Category: writing

Using a Gimmick

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

I thought this was pretty clever advice from Dwight Swain. The gimmick. To fully understand this post, you’re going to want to read last Wednesday’s post about writing the perfect ending.

What is a gimmick?
It’s a tool you can use to make your character’s choice believable. How will you make your reader believe that your character would really choose principle over personal gain? Enter gimmick.

The gimmick can be anything. A smell. An object. A food. A saying. Music. Anything. As long as it evokes a strong emotional reaction from your character and the emotion is linked to the principle at stake.

For example:
Billy’s father raised him to protect the innocent. Growing up, Billy’s father modeled this principle day in and day out. When Billy turned twelve, his father got cancer and died. Before he died, he gave Billy a medallion he earned while serving in the military. This medallion is the gimmick. Whenever Billy sees it, it reminds him of his father (emotional) and what his father stood for (principle: protect the innocent).

To make the gimmick work, you need to introduce it in the beginning of your story and come back to it at least a couple times throughout the novel. Too little, and the reader won’t understand why the gimmick matters at the end. Too much, and your reader will start rolling his eyes.

During the critical moment, when your character faces the choice between the easy way (personal gain) and the difficult way (principle) and he’s leaning toward the easy way, you bring in the gimmick. Character reacts emotionally and chooses principle. And the reader believes every minute of it.

Example continued:
Billy is in the middle of a bloody civil war in Uganda. Throughout the whole novel, Billy’s goal has been to escape to safety. The climax comes. Billy has the perfect opportunity to escape. It’s sitting right in front of him, ready to grab. But if he leaves, he’ll leave an orphaned boy unprotected. Billy’s so close to his goal. All he has to do is get on the helicopter. Shots ring out. Chaos is everywhere. The helicopter pilot is yelling, “Get on! Or we’re going to die.” Orphan boy is far away, but visible, caught in the midst of the chaos. Billy throws his bag into the helicopter, ready to get inside, but the strap catches on the chain around his neck, and the medallion his father gave him rips off and falls to the ground. He sees it. And he’s reminded of everything his father stood for. He reacts emotionally. He chooses to risk his life to save the orphan boy.

Questions to Ponder: Have you used a gimmick before? Have you read a story where the author uses the gimmick? Do you like this idea?

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Writing the Perfect Ending

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

As a person reads a story, tension should build. And build. And build. Until the reader has no fingernails left. What do we do with all this tension at the end? We release it. That’s the main purpose of the ending. To release tension. If you don’t, you’ll end up with frustrated readers.

How do we release tension?
While there are many ways, I’m going to discuss Dwight Swain’s method. Keep in mind, this is just one way.

One Way to End a Novel (Four Steps):

1. Place your character in a situation where he must choose between two specific, concrete courses of action.

Option A: material gain. This is the easy way. Practical considerations back this choice 100%. By choosing option A, your character will gain what he’s worked so hard for throughout the novel. Seems like the obvious choice. What’s the catch? There is a moral/emotional price to be paid by choosing option A, and the price is HIGH.

Option B: principle/morality. This is the hard way. If character chooses option B, the consequences are disastrous. He will lose everything he’s worked to accomplish by choosing Option B.

What your character chooses will determine if he’s worthy of reward. For maximum tension, create a choice that really nails your character to the cross. Think through-the-roof high stakes and consequences for choosing option B.

A very simplistic, lame example:
Joe has been saving his money for the past five years to buy this awesome boat. After facing all sorts of obstacles, he finally has the money he needs. But guess what? He just found out his girlfriend’s dad needs back surgery, and insurance won’t cover the cost.

Option A: buy the boat
Option B: use the money to pay for the surgery (no boat)

2. Force your character to make a choice.

Here are two possible ways to do this: urgency and gimmick (I will cover gimmick next Monday). This is where we force Joe into a corner. He HAS to choose between buying the boat or using the money to help his girlfriend’s dad.

3. Translate that choice into an irrevocable climactic act.

Make your character act on his choice. Make him do something. Make this something important and irreversible. Once he acts, there’s no going back. Joe might think about doing the noble thing, but thoughts don’t amount to much if he doesn’t ACT on them.

Important note: If character chooses option B, this often translates into his black moment, when all seems lost and your reader’s worry comes to a head. If you made the stakes high enough and the character proved himself worthy, the reader will be rooting like heck that this character gets his reward. For example, if Joe gives his money to his girlfriend, all hope of him getting his dream boat are lost. Black moment. And reader will root for him to get the boat, since he proved himself worthy of reward.

4. Give him his just reward.

If your character chose the easy way, punish him. He doesn’t get his reward.

If your character chose the hard way, reward him. Give him his heart’s desire (the boat).

How can you do this?

Use a reversal:
The reversal must include three ingredients for it to work:

– It must be desired. The reader must want your character to win.
– It must be unanticipated. If the reader can see it coming, the reversal loses its power.
– It must be logical. Don’t throw something into the mix that makes no sense and has no connection with the story. Your readers will roll their eyes and think, “Give me a break.”

The reversal for Joe’s story might be a number of things. If he proves himself worthy and gives his money to his girlfriend, maybe Joe inherits his grandfather’s boat, which is what made him fall in love with boating in the first place. If he proves himself unworthy and chooses personal gain, maybe he finds himself caught up in some sort of scam and doesn’t get the boat. I don’t know. Whatever fits with your story. I told you, this example is lame.

Escalating tension throughout the book + release of tension at the end of the book = deep, satisfied sigh from your reader.

Question to Ponder: What is one of the most satisfying endings you’ve seen or read? What made it so satisfying?removetweetmeme

Where to Start? How to Start?

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

Where should I start my story? Am I the only person who struggles with such a question? Well, my trusty ol’ friend Dwight Swain would say: start with change.

There are three ways you can start with change:
1. Just before the change happens
2. Just as the change happens
3. Just after the change happens

Where you choose to start your story is a delicate balancing act, and here’s why:

1. If you start your story too far ahead of the change, you risk boring your readers.

2. If you start your story in the midst of the change, you risk distancing your readers. When a reader doesn’t understand the existing situation or the characters affected by the change, that reader might not give a hoot.

3. If you start your story after the change, you risk confusing your readers.

How’s that for helpful?

Some advice?
Play around with all three options. Write them. Read them. Have other people read them. And see which works best. What is writing, anyway, if not a huge experiment with words?

Now that we’ve established where to start (sort of), let’s look at how.

How do we start?
The answer is quite simple. Start by raising a question. And do it right away. In the first paragraph. Preferably, in the first line. If you establish a unique and intriguing question, right off the bat, your reader will want, no need, to read on in order to figure out the answer.

Here are some examples from my trusty book shelf:

Dragon Tears, by Dean Koontz: Tuesday was a fine California day, full of sunshine and promise, until Harry Lyon had to shoot someone at lunch.

Question: Why did Harry Lyon have to shoot someone?


Monster, by Walter Dean Myers: The best time to cry is at night, when the lights are out and someone is being beaten up and screaming for help.

Questions: Why is this person crying? Where is he and why is he there? Whose getting beaten up?

The Cure, by Athol Dickson: Riley Keep returned to the scene of his disgrace in the back of a northbound pickup truck with New Brunswick plates.

Question: Why is Riley returning to the scene of his disgrace? Where/what is it?

The Moment Between, by Nicole Baart: She left the world the same way she entered it: swathed in robes of scarlet so red and angry and portentous as to be mistaken for black.

Question: Who is dead? And how did she die?

Questions to Ponder: Do you struggle with knowing where and how to start a story? What are some of your favorite first lines of all time? Why are these your favorite?removetweetmeme