Date:         Fri, 14 Feb 1997 09:15:39 EST
From: "which way did they go, which way..." <mbarker@MIT.EDU>
Organization: I must follow them, for I am their...reader?
Subject:      EXERCISE: Plot #3: Pursuit: 20 Master Plots

[for those who may be interested, all exercises I do are available at
http://web.mit.edu/mbarker/www/exercises/exercises.html ]

Based on the book "20 Master Plots (And How to Build Them)" by Ronald B.
Tobias.  ISBN 0-89879-595-8.

(p. 79) "The pursuit plot is the literary version of hide-and-seek."
    "The basic premise of the plot is simple:  One person chases
another.  All you need is a cast of two: the pursuer and the pursued.
Since this is a physical plot, the chase is more important than the
people who take part in it."

    First phase:  establish the situation, who is running and who is
chasing, and why?  Stakes?  Motivating incident?
    Second phase: the thrill of the chase!  twists, turns, reversals,
death-defying plunges, narrow squeaks, and that's just the beginning!
    Third phase:  the resolution.  Are they caught?  Or do they escape?

The cardinal rule: Don't Bore the Reader!

The tension is greatest at the moment just before it seems capture is
inevitable.  Wham!  Foiled again, and off and running....

Don't forget confinement--limit the motion, and feel the tension mount.

Checklist:
    1.  The chase is more important than the people, so stress it.
    2.  Make sure the pursued is really in danger of getting caught.
    3.  Give the pursuer a reasonable chance of catching the pursued;
even let her catch him...for a moment.
    4.  Physical action!
    5.  Make sure the twists and characters are stimulating, engaging,
and unique--the plot surely isn't.
    6.  Develop characters and situations against type to head off
cliches at the pass (ouch!)
    7.  Make the area of the chase as confined and tight as feasible.
    8.  In the beginning, make sure the reader knows the ground rules
for the chase, the stakes involved, and the motivating incident that
starts the race.

[I should skip by it, but something tells me I should point out that
Roadrunner and Wily E. Coyote have been doing the chase scene for quite
a while now...beep-beep!]

Okay?  As you might suspect, we're going to think about doing some
writing.  So saddle up your horses, pilgrim, and let's start.

First, how about picking a number from one to six?

1.  a horse
2.  a frog
3.  a cat
4.  a snake
5.  a monkey
6.  a fish

Now, before we go any farther, take your animal in mind and consider it.
What breed is it?  What color eyes does it have?  How old is it?  Think
about its life--what sets it apart from the rest of the...herd, lilypad
gang, backalley slinkers, jungle drapery, swingers, or school?

And with that in mind--What kinds of locomotion does it use?  What kinds
of motivations?  What pursues it?  Make up a list of at least five
points about the way this animal travels.

Second, let's pick again (one to six, if you please?):

1.  to get the answer
2.  to stop a crime
3.  to overcome one's fears
4.  to give them the object
5.  to keep them from revealing the answer
6.  out of anger

This, in case you can't guess, is a bit of motivation.  Pick a pair of
characters (type, age, and other characteristics at your discretion.
You may even elect to have more than two, if you like.)  Flip a coin to
decide who is going to chase who.

And take your motivation and think it through.  Why is this going to
motivate the chase?  What is involved?  What kind of incident could
unveil the characters and their chase, clearly and quickly?

[I like to motivate the other party, too.  But in fact, being chased
by someone almost automatically creates a desire to escape, to
run...as the adrenaline spikes and the ancient fears creep in.  You
still may want to think about why the person being chased doesn't
stop--or what happens when they do stop, turn, and...!]

You may want to stop at this point and do some dreaming about the chase
itself.  Think about some incidents along the way, some skids and twists
that might happen.  Think about surprising the reader, making them duck
as the skeleton falls out of the ceiling or jump wildly as the shotgun
blasts away on hitting the concrete floor... (one approach is to list
about five different twists, then throw out a couple and focus on the
real winners.  Think about order--start with a little twist, raise the
stakes and the involvement, then get into a little more white-knuckle
stuff, back off, and sliderightintoarealcruncher...

One more little tidbit to color your mentation (yes, one to six!):

1.  birling -- log rolling, or log birling;  turning a log underfoot as
it floats, which loggers known as river drivers did as work and sport.

2.  clip a brand -- to cut away a critter's hair, grown long during the
winter, to get a good look at the brand.

3.  ear down -- to twist or bite the ears of a horse to get him to stand
still; said especially of broncos, where one cowboy ears down the horse
while another saddles it for a first ride.  Horses that are often eared
down and thus wary of having their ears touched are called _ear-soured._

4.  hidalgo -- In the south-west, a Hispanic landowner, usually an
aristocrat.  Borrowed from Spanish, it's generally pronounced by
Americans with an _h_, Hee-DAHL-goh.

5.  muckamuck (1) In Chinook jargon, food. (2) In verb form, to eat.
_High muckamuck_ (also from the Chinook term) is a derisive expression
for a person of importance.

6.  praying cow -- A cow that's getting up.  The critter rises hind end
up and the cow momentarily looks like it's on its knees.

[definitions taken from The Wordsworth Dictionary of the American West
by Winfred Blevins, ISBN 1-85326-356-7]

So there is a bit of color borrowed from the American West.  You should
feel free to work it in wherever it fits.

Take your animal.  Don't tell us about it, but do use that wily nature
as the background for the chase.  Think about the motivation, maybe
review the checklist provided above.  And don't forget that touch of
Wild West color, smearing across the watercolors of your creation.

Turn on the blender and let your mental processes gurgitate, gurgle,
grunt, grind, grrrrrr....

And WRITE!

[a short start?  okay, try this one:

    A lifetime can happen in twenty-four hours, especially on the run.

Drop back, sketch where, when, who, and why the heck they are starting
to run...]

Take a moment to stretch.  Right hand, fingers nice and loose, rub the
tension out of that knuckle...left hand, wiggle that little finger,
shake it down, shake it down...and get set!

On your home keys!

Type!

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