Workshop Reflections - Part 2

The second half of my workshop today focused on character. Oftentimes we associate plot as the backbone of a story but it is really the characters that are in the driving seat. My instructor had us read and excerpt by Stephen Koch titled "Shaping the Story". In this, Koch described plot as a damaging fear that plagues most new novelists (this one included!).

The dreaded monosyllable plot worked on them like Kryptonite; Flash it before them, and they would slump down helpless... They kept circling around some situation, or character, or image, or obsession. It suggested a story to them, but try as they might, they could not get at it... They were suffering from the tantalizing, maddening presence of a story that they could not reach or get within their grasp. They were being tortured by the nearness of narrative they couldn't yet get into words or even define except in the vaguest kind of way. - Koch

This excerpt resonated with me. It echoed the worries that have been floating around in my head for years. Koch went on to explain how these new novelists had not discovered their story yet. They had great ideas, but needed time to flush them out. And the best way to do that is to WRITE.

Writers do not make up stories. They find them. - Koch

So my instructor had us start with character. We described the protagonist in the novel we are working on in very basic terms: name, desire, thwarting desire, and the difficult choice they have to make. We were not given much time to do this, just a minute or less for each category. However, this simple exercise was enough to spark some creativity.

The next writing exercise is one I look forward to adapting for my classroom. We were asked to start writing a scene (describing an event in real time) about something our protagonist would do on their quest to achieve their desire. We were given 5 minutes to write and asked to write in first person, starting our sentence off with  "I was...". We were instructed to stop, even in mid sentence, and rewrite what we had just written, this time in third person point of view.

It was such a simple exercise yet the result was profound. I had been struggling to figure out which point of view I wanted to tell my story from. Often, without even realizing it, I slipped back and forth between the two. However, this quick exercise opened my eyes. For me, it was easier and felt more natural to tell the story in a third person past-tense point of view.

Here is my scene in first person:

I was pouring over the data from our last test group and the numbers disappointed me. A sigh of exasperation escaped my lips and Brooks looked up from his screen.“Not what you were hoping for, was it?” He asked.“No, not at all.” I replied, slamming my pen down in frustration. “I don’t know what I’m missing. The conditions are an exact replica of my parent’s success and I upped the dosage from the last group. In theory, this should work.”The sedation started to wear off for the rats in the cage next to my station...

Now here is the same scene in third person. I was able to write much more because it felt more organic (also, I continued writing for a bit after class):

Serra Maple was pouring over the data from her last test group and the numbers disappointed her. A sigh of exasperation escaped her lips and Brooks looked up from his screen with concern. “Not what you were hoping for, was it?” He asked.“No, not at all.” She replied, slamming down her pen in frustration. “I don’t know what’s missing!” Serra had expertly copied the conditions of her parent’s success with no positive results. This time she upped the dosage from the last group. “In theory, it should have worked.”The sedation started to wear off and the rats in the cage next to Serra’s station started to stir. She watched as jerky movements returned to their limbs, lips parted in snarls. Aggressively, the rats lunged at one another, snapping their jaws and stretching the little ties around their feet as they tried to reach one another. “We’ll get it next time. Don’t worry.”“How can you say that? Don’t worry?” Frustration formed tears that threatened to spill out over her eyelids. “There is so much riding on our work, Brooks. If we get this right, we will finally have a cure. No one will have to suffer anymore.”“I know. But do you know that finding a cure won't bring them back? Your parents are gone Serra, and it wasn't the disease that killed them. It was their work that did them in. The same work that you are obsessing over now.”“What are you trying to say? That I’m just like them?” Serra couldn’t believe Brooks was bringing her parents into this. “Well I would be happy to be just like them! They were brilliant and passionate scientists who just wanted to save others.”“Yes, they were brilliant and passionate, and caring. But they were also so consumed with their work that they would stop at nothing to get the results they needed. Their reckless pursuit cost them their lives.”
“Oh, so now you want to blame the whole fire on them? It was their fault the laboratory burned down.” Sarcasm dripped from Serra’ words. “Sure, just forget about all the good they did, the scientific breakthroughs they made. If it wasn’t for them we’d be just as sick as the rest of the world, but hey, we’d be too crazy to realize it, right?”  “Stars, Serra! You are so wrapped up in your work you're twisting all the facts!” Brooks spat at her. “Your parents were not the only scientists working on this project. They were not the only ones who died that night. Others lost just as much as you!”Brooks had lost his father as well, Serra forgot about that. How could she have been so careless, so self-absorbed, that she forgot she wasn't the only one in pain. A deep ridge formed between Brooks’s brow as tears flowed freely from behind his closed eyes. Serra looked at him, really looked at him, for the first time in a long while. Brooks was only a few months older than she was, but the past 2 years since the fire had aged him far beyond. His dark hair was now peppered gray and worry wrinkles had taken up permanent residence across his forehead. 

I think this activity will translate really well into my 6th grade language arts class. In 5th grade reading, we spend a great deal of time learning about, understanding, and analyzing point of view. This should provide them with enough background knowledge to participate in this activity as 6th graders. It will be especially helpful before we start our big narrative NaNoWriMo project. It will help students flush out which point of view they should write their story from.

With all these ideas already stemming from Day 1, I can't wait to see what tomorrow's workshop will bring!