by Heather Hein —
Greetings, loyal Votarists!
As November descends upon the land, darkening our days and leaving us with only memories of summer and as skeletal trees lick the sky, many of us are embarking on that terrifying journey…NANOWRIMO. November is National Novel Writing Month and writers are encouraged to commit an act of self-torture by writing a full novel in one month—or at least 50,000 words.
We’ve delved into story ideas and structure, and now it’s time for magic words and phrases. Not “Abracadabra” or “Hocus Pocus,” but words that’ll make your writing magical. Let’s talk about scene and sequel. In a long form manuscript, there are two things to consider: plot and story. Plot is the actual events that happen, and story is the emotional journey of a character. In other words, what happened and how it made us feel.
Let’s dig deeper into the bowels of this idea. With our mental scalpel, we dissect, stick our fingers into the goop, and probe for more. We find a handy little formula—a spell if you will—that can guide the writer to create a vivid experience for dedicated devotees.
What are they? Scene and sequel. Scene is made with a large scoop of GOAL, a sprinkling of CONFLICT, and a heaping tablespoon of DISASTER. What follows is how we torture our characters most effectively: Combine a heavy dose of EMOTION with several spoonfuls of THOUGHT, toss in a lump of DECISION, and then, allow your character to take ACTION. It’s horror, so we already know that whatever the decision is, it will lead to more suffering (but that’s the fun!).
Let’s see how this stands up to a movie test by exhuming one of the most popular scary movies of all time, The Exorcist. The third movie, The Exorcist III, based on the second book, Legion (skip the second movie, it’s rubbish) is still the most terrifying movie I’ve ever seen, but I digress.
(Spoiler alert below! Go watch the movie and then come back.)
- At the beginning, Father Karas has a goal—figuring out if Regan is really possessed by some demon from the underworld, or just crazy. (Typical. Men always seem to gaslight women.)
- The conflict is the crumbling of his spiritual beliefs, not to mention Regan torturing everyone as well as herself. (Go girl! Knock ‘em dead!)
- Disaster occurs when Karas decides she really is possessed and needs an exorcism, throwing everyone into a tizzy, as if someone kicked an anthill filled with satanic creatures.
- The emotional experience is Father Karas feeling deep pity toward Regan mixed with guilt about everything else (oh you Catholics and your guilt), not to mention a reluctant sense of responsibility, like it’s finally time to get around to cleaning your feline familiar’s litterbox.
- Karas’s thought is next: “I should probably clear this with the Church so I don’t get busted for performing unauthorized rituals on children.”
- His decision—the church dudes say Yes to the Dress, he decides he’s all in, ready to go with holy water guns a-blazin’. (I always wished they’d used squirt guns for better range. But that didn’t happen until The Lost Boys came along.)
- Father Merrin, older than dirt, is told to come out of retirement to lend a helping hand. They take action and start the eviction process. Then…well, you know what happens. (Or you’re going to follow orders and watch the movie before you read the next part. Seriously.)
If we want to break down the best scene in the movie, we can look at the final catharsis. This is right after Regan mocks Karas’s mother and he’s like, “you can’t talk about my mama that way,” and Merrin sends him to time-out.
- The goal is to remove the demon (not nice! Demons gotta work too, right?).
- The conflict comes when Merrin has a massive coronary, probably due to being puked on repeatedly.
- Disaster occurs when Damian moseys back into the room and finds Merrin’s corpse on the floor, drooling on the expensive carpet.
- Then Karas thinks “Dammit! Now I have to finish this project myself!” As if it’s the science fair and he’s stuck doing all the work.
- His decision is to save the kid anyway. If he can.
- He springs into action, invites the demon into himself, then fights its urge to strangle Regan as she sits in her bed (crying like a baby.) He leaps from the window, tumbles down those stairs, and fatally smacks his head with the demon inside.
Now you see how these seven words can turn your manuscript into an unholy masterpiece. So, go shackle yourself to your keyboard if you dare and conquer NaNoWriMo!
Until next time, I’ll be exorcising these magic words of mine into the best spell ever! Hopefully I will survive.
-Your Friendly Neighborhood Word Witch
HWA Colorado 