For the Love of Writing: And Writing of Love
I will be speaking this weekend at the Romance Writers of America conference in San Francisco. I’ve been literally looking forward to this all year.
My relationship with RWA started in 2007 when I was asked to speak to the Seattle branch in January, and ever since, my interactions with this fabulous group has encouraged me in my efforts with screenwriters, too. As organized as I’d like to be with our Cat! groups, and as pro-active as I hope they become in creating and marketing their scripts, we have a long way to go to match the efficiency, good feeling, and positive results found by members of this fine national organization.
This Saturday I will be talking about everything I’ve learned from Romance Writers and everything Hollywood, as perceived by the Save the Cat! method, can give Romance Writers in terms of concept, structure, and that mysterious “it” that separates great stories from the merely good.
Yes, I will be revealing “The Secret” that elevates storytelling of all kinds to a higher plane.
But I would not have been quite so clear about this had it not been for my work and interaction with RWA members.
In fact, my “Five Point Finale” was crystalized thanks to this interaction. One of the features of this weekend’s speech will be the 15-point beat sheet of a well-known Romance novel, by one of its best known and most admired authors. It was in trying to figure out “Act Three” of the Nora Roberts’ novel, Born in Fire, that I kept bumping my head on the discovery that there seemed to be a second “All Is Lost” moment in that finale.
Like any great love story, it’s about what I identified in Save the Cat! Goes to the Movies, the motto of every Buddy Love tale: “My life changed for having met another!” And in the third act of Born in Fire, there was a loss of this potential boon for the heroine, and a moment when it was taken away. In exploring other Romance novels, I found the same; it seemed to be what the story was really all about.
But it’s more than that.
As the heroine of Roberts’ novel discovers, and what love stories focus on, is this basic, but terrifying, dilemma: You are the one person who understands me exactly as I want and need to be understood. I do the same for you. And yet there is something that is keeping us apart. Our primal fear in any love story is: What if I extend myself and you don’t take my hand? What if the one person who can save me, who can make sense of everything in life that hasn’t, won’t recognize me in the same way?
And yet the risk is worth it. That’s Act Three of most Buddy Love stories: the fear of loss of this amazing, life saving thing I’ve discovered.
I know it exists, but can I keep it?
Not only does this fear of loss inform love stories, but every story. It’s why Romance is the number one most successful genre in publishing with half — that’s half! — of all paperbacks published devoted to this “simple” conundrum. It’s why the “Five Point Finale” is generally part of every Act Three.
What I marvel at, both for screenwriters and novelists, is the fact that we can re-tell these easy to understand stories in a million ways — and each time out, if we’ve done our job, they remain as fresh as the first time we heard them. It’s why my teeth grit every time I hear someone decry “formula” applied to what we do. It’s usually leveled at us by someone who really doesn’t know that it’s a combination of the familiar and the new that is so difficult to pull off — and must be if we are to succeed!
It’s why people line up around the block to see the latest “good versus evil” tale and why bookstores are filled with buyers hoping to be informed and transported by a love story.
Story is everywhere. And as storytellers we find clues to our own tales, and better ways to tell them, from many different sources. We recognize these patterns in fiction and in life, in novels and in movies, in 30-second commercials, in a blogger’s rant, or in a message in a fortune cookie.
Here’s yours: Greatness comes to those who know that God is in the details.
on July 31st, 2008 at 12:49 pm
First, let me put the cart before the horse….THANKS!
As a new entrant into the screenwriting gig, Save the Cat! has been an outstanding reference (even adding to the structure of my blog, but I digress).
I’ve been hammering the BS2 into my brain and am contemplating applying it to a love story as my first forray into the biz. A love story with an edge/touch of humour.
I hope you make it to Vancouver, Canada soon. I’ll be there!
darren
on July 31st, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Thanks for this blog entry, Blake. I’m currently working on a high-concept Buddy Love right now. There’s just something so timeless (and fun!) about love stories. Some of the funniest quips, situations, and great movie lines of all time in cinema have come from love stories or a moment between lovers. I love playing God with two love-birds, keeping them apart, making them learn about each other and themselves, and then bringing them together again. It’s very therapeutic!
Have fun at the conference.
on July 31st, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Blake, your style of writing gives me confidence. You’re truly inspiring!
I’m not big on writing romantic…anything. Lol.
But I gained a lot from reading this!
Are you going to be in Chicago late this year or anytime next year?
Thanks for everything!
on August 1st, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Those of us who have experienced unrequited or unreturned love, at whatever age or maturity level, have felt those empty, gut-wrenching moments of loneliness, or worse, alone-ness, perhaps time and time again.
To use a comic metaphor, we’ve run off that cliff like Wile E. Coyote, thinking we’ve captured the Roadrunner (love)… then the realization comes that we haven’t, that our grasp captured only air, then the painful fall/impact, and perhaps a stray boulder also landing on our head for good measure.
It’s us who write, read and watch romantic fiction. To heal.
on August 1st, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Just to add, I think you’re talking about capturing that painful bereft feeling–THEN being rescued from it at the last moment! Magic.
on August 3rd, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Hi Blake-
I was lucky enough to see you speak at the RWA conference on Saturday morning and just wanted to say that your talk was AMAZING, INSPIRING, INFORMATIVE, and, basically, everything I’d hoped it would be!
Thanks for sharing your wisdom so generously!
Alyson
on August 3rd, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Blake, I was fortunate to be in attendance at your RWA talk and it was fab!!! Thank you so much. You were a delight to listen to and what you said really resonated with me. I’ve got a couple WIP’s that I’ve been stuck on and couldn’t quite figure out why. Thanks for the Secret!!!
on August 4th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Blake, I was also one of the lucky RWA attendees and was delighted to realize my current work fit the 15 point Beat Sheet pretty well. The few parts I was missing came to me as I was taking notes and I’m so excited to take my manuscript to the next level thanks to you! Thanks for coming to San Francisco and giving such an amazing talk.
Can’t wait to see Granny in the theaters!
Pam
on August 8th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Hi Blake,
As for my WIP, I had an “a ha!” moment when reading through my notes of your workshop. So let me say a gigantic THANK YOU.
I, too, was at your RWA workshop. All I can say is WOW. I’ve been writing for about a gazillion years and have several unpublished manuscripts on my hard drive. I can’t wait to use the beat sheet to go through each of these and see if any of them are worth saving.
Becky, from the Seattle area
on August 8th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
Ditto, what everyone has said about the workshop. It was incredible!!!!!!
on August 14th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
I’ve heard raves about your RWA workshop. Congrats!
I have a question, though. How do the “opening image” and “final image” beats translate into a novel?