Mikal Haaheim Online

Writing Skills for the Beginner.

MOTIVATION REACTION UNITS REVISITED

While the theory of MRUs sound solid great, especially for action scenes, it does not seem to allow much room for description, or peripheral details or back-story. So how does it work where the pen meets the paper?  Let’s take a portion of “Duty” to evaluate what the process allows.

The big man squatted beside the trail at the top of the ridge. A smaller man, almost a boy, rested beside him. “Sergeant Holman?” he gathered his breath, as though disliking his own words, “They have him, don’t they?” Seven more clambered up the hill on hands and feet, shod in soleless leather boots and hands wrapped in leather, leaving only faint prints in the sand.  Packs swayed across their backs. They wore Union striped trousers and blue jackets, gray in the waning light. All fell together in the sand, with lined faces close, snuffling and grunting from the climb.

             This does not appear to be a single Motivation, and indeed, it is not. All the events above are Motivation for what Holman will respond. A close look at this first paragraph also suggests, counter to an earlier review of duty, there is a POV character and that is Holman. While the POV is subtle, we can see that it is first Holman who reacts to external events, hence it is Holman who is, by default, the POV character.  Motivation must be objective, but it is not limited to a single event.

Notice that dialogue is interspersed with description. While the POV character has no obligation to respond immediately to dialogue, however, the more action oriented the scene, the more immediate the response that follows to maintain the pace.

Recall the three parts of an MRU Response:  feeling, reflex and rational action. Analyze for a moment, the paragraph below. In this Response paragraph, what is feeling, what is reflex and what is rational action? Do events occur here that cannot be considered a Response?

The soldier called Holman squinted down at the outline of tents, barely visible on the valley floor. A dusty beard, made it difficult to mark his age. Below him, fires winked to life. He did not answer the boy directly. “Won’t take Taylor long to talk. Never was much closed mouth.” He sank back into the broom grass. Smoke drifted from the camp below. “You know they’ll beat on him once dawn hits. Start searchin quick when they learn we’s who attacked em.”

             An analysis suggests that the following applies:

1.  no feeling Response is present,

2.  ‘squinted’ is a reflex Response,

3. The dialogue and sinking into the broom grass are rational actions.

4. The description of Holman, the fires and the smoke, are peripheral information that flesh out the scene. They are not events that require a response.

In short, events external to the action may and, in fact, must occur to maintain an interesting and variably paced story. Events not directly tied to the motivation response must be limited. Overly long events peripheral to the scene detract from the action at hand.  Recall the handouton Expanding the Moment where “Eammon flung the peavey to shore…” from the handout. In that case, Eammon’s rational response in saving his ‘Indian’ friend is so protracted that the reader’s interest wanes. 

To review additional events, notice that Santos’ statement about leaving immediately is the Motivation and Holman’s “Shut it…” is the rational response. Immediately, a new Motivation occurs in the boy’s suggestion and the Response is in the give and take that follows. Santos’ next statement begins a new MRU sequence. This more action oriented sequence reflects the need for MRUs to become shorter as the intensity increases.

The model allows room for back-story. For example, Holman might have a memory moment in which a reflex Response occurs. “Santos had challenged him before, grumbling when ordered them into the attack.”

Thinking in terms of Motivation Reaction Units is not simple. Like many skills, practice brings the action from a rational response of a beginner to the reflex writing of an improved author.

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