Crawling toward "The End"
Screenwriting Tricks for Authors
I am crawling toward the finish line of this book.
Inch by inch. In slow motion. It’s almost comical.
But you know? It’s fine. It wouldn’t be fine if we had a closer deadline. In that case I would be ramping the pace up however I had to. Thankfully I don’t need to (yet!).
Last month I was what felt like terminally stuck. Events in the US are so crushing and unbelievable that I was having trouble caring about anything. (Truthfully I still feel like that most days, but giving up is not an option.)
Then I remembered my own advice and started repeating to myself:
Fifteen minutes of writing a day equals a book in a year.
Fifteen minutes. Just get 15 minutes done and whatever happens from there, fine. But do the 15.
And it worked. It always does.
Fifteen minutes is always much longer than fifteen minutes because it activates your creative brain to work pretty much full time in the background. Because I spend time thinking about the events of the book’s ending every day, now when I get up in the morning I have ideas that push the scenes further toward the end. I’m writing wildly out of order, I’m writing in impressions and sensations and snippets of dialogue, but it’s all starting to coalesce toward that fantastic critical mass of a finished book.
Sometimes when I write the climax of a book it all comes together like lightning – I churn out pages faster than seems humanly possible. But sometimes it’s like this right now – crawling to the finish line. Creating a whole mosaic of pieces and then putting them together like a puzzle into a complete whole. The process may be different but the result is the same.
So now I can breathe again and I’m actually pretty amused with myself for forgetting that sometimes it’s just like this.
More to unlock so-called Writer’s Block:
But sometimes the problem isn’t writer’s block — if there even is such a thing. Flailing and even despair is part of the writing process! Endings can be really complicated, especially in cross-genre stories, because so many threads have to come together at once.
So what if your endgame isn’t coming together in a lighting flash? What can you do to coax it into being?
1. First, make sure you understand the concept of the CASTLE.
Video: Act III
I really encourage everyone to review these posts. Even if you’re nowhere near the end of your book, putting some time into your Act III Castle will help shape and bring thematic depth to your story.
2. Remind yourself of the EXPERIENCE of your book that you’ve promised to deliver to your readers.
Delivering on the promised experience of your genre and premise is key to your endgame. So how can you give your audience that experience in your final battle? How can your protagonist experience CHARACTER ARC within that battle? How can you pay off your TEAM members’ story and characters arcs in their TEAM BATTLE?
4. Index Cards are your friend!
In the endgame, you’re often dealing with complex action scenes with a lot of characters and moving parts. And that goes not just for action/thriller genres, but also romantic comedies, where a lot of characters need to be climaxing their subplots at once or in rapid succession.
So break out the Index Cards and brainstorm all your Act III and FINAL BATTLE ideas randomly, and then start fitting them together like a puzzle.
5. What have you set up in the story already that can make a surprise appearance in the FINAL BATTLE?
This is something that has really helped me with this particular end game I’m writing. In the midst of what was really feeling like writer’s block, it occurred to me that one of my favorite characters, one whose story we thought we’d already wrapped up, could show up unexpectedly in the Final Battle. Suddenly all kinds of exhilarating moments - both funny and suspenseful - became possible. It was also a very fulfillingly THEMATIC thing to do. Open yourself to the possibility and see what happens.
5. Remember you can jump-start a scene by writing The Bad Version
I talked about this Hollywood development meeting practice recently here - the post also has tips on scene work:
6. Get inspiration from some physical RESEARCH
We have a lot going on with the family right now and an extended trip to the actual Redwoods in Humboldt, where this book is largely set, is not practical. (We’re planning that trip for later in the year.) But the EXPERIENCE of the wilderness is a very universal thing, and we have plenty of gorgeous wilderness here in Scotland to immerse ourselves in.
One of my personal promises as an author is to deliver my readers a sensory experience of this kind of haunting beauty.
So we’re in Loch Lomond, which while not the Redwoods, has a LOT in common with gorgeous Northern California. Between experiencing the actual wilderness and watching videos and docs on the areas we’re writing about, I’m being able to tap into my memories and experience of the Humboldt area.
And even if you can’t get anywhere close to the setting of your Final Battle, we have the enormous resource of YouTube, which can take you to any place in the world. Immerse yourself in the setting of your Act III and ideas will come. Guaranteed.
Let me know how your Final Battle is going!
— Alex
Good news department:
Craig’s witchy Scottish mystery thriller The Trials of Marjorie Crowe has been longlisted for the Crime Writers Association Twisted Dagger. Now $4.99 on Kindle!
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All material © Alexandra Sokoloff, Screenwriting Tricks for Authors
I think my castle is that house in which I've set my story because it's a familiar drama. And final battle is that the protagonist will try to make things the way they were before. Do you think it's correct? Or do you have any suggestions for me?