## [D][BST] "Grace": one way to make readers cry (pseudorational)

* Author: u/TK17Studios  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning**
* URL: https://medium.com/@ThingMaker/writing-102-grace-bd76ab82d8fe#.mnqh9m9e3
* Score: 43

* Created: 2016-08-11T06:01:56

### Post:

[Link to content](https://medium.com/@ThingMaker/writing-102-grace-bd76ab82d8fe#.mnqh9m9e3)

### Comments:

> **u/LiteralHeadCannon** [+15]  (12 minutes later)
> 
> This is irrational and *I love it*.
> 
> I think the example chosen from The Incredibles is weird - not bad, but weird - because Pixar does this very, very well, but when I try to think of moments where Pixar does it, the cited Incredibles example isn't really one I think of.

>> **u/diraniola** [+9]  (57 minutes later)
>> 
>> I really think a better example is in the dump in toy story 3. I've seen a fan edit that just played the credits at that point with a slowed down "you've got a friend in me" playing, and it was heartwretching. But put in a REDACTED, and... They're still at the dump, they still need to find a way home, but now they have a chance. The story isn't over.

>>> **u/TK17Studios** [+4]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (10 hours later)
>>> 
>>> The reason the Incredibles example features so prominently is just that it's the reason that caused me to notice the concept and write the article.  Definitely lots and *lots* of other examples from Pixar, some more dramatic (like the dump).

>> **u/CouteauBleu** [+7]  *We are the Empire.* (3 hours later)
>> 
>> Let's see, Pixar movies with a "you-tried-everything-you-could-but-not-enough" moments...
>> 
>> * Multiples times in Wall-E, the climax is basically made of these moments.
>> 
>> * The first Toy Story, when Woody realizes he can light up the fuse with Buzz' helmet.
>> 
>> * A Bug's life, I guess, after the fake bird fails.
>> 
>> * Toy Story 3, the dump scene.

>>> **u/LiteralHeadCannon** [+21]  (3 hours later)
>>> 
>>> Inside Out, Bing Bong realizes Joy can escape the memory dump as long as he stays behind. Up, Carl decides to lighten his house to follow Russell (this scene parallels a scene much closer to the beginning, with Carl taking off in the first place).
>>> 
>>> Huh, both of these scenes are a bit of a twist on the grace concept - rather than a coincidence giving the characters the ability to do everything they initially set out to do, the characters see and take a new path that sacrifices a lesser goal for a greater one. Though the opportunity is external, the characters must actively assent to the sacrifice and accept the loss of the lesser goal.

>>>> **u/Sparkwitch** [+11]  (11 hours later)
>>>> 
>>>> Grace helps those who help themselves.
>>>> 
>>>> I think the most effective rational way to write grace is to return to something the audience has already discounted. Some object a character still has reappears with a new purpose. Some character, conventionally unable to help, returns. An important feature - inherent to the location or situation, but previously prevented - is now available because the terrain or pre-existing rules have changed.
>>>> 
>>>> Aristotle's "unexpected *and* inevitable" applies,  but so long as the surprise comes from within and is sufficiently foreshadowed, then there's no *ex machina*. That's why sacrifice is so effective: It contains a lot of the easiest options for an audience to discount. Destroying a crucial tool, surrendering life or limb, betraying a trust, or abandoning a secondary goal are all surprising things to have occur.
>>>> 
>>>> For maximum impact, the first sacrifice is just the signal that the protagonists have tried absolutely everything. It fails, hard, and we have a moment to reflect on that additional pain. The *second* sacrifice is grace.
>>>> 
>>>> Suspense isn't about whether or not the hero succeeds, it's about what that success is going to cost.

>>>>> **u/TK17Studios** [+7]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (13 hours later)
>>>>> 
>>>>> This is part of why I like the Incredibles example, even though it all takes place in a grand total of three seconds and is sort of a flash in the pan.  It's like LAKE?? OH, NO!!!! and then once he's out on it, you're like *but of course,* and there's that moment of grace—of relief, that of all the possible ways the universe could have worked out, it worked out well *and* made sense in retrospect.

> **u/ulyssessword** [+6]  (9 hours later)
> 
> I just realized that this is what REDACTED is doing in the Wax and Wayne series of Mistborn books by Brandon Sanderson.  It's not *quite* perfect but it is still strongly evocative.

>> **u/trekie140** [+6]  (10 hours later)
>> 
>> This article actually makes the grace moment in The Alloy of Law kind of meta. When Wax is about to fail he actually sees a vision of his god in the smoke, which then fades to reveal the tools he needs to give him a chance. I still need to read the next book.
>> 
>> SPOILERS FOR MISTBORN BELOW
>> 
>> It even makes sense why God operates that way since the entire plot of Mistborn came about because of intervention by gods, so the new God has a policy of subtle interference when necessary. One of the tenets of his religion is to not worship him, for goodness sake!

> **u/chaosmosis** [+5]  *and with strange aeons, even death may die* (5 days later)
> 
> I liked the example from The Hatchet best. First, because I'd never looked at the scenario in that way before. Second, because although the moved plane offered Brian opportunity, it was very subtle, and he had to continue working and planning to take advantage of it, even though in the meantime he would suffer the absence of his shelter fully.
> 
> Been a while since I've thought about those books, but they were great. Those, Jack London, My Side of the Mountain, The Swiss Family Robinson, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and some parts of The Boxcar Children, are all great outdoorsy books from my childhood that I think have been a good influence on me. I miss that time.

> **u/Xtraordinaire** [+3]  *Team Glimglam* (10 hours later)
> 
> > Can’t wait for the sequel.
> 
> Why do you have to make people sad?

>> **u/rineSample** [+3]  (18 hours later)
>> 
>> ...To demonstrate Grace?

> **u/RMcD94** [+3]  (2 days later)
> 
> Well I'll be the dissenting voice here and say I don't get it. I don't remember feeling particularly emotional for Dash in that moment. Pact (by wildbow) had an almost innumerable amount of times where I think grace would be the word to use (perhaps I'm misunderstanding it) and again I don't remember having any strong grace like feelings that would bring me to tears. 
> 
> It also seems like for at least some of your readers they're going to a different opinion on what counts as deus ex and what counts as reasonable luck.

>> **u/TK17Studios** [+2]  *Author of r!Animorphs: The Reckoning* (2 days later)
>> 
>> Yeah, I think deus ex is always going to be a gray area for people.  But I think the general rules of 1) keep it as small as possible and 2) distance it from the climax are probably going to be generally helpful.

> **u/Zalpha** [+2]  (5 days later)
> 
> This was a good read, really food for thought.

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