manus: 20 master plots

När man fått en idé till en bra historia, och sitter där med det blanka papperet, så händer det ibland att man inte riktigt vet vart man ska gå härnäst.
Då önskar man att det fanns ett facit nånstans som man kunde tjuvtitta i.

Nu finns det ju inga såna facit. Men Ronald Tobias bok "20 Master Plots (And How to Build Them)" är såpass nära man kan komma.

I den boken betar Tobias helt enkelt av de 20 vanligaste grundintrigerna, som äventyr-, hämnd-, kärlek-, underdog- eller offerhistorier.
Han tar upp alla de element som respektive historia behöver för att fungera.
Det finns en hemsida dedikerad Tobias arbete, och där kan man ta del av en summering av det. Du hittar hemsidan här.

Under punkt 7, "Riddle", kan man läsa att:

(p. 113) "Your mystery should have at its heart a paradox that begs asolution. The plot itself is physical, because it focuses on events (who, what, where, when, and why) that must be evaluated and interpreted (the same as the riddle must be interpreted). Things are not what they seem on the surface. Clues lie within the words. The answer is not obvious (which wouldn't satisfy), but the answer _is_ there. And in the best tradition of the mystery, the answer is in plain view."

Längre ner på samma punkt räknas tre faser upp:
Phase one -- introduce the problem, the riddle. Who is the victim? What is the crime? Who is the protagonist that will try to solve the crime? Who are the major players? In general, pose the question--Who Killed Cock Robin?

Phase two--specifics! as good bloodhounds, let us sniff at the clues, and follow paths...camouflage information and let the readers read rightpast those critical clues. Action, lights, cameras...keep us squinting, keep us blinking, and make us wonder just who really is telling the truth.

Phase three--solve the riddle. Confrontation and chase. Maybe a mobscene, with your very own detective first making us think it was the butler, then the maid, then the victim...and the son of the victim really did it, didn't you, Alfred? Who would ever have suspected that you had come back after twenty years in the sewers? Don't forget that somewhere in this scene we need to find out that one piece of the puzzle is upside down or backwards, the key to understanding the whole deadly picture...


Under punkt 14, "Love", kan man läsa:

(p. 168) "...Since we know conflict is fundamental to fiction, we also know 'Boy Meets Girl' isn't enough. It must be 'Boy Meets Girl, But...'The story hinges on the 'But...' These are the obstacles to love that keep the lovers from consummating their affair."
"Sometimes the lovers are within what we might call social normals, but situations arise that aren't conducive to love, and people won't condone it. Unlike the lovers in forbidden love, who usually pay for their 'folly' with their lives, these lovers have decent chance of overcoming the obstacles that make their affair such rough sailing."
Obstacles include confusion, misunderstanding, mistaken identities, gimmicks (one of us is a Ghost!), madness...even the size of certain organs (noses, for example).


Under punkt 9, "Underdog", läser man bland annat:

(p. 131) "The underdog plot is a form of rivalry plot...in the underdog plot, the strengths aren't equally matched. The protagonist is at a disadvantage and is faced with overwhelming odds."

"This plot is near and dear to our hearts because it represents the ability of the one over the many, the small over the large, the weak over the powerful, the 'stupid' over the 'smart.'"

"If you want your reader to feel empathy for your protagonist, make sure that her emotional and/or intellectual plane is equal to or lower than the reader's. ..."

Okej. Jag vet inte hur det är med dig som läser detta, men jag tycker det är häftigt att så konkret få veta vilka byggstenar jag ska använda mig av när jag ska bygga mitt manus som ska bli tex en hämndhistoria eller en offerhistoria.
För vissa kan detta te sig självklart. Och när man läser dessa punkter så ÄR det ju inga konstiga saker.
Det är bara det att när man sitter där mitt i röran av miljoner möjligheter, så är det svårt att se de där självklara sakerna. Och då är det bra att ha en fusklapp som man kan snegla på ibland.

Jag kommer garanterat plocka fram boken med jämna mellanrum för att se att jag inte missat nåt väsentligt.