A Titanic Story

"I think that it was definitely a goal of Titanic to integrate a very personal, very emotional, and very intimate [story]... something that has a profound impact on your imagination..." - James Cameron

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In today's industry where publishers, Hollywood, music and even game developers are constantly in a race to 'remake' previous works or produce ones that are so similar to what has already been successful that they couldn't make it in the witness protection program, one wonders how it is possible to make something significant.

I recently had the pleasure to see the re-release of James Cameron epic as Titanic 3D. While I had seen pieces of this behemoth before, I never really saw it from beginning to end nor had I ever looked at this in terms of story. After watching I can only marvel at the culmination of elements that conspired to make it a true modern 'epic.'

Examining the story it seems to be a very simple romance. The boy from the wrong side of the tracks, the rich socialite that wants to escape her confining life, the jealous bad-guy fiancé and the helpful friends. On paper this sounds rather mundane, it very well sounds like almost any other romantic story in existence. So, where does this story become an epic?

The setting for the story is aboard the ill-fated cruise ship in 1912, this is not an original setting by any stretch of the imagination, There are no fewer than fifty different movies about the ship not counting the hundreds of documentaries. If we look at strictly the literary scene there are thousands and thousands of fictionalized accounts with a large percentage of them as romance stories. While tragic, this setting does not necessarily equate to an 'epic.'

If it's not the overall story or the setting, one might wonder if it's the characters that make this such a significant story. The characters are quite flat overall with a street kid, the socialite cheating fiancée, a controlling millionaire, and countless other rather flat characters. The superficial details to their lives, the personality traits and their interactions do not even pertain to an 'epic story.' Just sampling quotes reveals how dull or predictable most interactions are and how unusual some of the dialogs are.

Are the Events of the story what drives it to epic status? Outside of context you have a poker game, a guy that talks a socialite out of suicide, a dinner where socialites discuss status, a number of conversations about foreshadowing, a 'low-brow' party, a violent outburst from the millionaire towards his fiancée, a drawing session, a romantic moment between the star-crossed lovers, a moment of false imprisonment, survival on the sinking ship, treading water, character death and finally the heart/staircase. Is it the events that make this story epic? If it is the case then the story should be able to be moved to any other setting and have the same results.

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After looking at all of the elements it is abundantly clear at what makes this piece an epic, a story that is still successful 15 years later. It's the emotional punch.

The romantic story feels unique and new because the characters are drawn together in a believable way, reacting in an expected but emotional manner. The characters conveyed the emotions of each event in such a manner that even years after everyone knows the whole plot that people still react emotionally to Jack attempting to escape from the handcuffs or when Rose is slapped. The setting keeps the story together, it makes it a period piece that never feels out of place where technology can give away the age of the piece and pull the audience from it. These emotional punches culminate with the very moment that makes it an epic. Jack's death.

If the story had concluded with Jack and Rose making a new life together it would certainly be a happy ending but it would never even touch epic status. The only plausible ending was to take the one thing that the audience became so attached to throughout the journey, their relationship, and breaking it with something beyond their control. Old Rose's photos and the staircase scene give a sense of completion but also convey immense emotion. Even to this day, the audience can see an image from one of the 'emotional hits' and immediately feel it personally.

So what makes a story an epic? Is it unhappy endings? Is it the story alone? Is it the characters, their lives, the setting or the events? It is a culmination of all of these elements, each element that comes with it's own emotional hit and is then tied together. Creating a Titanic story is not about the individual elements or what they represent but the emotions that they convey.

Intriguing Observations: Writing is an Illusion

The Intriguing Observations series was created to gather some of the greatest supporters and bloggers to provide their own insight on all things creative both in their ventures and their techniques. This week on the guest series is another all-star supporter, fellow AP author and an outstanding wordsmith Meg Mims.

Writing is never easy, no matter what the genre. It’s an art—and crafting scenes to draw the reader in from the first line and keep them hooked until the last page takes hard work. One writer’s “trick” is relying on specifics. Word choice, in other words.

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Take “dog.” What kind of dog? A white dog. What size is it and what does it sound like? A yappy white poodle. Adding color, sound, even texture makes that vague word come alive. I used to teach elementary kids about using specifics when writing. Writers finagle words in fresh ways. “Digging up a cloud of dust, the dirty white poodle’s shrill yaps echoed in my brain.”

Shallow writing skips the surface of the author’s “world” and presents characters acting out scenes on an empty stage. I’m not advocating the use of info dumps. But the best writers will spin out a story on a slow line, fishing for depth. Oral storytellers do the same, using pauses and extra information to keep the listener’s interest. Take Harper Lee’s Pulitzer prize-winning novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. Being literary, she took free rein to build her world. And what a world it is, enough to shower a reader in specifics and place them smack dab in its midst.

“Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town before I knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the Square. Somehow, it was hotter then:   black dog suffered on a hot summer’s day; bony mules hitched to Hoover carts flicked flies in the sweltering shade of the live oaks on the square. Men’s stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon, after their three o’clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum.”

Readers (even ones who don’t like historical novels) enjoy specifics of a “story world” right along with the characters. My own trick is infusing several of the five senses within a character’s Point of View. You have to balance a razor’s edge between too subtle and overload. In Double Crossing, I used first person POV—primarily because I wanted that immediate close bonding between the heroine Lily Granville and the reader.

Writers tend to visualize their story world. Go beyond the “eyes” of a character, though, to hear, smell, feel and even taste within the scene’s action. In the following excerpt, I tried to use two or three senses at various times as Lily walks along a street in Nebraska, 1869:

I clamped a handkerchief over my mouth but Omaha’s black dirt still choked me. My hard sneeze left a ringing in my ears. There had to be a general store somewhere with needles and thread. Stray sparks from the Chicago and Western’s smokestack had burned tiny holes in my split skirt and jacket, and I was desperate to repair them both.

At last I found a shop. A bell jangled above my head when I entered. The bulky proprietor laughed and joked with several customers while he filled orders at the polished walnut counter. I meandered down each crowded aisle. Scents of dill, chives and cinnamon tickled my nose. Potatoes with earthy skins and papery onions filled open barrels. Small jars of pickled beets and corn relish, tins of fruit and baked beans lined the shelves. Huge burlap sacks of flour, sugar, salt, coffee and beans lay near the door, and wheels of cheese had been stacked above crates of smoked fish and salt pork.

Seeing the flatirons, hoes, plows and other tools all around brought a sense of normalcy back to my life. I realized I’d been wandering in a haze since Father’s funeral.

I could have had Lily touching the earthy skins of potatoes, but that would have dirtied her gloves! So keep in mind your character’s personality when writing. Vivid details come from specific adjectives and nouns—silver folding scissors, sturdy butter churns, oilcloth cape, shiny snaps. Readers can quickly identify the items with the visual cues. Dropping a few other sensory cues—bell jangled, scents tickling the nose—helps also. Adding a brief dialogue exchange with minor characters will also balance out the scene.

Your readers will appreciate that the characters are not acting on an empty stage.

Meg Mims is an award-winning author and artist. She writes “blended genre” fiction, and her western historical suspense won the 2012 Western Writers of America Spur Award for Best First Novel. Meg earned an M.A. from Seton Hill University’s Writing Popular Fiction program and is a staff writer for Lake Effect Living, a West Coast of Michigan tourist on-line magazine. Double Crossing is available both in e-book and print.

Website: www.double-crossing.com and www.megmims.com

Twitter: @megmims

Facebook: Meg Mims and Double Crossing

Assembling Art

The argument of art has always been not only a conceptual one but one of personal perception of both the product and the practice used to create that product.

A recent story that has brought into question series endings as well as artistic vision has been the whole Bioware/Mass Effect 3 ending that has managed to go from an industry specific topic to national news and even spurred Forbes to begin analyzing the industry. This is really interesting because it is an argument of artistic expression versus respect for the property for fans.

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Many critics and writers, even myself have dedicated significant time to analyzing writing as an artistic expression, an art form. Through comparisons in perspective, similarities in techniques across mediums including photography, film, sculpture and even performance arts, writing is about the art of creation but is that all?

The primary dispute that critics are using to defend the flawed story of Mass Effect 3 and often what many writers also rely on it the idea that it is art. The story is an art and the creator has full artistic license to craft the work however they see fit but this isn't entirely true.

"Many definitions of art have been proposed by philosophers and others who have characterized art in terms of mimesis, expression, communication of emotion, or other values. During the Romantic period, art came to be seen as "a special faculty of the human mind to be classified with religion and science"-Wiki

When an artist creates their piece of work it is what they envisioned and they are ultimately only constricted by how they perceive their own work. This entire process changes when the artist chooses to share their work with others as a career. The work then needs to become commercially viable.

In every artistic medium there are criteria that need to be addressed for the work to be accepted by enough critics and individuals to be a viable work.

What this means in short, a toddler's crayon drawing may be art to their mother but no one is likely to be buying it for thousands of dollars. In writing terms if someone writes a 200,000 word novel with the grammar of an eight-year-old and refuses to address these issues no one will publish it or want to read it.

For all of the artistic intent every work needs an outlet to be viable. In the writing industry, as in photography and film these are publishers. Publishers set criteria for all works because they have a set target market and prospects for those works already that also establish the work's commercial viability. It's an assurance that any work that they accept will be viable for them. If the artist's work does not meet their criteria then it will not be accepted or they will request it is changed to suit their criteria.

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Many budding writers instinctively dispute the need for changes to their work but the publisher is focusing on what is commercially viable. EVERY work is altered for publication. Some publishers require larger changes and more dramatic alterations to the piece to suit their target while other publishers will only refine the work.

When I was editing Nightfall for my publisher their requirements were fairly simple, no profanity and no trademarks. I had no problem dropping the cursing, it opened up the audience for my work but I found more difficulty with trademarks, mostly giving up car models. In the end it was just a matter of edits.

No matter the medium, if an artist wishes their work to be successful then it should be expected there will be changes that need to be met. If the artist resists the recommendations, then they should also expect the criticisms that come with that choice. While the work may be a piece of art it is also a product. If the customers are not happy with the product while the artist defends their work as art then they should know that they will have fewer customers next time.

While we regard writing as an art form, artistic expression in the finest, we should always be wary of claiming it's our artistic license to make certain choices about our work. If we want to succeed as authors we need to accept the criticisms and make the changes that make our works viable, otherwise it's not a career in writing just more unpublished works in our desk.

Intriguing Observations: Blending Research with Real Life in Writing

The Intriguing Observations series was created to gather some of the greatest supporters and bloggers to provide their own insight on all things creative both in their ventures and their techniques. This week on the guest series is another all-star supporter and an outstanding wordsmith  Donna Galanti.

In writing my paranormal suspense novel A Human Element there were numerous spots I had to pull back and do research to blend the writing with my own experiences.

Ben Fieldstone in A Human Element, finds himself in dire circumstances stationed as a U.S. Navy photographer in Pearl Harbor. I too was stationed in Hawaii as a Navy photographer. I know of the dangers sailors can find themselves in on the island of Oahu if they’re not careful.

I was told not to go to the Pali Lookout alone, a spot far above Honolulu in the Ko’olau Mountains. It is set on cliffs with treacherous falls awaiting those who aren’t careful. Or those who are tossed off…or jump off. It’s known for its moaning, howling winds. People have disappeared up there, they’d say. It’s a haunted place where the ghosts of Hawaiian ancestors are said to roam.

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And rightfully so. It is a historic area that was the site of the bloody, historic Battle of Nu'uanu,
where Kamehameha I conquered the island of Oahu in 1795. This Hawaiian warrior king and his army arrived in hundreds of war canoes at Waikiki Beach. The Oahu warriors were led by Kalanikupule, the ruler of Maui and Oahu. Kamehameha's warriors headed to Nu'uanu Valley to face Kalanikupule's men. The battle was fierce and thousands of Kalanikupule's men were driven over the steep cliffs to their deaths. This fierce tale from history inspired me to set a particular dark scene at this spot for Ben. His battle for his own life.

Check out the amazing views from this spot, including the Old Pali Highway Trail where Ben finds himself taken – and tortured. http://www.portaloha.com/SecretsOfHawaii/PaliLookout.htm

These photos, my own memories, and the violent history of this place re-forced this spot as a key
scene in A Human Element.

When I lived on Oahu I quickly discovered we white folks were called haoles by the natives. I had since forgotten how to pronounce it and found a site that pronounces all the words in the world for you. Here is the correct version of haole: http://www.forvo.com/word/haole/ I figured this would also come in handy during book readings, and I was right.

If you've ever visited Hawaii, you might have heard what sounds like another language but it's still English. Since the 1800's, workers from China, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, and Portugal have come to work the sugar plantations originally run by American missionaries. That mixture of nationalities developed into a common language called Pidgin English.

More than half of Hawaii's one million residents are estimated to speak Pidgin. That's according to two Linguists, Kent Sakoda and Jeff Seigal, who created the Pidgin Grammar Book. Hawaii has a population of a little over one million people. About 600,000 are estimated to speak a form of Creole language specific to Hawaii called Pigdin which is a mixture of Hawaiian, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean and English.

I drew on my memories of Hawaii and experiences with locals speaking in native Pidgin English and found this reference site of words, definitions, and usage. In A Human Element, Ben frequents Chinatown and has an unfortunate run in with a homosexual prostitute who speaks Pidgin and is called as a “mahu.”
http://www.e-hawaii.com/pidgin/pidgin-english-words-starting-with-m

I also found a site that lists a quick cheat sheet on Hawaiian Pidgin English that helped me in my dialogue. http://www.eyeofhawaii.com/Pidgin/pidgin.htm

Here are three excerpts from A Human Element where the local Pidgin dialect comes into play:

Ben, drunk and beat up, hails a prostitute in Chinatown:

Beat up and with no prospects, he needed to find a 'relaxation parlor' and some company. It didn't take long in Chinatown for him to be approached. 
"Howzit, sailor? You hurt? Need some wahine to take care of you?"
"Maybe . . . you got a back room nearby?"
"Yeah, yeah, sure thing, sailor buggah. Da cute! Pretty gray eyes, too." She mixed in the local Pidgin dialect with English. "I'll wash your handsome face for free." She laughed as he touched his face, remembering the blood. He must be a scary sight. 

Ben is confronted by the prostitute’s pimp:
A massive local stood over him. He looked Samoan.
"You cheat me, stupid sailor boy? Is dat what you want to do?"
"Yeah, that's him, Koko." The transvestite stood next to his moke. His wig now back on,
but askew. He smiled at Ben and put his hands on his hips. He had blood on his face from where
Ben hit him. How could he have ever thought this was a pretty woman?
Ben stood up in a torpid daze and shook his head.
Before he could speak the giant grabbed his shirt and glared at him. "You see my girl
here? You ruin her pretty face so she can't make tricks and I'll kill you. She's my money-making
mahu.”

Ben is kidnapped and held at the Pali Lookout by two Samoans:

"I'll pay whatever you want," Ben said. "Just let me go now." His body ached everywhere
but he could think again.
"Don't give me your stink eye, boy." Koko slapped his head again. Ben turned his face
away. One of them pulled his head up by his hair and slapped duct tape on his mouth. Ben
quivered.
"Got chicken skin there, eh?" Koko caressed his arms. "No one will hear you scream up
here. This is a haunted place. Your screams carry away on the wind, right, Kami?"
"Right, brah. People too scared to come up here at night with the ghosts of our ancestors
roaming about."

In learning the local dialect I also had to reacquaint myself with the logistics of the island of Oahu. This involved looking at online maps and researching the history of the locales used. I poured through articles and statistics to choose the best pieces to incorporate in A Human Element.

How do you blend research with your own experiences?

About A HUMAN ELEMENT:

One by one, Laura Armstrong’s friends and adoptive family members are being murdered, and despite her unique healing powers, she can do nothing to stop it. The savage killer haunts her dreams, tormenting her with the promise that she is next.

Determined to find the killer, she follows her visions to the site of a crashed meteorite–her hometown. There, she meets Ben Fieldstone, who seeks answers about his parents’ death the night the meteorite struck. In a race to stop a mad man, they unravel a frightening secret that binds them together. But the killer’s desire to destroy Laura face-to-face leads to a showdown that puts Laura and Ben’s emotional relationship and Laura’s pure spirit to the test.

With the killer closing in, Laura discovers her destiny is linked to his and she has two choices–
redeem him or kill him.

Readers who devour paranormal books with a smidge of horror and steam will enjoy A HUMAN ELEMENT, the new novel about loss, redemption, and love.


Reviewers are saying…“A HUMAN ELEMENT is an elegant and haunting first novel. Unrelenting, devious but full of heart. Highly recommended.” –Jonathan Maberry, New York Times best-selling author of ASSASSIN’S CODE and DEAD OF NIGHT


“A HUMAN ELEMENT is a haunting look at what it means to be human. It’s a suspenseful ride through life and love…and death, with a killer so evil you can’t help but be afraid. An excellent read.” –Janice Gable Bashman, author of WANTED UNDEAD OR ALIVE, nominated for a Bram Stoker Award.

Donna Galanti is the author of the dark novel A Human Element (Echelon Press). She won first place for Words on the Wall Fiction at the 2011 Philadelphia Writer’s Conference. Donna has a B.A. in English and a background in marketing. She is a member of International Thriller Writers, The Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group and Pennwriters. She lives with her family in an old farmhouse in PA with lots of nooks, fireplaces, and stinkbugs. Visit her at: www.donnagalanti.com

LIKE Donna’s Author Facebook page for news and updates! Her tour runs through April 11thh with book giveaways, more guest posts, and interview fun, and a chance to win the big prize giveaway! So pop over to her blog to see the full tour schedule.

Connect with Donna here:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/DonnaGalanti
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DonnaGalantiAuthor
Blog: http://blog.donnagalanti.com/wp/

Purchase A HUMAN ELEMENT:
Amazon  Barnes & Noble Smashwords

Intriguing Observations: Your Book’s Palette – Using Color in Your Fiction

The Intriguing Observations series was created to gather some of the greatest supporters and bloggers to provide their own insight on all things creative both in their ventures and their techniques. This week on the guest series is another all-star supporter and an outstanding wordsmith Samantha Hunter.

Learning to sew and decorating a home has taught me a lot about using color. It was inevitable that this would find its way into my writing. When I learned to quilt, I had to learn a lot about color combinations, tones and patterns. In painting (and repainting) the rooms in our house I’ve learned a lot about using color as well. For instance, how to use color with certain kinds of light, how colors will make a room seem larger or smaller, welcoming or not, and how to create a flow of color from one room to the next. In sewing, you can make a subtle color pop in a quilt by placing it next to something that contrasts, and the difference between striking and gaudy is usually the placement of colors next to each other.

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As we all know, color affects mood – green and blue are soothing, orange can stimulate appetite, and yellow can inspire happiness. Brown is earthy, white is cold. Color also has historic can cultural meaning – the main rooms in my home are painted to reflect earthy, Craftsman color palettes popular in the early 1900s. Or, if you like red, you know in the US red usually suggests “danger” while in China it’s the color of wedding dresses for good luck! (White, in China, symbolizes death).

Some colors work together and  some do not. It’s best whenever you are using color to use tones and shades that complement and work together somehow. Here are some good links to read up on using color:

http://www.hgtv.com/decorating/how-to-choose-a-color-scheme/index.html

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/02/08/color-theory-for-designer-part-3-creating-your-own-color-palettes/

You can do a lot with color and get as deeply into it as you would like in your book, but a consistent or interesting color scheme for your book can enhance your story, as well as tell us something about the characters, scenes and moods, which in turn affect the reader’s emotions and responses.

Does your heroine wear a red coat or a blue one? Why? What does this all say about her? If you describe them as living in an old farmhouse, or a log cabin, or an adobe ranch, you want to have a color palette that’s amenable to those living spaces as well as addressing your character’s choices. If you are decorating your character’s apartment, and she is a historian, what period of history does she favor and how would that be reflected in her dress or room colors? Or, if she really has a hidden desire or hates her job as a historian, maybe it shows up in the colors she chooses for her personal space in contrast to her office.

One of my favorite things to do with color is to use it to show how the characters and the story are also changing. For instance, in one of my earlier books, Fascination, my heroine wears only black and white at the start of the story – this reflects the issues at that point in the book, being trapped in extremes. But by the end, she is wearing multi-colored, flowered dresses – her world has opened up; she’s free. Even this simple use of color can have a subtle effect on the reader and how readers perceive the story.

Another example might be in the weather, the colors in the environment that you show through the protagonist’s POV and how that changes depending on their situation or mood. Or, how it can change in  the moment when someone caged by beige walls suddenly sees them as the frame for a beautiful view of the blue sky out the window – this could represent a life-changing moment for a character, a change in their perception of their world.

You can go back through scenes and consider how color makes a difference – or how it could make a difference. How does the gold wall look in different lighting, and how does that convey a certain mood? Consider everything from the color of the walls and clothing for your characters to the color of their car, etc. You can send messages to the reader through this use of conscious color choice, and make your story deeper in a very easy, fun way.

Sam Hunter lives in Syracuse New York with her husband and several pets. Since January 2004 when she sold her first book to Harlequin Blaze, Virtually Perfect, she has gone on to publish several more with new releases on the way. Sam holds two Master's degrees and was a university instructor for many years before quitting to live the writing life, is a confirmed TV addict and enjoys gardening, sewing, and travel.

Website: www.samanthahunter.com
Twitter: Follow @SamanthaHunter

Current books: Harlequin Blaze, Straight to the Heart; Indie Mystery: Once Burned, Book Two in the Sophie Turner Mystery series.

Establishing Style

Each and every composition is born of a unique idea that the creator desires to convey through their work. The idea, concept and overall composition may be unique; however conveying the distinctiveness of the piece can be one of the more difficult prospects.

Out of the more than 300,000 books published in the US each year, the difference between one composition and another can be as little as character names despite the unique idea that the creator originally had.

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The audience is often drawn to similar works and when one composition is difficult to distinguish from another on premise alone, the unique idea needs a strong means of conveying that distinctiveness. Adjusting tone, setting and specific details can take a composition from similar average work to something iconic.

Examining some of the most iconic media compositions, Burn Notice, MacGyver, Supernatural, X Files, Twin Peaks, The Matrix, TrueBlood, GhostBusters, The Shining, even James Bond it is apparent that each of these compositions established their distinctiveness through tone, setting and the manipulation of character details.

Adjusting the tone of the entire piece not only changes how characters perceive others and elements in the composition but it affects how the piece is perceived through the narrator and ultimately the audience's own perceptions. Changing the setting to something unique or even changing how the setting is perceived can establish a unique aspect that shifts the composition to something iconic. One of the most powerful means of establishing a composition's uniqueness can be through the details of the piece. Does the main characters wear expensive suits? Drive a classic car? Have an obsession with coffee?

When there are millions of different narrative compositions and the audience has a preference for things that are uniquely distinct but remarkably similar to what they are comfortable with, the struggle to be distinct becomes synonymous with Style. Even when the theme or concept is familiar establishing the uniqueness becomes a drive for the distinct style of the work.

Suspended Perceptions

Any narrative journey is a confluence of events, lives and emotions. It is a carnival ride that the participants are thrown onto and it's up to the gathered crowd to judge the entertainment value of watching participants on the rides.

Like any carnival there are a great variety of rides available and a number of ways that the crowds can experience them. Each can be equated to a narrative avenue and an emotional outlet that is available to experience.

Some individuals prefer to experience the ride first-hand, experiencing all of the emotions, events and the personal interactions along with the participants. In the narrative journey these adventurous individuals would choose a first-person perspective, they want to experience what the participants experience.

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Others prefer to watch participants reactions to the rides, enjoying not being on the ride that is evoking all of the emotions in its participants. Honestly, it can be quite the experience watching the brave climb aboard the Orbiter and then watching them scream in terror as they are hurled about. These observers typically choose the third-person perspective for their narrative journey.

Between the adventurers and the observers the carnival rides offer endless opportunities and countless experiences. Examining these attractions from an outside perspective it is possible to identify the key emotions that each ride is designed to exploit.

Regardless whether it's the Tunnel of Love, a calm ride that brings the participants closer together or  a Tilt-a-whirl that offers non-stop excitement each is an abstracted concept focused on one singular emotion that exploits the behaviors of participants. Every participant boards a ride with their own expectations and perceptions of what the ride will convey to them. In the narrative sense these are all just genres. Just as the participant is aware what each ride is meant to convey, so too is the reader aware of what each genre entails.

Interestingly, despite the cliches and the preconceived notions participants and observers have, they still enjoy the ride.

Stabilizing Influence

Dynamic, fluid, compelling...

Any creative composition, especially a narrative, has a dynamic component to it that keeps the audience interested. The more dynamic the piece, the more intriguing it is for the viewer but it can also become a challenge for the composition.

In the visual arts, creating a dynamic composition is a matter of choosing fluid elements and subjects for the piece. The largest difficulty in fluid subjects is in establishing an anchor, applying some stability to keep the composition in clear focus. As much as fluid subjects are compelling to the viewer it is also possible for the composition to lose focus and become distorted, unclear, if the piece lacks some stability.

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Capturing dynamic compositions in the visual arts is a matter of stabilizing how the composition is perceived. Typically this is achieved through tripods and very complicated stabilizing rigs that keep perfect balance. Other elements that are fluid in the piece require equal parts of static elements.

A dynamic narrative composition is very similar to a visual arts composition. The fluid elements of a narrative piece can range from the perceived scene to the very characters within the piece. The combination of elements and unrestricted perceptions in a narrative can allow for dynamics that can become disorienting for an audience. 

Stabilizing the elements of a narrative is similar to stabilizing a visual composition however, additional 'supports' need to be added to the composition. For every dark and bleak setting there needs to be one 'safe' setting. For a calm, collected and methodical character, their partner should be emotional and impulsive. Altering perspective, adjusting pacing, changing settings and adding opposing character personas are just a few means of supports that can stabilize a narrative and help it to maintain focus.

Dynamic and fluid elements are needed in a composition for a viewer to find it compelling however, for every dynamic element within a piece it is necessary to have something to stabilize the composition and balance the elements. maintaining balance allows the audience to perceive the contrast between the static elements and the dynamic, making those elements even more compelling.

Leading Lines

In a composition there are a variety of techniques that can be utilized to explore the piece. One of the most dynamic means of guiding the audience through a piece is through the use of leading lines.

Leading lines are one of the top rules of visual composition and are used to great effect to guide the viewer's perspective through the piece, drawing attention to focal points and creating narrative rhythm. These lines are also can be used singularly or with additional supporting lines.

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A narrative composition is led by leading lines as much as any visual composition, however unlike a visual composition the leading lines are not only visual based on the narrator's perspective but also a product of dialogue.

The narrator's perspective has a strong influence on the composition through the depth of field, viewing angle and the leading lines. Through the narrator's perspective it is possible to guide the audience through the piece in a similar fashion as a visual composition. The narrator's perception can create tension, emotion and dynamic depth through their perception of the scene. As the narrator examines a particular scene, their view will follow the same leading lines as an audience would with a visual composition.

Ex: I forced the weathered metal door open and stumbled out onto the platform. The tile was cracked and broken, covered in disturbing stains that led to the tracks. The tracks were rusted, long forgotten as they ran down the tunnel and back into the real world.


The narrators eye follows the leading lines as the audience would view it in the visual composition. The eye follows the lines of the tile in the foreground to the tracks which prominently guide the eyes down in a linear direction.

Dialog leading lines are often more clearly defined as character movement within the environment or lines that begin or end a scene. These lines convey movement not only through the visual composition but through the story as well. Often these lines are used as indicators for scene and settings change.

Ex: "Well, that's not going to matter anyhow." I heard her let out a sigh. "Fine, let's do this." I stopped and looked at her. "That's the spirit. Ready?" She nodded. I turned the knob.


The audience's perception of a narrative composition is subject to the same rules of visual compositions. Through dialogue and scene leading lines, an audience is guided through the piece in a fluid, dynamic manner that keeps the piece interesting.

Filtered Perspectives

Perceptions, Tones, Filters…

A writer's challenge in crafting a narrative is conveying the piece they envision to an audience that has no concept of the piece. The creator has to balance the elements of the piece, the settings, characters, thrills and the visual elements that can affect the perceptions of the piece.

Even as a piece is painstakingly balanced between the elements, it still may not convey the vision that the creator desires. It may not have the appropriate tone or saturation.

Conveying the appropriate tone for a piece can often be the most challenging due in-part to the preconceptions that audiences carry. Every individual has differing experiences and most often what one person perceives is not what another understands.

Ex. "She let out a sigh and leaned against the damp brick wall. Somewhere down the alley she could hear the rats fighting."    

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The setting in this example may convey a gritty and dark tone to some, to others that have lived or experienced this type of setting only conveys a night-time city neighborhood. The piece fails to utilize the preconceptions and carry the appropriate tone.

Drawing the appropriate saturation for an audience can be an equally strong challenge. The saturation of a piece is dependent on how long the audience is exposed to a setting or scene. Certain individuals will require longer time in the scenes to reach the appropriate saturation levels to convey the envisioned composition.

Adjusting the tone and saturation of a composition is similar to the visual arts. In photography and cinematography, when all of the elements are drawn together and the composition is still not what was envisioned, the artist typically applies filters to create the vision. Red filters to 'warm' a composition, 'blue' to cool and still more to affect the saturation levels in the piece. The more the light is controlled through filters, the more artists are able to control the audience's perceptions of the piece.

In a narrative it is possible to control tone and saturation through this same 'filter' concept. Adjusting tone is possible through filtering the narrator's perception. Expanding on the previous example with a 'filter' it is possible to ensure that the right tone is conveyed.

Ex. "She let out a sigh and leaned against the damp brick wall. It was hard to believe it had come to this. Somewhere down the alley she heard the footsteps over the fighting rats."


Through filtering the narrator's perspective it is possible to adjust the tone to a perceptible level. Extending the scene through a few slight details fully saturates the audience. Attaining the envisioned composition is not only an assemblage of the right elements but often the right application of filtered words.

Macro-Composition

Every composition has a set of defined elements from depth of field to subjects to the very contrast of the details in a piece. There is however, no set scale for any piece.

The challenge of any creative piece is utilizing all of the elements to form a connection with the audience, to give that emotional bond that keeps their attention, makes them want to understand. In a narrative this can mean perspective in the piece or scale of the subject matter (Will it affect the world? or Just a few lives?) or this can mean the very length of a piece.

Building a connection between the audience and the composition can be achieved through a variety of methods but the strongest is creating the 1:1 connection, a Macro-connection.

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In photography, establishing a 1:1 connection between the audience and the subject is achieved by focusing intently on the minute details of a larger subject. The Macro-composition is created by selecting the details of a larger composition that best represent the larger piece and then making them larger than life, a direct 1:1 ratio.

Eg. The larger composition is a broken down and forgotten home, now overgrown with trees and is slowly collapsing as autumn sets in with the early morning sun. The Macro would be a close up shot of the neglected flowerpots along the fading stucco wall with a few fall leaves resting on the pots with a hint of the early morning sun.

Creating a Macro-composition in a narrative can be one of the more difficult things for a writer to accomplish. It is often easier to express the larger implications of a narrative by breaking the 1:1 connection. In a third-person perspective it is common for global effects to be viewed by jumping to an outside narrative character that can witness these. This breaks the 1:1 ratio and the essential 'spell' that the audience is under however, and the last thing any writer wants to do is break their audience-composition connection.

There are a number of ways to express a larger composition within the details of a given scene or event without breaking the Macro-compostion. To borrow the phrase from Rohe ~ "The Devil is in the Details."


Controlling the focal point of a composition and through a clever use of details it is possible to express the larger composition without breaking the Macro 1:1 connection. These practices are easily attributable to Macro-Compositions, telling an entire narrative in a few precisely chosen details and words.

One of the strongest practices comes from utilizing video as art. The Macro-Challenge consists of creating 4 video clips under 15 seconds each, the catch is they need to be 'Non-Symbolic' but convey an emotion. In short, it means to convey love the cinematographer can not use hearts, flowers the color red, people etc. Through this practice the cinematographer learns to take explicit care in developing every 15 seconds.

In a narrative, the desire to focus on larger details can inhibit the audience-composition connection or even break that connection if the wrong focal points and details are selected. The solution is to utilize the Macro-Challenge of cinematographers. Many of these challenges are currently floating around including Twitter-Fiction and Flash-Fiction among the many other variants. Taking specific care to craft a narrative in a sentence or two encourages a conscious selection of words and details. As the short sentence is perfected then that same approach can be brought to the paragraph, the chapter, the novel and ultimately the series.

Every composition, every narrative has a Macro-perspective embedded in the piece. Utilizing precise details can convey a larger composition without ever breaking the 1:1 connection with the audience.

Diagnosing Realism

Every story is created in a manner that the author is comfortable with presenting to their audience. It is wholly their creation and their perspective on a world of their own devising.

Their own creations may represent their unique perspective but every narrative that has ever been presented to the world has been subject to both editors and publishing guidelines. A filter is applied to their work so that it can be presented to their audience.

One short-hand method for authors to add tone or apply a 'gritty-realism' to their work is to utilize elements of everyday life from gut-wrenching violence to sex scenes so detailed an artist could count the freckles to extensive use swearing that could put a sailor to shame. These elements bring the audience into a 'real world' and pull them in with their spell.

Or do they?

In many instances authors may use these elements as a means to apply realism to the world but are they really necessary? The power of writing is that it lets the audience take control with their imagination. The audience is what truly brings the piece to life. If too many of these elements are laced within the narrative what does it accomplish? Interestingly enough, not what one would think.

As these elements of 'gritty realism' are laced throughout the piece it may assist in world building but as the levels of these elements increase the author is actually decreasing their potential audience. In most instances of 'harsh language' it is actually superfluous. Much like adding extensive dialect to a piece, adding language is the same as repeating a detail. Not only can the audience already understand the details they may actually grow tired of it. This is why editors and publishers may filter these elements. They want a piece to reach as wide an audience as possible.

Adding 'gritty realism' to a piece can work really well but the levels of these elements will actually dictate the potential audience. Is it really wise to keep reducing the size of that audience?