TECH: Reading Through With Plot and Structure (23)

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original posting 15 November 2007

Reading Through with Plot and Structure (23)

A bit late, but . . .  here we are again with our old chum James Scott Bell and that perennial favorite Plot & Structure (no, don't clap yet, wait for the cue)

Moving right along, we're in Chapter 11, revision! And we've done two steps, letting it cool and preparing mentally (aka girding up our ego and id and all those neuroses). So now it's time for step three, read it through. (psst? If you want to, you can cheer a little now. Don't overdo it, though:-)

Okay, this is gonna take sometime. First up is a quick read through just to get an overall impression. Don't let yourself get bogged down, and don't start tinkering yet.

If you feel that you really want to mark things up, use a quick system. Bell suggests a checkmark on pages where you think the story is dragging, parens around sentences that don't make sense, a circle in the margin if something needs to be added, and a question mark where you think you might need to cut. I suggest that colored markers can be your friends, but make a legend (red means cut, green means edit, etc.) But whatever you do, don't slow down, keep going.

Why? Well, we're going to triage. That means dealing with the big stuff first.

So our first concern is answering the question, What story am I telling?

See, sometimes when we finish the draft and look at what we've written, there's another story there trying to get out. So we need to look and decide which story we really want to tell.

Some questions that may help with this analysis:

• are there parts of the story that surprised you? Why? Do you want to expand any of those parts?
• What are the characters really doing in this story, now that you can look at the whole thing? Do they have issues that you want to explore more deeply?
• Look at the places that drag or jump. These may be scenes or reactions that you could deal with more deeply. What are the characters really thinking at those points? What are their passions, frustrations, and desires?
• Imagine alternative plot developments. What would happen if your plot went off at a tangent at some point in the tale? You don 't have to use these, but they may suggest other streams to use in your plot.

If any of this catches fire for you, consider writing a summary of your plot with the modifications or additions that this has suggested.  Do a two or three page synopsis and rework it, adding the new thoughts, characters, and themes.

Next, look at structure. Think about:

• Does your story fall naturally into three acts?
• Is there an early upset in the Lead character's world?
• Does the first "doorway of no return" happen before one-fifth?
• Do the stakes go up enough?
• Does the second "doorway of no return" put the Lead on track to the climax?
• Does the rhythm and pace match your intent and the style?
• Are the characters strongly motivated?
• Are coincidences established?
• Does something happen right at the start? Did you show us a person with a problem in a concrete setting, facing change or threat?
• Is the timeline logical?
• Is the story too predictable in its sequences? Should it be rearranged?

The key at this point is making sure the plot structure is solid. Take notes of changes, adjust your synopsis, and then consider the next five areas. And take notes!

Questions about the Lead character

• Is this character memorable, compelling, interesting? Will they keep the reader intrigued all the way through the plot? Lead characters need to be alive for the readers - is yours?
• Does the character avoid clichés? Does he surprise us? What is unique or special?
• Does the character have a strong objective?
• Does the character grow? How?
• Does the Lead show inner strength?

Questions about the opposition

• Is the opposition interesting?
• Is the opposition fully realized or just a cardboard puppet?
• Are the actions of the opposition justified and sensible from that point of view?
• Is the opposition believable?
• Is the opposition as strong or stronger than the Lead?

Questions about the Glue

• Is the conflict really important to both the Lead and the opposition?
• What keeps them from walking away?

Questions about the scenes

• Are the really big scenes ( with an Ed Sullivan accent : -) big, surprising, original, and unanticipated? Have you gotten all you can out of them?
• Is there enough conflict in the scenes?
• Which scene is the least memorable? Why not cut it? Now, take a look at the new "least memorable" scene and ask yourself about whether to cut it, too.
• What else can you cut to make the story move forward relentlessly?
• Does the climactic scene go too fast, just because you were in a hurry? What can you do to make it more, to wring every bit out of it? Would a ticking clock help?
• If the middle sags, consider whether a new minor subplot can help it?

Questions about minor characters

• What is their purpose, their contribution to the plot?
• Are they unique and colorful?
• Can you get rid of some? Combine them?

Okay, lots of questions, and lots of notes. But remember, find the big problems and take care of them first, then think about the little stuff.

So that's step 3, reading through the draft to find out what to work on. Use a simple system to mark as you go. Then think about what the real story is. Next, check the structure. And then look at your Lead character, the opposition, the glue that keeps them in the fight, the scenes, and the minor characters.

And you probably thought revision was about grammar, spelling and typos, didn't you??A generation of English teachers have taught us how to be proofreaders, but right now you need to be an editor, deciding which story to include and which to cut, how big that headline should be, and which story goes on the front page. Re-vision, not proofreading.

Okay, I'm going to stop here, and we'll pick up with step 4 next week. In the meantime, take a look at the questions and think about which ones you think are the most helpful for you. Yon might even put together your own cheat sheet to guide your rereading.

And don't forget to

tink

(write, of course!)

[oh, yeah. CUE! Now you clap!]

EXERCISE: The Bestiary Gate

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Oh, that sounds like a good tale.

The Day That Lady Windwark Left the Bestiary Gate Undone

And what happened thereafter.

Now, should it be done in heroic verse or just plain text? And what was the list of the inhabitants of that bestiary? Were there green alligators, and long-necked geese, some humpty-backed camels and some chimpanzees? And was there a unicorn? Oh . . .

Tell me a story, do!

Fill: Words, words, words and yet more words ... alas not an ounce of absinthe

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Original posting 19 November 2007

Quoting Ben:

[clip]
> How does one handle the enormous word counts?
[snip]

Hi, Ben.

I've been thinking about that question of how to handle lots of words.

I kind of think the real answer might be like the one about how to eat an elephant - one bite at a time. So then the question is how do you divvy up the pile?

There's some different answers to that one, and like Kipling's ways to sing the tribal lays, they are all right. So look for what works for you. Plenty of people find a deadline, a quota, a goal of some kind works for them. Show them the goal and stand back, because they're off and running. That's more or less what the nanowrimo challenge does unless you add a bit to it.

There are also plenty of people who are more regular nibblers. They may not be too comfortable with a huge overhanging goal, but ask them to do a short story every week, an exercise on Fridays, or some other regular task, and they'll get it out week after week without missing. Set up a blog or website to collect that stuff and before you know it, they've got a respectable pile of stuff.

Sometimes you can take one of these and translate it into the other. That's really why I think it's important to take the 50K in a month and look at it as 12.5K a week or a mere 1,666 words a day. They may be mathematically identical, but in terms of emotional commitment, they are often very different.

Or toss in the weekend breaks or whatever makes it fit your life. Or you may be more comfortable with a number of hours, a list of scenes or topics, or some other way of carving that old elephant into bites that fit your dentures. When I teach project management, I usually point out that one of the most important measures of a work breakdown structure is whether it makes sense to you, and that's really what we're talking about. Take one skewer of grilled meat a day, and that oliphaunt doesn't look nearly as scary!

In fact, I've recently pulled this trick on a student here who is writing a paper. See, he told me that the paper is due on February 7, so there was lots of time. I asked him to make a list of the steps that he needed to go through to have the paper ready. He looked a little puzzled, but fairly quickly had a list of nine or 10 things. And I suggested that we start at the deadline and work our way back. So final review by the companies might take - oh, say two weeks. And this would take a week or so. Oh, let's skip the New Year season, since that's when everyone will disappear. And . . . suddenly we were looking at needing to start last week in order to get the paper done in time (and we don't have slack in that schedule yet - I think we're going to be in trouble). Anyway, having those intermediate little inch-pebbles helps quite a few of us keep on track.

There's also a group of folks who do a fine job of planning, Might be note cards, character sheets, or one of the design-a-story programs, but they work through their outline/design in some detail first then get into filling out the structure they have drawn up.

I've recently seen Lois McMaster Bujold describing her approach. She says she keeps an outline from the beginning but it is very sketchy, and as she writes, she also fills in the outline and modifies it. She said she probably has as many words in the final outline as in the novel.

Incidentally, I think an important piece is learning how to change up. For example, I am way too likely to get stuck in the research part of articles I am writing - I love digging through the literature and doing little summary papers. I really have to cut myself off and go back to writing the paper, putting together a structure, filling it in, and then smoothing out the whole thing. I have trouble cutting out the extra neat stuff that is really irrelevant, too. Non sequitur is my Achilles heel. I have learned, to some extent, the usefulness of changing formats. Written text, power point slides, and for real brainstorming, I like a big white board. Shifting back and forth when working can help you see the big picture and all those little details, too.

(I also keep side notes, both on paper and in files, of those extra ideas and stuff. Somehow jotting those down gives me the freedom to set them aside for now, instead of having them chew up my attention. And sometimes I even remember later to look at them. Good fodder for quick little followup pieces!)

I guess what I'm saying is to start with an approach that feels comfortable for you, whether that's free writing or carefully laid out writing, but don't be afraid to shift gears as you go along. Maybe you find yourself a bit off track and need to do some surveying and map work before the next step, or maybe you hit an inspiration and want to take off and write while the words are flowing - do it!

Sorry, this isn't a nicely bundled short answer. I'm not sure there is a short answer. Maybe find a hint over in that song about "life's a dance that you learn as you go, as" and writing, the reflection of life in an inky pool, well,
it takes a dash of that spirit too?

Hope something in here helps.