Your Signature

As a big fan of figure skating, I can't help but think of the connection between writing and this athletic and artistic sport. The two do share some similarities. For example, skaters hone their skills, so do writers. Skaters dream, so do writers. Some skaters, do one thing more than their fellow skaters - they have their signatures - which means they either make themselves a power jumper, or known for the fast spin at the end of his/her skate, or show their flexibility, or do a lyrical performance, to name a few. Their signatures do not only set them apart from the crowd, but also make themselves identifiable and memorable. I used to tell Wes that I missed the performance of so and so when that skater had retired.

What's your signature as a writer? With the arrival of the new year, spend a little time to think about it. It'll be the time well-spent.

Happy New Year! Have a productive 2015!

My Own Favorite Poems III

Here again I would like to post some of my own published poems.

1)
like a tray
of dry sand
the family I grew up in
has made me
an atypical loner

(GUSTS NO. 17 Spring/Summer 2013)

2)
gravel path
I kick at the pebbles
so small
yet, quietly carrying
our weight

(GUSTS NO. 17 Spring/Summer 2013)

3)
my first Thanksgiving
I'm having a feast at a friend's
Mother,
don't worry about the snow, ice
and frost I face here

(Chrysanthemum 14)

All three tanka share one feature: telling a tiny story about me.

The first one says something regarding my character--an atypical loner. What has shaped me with such a personality? Apparently, a highly dysfunctional family. Moreover, the poem also hints at something deeper about me.

The second one implies that I am strolling alone--another way to say that I am an atypical loner. In addition, it suggests something about one of my character traits--a person who enjoys being alone and loves to meditate plus something deeper, which is unsaid.

The third one tells where I am, how I am treated by people in my adopted country and how I feel. I really like the mood of this tanka because it says a lot about my being so far away from home and being a new comer to a strange country. I am sure it resonates with quite a few people worldwide, who leave home for one reason or another. The experience is universal.

Story-telling is not only for novelists, playwrights, and screenwriters, but also for a tanka poet. So, what makes our writing intriguing is: story, story, story.

Figure Skating and Writing

I touched on this topic before. Today I look at it from another angle.

When a figure skater takes the ice, she wants to give a good performance. However, she doesn't nail her first jump that sets the tone for the whole program. She, of course, continues to either fight to pull it together or let it fall apart for various reasons. (Which is unfortunate.) The audience watches her till the end of her skate and applaud.

As a writer, though, we don't have that kind of luxury. I call it luxury because once a reader picks up a book and reads, if the story and/or writing fails to hook her, she will put down the book and go text-messaging friends, or Googling the Internet, or "working" on her iPhone. Those are a few of activities that are competing with people's attention, readers included.

After missing a jump, a figure skater can go on with her performance. After losing a reader's interest, we will lose her forever. So, hook the reader from beginning to end.

All about Scenes

Scenes are the building blocks of a play, a screenplay, a short story, and a novel. There are various types of scenes; therefore, there are different words to describe them. Here are a few: scintillating, gripping, intense, memorable, funny, scary. What we as writers want to avoid is the scenes mentioned below:

1) a long scene
2) a talky scene
3) a static scene
4) a clichéd scene

I'd like to talk more about a clichéd scene. I have come across a lot of articles about avoiding clichés in our writing; however, I have seen many clichéd scenes in movies, TV series, and Web series. What are they? The first kind that comes to my mind is the car-chase scene. It has been overdone. What is the fix? It has been turned into a subway-chase scene. That, too, has lost its glamor. The second kind of a clichéd scene is the sex scene. Nine out of ten times, if those scenes were cut, they wouldn't hurt the story. Interestingly, although they are deja vu all over again, they haven't gone out of favor. What I have seen in those scenes is a lot of flesh but nothing fresh.

Yes, fresh. We should aim at writing fresh scenes.

The Obligatory Scene

I first learned about this term in my playwriting class at graduate school. What is an obligatory scene? It's the climax. Every play, screenplay, and novel has this crucial scene. Someone has said, "If there is no obligatory scene, you don't have a story." This scene does not come from nowhere. To achieve it, we need to build it up. In Westerns, this scene usually comes when the good guys and the bad guys line up facing each other and pull out their guns. The final shootout.

Since the obligatory scene exists (it should be there) in every play, movie, and novel, it is easy for us to spot it. However, it is not easy to write it. It takes work.

Again, I'd like to repeat: in real life, we try to avoid conflicts as much as we can, especially the big one. In writing, we need it badly. Have fun with this final, big confrontation. Let your story shine.

Conflict, Conflict, Conflict II

In fiction, play, and screenplay, there are sub-story, sub-plot, and sub-genre. For conflict, there is sub-conflict. Sub-conflict can be very trivial. For example, Character A asks Character B to go out for a cup of coffee at Starbucks; however, Character B wants to have it at a cafe. It seems mundane stuff, but once we provide the reason why Character B refuses to go to Starbucks, it will not only create conflict between the two characters but also spices up the scene a little bit.

A scene with some sort of sub-conflict is much more interesting than a scene with no conflict at all. Look at the following scene I write as an example:

A
Time for a second cup of coffee. Let's go to Starbucks.

B
Okay, let's go.

A scene like this should be cut.

Conflict, Conflict, Conflict

In real live, we try to avoid conflicts, sometimes even at all costs. In writing, however, we welcome conflict, or rather, we love conflict. A scene without conflict of any sort inclines to run the risk of being boring, or at least uninteresting. Besides, conflict creates tension, reveals character, advances the plot and story, and many more. A question arises: Does conflict mean to have two/three characters argue vehemently about values? Not necessarily so. Here I'd like to quote my published haibun that shows conflict can be done subtly.


Ho's Conversation with Mao

In a dark place only they know where, Ho Chi Minh says to Mao Zedong: "Comrade, look at your capitalist country. How do you like it?"

"I hate it!"

Ho laughs. Mao frowns, "Hey, look at your Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Isn’t it soaked in capitalism?"

"My followers follow your footsteps."

"Not my footsteps!"

"You talked to President Nixon, didn’t you?"

"That’s history. Let’s return to change things back to what they were." Mao extends his hand to Ho who hesitates.

"You go first," Ho says. Mao stares at him.

ebb tide
empty shells
on the sand

(Contemporary Haibun Online, January 2013, Vol 8, No 4)


See what I mean? Conflict can be done in a subtle way. Since conflict is so important in story telling, I'll discuss more on conflict in my next post.