Making It Happen

Each session includes a short lecture, readings with critiques, and time to write.

What's needed to turn this dead story into something with some energy, some drama? Detail, dialogue, emotion? Well, I could give you reams of detail and keep it as dull as it is. Dialogue? I could have them talking all night and far into the next day and you would be even more bored than you were. Emotion? Well, it has emotion. We're happy, satisfied, fulfilled. How much more do you want of happy, happy, happy?

Before I give you my answer, why don't you work on one of your own. See what you can do to give this dead story some energy. Think about what you could do, or you can actually write it out. You can write the whole thing out or you can just jot down some general ideas about how it should go—plan it out without doing it word for word.

Here's another version of the same story. See if I can get you more involved. In this version...

I've got a touch of bronchitis or flu the day Larry is coming for dinner. I'm not feeling great, so I stay home to rest up so I won't let Larry down.

Now, the flu is a minor detail, but I want you to decide whether you want it in or out. You don't have to have a reason—just a feeling. Most people, not everybody but a majority, go with the flu. Remember, this is not flu we're talking about. This is story and in story, everything counts. Nothing is along for the ride. So, the flu is in.

Larry comes over. We have a few drinks. He and my wife are both smokers. Before we get to dinner, they run out of cigarettes. "I'll go get them," I say. "I want to get out of this haze and clear my lungs." Smokers is the next element. Yes or no? Most readers prefer it.

OK, so I head out for the corner store to get their smokes. It's a nice walk. I get their cigarettes and head back, but instead of walking up the front walk, I decide to take the shortcut down the alley.

OK, next item: Alley in or out? Pretty much everybody goes for the alley. Why? The answer to that is at the very heart of successful storytelling. It's not alley, not flu, not smokers. It's story.

So, I'm walking down the alley, relaxing, breathing fresh air, looking at the yards. Now, our kitchen sticks out from the back of the house and has a window in which I can see Larry and my wife. As I come through the yard, I see they're having a rather intense conversation. My wife is especially lively. I haven't seen her that bubbly in months.

OK, what's on your mind right now? What are you thinking? Let me guess. You're thinking, hanky-panky, fooling around, touching, embracing, kissing, etc. Right? Not only are you thinking it, but you're wanting it. Oh, yes. Not only do you give me the flu, make me walk down the alley, but you throw my marriage into crisis by making my wife unfaithful. Maybe not in reality, but in story, we prefer cheating to loyalty—always. We want chemistry, passion, fireworks! You don't go to the amusement park to ride the merry-go-round. You go to ride the roller coaster.

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