Situation 55
BLANK SITUATION TEMPLATE

“There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns.”

–EDWARD DE BONO

Blank Situation Template

The above quote says it all about this situation. I want you to have the freedom to design your own situations if your story calls for it. While using situations that have been done and are known to work is a great way to write, there should always be some room for personal creativity.

Perhaps there are situations found only in certain cultures or certain fields of expertise. It would be impossible to include them all here, so I’ve come up with a blank situation template you can use to help flesh out a new situation if you need to.

SITUATION TEMPLATE

• What is your reasoning for creating this situation?

• Are you absolutely sure you can’t use one of the situations already outlined?

• Will this situation be a plot, subplot, or incident?

• What is at stake for the hero? Or what is the hero’s dilemma at the beginning of the situation? What needs to be solved? Or is this a Slice of Life situation? If so, what is the point of this situation? What do you want to convey?

• Can you piece together a beginning, middle, and end? (If you don’t want a beginning, middle, or end, you don’t need a situation. Just watch a film like Before Sunrise or Daughters of the Dust to get a feel of stories without the beginning, middle, and end structure.)

• Find the beginning: What does the hero want? What is his objective?

• Find the middle: What does the hero do to get it?

• Find the end: How does the hero get it?

• What do other characters think about this situation and what the hero wants? Will anyone try to stop the hero?

• Is there a clear-cut antagonist? What does the antagonist want? Is the antagonist human? Or something intangible?

• What type of obstacles can you put in the hero’s way? How many? Will they escalate as he gets closer to the goal?

• How does the hero change during this situation? Does this situation cause another situation to happen?

• Does the hero or reader learn from this situation? Or is it just a fun ride?

• Will you have a theme?

• Will a smaller character become the heroic character during this situation? Will characters switch places?

• Will a sidekick character come onto the scene to help the hero?

• Will the hero want to share the spotlight with someone else? (In some cultures it is not acceptable for one person to take all the credit for something. In America it is the achievement of the individual that matters, but in other countries it is the achievement of the whole of society or family that matters. They don’t want to stand out.)

• Could you use an antihero?

As you create, here is some food for thought:

“Sometimes the situation is only a problem because it is looked at in a certain way. Looked at in another way, the right course of action may be so obvious that the problem no longer exists.”

–EDWARD DE BONO