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| Painting by Walter Baumhoffer |
As a writer, you can learn a lot
from Westerns. While their simplicity, limitations, and cultural
references will probably keep the genre reeling in and out of popularity
forever, you’re dealing with a very established world. Because the myth of the
gunslinger has become legend there are different versions of that world, but
the boundaries of the story are stiff as far as time, place, and even character.
In other words, you need to be a great plotter, or have one hell of an original
idea, if you want to write a story that doesn’t have more clichés and holes in
it than you could drive a covered wagon through.
So, Sunday morning, the movie From Hell
to Texas pops up on my TV. Not a bad Western, and with a very pulp opening
so it gets my attention. Now, Romance as a genre is something I’ve never
mastered, but I’m well-aware that back in the day it stirred some surprising
controversy among Western fans, including the readers of Wild West Weekly. Some
boys just wanted to see cowboys kiss their horses and that was that. But, Ranch
Romances were the best-selling magazines on the rack, and movies had to appeal
to everybody, women and men. I could somehow sense the romance had been forced
into this story. Now, the fact that this movie had held me through ten minutes
of that romance suddenly inspired me.
Could I decipher a method to insert
a romance into a story—OR, EVEN BETTER—could I chart out A PLOT DESIGNED TO ADD
ALMOST ANY THEME INTO A STORY, AND STILL
HOLD THE READERS ATTENTION? In theory, this could be used with clues in a
mystery, the introduction of new upcoming characters and settings, a growing
character flaw, or a hundred other plot points. You name it!
So, I began to section out the plot
of the movie, deciphering 1) which parts were action or plot revelations, 2)
Character development, and 3) Romance. From
Hell to Texas is a 135-minute movie, but you can think of minutes as pages
or any other unit. It’s the timing I’m looking at.
135-minute movie
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First 20 min:
Action, cause, result
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20-30 min:
Character development w/ hints at Romance
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30-35 min:
Decision made by hero.
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35-55 min:
Action, cause, result
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55-60 min.
Romance
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60-75 min: tension builds as pieces line up.
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75-80 min:
Romance
(representing hope for the future/what’s at stake)
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80-90 min.
Action
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90-95 min: wrap up.
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What this tells me is that a third
of the story is OVER before we even think about romance, or whatever other plot
theme you may be looking to insert into your story. It’s struck on, but only
while defining our characters in order to tell the rest of the story.
If this was a three-act play,
Romance wouldn’t come up again until the second act—and, boy is it fast—almost
forced in some Westerns because “getting the girl” is considered part of the
prize. But, even as Romance comes up again it’s more thought than action
because tension is building in the background, and we’re led back into the
action.
Later, we get five minutes of
romance—used to represent hope for a future goal and everything that’s at stake—before
the big finale, and maybe another five minutes in the plot wrap-up.
Break it up into three acts.
Romance at end of first act. Romance at end of second act. The beginning of the
third act builds plot and tension, and Romance stands out like a hostage in the
middle before the final conflict. When it all ends there’s just enough Romance
left to hint at some in the future, and our story is over.
Some of you may recognize this as
the norm, some of you may not, and some may say I’m overthinking it. So why do
this? Because, while I believe a story should structure itself, sometimes when
you’re hammering one out, it’s nice to know where to put things. If you look at
enough things like this, sometimes they might just fall into the right place. I’m
intrigued especially by how this timeline might be used with subplots and with
clues in mysteries. I also have a feeling you might see me using it in the
future regardless of genre. I may not map it out, but I’ll definitely give it
some thought. Like a lot of writing, this stuff becomes subconscious. “Give it
some thought, but don’t think about it.”
So, yeah, this is one of those
weird things writers do. Me at least. Now if I could just get them to pay me by
the hour for all this thought.
