(no subject)

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

How often do you get yourself into a situation when writing that leaves you little room to solve a problem that you have created?  Suddenly, magically, the hoped for idea presents itself and the end is hastily constructed around it.
You may have just written yourself a Deux Ex Machina, a surprising twist that comes out of nowhere and becomes a resolution that could not otherwise have happened.  The link takes you to a Wikipedia article on the topic.
I have certainly come up with a few of these, I just didn't know that was what I had done.  On many fronts, I am regrettably ignorant.  But ignorance doesn't keep us from doing things, it actually propels us into it since we have no idea that we are committing literary faux pas.
I have always disliked reading Agatha Christie, and I believe it is because she seems to embrace this form of creating a conclusion out of very sketchy clues.  Her villains always seemed to me to be beyond identification except for her brilliant sleuths, and that takes some of the fun out of reading a mystery.  I'd like to think I can see at least a few shards of light concerning the outcome.
This Deus Ex Machina refered initially to literally having a god show up at the last minute, in a Greek play, by way of a contraption that allowed the actor to swoop into the scene.  In our case it might be Illya or Napoleon, or some other agent or benefactor who suddenly appears without adequate explanation.  We have relief from the troubling situation, but it comes at the expense of details and articulation.
I'm guilty, I know it.  I've done that and been glad to have an ending.
So now I'm wondering... you may or may not be following my train of thought here...
Is there a challenge possibility that would allow us to explore this literary trickery and construct, purposely, a story that has this element as part of the resolution of said story?
Let me know what you think.

Comments

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

This is a great observation, though I can't quite think of any sort of challenge for it....unless writer's repost stories they've written already with Deus ex machina moments or solutions to ending their stories. Does that make sense?

Watched the vid, and thought they were calling out some Deus ex machina moments that were fine within the context of some of those movies ...like Avatar. They'd already established in the early part of the film that the deity Aywaa actually had interaction with the characters. For for it to finally send help when things looked desperate was fine. As long as the Deus ex machina used is fairly logical (and not some bizarre implausible trope that isn't even relative to the story and comes out of the blue) then I think they have their place, and they work well.

I see nothing wrong with using the writing device...sometimes. They're not always logical, but that's okay. I had a ghost save Napoleon's life in one story....I thought it worked rather well as I established that ghosts existed where NS was being held prisoner. (and it wasn't a female ghost. lol) To me it established a connection between the spirit and the corporeal world.

One major Deus ex machina moment that sticks out in my mind (actually there were quite a few) was in a movie I recently watched, Star Wars: the Last Jedi. (Spoiler Alert!)

They had Princess Leia who had been blown out into space after a baddie ship had just fired upon and destroyed the bridge of her huge ship. Everyone was killed, but we see Leia floating in the cold of space suddenly open her eyes, reach out with her hand and fly (people are comparing it to Mary Poppins) back to the rest of the ship which is still functioning. She's rescued.

Other than being 'aware' of her brother Luke's presence, Princess Leia has never in any previous movie displayed any 'force' abilities. (though it was said that the force was strong with her) So she suddenly can survive and fly in space? What the...?

Luke also displays a Jedi power that we've never heard of before...sort of hoakey contrivance that gave the last of the rebels to escape in the Millennium Falcon who had just miraculously arrived to save the day. I agree with other fans, the move was just awful in so many ways. Maybe because they overused the Deus ex machina formula. lol!

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

I haven't been able to get through any of the prequel/sequel films. hypatia_66 has a good idea for a challenge.

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

She does? That's cool!

[hypatia-66.livejournal.com]

One important trick, when you find yourself up a blind alley, is to avoid detail. It's surprising what you can get away and still carry the arc of the story through to a convincing conclusion. Not quite "with one bound he was free", but almost. I notice it a lot in TV thrillers, and sometimes in film (I mean movies). I remember a scene in "The Full Monty", for example, which shows some characters on the roof of a sinking car in the middle of a canal, but in the next they are on the bank - with no attempt to explain how they managed it. The God in the Machine, no doubt.

I suppose a challenge could consist of providing an unlikely scenario and asking for stories to get them out of it. Rather like questions in logic where you're given a chessboard with a few pieces remaining - you have to work out how they got there and how to get them out of it. But don't look at me!

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

A very good suggestion for a challenge.

[alynwa.livejournal.com]

The scene hypatia_66 talked about could be the basis of a challenge: Place them in a situation, pull them out of it and make the challenge be: How did they get there?

For example: Napoleon and Illya are hanging from a beam in Paris. Cut to the two agents on the street watching the fire department putting out a fire in the building where they had been imprisoned. What happened?

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

Yep, that works. I think we'll take a shot with it. Care to take it on?

[alynwa.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but you have to have noticed my lack of original posts lately. My muse has taken a backseat in the face of real life. The only things for the most part I've written are Song Story challenges because I think it would be beyond tacky to moderate a challenge and not participate.

I do like the idea of this challenge though, but I don't think this is the best time for me to take on something new.

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

There's no hurry, everything is slow around LJ. Just start making notes to yourself about scenarios that might work, let me know when you feel like initiating the challenge. If it's seasonal, that works too. Maybe every three months, like carabele used to time her challenges.

[alynwa.livejournal.com]

Okay, sounds good.

[reapermum.livejournal.com]

There's a quote from Isaac Asimov that I've been trying to find again for years and refering to his Foundation series.

It was something about writing a series of stories and having a great way to get your characters out of this story's peril, but not being able to use it because in a previous story you had specifically said that it wouldn't work.

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

I hope you find it. However, it reinforces the other adage: never say never.

[alynwa.livejournal.com]

I don't know if this counts as Deux Ex Machina, but in the movie "The Shawshank Redemption" and in Stephan King's novella "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" that it is based on, one important question is never addressed or explained: How did Andy Dufresne attach the poster hiding his tunnel to the wall after he went through? All four corners were taped down, that couldn't be done by Andy in the tunnel and no one else was in the cell.

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

That's a pretty big detail. I've seen the movie but I don't recall that; good eye ;)

[alynwa.livejournal.com]

When the warden in frustration throws the chess piece at the poster, it goes through and you can hear it bouncing away. The warden approaches the wall and puts his hand through. The poster never moves because it is affixed to the wall. I think in both the movie and the novella, you're supposed to be so blown away by the fact that Andy is gone and the tunnel is there, that you simply overlook the poster thing.