Into the unknown...

The long and short of it is that itīs the element of surprise.

Without it... well, Iīve heard stories without an Element X, and I tell you, it ainīt pretty. Iīve sat through more of my dadīs stories about his job than I would wish on any on you.

By now, youīre probably wondering what Iīm talking about. Either that, or you think itīs so obvious you havenīt given it a second thought. Itīs Element X - the unknown that interrupts something that is happening.

An easy example - Little Red Riding Hood is walking to grandmaīs. Boom, thereīs the wolf. Heīs the unknown. Before the wolf showed up, there was absolutely no way youīd predict that a wolf would show up (unless youīd read the story before...). The Element X. Without the wolf, the story is boring. Like some of my dadīs stories.

But the point here is that the wolf, and the Element X should be unexpected. It canīt be something that anyone will think of when theyīre hearing the story for the first time. It has to be strange, almost unrealistic, and a bit scary at first. As soon as we can predict that there will be a wolf, the Element X has lost most of its power.

But wait! Isnīt the wolf the antagonist? Yes, he is. But in the first meeting heīs also unexpected. That doesnīt mean that the antagonist is the only possible Element X. In fact, Element X:s can be anything that interrupts a process, or disrupts status quo.

Different Element X:s

The message

But the message can also contain a decision, as in the end of nearly every episode of "Family Law" or "Ally McBeal", where the court delivers a ruling, which hopefully is unexpected. To get a real effect, the decision must come from someone else than the protagonist.

The reveal

The newcomer

New process

And the escape attempts in "Chicken run" are frequently at odds with the ownersī visits, creating two parallel stories, that complement, and interrupt each other.

What to do with Element X:s

First, think of it as something that you should have in every scene. Every scene in your entire story. Until you have a Element X, you havenīt understood the scene completely, or the scene is simply there because you think itīs cute or funny, and in reality it has nothing to do with anything.

But, knowing myself, you wonīt go through your entire story with Element X-glasses. Thatīs okay.

So, instead, let me give you an alternative reason why you should remember this.

When you write your next story, and you use Element X:s, it will automatically gain some excitement. Especially if you write a first person narrative, ie follows a main character through the story, the Element X is really the only way to go. Otherwise the protagonist will go through the story, fighting the antagonist, but in a straight line. The goal can almost be seen in the horizon.

If, on the other hand, you have some Element X:s strewn throughout the story, the protagonist will have his eyes on the goal in the horizon, watchful of the antagonistīs attacks, but never anticipating the arrival of an unknown object.

Actually, the Element X can also be a very effective way for the writer to keep writing. When you get stuck, insert an Element X, and the problem will seem a little different. I once heard thatīs the way Raymond Chandler solved his writing problems:

- If I get stuck, I just have a dwarf with a gun come in through the door on his hands.

Which brings up another point: Almost no Element X is out of the question. You just need a way to justify it in the context. How do you explain why a dwarf comes in on his hands? (And where does he keep the gun?) But I promise you, when you start pondering those questions, the story point you were stuck on before will seem easy, and perhaps even empty without the dwarf.

Anyway, there are more sides to Element X:s. One side is that Element X:s are connected to the world outside the story. Thereīs a real danger that the story universe becomes small and too barren to be engaging. The Element X comes from outside the story, like a big snowball hitting you from behind while youīre skiing. Someone has to have thrown that snowball, for some hidden reason. That mystery has to be solved before you can go on with your ski tour. Now the story universe has grown a little bit. It now contains the new person, and the fact that snowballs can be thrown. That story universe is more interesting than one where there are no snowballs. Of course, a bigger story universe is not necessarily better, but a strategically built story universe can be quite small and yet seem big. You just have to make sure that it doesnīt point in all directions at once (realism and surrealism colliding, for example), and that the story universe is expanded in a compelling way. Not by exposition, but by Element X:s.

The real benefit of Element X, however, is that it prevents the audience from guessing where the storyīs going to go. When the protagonist has just fought the antagonist, and won, he can be hit in the head from behind, by an Element X. Or when the heroine finally is free to kiss the hero, you hear a yell for help and they have to go look see. When the Element X is done right, it changes the scene. The characters are changed, different. And before the scene you would have no way of knowing that there would be a yell, or an explosion, or a parent storming in, or that the entire company is shutting down, or that...

Well, you get the picture.

But do you really get the picture? Element X is more than a way to connect scenes together, to let one scene flow seamlessly into the next, as in the Harry Potter films. Itīs not a connector. Element X is something that can cause a connector (but not exclusively). Like this:

The process (the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist) is interrupted by an Element X, which in turn can cause a connector, or be followed by another Element X, or (least good) another process. This way, the scene not only ends unexpectedly, but the next scene will be even harder to predict. And suddenly your story is oblique but still clear as water.

Which is what storytelling is all about.

Different Element X:s
The message
The reveal
The newcomer
New process

What to do with Element X:s