A Guided Imagery Tour of Your Story

I sometimes do brief guided imagery work in plot workshops to relax writers before they begin plotting their stories (for most highly creative writers, the work I ask of them is very stressful and counter-intuitive and can involve quite a bit of resistance on the part of the writer. all writers are anxious about their writing in a group setting), and I use my voice. Guiding an imagery tour on a blog is awkward because you close your eyes. You also need the directions... You figure it out.

Oh, and if, at anytime during the exercise, you are so moved to leap to your feet and write, by all means... do it.

Find an hour of undisturbed time (nice if you do this in bed before you arise in the morning or at night before falling asleep).

Make yourself comfortable sitting or lying down.

Close your eyes.

Take a deep breath.

Let the breath out slowly and mindfully (in other words, concentrate on the air of the breath itself as it passes through your nostrils and how it feels against your upper lip and...)

Arrange the first scene of your story in your mind.

Take another breath.

Let it out.

Settle into the scene. Wait for the fuzziness of the image of the character in the setting clear.

Take a breath. 

See your protagonist move from the first scene to the next scene in your story.

Like a film reel, let each scene play out moment-by-moment to the end of the story. Instead of seeing the words of your story on the computer screen, see the actual action take place behind your eyelids with your imagination.


Benefits:
1. Transitions are often determined by character motivation. When the reader understands what motivates the character to transition between two scenes (locations, time periods), the story flows. In order to image your story, you move between scenes. Without the character motivation, the movement becomes episodic. Character motivation provides a sense of cause and effect, and the movement of the story flows. If the character motivation isn't in your scenes as written, it likely will pop up now. Watch for transitions and keep character motivation in mind to incorporate in your story.

2. Foreshadowing opportunities reveal themselves. You may have noticed in real life that nothing appears out of nowhere, out of the blue? Well, even if you haven't noticed that, in stories, one scene serves to foreshadow what comes next or later in the story. The first scene is preparatory, sets up a feeling of anticipation in the audience. Watch each scene to see what it foreshadows about the upcoming major turning points in the character emotional development plot and the dramatic action plot.

3. Thematic tie-ins hover over the story as you imagine it. Watch for them and take note.

Opposite of Foreshadowing

A recent post about Foreshadowing talks how every paragraph, sentence, word in the Beginning (1/4) introduces or foreshadows the character emotional development, dramatic action, thematic significance.

The opposite is also true.

Anything you introduce in the Beginning (1/4), the savvy reader knows on some level is important to the overall story.

Therefore, be careful about every word you use. If you use dark and ominous words in the Beginning, the reader expects the story overall will be dark and ominous. If you introduce a gun, the reader knows violence is coming, likely even death by gunshot. If you introduce sweetness and light, the reader expects the story to reflect the same.

Of course, you can switch things up later and turn the tables, so to speak.

Just make sure you know what you're doing and why.

Make your words count, every single one of them...

For more on Foreshadowing and the importance of the Beginning (1/4):

• Foreshadowing versus Flashback 
  
• Plot Tip: Creating an Illusion 
  
• Lead the Reader to the Plot 
  

Foreshadowing

Whether you have a critique group or simply valued and trusted readers, you may receive feedback about some element not working in your story. Often the readers, in an attempt to be helpful, attempt to come up with reasons why something doesn't work or give advice about how to improve the questionable section(s).

However, I usually find the problem occurs because the element -- plot twist, character reaction, goal, motivation, whatever -- comes out of the blue with no or little warning.

A simple solution: foreshadowing.

If someone is going to die at the Crisis towards the end of the Beginning, make sure you introduce the concept of death as early as possible -- preferably first scene -- either as a metaphor or some sort of death, not necessarily big. Could be as simple as a dead insect or small bird or whatever. 

If the protagonist decides to get a job in the Middle, be sure the idea of no money, need for a job, or the concept of working is introduced in the Beginning (1/4) of the project -- this can be done by some other character and does not have to be obvious. None of what I'm talking about here is blatant, but more subtle = foreshadowing. 

Don't forget. The Beginning (1/4) is in the introductory mode -- introduction of all the characters, setting, theme, concepts that will come later, anything and everything that will be deepened in the story later is introduced up front or foreshadowed in the Beginning. 

Foreshadowing is an essential, yet often overlooked, skill that helps to make the scenes flow and the story feel seamless.

Lead the Reader to the Plot

White pebbles help Hansel and Gretel find their way home. Breadcrumbs simply vanish.

Stories are shown in scene. Each scene leaves little pebbles to advance the plot on at least three levels:

Dramatic Action plot
Character Emotional Development plot
Thematic Significance plot (and more...)

A Few White Pebbles to lead the reader to the important parts of the story:

• Cause and Effect = because of what happens in one scene, the next scene arises. Cause and effect leads the reader from one scene to another. Cause and effect lessens confusion about motivation, which leads the reader deeper into the real time moment of the story.

• Authentic Details = generic details lull the reader to daydream rather than follow along with the story. Authentic details ground the reader in the world of the story unfolding moment by moment.

• Foreshadowing = Provide a few beats of foreshadowing so the reader does not just read right past an important scene. Example: A powerful secondary character triggers the Crisis. In the Beginning (1/4), she's introduced in conflict with her father. She wants to sing in Nashville. He wants her to get a swimming scholarship for college. Both of her strengths and the core conflict are alluded to in the first scene in which she appears. The second time the secondary character appears is practicing vocals with her band. The audience does not yet know the importance of this character in the overall story. The reader is still scrambling to get oriented in the story; determine who is who, what's going on. To help ensure that the reader does not just read right past the practice scene, toss out a few white pebbles to lead the audience. Scene of introduction contains dialog about what is coming: "we're practicing at the house after school today." The reader anticipates the later scene. When the scene comes, the reader pays attention.

• Exotic World = Show the scene as an exotic world that identifies the daughter as uniquely separate from her father.

Any white pebbles to share?