And then the pig drop kicked the goat into a meat grinder, and finally...he could rest easy, knowing that justice was served!

Hahaha, WHAT???

Does that make much sense? Does it have any impact at all? I'm willing to bet that you guys are quite confused. Hehehe! As you should be.

(Unless you're not...in which case, you should seek psychiatric help immediately...)

Who? What? When? Where? Why? These are all questions that every writer should be prepared to answer in their projects at any given moment. It should actually be included in the story itself, and not just when they get a message from a confused reader who is trying to figure out what the hell is going on.

The major events in any story plot, no matter big, or how well written, don't really carry any weight to them if they're not given the proper context beforehand. They're just random events. It's the equivalent of seeing the aftermath of a car accident at an intersection on a random Tuesday afternoon. I mean...sure, you notice. But there's no meaning behind it. Not for you, anyway. I think that there are a lot of really great moments in well written stories that suffer from a lack of context. Scenes or events that could be SO much more emotionally satisfying if the story's context had been a bit more fleshed out ahead of time. It makes a difference, you know? It may seem like such a small thing, but it isn't. It matters. Trust me.

There can sometimes be a certain eagerness when writing your own story. You have a ton of really great ideas and action packed, or super romantic, or truly heartbreaking, moments that you can't wait to write down and edit and create dialogue for. And there are going to be times when you really just want to skip ahead and write those complex and super interesting scenes out so you can sit back and take a look at them, and then share them with your readers. But one thing that is important to remember is that you have a much fuller and more complete view of the story as a whole...putting you a great advantage over the rest of your readers. They may not be able to see what you see unless you actually include it in the story you're trying to tell. Just a page, few paragraphs, or an interesting exchange during what seems like a random conversation, can make a big difference in how your audience sees the rest of the story unfold.

So...how can you see the difference when it comes to a scene with context and a scene without much context at all? Let's find out.

I want to show you a clip from the 2009 remake/reboot of the movie, "Fame". It's all about college kids who go to a school for the fine arts and are trying to make it to the big time. Now, watch this clip...with no context behind what's going on at all, and think about what you're looking at. It's just a single musical performance, so enjoy!

A cool scene, right? Now, watching that by itself, you can get some enjoyment out of it, maybe wiggle your booty a bit to the music. Hehehe! But what is the context behind this performance? And would it make a difference in the way that you watch this particular scene?

In this movie, the rapper who started off the performance lived in a dangerous neighborhood and his little sister had been killed b a stray bullet. Ever since, he's been holding in all of that frustration and anger, and it was constantly keeping him from really rising to his full potential. And Denise? The singer was sooooo passionate about her singing, and her classmates convinced her to perform on stage with them because they thought her voice was so incredible. But her father absolutely HATED the fact that she would want her to waste her life being an entertainer when he wanted more for her. Even with her mother supporting her, he just wasn't having it. Any of it. However...they showed up in the audience that night at random where she was performing in secret, and the singer was so scared of disappointing and angering her parents that she almost walked out and refused to go on...even after all the hard work that she had put in beforehand. Both artists came together for that performance anyway, bringing one another out of their shells, and finally just let it all go. They totally went for it! And they got to show the public what they were really made of for the first time...unleashed.

NOW...with that context in mind...scroll back up and watch that same video again, and see if it contains a whole other level of power for you. A whole other emotion. The nervousness. The emotional release. To see the two of them come together and just blossom on stage in front of your eyes, put their fears and bad times behind them, and totally KILL it no matter who was watching, takes on a different meaning than just watching that one video by itself!

That's what context can do for the major moments in your writing.

I think that context in stories is everything. You can't just have these big dramatic situations happening without some kind of build up and prior information being given to your readers. Otherwise, they don't really make much sense. When I go back and read some of my older stories from the first few years of me writing these stories online, I feel like I rushed through a lot of the context and just jumped into the drama, or the sex, or the heartbreak, without really giving much information or backstory as to why any of this stuff was happening or why it mattered as much as I hoped it would. I did learn to slow down and add those necessary details over time, but maybe some of you reading this and are starting to write stories for the first time can skip that particular 'trial and error' (mostly error) part of the process. And then you can speed along towards creating great stories a lot faster.

Context is simply the act of giving your most potent moments in your story more depth and meaning. They're not just details...they are the foundations for a good plot, and a decent motivation for your main character. Whenever you think of a really cool or romantic scene for your story, you should be asking yourself the same questions that I asked above, and have a definitive answer for every last one of them already set up. Who? What? When? Where? Why? What's going on in this scene? Why is it happening? What led to this moment? What happens afterward? If you're planning your story out ahead of time, all of these things should already be in order. Right?

Plan! Plan! Plan! Always plan! Even if you change those plans later on, it helps.

It really does add another layer to your storytelling ability to be able to explain the context and nuance of your character's actions. Like, an abused child will have reasons for waiting so long to say how he truly feels to someone he really likes. A poor or working class kid may have reasons to feel that some rich boy at school is way out of his league. These are all circumstances that you can explore as a writer to set up the big events in your story, and have that dramatic moment hit with the kind of power that you're looking for. Like, "Here I was, thinking that I was so ugly...and yet, the hottest boy in school that I've ever seen is kissing me on the lips right now! OMIGOD!" If you build up the insecurities of your main character ahead of time, and then describe how outrageously gorgeous the boy that he's crushing on is ahead of time...when that magical first kiss happens, it will be something special for your readers to look back on and appreciate. Instead of just having him walk up and kiss him for no reason. I mean, that'd be hot, hehehe...but how much meaning would it have? What does this kiss mean without context? It's just...kissing. Nothing wrong with that, but what kind of moment are you trying to create? If it's anything deeper than that, context is a must.

This is another clip that I wanted to show you guys. This is from the movie "Purple Rain" with Prince. Love this song! Give it a look!

Now, once again...great song! Great performance! It's easy to understand what's going on here on a surface level. But...lets add some context...

In the movie...Prince had just lost his girl to his rival, who's also a performer at the same club and was much more popular than he was. He was told that nobody understands his music other than himself. His band was mad at him because he never performed any of their songs, just his own. And he was going to be fired from his professional gig at the club. This was his probably going to be his LAST night ever performing on that stage. His mother had been abused and beaten, and his father had just attempted suicide by shooting himself in the head. So this is Prince's ONE shot at giving the performance of his life and venting his heart and soul out and playing the HELL out of that guitar before possibly losing it all for good.

THAT'S the context behind this scene. Now...re-watch it again...and see how it makes you feel, knowing what you know about the movie and everything that he's been through up to that point. Go ahead, I'll wait. Hehehe!

Basically, the point that I'm trying to make is that 'everyone likes like the frosting...but you have to bake the cake first'. When writing, don't be afraid to slow down and let things naturally escalate towards the next peak, so people can really get into it and enjoy it even more. That doesn't mean that you have to force yourself to add so much detail that your pacing begins to drag and it slows your whole project down to a snail's pace. That's definitely something you want to avoid. But allow it to be natural when you're writing. What's going on here? How did we get here? Sometimes, skipping around can suck all of the 'magic' out of your work. Create interesting context, and let that guide you towards those special scenes so you can enhance their emotional resonance with your audience. If you want to have a fist fight break out between two enemies...well, why are they enemies? What began the conflict? Who's the bad guy in this situation? Will there be any regrets to follow this spontaneous action? And what was it that finally crossed the line? In your context, you can play with the tension and frustration to the point where your main character balls up their fist and makes your readers cheer when it connects for the first time. Add bits and pieces of that along the way in your story, build it up, brick by brick...and when it happens, your readers will know why. And they'll love you for it.

Anyway, I hope this helps. Just remember to think back to your favorite books, movies, stories online, etc...and think about all of the places where the context lies before each major event. Sprinkled out through different chapters or parts of the story. Hints. Building blocks. And keep those ideas in the back of your mind so you'll know what to look for as well in your own work. K?

Have fun! And I'll seezya soon!