TECH: Meandering Our Way through Plot and Structure (8)

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Meandering Our Way through Plot and Structure (8)

Let's see. We are slowly working our way through Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell. Right now I'm about to pick up on page 50, part way through Chapter 3 about how to explode with plot ideas. Bell started with a list of ways to generate ideas. Now we are going to look at what he calls nurturing your ideas. So let's take a look at what he says.

First, pick an idea and write a hook, line, and sinker. Just like the fish swallowed it -- hook, line, and sinker. The hook is a big idea, something that makes readers browsing in the bookstore go, "Wow!" Figure out why your idea pulls in readers.

The line is one or two sentences that presents your idea graphically, as a setting or situation, with a problem and a human predicament. It's the cover story version of your story.

Last, think about a sinker. This is the negative angle, the problem with your idea. Not that you are going to necessarily throw out your idea, but you may want to strengthen it and avoid the sinker. Some questions to consider are:

1. Has this type of story been done before? Almost always, the answer is yes. So what do you add that makes your story unique?
2. Is the setting ordinary? If so, where else might you set the story? What do you know that is unique about the background?
3. Are the characters old stock? How can you make them more interesting? What fresh perspectives can you bring?
4. Is this story big enough to grab a substantial audience? If not, how can you make it bigger? How can you raise the stakes? Remember that death on a physical or psychological level should be a real possibility.
5. Is there another element you can add that is fascinating? Look at the idea from different angles, and see if you can come up with a twist or two to make it more interesting.

Okay? So figure out the big idea or hook, write up the core of the story in a line or two, and think about the problems with the idea -- and patch them up.

Next, Bell suggests Bell's Pyramid. The base is plot passion -- pick a story that you are passionate about, that you really want to tell. The middle is plot potential -- is this an idea that will reach an audience? And the peak of the pyramid is precision. Make sure you know where the plot is going, and focus on achieving that goal.

So first we need to brainstorm, generating lots of ideas. Then we need to narrow down the field, looking at the hook line and sinker, along with Bell's Pyramid. Passion, potential, precision.

Bell provides several exercises related to ideas. Let me quickly sketch those out:

1. This week, choose two ways to get ideas. Set aside at least one hour of time for each, and do them.
2. Pick the idea you like the best from the ones you generated, and develop this idea in terms of a hook, line, and sinker.
3. Apply Bell's Pyramid to the idea. Does it have the passion, potential, and precision for you to continue?
4. If you like the idea, go ahead and work with it. If not, develop another one.
5. Set aside a few hours out of each month just for getting ideas. Jot down notes, rip out newspaper items, and so forth. Then go through the ideas and explode them into many, and nurture the best.

That's it. Chapter 1 told us about LOCK -- lead, objective, confrontation, and knockout. Chapter 2 introduced a disturbance, a doorway that forces the lead into the main conflict, and a doorway that forces the lead into the final confrontation. And now Chapter 3 has introduced producing ideas and nurturing them. Next, well, let's wait until next week, okay?

TECH: Meandering Our Way through Plot and Structure (9)

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Meandering Our Way through Plot and Structure (9)

Onward and upward. Walking slowly through Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell. This time we are taking a look at strong beginnings (aka Chapter 4!).

Bell starts out by listing several tasks that the beginning of the novel needs to perform:

1. Get the reader hooked
2. Establish a bond between the reader and the lead character
3. Present the story world -- setting, time, and immediate context
4. Establish the general tone.
5. Compel the reader to move on to the middle. Why should the reader care enough to continue?
6. Introduce the opposition.

That's a lot of work! Catch the reader's interest and yank them right into the story. Tie them into the lead character, and make sure we know the environment of the story and what kind of story it is. Shake hands with the opposition, and then makes the reader eager to find out what happens next. And don't forget, this is where the disturbance happens. The normal world of the lead character gets yanked out of alignment, either subtly or by an earthquake, but something happens to shake them up.

Next Bell walks through this. "The first task of your beginning is to hook the reader." One approach is opening lines. Bell notes that Dean Koontz likes to start with a one line paragraph that names a person and gives an immediate interruption to their normality. Another approach is action. Start in the middle of things, in medias res. Or with a spot of dialogue complete with conflict. A third approach is with raw emotion, something that the lead character and your reader can feel about. A fourth approach is the look-back hook. These are the bits that start out with something like "the problem that would not end for five years all started . . . " A tiny setting and an immediate flashback, which leaves the reader going along for the ride to catch up to that implied resolution - now five years in the future! Finally, especially first-person narration, sometimes captures attention through voice and attitude.

That's probably enough for this go around.

Your task, should you choose to accept it, is to go out and look at five books or stories that you really liked. But just pull out the initial paragraph or segment. What is it? Why does it work? Does it fit into one of Bell's suggestions? Then take a look at your own story or novel, and check the beginning it uses. Does it grab the reader? If you were going to use one of Bell's approaches (or one of the ones from your books), which would you use? Go ahead and write up a new draft beginning using the approach you like. How well does it grab the reader?

More soon.