The ceiling view darkened as my fingers tightened, and hands squashed my face. Writing clarity had never felt so far away.
Self-imposed deadlines were meant to be freeing, yet this looming date deepens what I can only describe as a fog of fear. A script half started. Half finished. Nothing new or challenging, the fog still clouding my thinking.
Facts, citations, and news are easy to find, easy to read, and easy to include. Source after source, the script grows, but the fog remains. Not only lingering like the stench of sewage, the fog thickening, strangling any view. Adding words, sources, facts and ideas, I was blinding myself to what I was writing.
Adding seemed to do the opposite of what I wanted. A direct, plain explanation is not what I was scripting. Limiting words and facts freed my hands to cut through the fog. Reducing sources increased clarity on the concept, revealing the tangled web of parts I had been cobbling together. Raising a pivotal question I needed to ask myself. What was the script for?
With a slight smirk and huff out my nose, I realised the script was written as news. Lacking the timely event clarity one typically expects. Adding sources, facts and ideas lead to unnecessary complexity unless... I was actually scripting a story.
Background
I shared a tweet recently exposing a realisation I had, as the above short story alludes to.
Research writing is stimulating, fun, and freeing, but not enjoyable.
I feel my writing much more when it’s a story.
Short stories aim to deliver a proactive emotional punch, creatively exploring the journey of a character.
Whereas news articles are more reactive, giving timely clarity on events.
Most stories have multiple threads, characterized by:
Milieu: A location journey of a character, conflict getting to the destination.
Inquiry: Finding the answer to a question.
Character: From unhappy to happy, conflict being the change.
Event: An abnormal event trying to find the status quo. Conflict preventing status quo.
Creating then closing threads as the story develops. Longer threads, creating more tension.
An example from The Wizard of Oz.
Longer script word length could be estimated by:
Non-fictional stories are everywhere, something I wasn’t seeing.
Fiction seemed childish, irresponsible, even useless.
Fiction was for entertainment, and as a proud academic I don’t entertain.
Or do I?
Maybe a more potent question, how do we learn from fiction?
Stories, experiences and emotional attachment are high on the list of things that aid learning. Fictional stories are often inspired but non-fictional events. That is what I am looking to explore.
Flash fiction outline
250 words was enough for Mary Robinette to outline a theory.
A 2 sentence introduction using action to explain who the story is about. Sensory details for where the story is set. Specific and unique details for sharing the genre.
Another 2 sentences setting up what and why of the MICE thread conflicts.
5 sentences using try and fail cycles with a yes but no and structure. Making progress but not great and things getting worse.
Followed by 5 sentences with try-succeed cycles with a yes and no but structure.
Using 3 sentences to end the story mirroring the introduction using action or reflection for the character, sensory details about where, and specific and unique details more for the mood.
With longer stories adding multiple try-fail, try-succeed cycles.
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