Stories with OS Fixed Attitude

questions
#1

I’ve found that my stories gravitate toward OS Situation - for whatever reason this is very natural to me. So to broaden my horizons I wanted to consider what OS Fixed Attitude stories look and feel like, specifically in how it affects the OS Goal.

I’m finding this difficult because it’s easier for me to define an External Goal for the entire cast than an Internal one.

The majority of OS Attitude examples on this site have Innermost Desires as the Concern, and most of these feature love triangles / dodecahedrons. The romance angle is straightforward enough, but there’s close to nothing about Impulsive Responses or Contemplations from the OS angle.

So my question: Do you have any tips for writing OS Fixed Attitude stories, and particularly any tips for a writer whose impulse is to frame an OS Situation story?

#2

I would use the random generator to make storyforms, and then fill them in. I would do maybe a dozen, and don’t chintz.

#3

By “fill them in,” do you mean write out a full encoding of all the story points?

#4

I do. I mean, you can do as much or as little as you want since these are for you. The thing I’m reading here is that you have a default set on OS Situation, so the first step should be to exercise the “weak” muscles.

Now that I think it through, I also think you should do something like take all the archetypal characters and see how they would play out in an OS Mind>Contemplation (or whatever) story.

I think my approach would be to do a handful that just focus on the major plot points and the major characters, including the MC and IC, etc. Then I would try to write some pages. You’ll know if it’s worthwhile to keep going and do a full encoding.

Underneath this is my firm belief that you are going to get a lot more out of anybody’s hints if you’ve already put in some sweat equity.

1 Like