Climax

The final 1/4 of a story carefully builds in tension with several "above-the-line" scenes that culminate at the Climax with an ultimate emotional release.

Each culminating ending scene builds in energy to the next scene. Thanks to the earlier Crisis (at around the 3/4 mark of the story), the protagonist becomes more and more conscious of her flaws and strengths and of the world around her. No longer bogged down by fear or pity, she shows through dramatic action the release of pent-up feelings, of tension and of the past. Having died to her old personality, she embraces new ideas with the ultimate expression of mastery at the Climax. 

The relationship between a girl and her father represents a universal archetype. Can a writer who has not resolved her own personal issues with her father write the end of a story about a daughter and her father with truth and emotion?  

Yes, I believe she can. But... not necessarily in the first, or second, or even third drafts. The section of the story she will find the most difficult to write is the final 1/4 of the story.

If the writer's own feelings about her father are bogged down with self-pity, the story is likely to end angry and unresolved. If the writer fears her own pent-up feelings, the story is likely to end superficially and in cliche. 

Until the writer honestly accepts her own truth , she will struggle. To accept new ideas, she herself must first die to her old personality. Then, she can fully allow her protagonist a free rein to embrace all possibilities and ultimately discover the unexpected. 

Hero's Journey: Protagonist vs Writer

I'm on the edge of my seat. Will she or won't she?

I left her last time right after she had written the Crisis. Euphoric for having faced every one of her own demons in order to send her protagonist to death -- metaphorically speaking, of course. Still, she wrote it and survived. An embarrassing mass of slop? Likely. All that matters now is getting the scenes written. Before we hang up last time, I gently coax her to face what is coming. She hears my words but does turn around and thus has no idea of the size of the mountain behind her still left to scale.

This time, when she calls, I hear it the minute she speaks. For the first time since we started working together and at the base of Climax Mountain, she hits a wall. Her voice has no energy. She sounds wary. Shell-shocked. Numb and filled with disbelief.

I scramble to assess the damage and uncover something quite unexpected.

From the time she left the middle of the Middle, I worried about her writing the scenes leading up to the Crisis around the 3/4 mark and the Crisis itself. I never even considered her real demons would hit at the End on the way up to the Climax. 

Both the protagonist and the writer are drug addicts. The protagonist is killing herself because of her addiction. The writer is in recovery. Not, however, for long. "Two years," she told me. "This time." Having fought my own addictions, I shiver when I hear the second part of her answer. It implies there could be a next time.

Of course, the protagonist has to hit rock bottom at the Crisis. The fact the writer survived the writing of it herself is a tribute to her heart and her spirit.

Now what I think is happening is that because the writer herself has not experienced her own personal transformation fully nor seized her own personal power, she can't quite see the way for the protagonist here at the beginning of the End. 

I encourage her to let the protagonist do what she needs to do (the writer knows exactly what she wants to happen at the Climax and thus has only to get her there for now).

Let go of trying to get in the character's head and body. Write purely action now.

Ask the protagonist to reveal herself to you through her fledgling actions as the powerhouse she can and must be.

Then let her loose, sit back and watch what comes...

Like I said, I'm on the edge of my seat.

Stamina for Writers

Received the following from a writer I'm working with:

"Through our time together, I've come to realize that writing is all about stamina!! I had NO idea how much THINKING and CONNECTING goes into a story.  I've done technical writing/reports/research for years but none compares with the effort necessary to craft a story. Novel writing is also much more intriguing and fulfilling." 

The writer is crafting a complicated murder mystery with many suspects, thus all the "thinking" and "connecting" he has to do. 

I am pleased he finds novel writing intriguing and fulfilling because as soon as he moves from plotting and planning, his true writer's journey begins.

Every protagonist embarks on a journey that sends her both externally and internally into, as yet, undiscovered places. A writer does, too. 

The uncertainty of creating something out of nothing often sends a writer spiraling into depression, confusion, blocks, and frustration. The more sensitive the writer, the deeper the abyss. 

"If you can do something else," an early writing instructor advised the class. "Do it."

If you can't silence the whispering or still the pen to paper, proceed with a willing heart. Trust the process. Magic happens....

Self-Sabotage and Success

A local wrestler wins the state title. In the beginning, odds were against him due to internal fears and flaws. The newscast chronicles his story with a thematic flair that it's not unusual for someone to binge on toxic food when faced with possible success. Wrestler's dad seemed also to serve as antagonist in someway personal to the family itself. Mom sends the boy on a journey to an exotic land. He trains at a wrestling camp, sheds his old beliefs, practices important new steps, returns home and wins the state title. 

The newcaster's easy acceptance of our often compulsive and self-sabotaging behaviors when faced with possible success was refreshingly honest...

Isn't that what writer's block is all about? Self-sabotage. Isn't that why so many writers have never finished a story? Or if they have, it sits on a bottom shelf in the dust?

Moving forward, becoming conscious, finishing, showing up takes energy and trust, study and discipline. 

Discipline... When did it become associated with punishment? "You'll be disciplined for that..." Only in the past decade or so have I come to understand the other side. Root word of discipline is disciple. A writer who writes and finishes serves as a disciple of the creative force. 

It takes energy and discipline to achieve our goals in life and never more so than in a writers life. 

How do you keep energetically strong?? What is your discipline???