We’re pleased to welcome writer and blogger extraodinaire Ollin Morales to the RU campus! We met Ollin through the WriteToDone Top Ten Blogs for Writers contest. His blog, Courage 2 Create, and RU were among the top ten for 2012.
Today, Ollin discusses the vital role of imagery in creating a compelling story.
What Charlie Chaplin Can Teach You About Writing A Great Love Story
Charlie Chaplin is widely known as one of the greatest silent film directors and performers of all time. Even though he stopped creating films decades ago, his influence on storytelling can still be felt, even today.
Chaplin became one of the first filmmakers/performers to achieve international acclaim and worldwide stardom. Chaplin’s success was largely due to the powerful images he was able to create onscreen.
He was especially a master at creating powerfully moving portraits of love and romance. When you watch one of Chaplin’s silent films, you can’t help but feel your heart stir. You find yourself having a deep emotional attachment to each character—almost instantly.
Writers can learn a lot from Chaplin.
By utilizing powerful images (or tableaus) in our writing, we too can create powerful stories that are both unforgettable and universal.
What is A “Tableau”?
A tableau is a striking or powerful image.
Tableau’s are everywhere in literature. You might recognize them if I were to list some of them for you: a youthful Dorian Gray gazing into a portrait of his aging self; Anna Karenina walking onto the train tracks just as a train approaches; Jean Valjean, the wanted criminal, making a grand escape through France’s ancient and vast sewer system.
Powerful tableau’s can also be found in popular films: an adorable-looking alien, named E.T., using his powers of levitation to lift a young boy, and his bicycle, into the night sky; Thelma & Louise driving their Ford Thunderbird convertible straight into the Grand Canyon; the enormous, majestic tree in Avatar falling into a cloud of ash and fire.
As you can see, many of the best stories ever told have been told through a series of tableaus: powerful, moving images that help drive the emotion of the story forward.
A Study of Charlie Chaplin’s Use of Tableaus
One of Charlie Chaplin’s best films is called The Kid.
The plot of the movie is fairly simple, but it’s one of the most heart-wrenching love stories you’ll ever see in film.
In The Kid, Chaplin reprises his famous role as The Tramp: a poor, working-class American willing to resort to pretty much anything (even stealing) to get by.
Now, if we cut the movie down into a series of tableaus, we might see what makes Chaplin’s story so emotionally potent for its audience:
Tableau Number #1: The film begins with an image of The Tramp picking up an abandoned baby at the side of the road.
Tableau Number #2: The Tramp is having breakfast with a small boy (the baby is now grown up) and we see the Tramp counting the number of pancakes on his plate, making sure the number of pancakes on his plate is equal to the amount on the boy’s plate.
Tableau Number #3: The authorities are holding The Tramp back while the boy stands alone on the back of a truck. The boy is reaching out for his adopted father and is sobbing uncontrollably.
Tableau Number #4: The Tramp, his adopted son, and the adopted son’s biological mother are re-united on the front porch of an extravagant-looking household. The End.
As you can see, I don’t even need to give you a detailed summary of the movie itself. You can already gather the whole story just by becoming familiar with just a few of the striking tableaus that Chaplin utilized throughout the film.
My description of these images in succession may have already stirred strong emotions in you without me having to show you the actual film.
And that, my friends, is the power of using tableaus.
Utilizing Tableaus To Help You Write A Great Love Story
Now that we’ve studied the way Charlie Chaplin utilized tableaus in his films, we can try using some of the same techniques to help us create powerful images in our own fiction.
Here’s how to do it:
1. Cut your story down into 3 simple, tableaus, with each tableau representing the beginning, middle, and end of your story. (You can draw out these three tableaus, or you can write them out, whichever you prefer.)
2. Once you’ve created your 3 tableaus, ask yourself if these images stir any powerful emotions in you. If they don’t, you may need to work on creating more striking images—images that will really stick in your readers mind and make them feel for your characters.
3. Finally, insert these three, new and improved tableaus back into your story.
Good luck!
Hopefully, you’ve learned something new today: that tableaus can help you improve your romance story. Creating powerful images throughout your novel can help drive the emotion of your story home, and can create a tale as universal and unforgettable as a Charlie Chaplin film.
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What are some of the most memorable scenes you’ve seen or read? What techniques do you employ to visualize a scene? Share with us!
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Author Lucy Monroe presents Because Romance is Healthy on Wednesday, May 23rd.
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Bio: Ollin Morales is a fiction writer, freelance writer, ghostwriter and blogger. His blog, Courage 2 Create, chronicles his journey as he writes his first novel. The blog offers writing advice as well as strategies to deal with life’s tough challenges. His blog was named one of The Top Ten Blogs for Writers by WriteToDone two years in a row (2011, 2012).
Hi Ollin,
Thanks for joining us at RU. Love this! I’m going to use you test once I finish my new manuscript.
Posted by Tracey Devlyn | May 21, 2012, 4:26 amYeah, try it. Thanks for having me!
Posted by Ollin Morales | May 21, 2012, 11:37 amGreat post Ollin!
I let my scenes run in my head like a movie for a little bit before I start typing. It helps me visualize the character movement, dialouge flow and the setting.
One of the most memorable scenes I have ever read is from “Cut & Run” by Madeline Urban and Abigail Roux. The two main characters, Zane & Ty, are in bed making love for the first time in months after being separated by their FBI jobs. Their touching (and hot) scene of being reunited is constantly interrupted by the ringing of Ty’s cellphone, his attempt at conversation with the woman he was with a couple of days earlier in an attempt to forget Zane while seducing Zane and then his house phone and the the angry voice of the same woman ringing out around them through the answering machine as they desperately reconnect. The bombardment of the outside world into their little cocoon of stolen time is so powerful that I have never forgotten it.
Robin
Posted by Robin Covington | May 21, 2012, 4:48 amWhat a great example Robin!
Yes! If we can’t visualize our scenes then they certainly need more work!
Look forward to having you guest post on the C2C on Wed, Robin.
For all you RU readers, Robin’s guest posting on my blog on Wed, so make sure to check it out!
Posted by Ollin Morales | May 21, 2012, 11:39 amHi Olin,
Love Charlie Chaplin! The Gold Rush is one of the funniest movies ever! Because of the silence, imagery was everything. The Last Laugh with Emil Jannings has many tableaus. It is the story of the rise, fall, and rise again of a working man.
Mary Jo
Posted by Mary Jo Burke | May 21, 2012, 5:55 amOh yes, for those who haven’t seen any of his films, I hope you all try to now. They are BRILLIANT. Some of the best films you will ever see and will have you LAUGHING OUT LOUD. Go rent some Chaplin films now!
Posted by Ollin Morales | May 21, 2012, 11:41 amMorning Ollin!
Great post! Since I just finished Kathleen Woodiwiss’ Shanna again, I went back over it in my head and realized the tableaus – Ruark being taken away by the guards while Shanna cringes in the coach – Shanna at the bottom of the pit in the tavern …those are the ones that have always stood out for me, even after probably five years of not reading the book.
Again, great post – thanks for giving us a new way to look at our stories!
carrie
Posted by Carrie Spencer | May 21, 2012, 7:17 amYour welcome Carrie! Yes, EVERY great story has great tableaus. That’s how important they are. Good luck to you!
Posted by Ollin Morales | May 21, 2012, 11:42 amGreat idea! So if a picture is worth 1,000 words, I’m guessing a tableau is priceless!
Posted by Becke Martin Davis | May 21, 2012, 8:57 amLove that! Very true. Maybe a million?
Posted by Ollin Morales | May 21, 2012, 11:42 amOliin –
Welcome to RU. This post comes at a perfect time for me as I am completing a draft I know isn’t strong enough in places. This may make me think of some great tableaus to punch up the power of some scenes.
Do you find tableaus recur in some works? Meaning important aspects of the story occur at the same place or in the same tableau?
Thanks!
Kelsey
Posted by Kelsey Browning | May 21, 2012, 9:34 amThank you for having me Kelsey.
I feel very honored and it is such a pleasure. Your readers are wonderful!
To answer your questions:
Tableaus that recur in works, as you might know, are called motifs.
Many hollywood directors have motifs that you may be aware of: stephen spielberg always has children facing monsters or alien creatures. That’s his motif and it’s part of what identifies him and his unique style.
So, a recurring tableau would help you establish a unique motif–something that sort of identifies you. I have found that most people’s motif’s are unconscious. So you probably are already creating images that recur in your writing–I know this happens to me a lot.
The key is to become conscious of them. Once you’re aware of recurring tableaus than you can strategically place them across your novel or series of novels. A very smart thing that I see many popular writers do.
So, long answer to your question: yes tableaus recur but I think a smart author is always aware of the recurring trend and places them there deliberately.
Posted by Ollin Morales | May 21, 2012, 11:47 amHmm…very interesting. I may have to ask my CPs if they recognize tableaus across my work. Sometimes it’s hard for me to see the forest for the trees
.
K-
Posted by Kelsey Browning | May 21, 2012, 12:33 pmGood morning, Olin! I love this idea!
It’s a wonderful way to help structure the story.
I’ll be trying it with my work in progress.
Posted by Adrienne Giordano | May 21, 2012, 9:39 amYes! I didn’t get a chance to go into that, because the post was already running a bit long.
But tableaus help with other things: recurring themes, story structure, etc.
In this article I chose to focus on building strong emotions, like love and romance, because that’s what RU is all about! But yes, tableaus open up infinite possibilities as to their use!
Posted by Ollin Morales | May 21, 2012, 11:49 amI am currently revising a completed manuscript to layer in details and strengthen some areas I feel are sagging. It seems that the use of tableaus will be very helpful as I work on strengthening the overall story. Thanks!
Posted by Roxanne | May 21, 2012, 10:22 amYou’re welcome, Roxanne!
Posted by Ollin Morales | May 21, 2012, 11:49 amHi Ollin!
Terrific post! I was watching “It’s Complicated” last night. I’ve seen it at least five times, and every time I watch it, I look for emotional cues. The scenes with his children and ex-wife sitting around a bountiful table always resonate with me.
Family mealtime provides strong imagery. The ex-wife is an accomplished pastry chef and for her, food is and a way of connecting with people, a way to show her love for her kids. There’s one scene where the ex-husband drops off the son and isn’t invited for breakfast. The look in his eyes as he gazes at his family and the table laden with his favorite foods reflects his longing, sorrow and the fact that he’s an outsider.
Thanks for being with us today!
Posted by Jennifer Tanner | May 21, 2012, 1:03 pmGreat! Is that a TV show or movie?
Posted by Ollin Morales | May 21, 2012, 4:28 pmIt’s a movie that came out a couple years ago.
Posted by Jennifer Tanner | May 21, 2012, 4:31 pmOllin,
Thanks for joining us today! I hope you’ll consider blogging with us again.
Posted by Jennifer Tanner | May 21, 2012, 8:38 pmWill do!
Posted by Ollin Morales | May 22, 2012, 11:30 amWow. I had never thought of doing this! As my writing at the moment seems to be a bit aimless and directionless, I am going to try this technique out and see what happens. Thank you for sharing this!
Posted by David Purse | May 23, 2012, 3:05 pm