Greetings, Bizymoms!

So, last time we covered the basic plot line. This time, let me add a wrinkle, courtesy again of Robert McKee. The idea here is to create a link between your Inciting Incident (an event that sets the story in motion by sending the protagonist on some form of a quest) and your Climax (the moment the last obstacle is surmounted).

According to McKee (and me!), when a reader passes through the Inciting Incident, they form an expectation of the Climax. This is an unformed, non-specific expectation, but an expectation nonetheless. Your job is to meet it be creating a Climax that manages both to fulfill this expectation and yet still SURPRISE. Ideally, your reader comes away thinking “I didn’t see that coming, but it had to end that way.” Jorge Luis Borges strove for the simultaneously impossible and inevitable.

Maybe that’s reaching for a bit much, but the idea isn’t hard to grasp. Here are some examples from my own work:

CHEESE LOUISE!
Inciting Incident: Louise is teased for having holes.
Climax: Louise saves the day by using her holes.

THE RING BEAR
Inciting Incident: Stan, the soon-to-be step dad doesn’t fully participate in Westley and Mom’s imaginative play. He can be seen declining to wear his pirate patch and watching from a distance.
Climax: Stan puts on the patch during the wedding to avert catastrophe.

FLOUR GIRL
Inciting Incident: Step mom to be interferes during cooking time, tossing a bag of flower “into the mix.”
Climax: Sophie incites a flour fight that Step mom must handle correctly to set things right.

I could go on, but you’re bizy!

Oh, for a new interview about RING BEAR and FLOUR GIRL go to:
http://the-step-parent-podcast.blogspot.com/2008/09/award-winning-childrens-books
 

Best and thanks for reading. Until next time!

David Michael Slater
www.davidmicahelslater.com

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