Arguments in life and arguments in writing are very different animals.
Now I don’t care what the experts say about “fair fighting” and “thinking before you speak” during an argument. It just doesn’t work that way. In the heat of the moment, we’re erratic, irrational, flying from one subject/gripe to another. Making coherent and relevant points? Good luck with that!
And yet, in writing, it can be necessary–even imperative–to outline an argument. In fact, right now in my WIP, two of my main characters are having it out–and believe me, it’s about time–this battle has been brewing for nearly 345 pages! But this is tricky business and while I’d like to be a pantser on this one (as I usually am in most cases), there are important points that need to be made, as well as reveals that need equal screen–er, scream–time.
But what about the all-important element of spontaneity? Keeping that balance between script and scrappy can be tough–but crucial. I believe there is a balance and I’m determined to find it, but probably not on the first go-round.
Anyone else lucky enough to get there on the first try?
Nothing good ever happens on the first try.
Well, maybe not nothing…
Some people count the number of their drafts. I can’t do this. I might rewrite a scene 3 times, or 50 times. In the end, I don’t want to know how long it takes, just that I finally — at some point — hit the mark. I fear that if I knew how long it sometimes takes to hit that mark, I’d lose steam.
God, yes. It takes what it takes. I think about my oldest asking at dinner how many more more bites will be considered DONE for dinner–and my husband’s response is always, it takes what it takes. There’s no score, no right amount. Frankly, you don’t know until you’re there. Broccoli or drafts. It’s pretty much the same.
The irony is that it takes a lot of work and editing/rewriting to make dialogue sound natural and unscripted
Perfectly said, Downith. Like most things that seem effortless, I suppose. Triple axles come to mind.:)
I never get it right the first time. I have to groom it and groom it; although the first time through, I just let go and let them say whatever pops into my head. Then I go back and trim and trim and trim. And trim. 😉
Teresa, oh, yes, I’m a big believer in the let ’em have at it and then reign them in. It’s always easier to pull back than push out–that said, the drama-o-meter can go into the red zone quickly…
I love a good fight scene. I love angry dialog. But it does take time. My characters tend to go off the rails in the first draft, and in later reworking I’ll try to focus them and keep the fight on point. If only this could happen in real life.
Off the rails sounds about right, Averil. And yes, if only revision was possible in real life. (As in: “I so meant to delete that line, honey! Sorry!”)
HEY! I just noticed the new photo. Love it!
You, my dear, are very kind. Oh, the dreaded chin in hand. I went there. I couldn’t help myself!
I’m lucky enough to see/hear the characters like in a movie – I only have to jot down what they’re saying! 😉 Screenwriting rules also taught me to cut, otherwise I could go on for pages and pages of people talking, discussing, teasing, laughing and whatnot with no action whatsoever…
Barb, that’s such a good point. As we all know in life arguments can drag ON and ON…but they have to be more succinct in writing–at some point those arguing have to stop talking and act.
in one of my WIPs, there was this huge fight and it took me forever to write it because my characters kept doing the cliches (slammed the door, stomped out of the room, rolled eyes). i had a really hard time figuring out how to make those gestures work–because that’s what you do when you fight–without making them feel trite. it was touch. i even tried making the fight happen over the phone but that worked about as well as when it happens in real life (in other words, it didn’t work at all).
i like the chin in hand very much. good pic for sure. i can already see this with a horizontal block of copy beside it, “Erica Marks spends her days writing women’s fiction while her nights are filled roaming the historic streets of New Orleans…”
Amy–I love it, dear! I do wish I still roamed those streets…believe me, I roamed ’em, you can’t help but do that there.
Your experience with the fight scene is EXACTLY what I’m faced with right now–my two male leads (brothers) are having it out and frankly, I think it needs to come to blows but I’ve never written a fist-fight scene and I can’t help but think it’s one big cliche after another so my thinking is to purge it, write the sucker, let it percolate for a few days and see what rises (if anything!?) to the top.
Great post. You’re absolutely right–arguments may be the toughest interaction to depict on page. I wrote a short story once and couldn’t get the second character’s dialog right. I remember picking an argument with my mother just to get ideas for the second side of the debate. It almost worked–I came close–but it still wasn’t quite right.
Maura, very funny. Did mom know she was research fodder?:)
As Amy was saying above, the blending of the dialog with the gestures is also so hard to get right–and don’t even get me started on trying to indicate exasperation and rage without the use of tags and exclamation points. I have a scene in LITTLE GALE GUMBO where two of the characters get into it and for the longest time I read it and felt like I was going to jump out my skin–I KNEW how angry they were–I could hear it in my own head–but man, I felt like on the page it read like two people in neighboring library carrels asking the time.
Great question. I think you always have to keep each character’s objectives in mind and keep each objective conflicting. Raise the stakes, so that they keep trying a new action to reach their objective, but the other character keeps being an obstacle…
Okay, I think I’ll just send you to my guest post at T.S.’s blog where I explain this technique in detail:
“Acting for Writers 101: Making Your Scenes More Believable”:
http://www.tsbazelli.com/blog/2011/01/acting-for-writers-101-making-your-scenes-more-believable-by-guest-blogger-ollin-morales/
I hope it helps you Erika!
Thanks, Ollin–I’m on way over now!
Hi Erika,
Dropping in to let you know I have a small treat for you over at my site. Just some fun stuff…:)
You rock, madam. Thank you.