So what? Reached that point already?
Let’s dive deeper on our so what
Go beyond weird silence
Did you ever spend so much time with a friend that, in the end, what remains between you two is only silence? So what? It happens, right?
That’s not the worst sensation since it’s better than talking just for chitchatting. So, you and your character are getting good acquaintances, good friends and maybe best friends after your chat. You want your fictional friend to strive and have a wonderful meta-existence. That’s your primary purpose.
Unfortunately, fiction writing doesn’t work like this. A friend of mine likes to write only real stories with a good ending. As he once said, and I quote:
“Why imagine some adventurous sad story when I have a good one in front of me with a perfect happy ending?”
And I answered:
“What do you believe, speaking about Napoleon, is a boring topic? But his life didn’t end well, did it?”
(I wanted to mention V for Vendetta or Conte of Montecristo, but Napoleon always sounds cool)
That’s the summa of what is behind the “so what?” moment. You need to understand your character better; to do so, you need some difficulties. It’s too easy to be a badass sitting in a bar chitchatting. This toughie will say everything he did in his life, how many people he beat up, or how many drinks he drank before he passed out. So what? I’ve met so many of these people; when it truly mattered, they disappeared like smoke.
Yes, smoke and glass disappear when you reach a certain point in the chat with your character. What remains? A so what moment, the bone, some nerves, your character completely x-screened.
Let some people enter the coffee place where someone is chitchatting with your new dramatic persona. For example, in the movie Unleashed, a scene totally illustrates this moment.
Some criminals enter a shop with guns and beat up a couple of customers. It’s quite a shocking scene; all the characters are stunned. The reaction of the main character?
He appears on the screen and tells his new friend (Morgan Freeman) that he finally found a ripe melon. A ripe melon! A life-or-death scenario surrounded him, and he focused on a ripe melon. Well, his friend would understand eventually that something is utterly wrong with him.
It’s a turning point in the movie, a powerful scene that tells us a lot, even if we were tuning in at that moment and saw this scene alone.
So what?
That’s the dialogue that is going around in the movie, so you have a better idea.
Danny!
This one’s ripe.
Danny, do you remember
when I said that Victoria and I were
not big on asking questions,
that we thought when people were
ready they’d give their own answers?
I remember.
After today in the supermarket,
I need some answers,
and I don’t think I’m going to get them
without asking the questions.
Is that alright?
OK.
Ok, so… In the market those men,
they were fighting.
You knew that, right?
Yes.
But that didn’t bother you?
No.
You weren’t afraid?
No.
Normally people find themselves
in situations like that, they get afraid.
They weren’t fighting me.
OK. One more question.
When you first came to us,
you were hurt pretty bad.
How did that happen?
I asked for a piano.
You asked who for a piano?
My uncle.
Oh, you do have family?
No.
But you just said you had an uncle.
He’s dead.
Oh…
Stress them out
Let’s see what our characters do on a stressful occasion, exactly like Danny. They will turn to us with ripe melon in their hands, or we will find them behind the Kellog’s stand, shaking?
This method will allow you to uncover something that lies under the surface: the values. Given a stressful situation, will your character react violently or remain as calm as a toad in the sun?
So what? You’re maybe asking yourself that question, but we have the answer for you. Let’s discover it in our next article, read it in our writing in pills session.
Reading is crucial because it improves the way you focus, your memory and your communication skills. Here at Flyingstories, we like to write free stories that can entertain you and help you learn Italian or English. You can change the website’s language any time you want, just by clicking on the flag. In this way, you can read stories for free in Italian and English.
Do you think you’re not ready for a long story like Go back to the future or Souls Alive? Please feel free to read our short stories in Italian and English!
This article is written by the storyteller and copywriter Daniele Frau.
