Paul Anderson was a friend and I offer this to
his memory.
From a lecture by Paul Dean ANDERSON:
Some people believe that formatted poems
(sonnets or sestinas) are too limiting. I think that part of this art is to
write poems within the restrictions of the form. I think the same is possible
for short stories.
It would be interesting to read stories written using the following
form. It was created by a noted writer, Paul Dean Anderson.
What I written is a my notes
of an informal lecture given by Paul
Dean Anderson at the January 1993 meeting of the Rockford Writer's Guild in
Rockford, Illinois. Mr. Anderson is a well-known writer and co-editor of "2 AM Magazine". This magazine is
published in Rockford and focuses on Science Fiction, Fantasy and poetry of the
horror genre.
Mr. Anderson preached having interior problems for your lead
characters vice external problems. I’ve used this “method” several times. I
tried “selling” it to a high school English teacher years ago and was told “it is a method and methods are wrong”.
She would not say why “methods” are
wrong and I think she was wrong.
I believe this “method” could be used to come up with a nice plot.
Any stories written with this “method”
should be expanded out and that would help “disguise”
the “method”.
I think this “method” could be used at a Saturday half day writing
session at the library. It would certainly be fun!
How to Write a Short Story
that Will Grip Your Readers!
FIRST PARAGRAPH: Give your character a THREAT that everyone can
identify with. It can be a life threat or a spiritual threat.
SECOND PARAGRAPH: Develop the character and show the character’s
reaction to the threat. This shows a LOT about the character.
THIRD PARAGRAPH: Throw in a prop. i.e. "the gun on the
mantle", the stuff that the character is wearing or has in his/her pocket,
a vehicle, suitcase, etc.
FOURTH PARAGRAPH: The second paragraph action did not overcome the
threat. The character "feels down, wants to give up and end it all".
FIFTH PARAGRAPH: The threat becomes more specific to the character
or to someone the character cares about. This is the “do or die moment".
The character now refuses to "take it anymore".
SIXTH PARAGRAPH: The character acts intuitively and in character but
fails to overcome the obstacle. He doesn't save the world (as it were).
SEVENTH PARAGRAPH: Character realizes that he must make a conscious
change to solve the problem. The character MUST grow and change to face his
challenge. The Character MUST make an out-of-character decision. I.e. the
selfish must do a selfless act, the claustrophobe must go into a cave or sewer,
the person scared of arguments must confront an obnoxious verbal bully.
EIGHTH PARAGRAPH: The character must take the out-of-character
decision and combine it with the prop (see THIRD PARAGRAPH) to produce action
in the resolution.
The
resolution can be one sentence (as Mr. Anderson was fond of using). The
resolution can be as long as you need.
Mr. Anderson challenged the Rockford Writer's Guild to write 500
word stories that would embody this ad-hoc outline above. He later stated that
perhaps as much as 2000 words could work. Mr. Anderson hinted that these
"rules" were somewhat ad-hoc but they flowed forth from him so easily
that I had the feeling that they were something he had thought about for a long
time!
I remind you that National Write a Novel In A Month starts on
November 1st…
