I’ve written before about the importance of failure as an integral part of discovery, creativity, and growth. Today, I want to consider the importance of failure within a story. So often when my students write a first draft, their protagonists are too successful. I point out to them that without the tension and suspense of setbacks and at least the possibility of failure, what one has is wish fulfillment not a good story. If Luke Skywalker and the rebels went from success to success, Star Wars would have been boring as all get out. For me, that was the problem with the first Aquaman movie. Beautifully shot, but Aquaman so outmatched his enemies at every turn, there was no tension about the outcomes whether he was battling human pirates or underseas armies.
But even knowing all this, I find this is something I need to keep aware of as I write. At times I have a trajectory in mind for my character(s). There’s a goal they need to reach, a place they need to get to, something they need to learn or acquire. As I plot them along their way, with this end-goal focus, I sometimes forget to trip them up, or rather to focus on the trip. In fiction, as in life, the journey is the destination. (Theoretically from Ralph Waldo Emerson as “Life is a journey, not a destination” though I couldn’t find an actual source for that; comparable to Alan Watts “Life and Music”).
When I lose sight of this, I find myself having to rewrite in a serious fashion (something that occurred more than one during NaNoWriMo, perhaps because that’s a very goal oriented month). One can’t just toss in obstacles and come up with meaningful change. It’s not just the tension and suspense, but also the consequences for the characters and their growth.
This all brings to mind the classics battle narrative sequence, the aristeia. While used of Homeric battles (and on down), it can be used for a competition. The core of the pattern is the setback, inspiration, and renewal of action. The basic pattern in Homer is:
- arming scene (brilliance of armor/hero)
- <exhortation to followers> (= encouragement, halftime coach’s speech; most mobile of steps in terms of when it occurs within the pattern; even omitted if hero is solo)
- initial exploits
- setback (wounding)
- (divine) inspiration
- renewed exploits (somehow, these will be a step up or more intense the initial exploits)
- double simile
- the kill (while a lot of folks have probably been killed by this point, this is the big one, the person who has made themselves so hateful we cheer at their downfall)
- taunting the victim (you can taunt the victim before or after the kill)
This is the pattern for individual heroism, but whole armies follow the same pattern. You can see this pattern in various forms in many books and movies, though modern books (and certainly movies) may omit the similes. I often use a scene from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Commando when teaching this. It gives us other things to talk about, such as the ritualized violence without consequence (and the racist dehumanizing of the victims of the violence) vs. the violence in Homer where we know the cost, whichever side the victim was on.
Commando, however, really exemplifies the renewal at a higher level. Before being wounded, Arnold is fighting mostly with distance weapons (guns, a grenade launcher). After the wounding, the combat becomes hand to hand, using improvised weapons from a tool shed. So I consider how to step up the stakes or action after the set back.
Which brings us back from fiction to life. Setbacks (or failures), as I said at the start are necessary elements for discovery, creativity, and growth. It’s not just a matter of picking yourself up and dusting yourself off, but learning from them so you can step up your game as you go forward.
Ramblings 