Creative writing - Mike Sanders 2014
Patterning with prosody
The lifelike short story
Short-form genres
Creative writing, like music, is an art of time, or “tempo”: it takes time to read or listen to, and it usually presents events, the development of ideas, or the succession of images—or all these together in time.
It can be said that the craft of writing is, in part, the manipulation of a structure in time. So the simplest element of marking time, rhythm, is, therefore, of basic importance in both poetry and prose. Prosody is concerned almost entirely with the laws of meter or rhythm in the narrowest sense. It deals with the patterning of sound in time; the number, length, accent, and pitch of syllables; and the modifications of rhythm by vowels and consonants.
DEFINITION
Prosody is the science of versification, either in prose or poetry.
In most poetry and in some prose, certain basic rhythms are repeated with modifications, but not in all. It obviously does neither in the case of the “free forms” of modern poetry, but neither does it in the entire poetry of whole cultures.
Lyric poetry is either the actual text of song or is immediately derived from song, so it is regular in structure nearly everywhere in the world, although the elements of patterning that go into producing its rhythm may vary. The most important of these elements in English poetry, for example, have been accent, grouping of syllables (also called feet), number of syllables in the line, and rhyme at the end of a line (and sometimes within it).
The rhythms of prose generally are more complicated, although not necessarily more complex, than those of poetry. The rules of prose patterning are less fixed; patterns evolve and shift indefinitely and are seldom repeated except for special emphasis. Thus, the analysis of prose rhythm is more difficult to establish than the superficial analysis of poetry.
Prosody becomes important in a brief prose form like the short story because the relatively small volume of sentences and words allows for some of the poetic-like conventions it employs. As with backstory and flashback, there’s no hard-and-fast rule on using prosody. In fact, it’s less a technique and more a dynamic to be aware of in your writing, especially when revising and proofing. If, for example, you discover repetitive sentence structures in your story, you might want to vary them. On the other hand, you might find the repetition pleasing to the ear and perhaps employ it as a method for subtly driving home one of the story’s themes. The choice remains yours, but prosody helps determine what readers think of your writing style.
WRITING PROMPT
If you’re graphically minded, draw a rough graph or jot down the beginning, middle, and end of your story. Now write the story and fill in the gaps. If you’re not so graphically minded, just jot down a few key phrases or events that might carry your story forward to a possible conclusion. Don’t worry, this isn’t cast in stone, and you can change the beginning, middle, end, and anything in between at any time. Many writers just write to find their voice. That’s fine. When you have a first draft, go back and see if it has some kind of structure or arc. If not, you might have to adjust it a little.
To get to the end of writing your story, it’s important to know that most stories belong to one of two categories: character-driven or event-driven. Some authors favor memorable characters, while others concentrate on events. Your preference depends both on the genre and style chosen.
A character-driven story relies on the decisions and emotions of characters to advance the plot. The decisions in a character-driven story produce chain reactions and conflict. The events, regardless of how many people they affect, are triggered by characters within the story. Villains tend to drive plots more actively than heroes. Heroes follow rules and tend to fit within traditional types. Villains, meanwhile, are free to do as they (or authors) want.
An event-driven story also relies on external events and circumstances to advance the plot. External events may be natural or human-initiated, as long as the initiator of the events isn’t a central character to the story. Natural disasters and wars serve as the foundations for many event-driven stories.
Few current stories begin with a prologue, but it was once a common practice. Today, the first chapter might reveal backstory that serves as a prologue. Wherever it falls, this sets the backstory through quick exposition. Often a paragraph or two provides all the information necessary. Consider any story set in a time of war, for example. Stating the period and location in italics at the beginning sometimes is enough to give readers what they need. Additional backstory, if you have other important information, can always be dispersed throughout the story.
More important is the story’s catalyst. This is the moment at which the primary character is thrust by circumstance into the action. It serves as the event that indicates your story has started. For some reason, the primary character is starting to lose control, and he or she has to regain power or a balance in life. In a romance story, it’s all about finding true love, especially in an unexpected way. In a crime story, the reporting of the crime begins the chase.
A big event related to the catalyst then occurs and concludes the introduction of the story. A big event might be learning the perfect stranger is from the wrong family, as in Romeo and Juliet. Whatever it is, it establishes the path of the story. Rare is the story that reaches the main event without knowing the major characters, basic backstory, conflicts, and a bit of the psychology of the primary character. Some stories hold back a character or two for drama but still hint at their existence. However, a reader should be able to predict some events and at least guess at potential solutions to the story’s conflicts.
The moment the main character decides there will be a showdown is known as the pinch. It might not be as simple as “I’m going to defeat the bad guy,” but it can be. More often, it’s a decision to continue the quest for a solution while admitting there’s a risk. The decision to move ahead, to face conflict, is difficult and results in a point of no return. Ideally, there’s more than one possible choice, but all have consequences.
It’s common that the true natures of various characters are revealed during the pinch. We see why the hero is heroic and why the villain cannot see that he or she is wrong. It also often contains surprises such as the big, strong man turning out to be a coward. The pinch reveals the psychological underpinnings of the story.
Before the showdown, however, the primary character experiences a crisis of faith embodied by a crisis in the action. He or she experiences doubt, fear, and other troubling emotions. A great story has the reader or audience wondering if the main character will rise to the challenge. If there’s not at least some doubt of victory, there is no story.
The showdown, then, is more than a battle between two people. It forces the main character to prove he or she understands any personal weaknesses and has overcome them. The resolution is not about the external victory as much as it is about the internal growth of a character. The end of a story can resemble a kind of dawn after the action concludes. In the last page or two, there’s a hint of future actions. This allows readers and audiences an opportunity to imagine what’s not written, which often has the effect of making the story stay with them. Maybe you show the criminal planning an escape from prison. Or maybe a new villain seems to have been created by the story’s circumstances.
A good writer leaves a question or two unanswered, without undoing the story.
The least you need to know
· Plots are events, whereas stories reveal how characters react to those events.
· Scenes make your story live and afford it verisimilitude; summaries are what make short stories what they are.
· Backstory is almost always necessary because the reader needs to know where the character is coming from. Flashbacks aren’t always necessary, but sometimes the reader needs to be in the moment to truly understand the character’s position.
· Prosody is concerned almost entirely with the laws of meter or rhythm.