The Crucible
I've been reading Stein on Writing for the last two years. It's an excellent book and I picked it up yesterday to read a chapter. The chapter I'd read last caught my attention though, and I reread it.
Says Stein "A Crucible is an environment, emotional or physical, that bonds two people. It can be a scene or a series of scenes, but more often the crucible is an entire book. The crucible is a relationship, often one influenced by locale."
He cites some examples, including Lolita, because the hero is in love with a young woman, really, a child. The Count of Monte Cristo is a story that immediately came to my mind. First, the hero is in a prison in the sea from which no one ever returns. Then he escapes and his crucible becomes his desire for revenge, which keeps him from the only woman he has ever loved.
Have you ever heard this term before? Is there a crucible in your manuscript? Can you think of any books or movies with a definite and strong crucible?
*I'M ADDING THIS LINK MY FRIEND FOUND. UNBEKNOWNST TO ME, CAMY TANG WROTE AN ARTICLE ON THE CRUCIBLE. IT'S VERY HELPFUL.*
Says Stein "A Crucible is an environment, emotional or physical, that bonds two people. It can be a scene or a series of scenes, but more often the crucible is an entire book. The crucible is a relationship, often one influenced by locale."
He cites some examples, including Lolita, because the hero is in love with a young woman, really, a child. The Count of Monte Cristo is a story that immediately came to my mind. First, the hero is in a prison in the sea from which no one ever returns. Then he escapes and his crucible becomes his desire for revenge, which keeps him from the only woman he has ever loved.
Have you ever heard this term before? Is there a crucible in your manuscript? Can you think of any books or movies with a definite and strong crucible?
*I'M ADDING THIS LINK MY FRIEND FOUND. UNBEKNOWNST TO ME, CAMY TANG WROTE AN ARTICLE ON THE CRUCIBLE. IT'S VERY HELPFUL.*
Comments
I'm thinking of Forrest Gump; the crucible between Forrest and Jenny as young kids, her home life, his disability, their proximity, how it all bonds them.
Interesting to think about. :)
The one book/play/move that comes to my mind is Don Quiote/Man of LaMancha. He and the girl he loves are in a crucible. It's a fascinating, multi-layed story of love and victory and grace.
An emotional or physical environment is a pretty broad base, so I bet a person could find a crucible in any story they read or write, otherwise it wouldn't have any kind of depth.
Thank you so much for entering a new word into my vocabulary. I like it. Crucible. Cool.
Janna and Jeanette, those are really good examples!
Linda,
I'll bet you're right that there's one in every story. Or there should be, I would think. LOL
That definition kinda fits jury duty or any other situation where people come together by circumstances and share time/events together outside of their "regular" lives. :D
Thinking in real-life terms right now, and I'd say my grandmother's recent fall and the resulting hospital/re-hab environment was a crucible. Because it certainly bonded us!
i love your short, sweet, thought-provoking posts!
jeannie
The Character Therapist
This is an interesting concept. Thanks.
smooches,
Larie
Trust is a great, conflict-filled emotion to work with, I think. Thank you for your sweet comment. :-)
Oh, you know, Linda Kage above mentioned that. It might be why the word makes us think of religion. Hmmmm...
That is one of my favorite movies too! I love it!
Thank you for stopping by. :-)
I'm about convinced it has to do with that play/movie. LOL
Definitely happened to me too.
Excellent!
Which is probably the same thing... isn't it?
Great post-Cheers!
I'm so not getting this still!
You sure got my mind going with this one, Jess. :)
Blessings,
Susan
I researched online, and here's one definition I found that lays it out very clear: Every story needs a firm reason the character can't just walk away from the story trouble. This is called the story crucible.
So, that in mind ... my story crucible in my WIP for my hero, is his developing feelings for the heroine and his desire to help her keep her estate. My heroine's crucible is her love and devotion for her nieces and brother, causing her to fight to keep her estate.
Interestingly, it seems that my crucible does revolve around a place. Hmmm.
I added the link in. Thank you so much!!! Tang really made it clearer for me.
Everyone else, thanks so much for commenting! The crucible was a little confusing for me too, but after I read that link things cleared up.
I love Camy! :)
Well, our life is basically a crucible but we don't know it. Every choice takes us closer to one side or the other. :-)
Camy is a fount of information! Or maybe I should say an ocean? LOL