Sunday, March 12, 2017

GMCD

I recently participated in a two-week workshop with the infamous Lori Wilde, where she went through my entire first draft. At the end of about every scene, her comment was "What's the GMCD of this scene?"

Most every author who's been at this writing thing for awhile knows about Goal-Motivation-Conflict. But D? I had no idea what that even stood for. Even some so-called experts in the writing business don't address it.

Turns out, the "D" stands for DISASTER. Every scene has to end with one. Big or little, the players in the scene have to be worse off at the end than at the beginning. Or they think they've reached their goal, but at what cost? 

Obviously, this is an area where I'm weak, as an author. It's a hard concept to wrap one's head around. So, I decided to apply the approach to everything in my life, come up with a GMCD in real life events. Maybe if I can get used to the approach in a practical way, it will become second nature when I write. 

As most of you know, I'm trying to sell my house. That's a definite goal that's been set, so it seemed the most logical GMCD to pursue right now. Here's the way it went: 

GOAL--Sell the house
MOTIVATION--I need to reduce my monthly bills
CONFLICT--(Usually divided into both internal and external) Internally, I'm comfortable living in Oberlin. I know my way around, have made some friends here, have nice neighbors, hate the thought of packing up again. Externally, the house is cumbersome to live in, many sets of stairs, and is way too big for me. 
DISASTER--The first inspector through the house uncovered a problem I wasn't aware of. And it's a biggie. Cue scary music.

It only makes sense that the disaster is in the basement. Isn't that where every horror show ends up? Yes, friends, one of my basement walls is in danger of collapse, and for some reason, every potential buyer is frightened away by the prospect. I can't fix it myself (see Motivation), yet I must disclose the hazard to all potential buyers. 

Scenes must end at which point you ask yourself Was the goal met? If the answer is no, things must be worse off than at the start of the scene. Got that covered, in spades. If the answer is yes, it must be followed by a "but." The "but" here is the buyer now has a huge bargaining chip to bring the price down. So far, I haven't found anyone who will play out the scene with a yes, but...

I'll keep looking. Somewhere out there is a person who wants to take on the challenge of owning this home. And I can't wait to complete this scene and move on to the next. 


14 comments:

  1. Great post, Becky. Definitely going to look at my current manuscript more closely now and make sure I have enough disasters! And I love how you're trying to incorporate this technique into the non-writing part of your life. Good luck with the house! ~Daphne Dubois (pen name...obviously)

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    1. Thanks, Daphne/BR, for visiting today. Despite being a published author, there are still things to learn. I think I'm on the right track by seeing everything as a GMCD, in life as well as in writing.

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  2. Thanks for the practical application of GMCD. I'm in the middle of two novels and needed this reminder. :)
    And good luck with the wall. Hope your house sells SOON.

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    1. Thanks, Sandy. If I keep applying the GMCD approach to scenes from my life, I think it will begin to come naturally in my writing. At least that's the plan.

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  3. Good post! Good analogy. Hope the house Sells soon. Do you know where you're moving to?

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    1. Not sure yet where I'm moving. If my sister wants to continue to live with me, we'll move within Ohio, probably back close to where we grew up. If she decides to relocate, so will I, to a warmer climate.

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  4. Excellent! Yes, disaster is critical in stories. Good luck with your house situation!

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    1. Ah, disaster. Where would we all be without it? Even in small doses, it keeps things lively.

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  5. You've motivated me to go back into my completed works and search my scenes for the disasters. I know there are lots, because I write YA that is filled with teen angst. And, I'll certainly be keeping that anacronym on the forefront while I work on my series.

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    1. Yes, YA does lend itself to lots of disasters. Thanks for sharing today.

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  6. Loved the post. I need to make sure my WIP has that EOC element. And good luck selling your house. I'll be starting that process very soon.

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    1. Thanks, Barbara, for stopping by today. I'm going back through my WIP again, with GMCD at the forefront of my mind.

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  7. Enjoyed this post Becky. I did not consciously apply this to my first two books. I'm anxious though to think this through on the next one and see the result. I also love your idea of applying this to your life. I'll have to try that.

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    1. I'm trying to incorporate the technique into my life as well as my work, and hope the disasters won't be as big as this one. I'd like a disaster like I have too many pictures and will have to decide which I want to end up on the wall.

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