Posts Tagged fantasy

Three-Act Structure: My Writer’s Compass

By on November 12, 2020   /   Articles  

Understanding three-act structure in storytelling isn’t just for writers. In a writing workshop for a crew of fifth-graders, I presented it as a framework for analyzing novels, plays, movies, and picture books with plots—anything with a story arc. The kids got into it, applying it to their own favorite books and films.

That said, I find that three-act structure serves as a compass in my own creative writing. If I wander off in the weeds or lose the thread of the story or mangle a mixed metaphor, I can return to these pivotal plot points to recalibrate the way forward. It ain’t perfect but I find it elegant in its functionality, and for someone who has almost no sense of direction, like me, it helps fend off writer’s block. It offers steady reference points that point to where the story is going.

 

Back to Basics

So here’s a refresher course, as much for me as other readers and writers. Let’s start real basic:

BEGINNING, MIDDLE, END

Seriously, those are a story’s essential three parts whether it’s Click, Clack, Moo, Chicken Little, or Hamlet. Three-act structure helps define and refine this, expanding the story and managing its pace and flow.

ACT I

Exposition: As a rule, the very beginning introduces the central characters and gives us reasons to care.

The Catalyst or Inciting Event: This sets the story in motion. (In movies, it usually occurs 10 minutes in—check your watch!) If the catalyst doesn’t happen the story doesn’t happen.

ACT II

Turning Point 1: This event sends the action in a new direction. It makes clear what the main conflict is. The plot, or storyline, now gets more and more complicated as the protagonists face obstacle after obstacle.

Halftime Smooching: About halfway through the story or movie, there usually comes a period of calm. Now the main characters have time to reflect on what has happened and plan what to do next. Sometimes there is kissing!

ACT III

Turning Point 2: Like Turning Point #1, this shoots the action in a new direction. Everything now accelerates toward the climax.

Climax: This is the BIG MOMENT when the central conflict of the story is resolved: The protagonists win, the antagonists lose, the sweethearts fall in love, etc.

Denouement: This answers any remaining questions and shows characters reacting to how things turned out.

 

The Three-Act Structure of an Old Favorite

Yada, yada, right? Example please! For the sake of familiarity, let’s use a story many of us know and dissect its three-act structure: Star Wars—A New Hope.

ACT I

Exposition: We are introduced to Princess Leia, Darth Vader, and some kid named Luke Skywalker.

The Catalyst or Inciting Event: Luke buys the droids C3-PO and R2-D2. If he doesn’t get those droids, he never meets Obi-Wan Kenobi, never leaves his home planet, never learns about The Force, never becomes a Jedi.

ACT II

Turning Point #1: The heroes discover the Death Star and the Millennium Falcon is captured with a tractor beam. They also learn Princess Leia is being held prisoner there and plot to break her out. The main conflict and what’s at stake becomes crystal clear. They must get the plans for the Death Star to the Rebellion or all is lost!

Halftime Smooching: There isn’t much of a break for reflecting or kissing in A New Hope. Halftime Smooching fans have to wait for The Empire Strikes Back.

ACT III

Turning Point #2: The Death Star tracks the Millennium Falcon to the Rebel base. The Rebels, including Luke Skywalker, launch a desperate attack to try to destroy the Death Star before it obliterates the moon where the base is located. All looks lost when …

Climax: Luke trusts the Force. At the very last second, he drops two torpedoes into a small thermal exhaust port … and … and … BOOM! Conflict resolved: Protagonists win, antagonists need to go build a new Death Star.

Denouement: This is very short and weird in the movie. The rebels celebrate and Luke and Han Solo get medals. (Hurray! Hey! What about Chewbacca?!)

Whether by Nature or Nurture, three-act structure seems to appeal to our story-loving minds across cultures. For writers, it can be a reassuring road map that can guide us true from first draft to The End.

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Black MG Magic

By on August 7, 2020   /   Articles, Book Lists, Diversity  

I firmly believe that it’s important to stand together against racism, and I’ve been making an effort to feature more black characters in my book talks and displays. Many of the book lists that I’ve come across featuring black protagonists have been full of great contemporary, realistic stories that deal with the experience of growing up black in America but haven’t had a lot of fantasy, sci-fi, or horror. So, here is a list of some of my favorite fantastical, magical, and spooky middle-grade stories featuring black heroes and heroines.

Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky Cover

Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia- This upper middle grade follows seventh-grader Tristan Strong who accidentally rips a hole into a parallel world where West African gods and African American folk heroes battle iron monsters. To return home, Tristan must help the heroes find Anansi, who can heal the rift that he’s created between the worlds.

 

The Jumbies Cober

The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste- Eleven year old Corrine doesn’t believe in jumbies, evil shape-shifting creatures that are said to live in the woods near her home, but when her father begins acting strangely following the arrival of the beautiful lady Severine, Corrine begins to suspect that Severine might actually be a jumbie and that she and her father are in danger.

 

Gloom Town Cover

Gloom Town by Ronald L. Smith- To help his struggling single mom, twelve-year-old Rory gets a job as a valet for the mysterious Lord Foxglove, but he soon discovers that the eerie goings-on at Foxglove Manor will put the whole town in danger, and it’s up to Rory and his best friend Izzy to stop them.

 

 

Bayou Magic Cover

Bayou Magic by Jewell Parker Rhodes- When ten-year-old Maddy visits her grandmother in Bon Temps, LA, she discovers that she can summon fireflies and see mermaids, and when disaster rocks Maddy’s family, her magical gifts are the only things that can save her beloved bayou.

 

 

Dragons in a Bag coverDragons in a Bag by Zetta Elliott- Nine-year-old Jaxon discovers a package of dragons when staying with a relative for the afternoon. “Ma”, the mean old lady, who raised his mother tries to return the dragons to their magical realm, but a transporter accident strands her, leaving the dragons in Zaxon’s care.

 

 

Forgotten Girl Cover

The Forgotten Girl by India Hill Brown- Iris and her best friend Daniel are playing in the woods behind her house when they discover the abandoned grave of a girl named Avery who died when she was near Iris’s age. Shortly after the discovery, Iris begins having nightmares about a ghost girl in the woods.

 

The Last Last-Day-of-Summer cover

The Last Last-Day-of-Summer by Lamar Giles- On the last day of summer vacation, Otto and Sheed Alston accidentally freeze time in their small Virginia town. Now, they’ll need all their bravery and smarts to defeat the villainous Mr. Flux and save the day.

 

 

Shadows of Sherwood cover

Shadows of Sherwood by Kekla Magoon- In this futuristic Rbin Hood retelling, twelve-year-old Robyn Loxley flees to the forest following the disappearance of her parents. She bands together with a ragtag group of orphans and embarks on a mission to find her parents and stop the tyrannical Governor Crown.

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Zatanna and the House of Secrets Interview and Giveaway

By on February 27, 2020   /   Articles, Author Interviews, Giveaways  

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgHi Mixed-Up Filers!

Today, I have the privilege to be talking to both Matthew Cody and Yoshi Yoshitani, whose graphic novel, Zatanna and the House of Secrets,  is available now from DC Comics.

Hi Matthew and Yoshi. Thank you for joining us today.

My first question is for both of you. Can you tell us a little bit about Zatanna and the House of Secrets?

Matthew: Zatanna and the House of Secrets is about a normal tween girl, Zatanna, who discovers that just about nothing in her life is what it appears to be – not her dad, not the house she grew up in, not even the family pet rabbit. There are magical secrets afoot, and more to Zatanna than she ever imagined!

Yoshi: It’s a story of a girl growing up and trying to figure out her identity as the world and people around her change—figuratively and literally! And of course, lots of magic

Matthew, you’re books are, for the most part, a mix of fantasy and superheros. So, Zatanna’s story seems like a natural fit for you. Did you choose the character?

Matthew: I did. When this opportunity to work with DC came along, they asked me to pitch them three or four characters I’d like to write. Zatanna was a no-brainer, because she’s never been your typical superhero. She’s a magician! The story of how she became a magician – how she discovered her powers – was such a joy to conjure up (see what I did there?)

Not gonna lie, Zatanna is one of my favorite DC characters, and my go-to for cosplay. Yoshi, I love the new character design. I’m already planning on rocking this as my next cosplay. How did you approach the character design?

Yoshi: Yes! Zatanna is one of my absolute favorites too! Zatanna’s fully grown costume is over the top and confident, so it was fun to work backwards and consider what her pre-evolution outfits would be. Maybe some vintage finds, maybe her dad’s old shirts – she has a style but has yet to nail down her look. I really wanted to capture that transition.

One of the things that I really liked about this story is how it explored the relationship between Zatanna and her father and the idea that our parents aren’t always the heroes we expect them to be. Matthew, was that something that you wanted to focus on early on?

Matthew: Definitely. Middle school is hard for a lot of reasons, but one of the toughest aspects of it is that push/pull between still needing your parents tremendously, while at the same time feeling like you need to separate yourself in some ways. So, we took fantasy and did what the genre does best – we externalized that conflict. At its heart, this is a very family focused story about the mistakes we make both as kids and adults. And how we deal with them.

Another thing that I particularly loved was that the House of Secrets is like a character itself in the story. So, another question for both of you: How did you approach the world-building?

Matthew: The House of Secrets has been around in DC Comics lore for a long, long time. It’s been interpreted and reinterpreted in a many different ways, so I kind of took that meta-fact and applied it to the house in our story. Our House of Secrets has been passed down from Caretaker to Caretaker for centuries, and each one left their mark. Poor Yoshi then had to being all that to life on the page (btw, she knocked it out of the park)

Yoshi: Matthew had the idea that the House of Secrets had been passed through many different owners in different parts of the world and different eras. I absolutely loved that, and I personally relish any opportunity to kit-bash multiple cultural influences. Plus those huge stylistic changes really gave the impression of a magical unpredictable house—one you were just dying to run around yourself!

We see Teekl throughout the illustrations before we’re ever introduced to the character. Yoshi, was this an easter egg or is Teekl spying on the Zataras?

Yoshi: I was hoping someone would notice! And yes, Teekl is definitely a warning that Klarion and his mother are nearby, not that Zatanna understands that at the time. Its an Easter egg that’s fun on the reread.

Are there any other easter eggs that fans should keep an eye out for?

Matthew: Oh yeah! Yoshi’s art has a ton of clever hints and nods, but if you want to look for one in particular that might excite old school DC fans, pay special attention to the stone busts and portraits throughout the house to get a glimpse of the house’s original “caretakers”.

Yoshi: There are a few visual Easter Eggs for those who are familiar with the DC universe. I won’t give anything away, but definitely check out the school dance. Also, those in the know will recognize the Witch Queen’s assistants for what they are.

Speaking of fans, I’m going to geek out for a little bit here. In DC canon, Zatanna was the caretaker of the House of Mystery, which is similar to, the House of Secrets. Can we expect to see another story featuring the House of Mystery, perhaps a different caretaker?

Matthew: Huh. That’s a great idea! 😉

Is there anything else about the story that either of you would like to share?

Matthew: It’s really, really good!

What’s the best piece of creative advice that both of you have received and would like to pass on to other writers and artists?

Matthew: For writers, read more than you write – but write a lot.

Yoshi: Breaks are important to creative flow, and pursue a creative process that brings you joy.

What is something that people would be surprised to learn about you?

Matthew: I tried to break into comics as a writer before I became a published novelist.

Yoshi: I’m allergic to coconut.

What are you working on next?

Matthew: I’m finishing up a novel for older readers and am working on a couple of kids comics projects that I’m really excited about.

Yoshi: Something else with DC!

How can people follow you on social media?

Matthew: On twitter I’m at @mattcodywrites. I tweet rarely but always respond!

Yoshi: Twitter @yoshisquared. Insta @yoshiyoshitani  Website Yoshiyoshitani.com

Thank you so much for the interview!

Zatanna and the House of Secrets is out now, and here at The Mixed-Up Files, we’re giving away a copy. Enter our giveaway below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The winner will be contacted  via email and asked to provide a mailing address (US/Canada only) to receive the book.

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