Zestful Blog Post #225
I like to use twos in writing.
If you have a work in progress—fiction, that is—most likely
you have a theme in there somewhere. Take a little time to think about it and
look for ways to develop it. Does love conquer all? If so, throw in more hate
and see if you can shake love’s foundations. Or, perhaps, is love
meaningless—and noble action the only valuable thing for a human to dedicate
himself to? Ramp up the romance and see if the dispassionate seeker can be
swayed.
A good technique is to explore more than one theme; then
they can carom off each other and build complexity. A tough guy with a drinking
problem is a bit of a cliché; what if you have your addicted detective fighting
for the right to adopt a five-year-old orphaned beauty queen? Whoa, dude, that
is off the wall. It can become a main plot, or a strong subplot. You’ve got a
man’s struggle with inner demons, and you’ve got a needy child in limbo. This
opens up all kinds of possibilities: family, the circle of life, exploitation,
vulnerability, love and sacrifice.
You can jolt some juice into your work in small ways, too.
Instead of simply having two characters disagree, have one throw a chair. Or if
you already have a fistfight going, make sure somebody ends up with
life-changing injuries, instead of just a black eye. Let your characters
abandon themselves to their fates—and hey, fate is another theme right there.
How do your characters think about it, what do they do to try to beat it, cheat
it, or meet it?
[Rocket and capsule, U.S. Project Gemini. Two guys were in there, all the way up and all the way down. Photo by ES.]
When you feel stuck, sit back and throw out some possibilities
involving twos, or even threes.
Oh, my God, they’re
twins! That’s how the alibi got past the D.A.!
Get out now! It’s not
just a twister, it’s twisters plural, coming from opposite directions!
Success in love and
achievement both! Wow, what could go wrong now?
I betrayed not only
you; I betrayed myself as well.
We’ll use not one
decoy, but two. It’s foolproof, I tell you!
You see how it works. The rule of two is an easy technique
to visit any time your fiction needs a boost.
Have you used the rule of two in writing fiction? Tell us
about it. Or, if you simply have a good recipe for soft, warm cookies, let us
know. We’re getting hungry. To post, click below where it says, 'No Comments,'
or '2 Comments,' or whatever.
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