***NO SINGULAR GOAL***
I’ve been writing novels and short stories for a long
fucking time, yet I only noticed today how almost none of my novels have
singular goals within the plot. Instead the main characters accomplish smaller
goals on the way to a climax that may or may not be part of the linear
structure. It’s weird. There are singular goals in other stories, but not mine.
In Harry Potter, the goal is to kill Voldemort. In Star Wars, it’s to kill
Darth Vader and destabilize the empire. In Lord of the Rings, it’s to destroy a
powerful ring by dropping it into a river of lava. In Silent Warrior, the main
goal is to…um…In Beautiful Monster, Windham Xavier wants to…uh…heh…In
Incelbordination…Oswald Crow wants to…oh, I give up!
Okay, let’s use Incelbordination as an example. At the
beginning of the story, Oswald Crow wants a girlfriend, or to at least have sex
for the very first time. But then he meets Antero Magnus and wants to rage
against the world. Then he sees how coo-coo his followers are and wants to bring
Antero to justice. And then once that’s out of the way, he wants to sort out
his life and find a real girlfriend again, which he doesn’t do. Does this seem
like a cluster fuck to you? I’m sure it does. But we’re just getting warmed up!
For the sake of argument, when I refer to Beautiful Monster,
I’ll only refer to the god-awful drive-by abortion first draft, not the rewrite
I’m currently working on. Windham Xavier goes on a mission to spy on Shelly
Atwood. Then he wants to get away from her. Then he wants to make sweet monkey
love to Tarja Rikkinen for no damn reason. Then he wants to keep his job at the
formerly known Paladin Cross. Then he wants to kill Orpheus Rinehart. Then he
wants to survive and start a new life with Tarja. And then…reasons?
Still not convinced of how crazy my plot structures are?
Let’s do the same thing for Silent Warrior. Scott George wants to stop having
traumatic visions. Then he wants to stick it to his history teacher. Then he
wants to fuck the history teacher’s daughter. Then he wants to get out of jail.
Then he wants to graduate high school. Then he wants to be a psychological
counselor at his high school. And then he wants to…he, uh…UGH!
These plots would all sound chaotic to any sane reader.
Windham Xavier, Scott George, and Oswald Crow have no singular goals that
define the entire story. They’re just playing in by ear and changing their
minds as new events take place. Are there a whole lot of stories out there with
this kind of narrative? I’ll try to think of a few.
In A Christmas Story, Ralph wants to get a BB rifle for
Christmas. Then he wants to get an A++++++ on his essay. Then he wants to
decode Little Orphan Annie’s message. Then he wants to beat the shit out of
Scut Farkus. Then he wants to eat dinner at a Chinese restaurant after the
Christmas turkey is ruined by the Bumpus’s dogs. And then once he shoots his
eye out, he wants to…he wants to…he, uh…DAH!
In Pink Floyd the Wall, Pink wants to survive life without a
father. Then he wants to stick it to his Scottish teacher. Then he wants to
grow up and be a rock star. Then he wants to get married. Then he wants to shut
everybody out. Then he wants to have a pseudo Nazi rally and then put himself
on trial when things get out of control. And then he wants to…uh…Jesus…UGH!
I’m sure there are other examples of chaotic storytelling
out there, but I can’t think of anything beyond those two I just gave. Truth be
told, I’m not even sure if refusing to have a singular goal in mind is the
right or wrong thing to do. I suppose a case could be made that these stories
of mine are slices of life, where random occurrences and constant changes of
opinion are part of reality.
Think about it for a minute. Does anybody’s life really have
a singular goal? And if so, what do they do when it’s achieved? Does their
story end right there? Do they live the rest of their lives riding out this
goal or do they miraculously have a heart attack and die at the story’s
conclusion? Life is full of twists and
turns. It’s not a linear path despite what these other stories tell you. If it
was a linear path, the ending would be too easy to predict. But this is just my
opinion and I could be missing something here.
I’d like to think that a story’s unpredictability lies
within the hows, not the whats. Yes, we know the good guys will win in the end.
But if you want to know how they survive these insurmountable odds, you have to
read the whole fucking thing. But what if the ending is negative? Again, it’s
all about the hows. How did the hero fuck it up that badly and how does life go
on now that he’s no longer a factor? With a chaotic plot, you don’t have to
worry about these things too much because you don’t know what to expect. You’re
looking for the whats AND the hows. But again, this is just my opinion and if
someone wants to prove me wrong, I’ll give you all the chances you need to do
so. I could be wrong and I wouldn’t even know it until someone told me.
Are there any other examples of chaotic storytelling that
I’m missing? They do exist, I’m sure, but most of my media intake comes from
linear plots revolving around a singular goal. In Black Panther, the Wakandans
want to defend their kingdom from evil forces. In Wonder Woman, she wants to
make Ares pay for his sins against her people. In X-Men, Charles Xavier’s
students want to keep Magneto from killing all humans despite the fact that
humans are prejudiced against mutants.
In Occupy Wrestling (which actually is published), Mitch
McLeod wants to win the KDW World Championship. Then he wants to keep it. Then
he wants to put his boss in jail. Then he wants to protect his girlfriend from
hideous monster wrestlers. Then he wants to bring down his boss’s monstrous
empire. Then he wants to…uh…uh…damn it! I’m Garrison Kelly! Even when you feel
like dying, keep climbing the mountain! What you do once you get to the
mountaintop, that’s up to you. I certainly hope that’s not your singular goal
in life!
***MOVIE DIALOGUE OF THE DAY***
RANDAL: Can’t we do something about those two stoners
hanging around the convenience store all the time?
DANTE: Why? What’d they do now?
RANDAL: I’m trying to watch Clash of the Titans and all I
can hear is those two screaming about Morris Day at the top of their lungs.
DANTE: I thought the fat one didn’t talk much.
RANDAL: What, am I producing an A&E Biography about
them?
-Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back-
***POST-SCRIPT***
While I’m playing the waiting game with Emilio and the
Scratching Post (which is finished, by the way), I’ve been keeping busy with
reviews of the shortest books I own. You’ll also notice a short story called
Goddamn Dog. Well, I’d also like to get back to writing Beautiful Monster
during this downtime. I believe it’s been at least a whole month since I’ve
touched this project. That’s way too long. When it comes to chapter 17, I’m
having a hard time deciding if I should tell the story through Windham Windham
No comments:
Post a Comment