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writercises2008-12-31 01:39 pm
mbarker.livejournal.com) wrote in writercises2008-12-31 01:39 pm
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TECH: Meandering Our Way through Plot and Structure (3)
Originally posted 11 June 2007
I'm slowly working my way through Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell. Right now I'm on page 8, with a section about the power of story. This is where Bell talks about "telling a story in a way that transports the reader." Let's face it, most readers want to get away from their world. They want an experience that is different than their normal day-to-day routine. Or as Bell puts it, "what the reader seeks is an experience that is other." A story gives the illusion of a different side of life events. And we want conflict, story, experience. The plot is a structure that helps readers get into the fictional dream and stay there. Okay? I don't think we need to pound this little two page section to pieces, but it is important to think about it.
Bell says we'll be going over it again, but his basic approach to plot is called the LOCK. Lead, Objective, Confrontation, and Knockout. Simple, right? Just four letters to remember to get a lock on your plots!
L is for Lead. I am pretty sure he means lead character, not lead pencils. So a strong plot needs an interesting lead character. "In the best plots, that Lead is compelling, someone we have to watch throughout the course of the novel." Not necessarily sympathetic, but someone that we want to watch. Okay? So that's our Lead, the L in our LOCK.
O is for Objective. Where is the character going? He needs an objective, a want, a desire. Normally the character either wants to get something or get away from something. The story question is pretty simple -- will the lead achieve their objective? Note: the objective needs to be important to the lead. So now we have LO in LOCK, our Lead and their Objective.
C is for Confrontation. Opposition, obstacles, something gets in the way. Make it tough for the lead to get to their objective. Confrontation! That's the LOC in LOCK - a Lead with their Objective and the Confrontations on the way.
Last, but obviously not least, K is for Knockout. What Bell is talking about here is the ending. A clean finish, with one person standing and the other knocked out. It shouldn't be obvious, necessarily, but it should have a real knockout finale that makes the reader satisfied. Send the lead over the top, let them find a hundred yellow ribbons round the old oak tree, blow the bad guys into little balls of juicy hamburger, whatever, but don't wimp on the ending.
And that, in a nutshell, is Bell's basics. A Lead, with an Objective, who faces Confrontations, and has a Knockout ending. LOCK that up and write!
Page 13? And there's over 200 in the book. We are going to be reading a while, aren't we?
I'm slowly working my way through Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell. Right now I'm on page 8, with a section about the power of story. This is where Bell talks about "telling a story in a way that transports the reader." Let's face it, most readers want to get away from their world. They want an experience that is different than their normal day-to-day routine. Or as Bell puts it, "what the reader seeks is an experience that is other." A story gives the illusion of a different side of life events. And we want conflict, story, experience. The plot is a structure that helps readers get into the fictional dream and stay there. Okay? I don't think we need to pound this little two page section to pieces, but it is important to think about it.
Bell says we'll be going over it again, but his basic approach to plot is called the LOCK. Lead, Objective, Confrontation, and Knockout. Simple, right? Just four letters to remember to get a lock on your plots!
L is for Lead. I am pretty sure he means lead character, not lead pencils. So a strong plot needs an interesting lead character. "In the best plots, that Lead is compelling, someone we have to watch throughout the course of the novel." Not necessarily sympathetic, but someone that we want to watch. Okay? So that's our Lead, the L in our LOCK.
O is for Objective. Where is the character going? He needs an objective, a want, a desire. Normally the character either wants to get something or get away from something. The story question is pretty simple -- will the lead achieve their objective? Note: the objective needs to be important to the lead. So now we have LO in LOCK, our Lead and their Objective.
C is for Confrontation. Opposition, obstacles, something gets in the way. Make it tough for the lead to get to their objective. Confrontation! That's the LOC in LOCK - a Lead with their Objective and the Confrontations on the way.
Last, but obviously not least, K is for Knockout. What Bell is talking about here is the ending. A clean finish, with one person standing and the other knocked out. It shouldn't be obvious, necessarily, but it should have a real knockout finale that makes the reader satisfied. Send the lead over the top, let them find a hundred yellow ribbons round the old oak tree, blow the bad guys into little balls of juicy hamburger, whatever, but don't wimp on the ending.
And that, in a nutshell, is Bell's basics. A Lead, with an Objective, who faces Confrontations, and has a Knockout ending. LOCK that up and write!
Page 13? And there's over 200 in the book. We are going to be reading a while, aren't we?