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CHANCES_ARE

                                     August  9, 2003
                                         
This is The Rule: you are                
allowed one single                       
unlikely coincidence, and                
it will be presented near                
the beginning of the                     
story.  It then functions                
as the premise, and the                  
rest of the narrative will               
be a logical, if not            The doctrine of 
predictable, flow from          The Twist:      
that beginning.                 suprises are                      
                                supposed to seem
                                inevitable in   
                                retrospect, but 
                                only in                
Exceptions exist:               retrospect.     

The "it can always get                                        
worse" exception:
   
Chance is allowed to do
harm, but never benefit.         This exception can be 
You can run from the bad         abused: benefit can be 
guys into an avalanche, but      disguised as tragedy.       
you can not have an                                          
avalanche fortuitously wipe         Note the short life-              
out the bad guys leaving            expectancy of girl friends 
you untouched.                      of action-adventure heroes.
                                                            
Lightning may strike, but           
it must not strike the                                        
villian.                            
                                                     

The irony exception: 

The monster can turn on
the creator, and destroy
them both.

The invincible aliens can be
wiped out by lowly bacteria.

James Bond can be rescued from 
torture at the last minute,          (That's the Fleming 
but only by a SMERSH assassin        Bond, not the Connery.)  
sent to eliminate the faction         
which happens to be torturing         
him.
    

As with all rules, 
the question might 
be raised, "why?"

Some possible starting points:

   There's a
   difference
   between reality
   and realism.
   
   Unlike reality,
   fiction has to
   worry about
   being plausible.
                        
   Fiction must
   "live up to
   the real".
               
   Fiction is not the
   opposite of truth,
   and not a synonym
   for lies.


      
Really, the primal    
rule (as stated by              
Kenneth Robeson):               
the hero must                   
extricate himself               
from the trouble                
by his own actions              
                     The rule against 
                     coincidences is 
                     just an application 
                     of this.            
                                         
        And the first exception is 
        really that all rules can 
        be broken at the outset of 
        the story as part of the 
        premise.

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