TECH: Returning to Plot and Structure (22)

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Original posting 6 November 2007

Returning to Plot and Structure (22)

This may not be as useful for the nanowrimowers, but it certainly is helpful for the rest of us, and they may want to use it in December (or January or February :-) So Chapter 11 in Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell talks about Revising Your Plot. It's not an in-depth treatment like Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Browne and King, and there are other treatments of the revision process, but it's still a good summary and review.

The first point he makes is that you need to finish your first draft. Seems simple, but it really is necessary. I know I'm likely to get stopped in the middle trying to revise something just a little bit -- and hours later remember that I really need to finish. Set your quotas, and keep going. Getting off track -- trying to dig up just the right word in the thesaurus, or deciding that now is the time to do that in-depth research on exactly what kind of honey was available to serfs in the Middle Ages, or whatever your favorite way out avoiding writing is -- are some of the best ways to not finish. So before you start revising, finish writing the first draft.

Bell lays out seven steps. We may not actually get through all of them in this episode, but let me give you the names of the seven steps.

Step 1.        Let it cool
Step 2.        Get mentally prepared
Step 3.        Read it through
Step 4.        Brood over what you've done
Step 5.        Write the second draft
Step 6.        Refine
Step 7.        Polish

You might want to compare this with Holly Lisle's one-pass revision process over at http://hollylisle.com/fm/Workshops/one-pass-revision.html

Let's take a look at step one. Let it cool. Most of us try to jump from writing to revision without that pause in the middle. But you really need to stop and forget the story and characters, at least a little bit. Get some distance so when you look at the words, you can actually see them. Otherwise you're very likely to read what's in your mind, not what's written down. So Bell wants you to step aside, do some other writing, maybe start your next novel, or read. Different people have different cooling off periods, but Bell suggests two or three weeks. I've also seen people call this drawer time - put it in a drawer and forget about it, then discover this manuscript by an unknown writer that you get to revise! Whatever works for you, but consider how to get that distance from your own writing that lets you be a good reviewer.

Second step. Get mentally prepared. Some writers enjoy writing and hate reviewing and revising. Others fall in love with revising. Make sure that you are starting with the right mental attitude. You might make a list. Bell suggests:

• I am going to strengthen my book by rewriting strategically
• I know what to do for each step, so rewriting strategically is fun
• Rewriting is what separates the pros from the wannabes
• I want to be a pro, not a wannabe

Make up your own list, and make sure that you know where you are going with your revision. Then get in there and do it.

The next step is probably the biggest, because we're going to do a review, trying to answer a number of questions about our novel, analyzing what it says to us, checking the structure, looking at the characters, testing the glue, and checking the bolts on each scene. I think instead of trying to rush through that, I'm going to devote the entire next episode just to looking at how you read through for your review as part of the revision process. Okay?

So we are going to start by letting our novel cool for a while, and then thinking about getting our own mind in the starting blocks for revision. And next will be reading!

Just for fun, how do you cool off between writing and revision? How do you get your mind off of that plot, those characters, and those scenes that have been your focus -- so that you can actually take a good hard look at the story that you have written?

EXERCISE: A couple of lines

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original posting 9 November 2007

So, let's see. A bit of background. One of the local stations had an enka singer recently - enka is kind of Japanese blues, usually in a kimono, and often about the man who done me wrong and similar topics. Anyway, this one song caught my attention for some reason, with the refrain about the red thread.

So this morning, I wake up with the line

We sewed ourselves together with a red thread of despair

running through my noggin.

And chasing it was another line

We sowed our selves together with six red seeds of anger

Not sure why they go together, or even if they do, but what the heck. Use one or the other, or even use both together, and . . .

Start your poem or story? End your tale? Let them reverberate somewhere in the background? Twist some variation on the line(s) and use that?

There you are.

We sewed ourselves together with a red thread of despair

We sowed our selves together with six red seeds of anger

and write!

EXERCISE: Plot Complications, again?

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Original Posting 11 November 2007

Since I know the nanowrimowers are running, how about this?

One of your characters needs something, (and maybe has a secret in their past?) so they . . .

Pick one of the following and stretch! (there are six, if you want to use a random choice)

1. Go into a Goodwill (or other recycle shop of your choice) and, while looking, stumble across the used records - which prompts some memories and reflections.

2. Wander through a hardware store, looking at the odds and ends there - which also prompts some memories and reflections.

3. Goes into a sporting goods store, and while searching for what they need, notice the fishing supplies - prompting a moment of memory and reflection.

4. Walks into a toy store, and sees the Barbie dolls there, which (you guessed it!) reminds them of some memories, which they reflect on.

5. Goes into a grocery store, where they find Moxey for sale in the soft drinks, reminding them of that time when . . . (if you don't know what Moxey is, substitute a soft drink or other item of your choice).

6. Visits a five and dime (dollar store, some kind of small goods store of your choice) where they find the children's items, and that reminds them of . . .

Okay? Make us really see that store, with the various goods on display, the odors and sounds and people. And show us the initial response to stumbling over that old memory through the items in the story, and the thoughts that follow.

Simple, right? Have one character take a left turn through a store, in the process finding a missing piece of themselves.

And write!