You guys have heard me talk about ‘spotlights’ in earlier articles, and I wanted to take an opportunity to maybe go a bit more in depth with what I mean when I say that. When you’re writing a story with multiple characters, multiple themes, or multiple tones (or perhaps a combination of the three all at once), it can be really difficult to keep everything in order and running smoothly without confusing your readers about what they should be focusing on. It’s like going to an electronics store and having an entire wall of TVs playing different channels all at once. Where do you look? What do to listen to and what do you tune out? How can you absorb everything that’s going on without getting completely flipped upside down and lost in the madness of it all.

The answer is...you can’t. I certainly couldn’t do it. Even the computer or laptop that you’re working on right now can’t do that. Do you think it’s running all of these programs and open tabs and search engines simultaneously? It’s not. It can switch back and forth between tasks so fast that you can’t really detect it while you’re online...but your computer can’t do everything at once. And neither can your brain. Especially when it’s trying to immerse itself into a story that requires imagination, interpretation, and understanding, on the part of the people who are trying to enjoy themselves with your writing. So...the question is...how can I have a bunch of different storylines going on at once without throwing my audience into the middle of the woods where they’re liable to get lost and never find their way out again? Hehehe!

The answer? By figuring out how to use your own personal writer’s ‘spotlight’. That’s how.

Have you ever been at a party, or a family gathering, or just taking public transportation, going to school, or even being at work...and tried to pick up on everything that’s going on around you? It’s maddening, isn’t it? Everybody is talking and involved in their own little space in the room or at the dinner table or whatever. Obviously, you can’t pay attention to everybody. You’re going to miss certain things here and there, and you’re going to become a victim to the unfiltered ‘noise’ of the situation very quickly if you don’t teach yourself to single out and compartmentalize the parts of the situation that are most important to you in that particular moment. It’s the only way to make sense out of what’s going on around you, whether you end up missing a few things or not.

This is your spotlight. It operates on a swivel base, and you can aim it anywhere that you want to aim it when it comes to inviting all of your readers to join in. You have to train yourself to find what’s most important for the immediate progression of the story. Even if you add a sentence or a piece of dialogue that you plan to use as a set up for future events...try to concentrate on the present, and put all future actions in a sequential order to deal with later.

Hmmm...ok, I feel like I’m getting a bit lost here with my explanation. I took a break, looking for a way to make my point a bit more clear...and the best I could come up with was the visuals and music of this K-Pop video! Hehehe, stick with me here! Hopefully, it’ll make sense in a minute or two.

Look at this video. The way that the dancing is choreographed here, along with the music and vocals, is absolutely phenomenal! But, what I want you guys to pay attention to most is the way they move and keep switching from one position to another! You have to keep your eyes open, because it’s so smooth that you might not catch on to what they’re doing here. There are twelve members in this group! TWELVE!!! Now, you obviously can’t watch all of them at once, know them all by name (at least, I can’t), or know who’s singing what or who’s voice belongs to who. Your mind would be so over saturated with stimuli within the first few seconds that you wouldn’t be able to follow along with the rest of the video. BUT...again, look at the transitions and the formations being made as their dancing. Whoever is singing at that particular moment or taking the lead...the dance choreography moves them up to the front of the group. You can see them clearly, you can hear them clearly, and it allows them to have the what…? The spotlight! And then the mesh back into the crowd, and someone else moves to the front. And even though you are being battered with a ton of activity, it doesn’t really feel cluttered or confusing, because you’re only being asked to focus on one or two smaller portions of the performance at a time. And when it’s time for someone else to take center stage, the entire group flawlessly shifts its position to give the spotlight to someone else for a little bit...and then back again.

Writing with the idea of a spotlight in mind is really no different when you think about it. Just with story and plot instead of dance moves. Check it out! I believe the whole video is done in just one shot. Geez!

The reason I want you guys to pay such close attention to this video is because it is so similar to the way that I picture multiple story plot points in my head when I’m writing. Like, everything is happening simultaneously, but there is only one major focus taking a hold of your attention at any particular time. So, whether I’m writing a short scene, or multiple chapters of a series, this is how I sort of keep everything together and present it as a part of a single story. It’s an illusion of sorts, because it’s actually a bunch of different stories going on at once, they just happen to intersect within the same space at the same time. And much like the computer analogy above, being able to smoothly switch back and forth between the tasks at hand is what makes the illusion work.

I love writing ensemble casts, but I know that I can’t always have everyone talking all over each other at any given part of the story. So, if I’m writing “New Kid In School”...my two main characters are Ryan and Randy. That’s my main focus as a whole. But I have two other characters named Tyler and Ariel that are equally important to the story. What I do to keep them both involved and relevant in the storytelling is shift the spotlight back and forth between them. The last chapter or two might be centered around Ryan and Randy planning for their first date...but then I might swivel the spotlight over to the side for the next chapter and allow Ariel or Tyler take center stage for a little while. What’s going on with them now? You know? Then, I might have a chapter that is focused on Randy’s relationship with his mom. Then back to that first date. Then back to catch up with Ariel and Tyler. Nothing is simply swooping in out of nowhere and shaking the story up with something that doesn’t fit in the current narrative. When Im focused on one character or maybe two...the spotlight is theirs. Everything else sort of fades into the background for a moment and lets that relationship and those issues shine brightly for a while until I call on them again to come back and get a close up of their very own. And all of the situations are closely related to one another, which I try to show (not just tell) by highlighting the places where they crossover in a sequential order that makes sense. Maybe Ariel and Tyler decide to go out on a date...which leads to Ryan and Randy talking about going on a date of their own...which might lead to Randy having thoughts about coming out to his mom...and so forth and so on. The puzzle pieces fit together, but I can’t have all of this going on in a single chapter. Otherwise, all my readers are going to get is a bunch of literary noise. And that’s no good.

In stories like “The Secret Life Of Billy Chase”, which actually has a huge cast of characters as it is documenting every aspect of his daily life...being able to aim that spotlight becomes a massively needed skill to keep things from spinning out of control. Billy has a mother, and a father, and a best friend, and a boyfriend, and people that he works with at a record store, and classmates from school...friends, enemies, old flings, new temptations...the ONLY way to write that story is to choose which two or three situations that I want to focus on for that next chapter, and not even really mention anybody else until they become relevant to a current interaction or situation where they need to play a part. Much like the music video, you can clearly see that they’re all there and working together in step for a complete experience...but I’ve got to be selective with who I choose to bring to the forefront to keep everything sane.

So, what you as a writer need to ask yourself is...what is going on right now? Like, RIGHT now! Who do I need to carry this part of the story, and who can stand by and wait for an opportunity where they might be better used? Even if I’m writing a quickly paced action scene in a story with multiple characters all involved in the fray at once...I make sure to mentally separate them into smaller chunks so that my audience can follow the action without stumbling over any weirdness. I simply move my spotlight back and forth much more quickly than normal. Still, if there’s a fist fight going on with ten different people all involved in the brawl, I’ll focus on two of those people trading a few blows and paint that as a separate picture from everything else...and then I’ll move on to two other people. It might only be a sentence or two between my change of focus, but it still keeps things in order to a point where my readers don’t get overwhelmed and just give up on having it all make sense. So, the same rules apply, whether it’s a quick and frantic scene, or a drawn out presentation of one character’s thoughts and motivations taking place over an entire chapter or two. Keep the transitions smooth and only shift the attention to the people who are involved in that one moment of time to get the magic to work.

Hehehe, you know...sometimes I swear that I must sound like a crazy person to the rest of you! But keep these wacky ideas in mind, and you may find out that they not only help you visualize and improve your writing over time by recognizing the methods in play...but you may even discover that you’ve been adopting a lot of these natural instincts all on own from the very beginning. And there’s no better feeling than surprising yourself from time to time! Hehehe! So take what you can from this for now, and if it doesn’t make sense now...someday it will. Promise!

That’s it for this rodeo, ladies and gentlemen! Take care! Happy writing! And I’ll seezya on the next go ‘round!