The (Story) Purpose of Schools

Ok I’ll admit. I finally get school.

So I had an idea the other day I thought, “what the heck, I’ll try making this into a light novel” (artist slot is open if anyone is interested). To that end, it involves older teen/young adults.

Now with my process, I have the ending/climax pretty much done, and I’ve got a draft of the beginning done, now I’m in the hard part of Act 2. I will freely admit as a writer Act 2 is always my hardest struggle. That’s why it’s real obvious to me when I’m reading/watching someone if they have the same struggles with weak middles.

It also happens during this period I’ve been amusing myself with youtube videos about cringey kids’ movies – the kind that fill Disney Channel and Nickelodeon. Some of my amusement draws from the fact that these films always have a high school in them – even if a “high school” educational structure makes absolutely no sense in the worldbuilding of the story.

Now I get the obvious reason why this is: it’s a modern show for modern kids so you use things in it the kids will recognize/be familiar with. Duh. It was in working through the writer’s block of Act 2 I couldn’t help but think, “boy I wish I had a school.”

Now in my world building, while I’m not going Tolkien with it (we are talking about a light novel after all), I was trying for a bit of realism. (They aren’t just avoiding the Prussian model of schooling because there’s no Prussia – but because there’s no need for it.) Still now I can’t help but notice that schools are an incredibly useful plot tool.

• Need your heroes out of the way for a period of time so the villain can advance their scheme? Lock them up in a building for 8 hours a day in the name of education!
• Need to drop a bit of worldbuilding or set up for an important plot point? Show a scene in a classroom where the teacher delivers exactly that to the protagonists!
• Need your heroes to gather together and plan something without making adults suspicious? Recess! Lunch Break! After school activities! BONUS: All of these have a strict time limit so you have a ready-made ticking clock to stick your heroes under.
• Need an important event to occur for maximum dramatic impact? You’ve got homecoming, prom, graduation, and any number of plays or recitals.
• Need to delay or cause an obstacle for your protagonists? Detention! (this can also work for antagonists that go to school)
• Finally, once everything is in place and you’re ready for the climax of the story? You can have your protagonists skip school and head straight to the destination.

Remember storytelling is like a magic show: you don’t want the audience to see the wires. In this case, you want the audience to be as unaware of you, the storyteller, as possible. To that end, you want your plots and outcomes to feel as organic as possible – like they happen logically without any involvement from you at all.

To that end, I have to admit schools are a mighty useful tool.