Exercises for 4.13.10 Part One

Exercise 40: From Situation to Plot

Policeman with 10 cats

What does my character want? Although he has reached the rank of detective, his greatest desire is to retire from the force and spend all his time entering his cats into show cat competitions. He is trying to make it to his 35 years of service so he can get his full pension, but he finds himself distracted by fluffy daydreams of grooming cats and winning ribbons.

What would my character do? John has always wanted to be a cat owner/shower. When his dad found him playing with his sister’s My Little Kitty dolls, however, he beat him harshly. John learned never to share this desire with anyone, and followed his father’s footsteps into the force. He wishes he had the courage to come out, to tell everyone how he feels about cats, but whenever he comes close, he freezes, remembering the beating his pop gave him. He lives in terror of someone on the force finding out he has so many cats. He never invites anyone over and rarely dates.
How will he act or react? He acts very secretive, leading a young recruit assigned to him to become suspicious, thinking John is on the take. In fact, it is another officer who is pocketing drug money, but as young Kevin begins to investigate John, he finds out about all the cats. He learns this one night when he is peeking in John’s window. However he might not wish to be one anymore, John still has cop instincts, and he sneaks out and behind Kevin and confronts him. Kevin stammers for a bit, then succumbs and admits to John why he is there. John sighs in relief, thinking Kevin didn’t notice the cats. As he is about to leave, Kevin asks why he has so many cats. John reacts in fear (internally) wondering if Kevin is going to blow his cover. He has to decide quickly if he should play it off like it is no big deal and he is cat sitting, if he should take Kevin into his confidence, or if he should tell him to mind his own business. He realizes the third option will just raise his curiosity, the second will earn his ridicule, and the first—while most likely to make him think it is not a big deal—does not guarantee that he won’t spread the word. He chooses option 1.

How do these actions propel the story forward? John exists on tenterhooks for the next week, but when Kevin doesn’t say anything to anyone after a couple of weeks, he starts to relax. In fact, by the time of the annual Christmas buffet at O’Dwyer’s Pub, he has all but forgotten the incident. Until one of the guys starts to tell a story of this house they raided last week that was crawling with cats, and Kevin pipes up, saying, “Oh yeah, kinda like your house, John.” The room falls silent, everyone turns to John in shock, then the room dissolves into laughter and finger pointing, finally devolving into ridicule and name calling, like “Pussy Lover” “Kitty Dick” “Meow Mix” “Pussy Boots” “Felix” “Whiskers” and “Fluffer”.

John just stands there, face growing redder by the second, and it is unclear whether he is dying of embarrassment, about to erupt into a volcano of rage, or having a heart attack.



Exercise 46: Plot Potential

Scenario: Three men standing around a scrawny tree in downtown Minneapolis.

1. The one in black leaned back against the tree that didn’t look as if it could support his weight. Under his breath he said sharply, “We are not doing this again. This is bullshit!” The man in brown turned slightly to look at him, then remembering himself he quickly reversed himself, looking straight ahead, and taking a deep breath while his hands worried the paper in his hands.

“But To— I mean, sorry, never mind, I forgot. You told us to contact you the next time we saw them change the code,” he said, his voice nearing a whine. The third man, the one in the white shirt spoke softly and calmly to reassure the other two men.

“We are going to follow the plan, and this will go better for all of us if we breathe through these negative emotions and calmly begin to plan exactly how we are going to steal 2.4 million dollars worth of diamonds from Goodhue Jewelry tomorrow. Now walk two blocks east of here, one block south, and stop at the brown door in the middle of the street. Enter quietly, and go to the third floor, room 309. I have arranged a place for us to plan this. Go in peace.”

2. The man in tight black pants, a shabby checkered jacket and white socks with shiny black dress shoes took one last drag on his cigarette and flung it out into the street. He ran his hand forcefully through his spikey, frazzled hair, which was already standing on end and shook his whole body like a dog. He looked at his watch, looked at the sky, then finally shot a small glance at the man standing near him. The recipient of the glance tightened his mouth in annoyance. His similarly-styled hair blew into his eyes and he shoved it out of his eyes, using the wind as an excuse to turn away. He tightened the ragged scarf he wore around his throat, and pushed at the sleeves of his secondhand velvet jacket. His pants had blown out knees and were tightly rolled to show off his own pair of white socks and black dress shoes. The third man of the group wore the same socks and shoes as if it was the rock-and-roll uniform they all had donned to play at the legendary First Avenue nightclub. This last man finally broke the silence, saying what they all were thinking.

“Where the fuck is Dunlap? How long are we going to wait for that asshole? We're on in 5!”

3. Alan, Jamal and Hank had not set out to make this night memorable. Actually, one was there because he was lonely, one was there because he was bored, and the third member of their little group was hoping to use tonight as a way to forget his recently ex-girlfriend, Veronica. The night auspiciously began at Old Chicago where drinks were cheap and all three men were not bored, lonely, or mired in troublesome memories. It was Jamal’s idea to go to Drink. Perhaps if they hadn’t gone there, or if they hadn’t started dancing right in front of those huge glass windows, Veronica’s ex/current boyfriend would not have seen them. Then they would not have waited outside for them to exit. And of course, then Alan, Jamal and Hank would not be standing here, moments away from kicking ass or getting their ass kicked by the four guys in front of them. Hank looked over at his opponents, gauging two to be skinner than him, one to be shorter, and one who could probably pound him to the ground with his pinkie. As he thought that, the large one moved toward him and Hank thought to himself, “Well, I hope my last time with Ronnie was worth this. I am about to get my ass handed to me.”

4. Monica slowed her car to a crawl as she approached the intersection. Up ahead, the street was peppered with women and a few men. Her hands tightened on the steering wheel and her ankle twitched on the accelerator, jumping her car forward. She kept rolling forward until she saw what she was looking for.

The three men stood a couple of feet from each other. They were wearing nearly identical outfits consisting of tight little pants, shirts opened lower than was decent, and flat shoes. One of the men had his black hair slicked back and glitter adorned his high, feminine cheeks. The second one wore his hair in a shaggy style like something off the pages of a 1976 gossip magazine. The third one, who was most interesting to Monica, had piercing blue eyes with enviable eyelashes. His thick brown hair swept off his forehead in an old-time pompadour. At first, you didn’t notice the eyeliner and light color on his full lips. Monica took a deep breath as she realized her car was already stopped and he was walking over to her. She opened the passenger side window and looked at the man. He stared back and they were both silent for a moment. Then, at the same time, they began to speak.

“Are you work…?”
“Want some comp…?”

Monica blushed furiously and finally said, “Look, are you a cop?”

5. On a downtown street where passersby were frequent and police officers were not, three African men rolled out their rugs and began to hawk their products to the employed elite of Minneapolis. A woman in high heels and a sleek beige business suit paused on her way, uncharacteristically drawn by the sparkle of a Rollex. “Most likely a fake,” she thought, but found herself unable to look away from the shiny gold and diamond studded black face of the timepiece. The man, who she had barely noticed before, leaned toward her with a soft smile and asked her if she wanted to try it on. Her attention shifted for only a moment, but it was long enough to shock her to the tips of her toes. With an uncanny feeling that she had known him forever, she spoke in awe, “Hello. It’s you.”

His soft smile appeared again and he agreed, “Yes it is me. I am called Daniel.” He paused for a moment, unsure if he should say what he was about to say next. “I have been waiting for you, Jane.”