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writercises2009-01-02 09:43 am
mbarker.livejournal.com) wrote in writercises2009-01-02 09:43 am
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TECH: Meandering Our Way through Plot and Structure (6)
Meandering Our Way through Plot and Structure (6)
And here we are again! Slowly working our way through Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell. We're about to start on chapter 3, which is about how to explode with plot ideas. Sound interesting? Let's dive in.
Bell starts by pointing out that ideas don't come full-blown. You have notions, little sparks, some of which ignite and some of which don't. So this chapter is going to talk about coming up with lots of ideas and choosing the right ones to develop. Also, he tells a little story about William Saroyan who was asked about the name of his next book. William replied, "I don't have a name and I don't have a plot. I have the typewriter and I have white paper and I have me and that should add up to a novel." Instead of write what you know, Bell suggest that originality comes from writing who you are. Deep in your own heart and soul, there is a wellspring of ideas to write about. This isn't autobiography, but rather gripping fiction without clichés, standard characters, or tired plots.
Bell suggests thinking through these questions:
That's probably enough for this session, even though it's only about 1/10 of chapter 3. Still, spend some time working through that list of questions and thinking about what's important for you. Especially if you're writing a novel, you're talking about spending significant time working on it. Why would you bother doing something that was boring? Make it something that's important for you.
And here we are again! Slowly working our way through Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell. We're about to start on chapter 3, which is about how to explode with plot ideas. Sound interesting? Let's dive in.
Bell starts by pointing out that ideas don't come full-blown. You have notions, little sparks, some of which ignite and some of which don't. So this chapter is going to talk about coming up with lots of ideas and choosing the right ones to develop. Also, he tells a little story about William Saroyan who was asked about the name of his next book. William replied, "I don't have a name and I don't have a plot. I have the typewriter and I have white paper and I have me and that should add up to a novel." Instead of write what you know, Bell suggest that originality comes from writing who you are. Deep in your own heart and soul, there is a wellspring of ideas to write about. This isn't autobiography, but rather gripping fiction without clichés, standard characters, or tired plots.
Bell suggests thinking through these questions:
- What do you care most about in the world?
- If you were to write your own obituary, how would you want to read?
- What is your physical appearance? How do you feel about it? How does it affect you?
- What do you fear most?
- What are your major strengths of character?
- What are your major flaws?
- What are you good at? What do you wish you were good at?
- If you could do one thing and know that you would be successful, what would you do?
- What are three events from your childhood that helped shape you into the person you are today?
- What are some of your annoying habits?
- What secret in your life do you hope is never revealed?
- What is your philosophy of life?
That's probably enough for this session, even though it's only about 1/10 of chapter 3. Still, spend some time working through that list of questions and thinking about what's important for you. Especially if you're writing a novel, you're talking about spending significant time working on it. Why would you bother doing something that was boring? Make it something that's important for you.