit, setting the story up for the climactic showdown later on and ultimately the resolution; as such, the place in which this action/moment/revelation takes place should be significant to the story.
How (and why!) to use Beta readers
We went wildly off script and discussed, instead, the benefit of Beta readers!
Megan talked about the type of Beta readers she has for her current project (balancing, for example, enough Carroll fans with the many Austin fans since her piece is Austin fan fic set in Carroll's Wonderland).
Jim offered that dialogue was an early flag by his Beta readers, and something he has since worked on to make it feel authentic. He also noted that in the sometimes dozen-odd drafts he writes per novel, he uses each draft to refine a specific component. For example, draft one could be dialogue, two might focus on setting, three for character, and so on. Can you relate to this approach?
Jim dropped some wisdom, pointing out that great storytelling does not equal great writing, and vice versa. Look at the writing in
The DaVinci Code! Taught pacing and great intricacy ... terrible prose!
Dialogue across (and within!) genres
This prompted a conversation about
the function of dialogue with regards to but not limited to genre. How different, for example, Austin-esque dialogue is from Carroll-inspired.
Look, then, at how period or fan fiction dialogue would differ from that in steam punk or sci-fi. Even within the genre of fantasy, the rhythms and style of dialogue can vary depending on the story. Look at the dialogue in
Game of Thrones versus
Lord of the Rings and how they handle explication, invented languages, and the world-building considerations of history and lineage.
We talked about
reading drafts out loud, not just to hear the dialogue spoken, but also as
a means of catching grammatical and continuity errors.
A final note on context
And finally, we ruminated on
how the timing of the reading (in your life or with regards to current events)
and perspective of the reader (pre-marriage or post-baby, for example)
impacts your response to the work.
Lindsey mentioned reading
Handmaid's Tale now and how it might've struck me differently if I'd read it back when it was originally published.
This opens up the subject of
repeat readings.
- Do you re-read books?
- Do you have a new take upon the second (or third, or fourth) pass?
- If you're a re-reader, what was the book and how did each subsequent reading differ from the first?
This discussion carried us through our workshopping of Megan's fan fiction chapter from the novel-length work
Darcy in Wonderland.
