writercises | Entries tagged with plot

Original Posting March 14, 2018

So, let's see. A likable character faces opposition or conflict, and by his or her own efforts, achieves a worthwhile goal. So we need a character, opposition and conflict, efforts, and a goal? Or maybe start with the character and goal, then the plan to get there, and finally the opposition or conflict, what's going to be in the way?

Heck, start with any of these. Characters, Setting, Plot, or even theme or purpose. Then brainstorm away at the others.

Here, start with a character. Who are they? What are their goals and desires? What are their problems and faults? In your story, what changes?

Or maybe a setting? Where are we? What are the scenes and locations?

Of course, plot is a really common starting place. What threatens the character's self-image? What can go wrong, and what will it cost? What blocks the character, and what are they going to do about it? Think about the events you want to have in your story, and especially the climax. Are you going to have some small try-fail cycles, bumps along the road, before you get to the climax?

Another simple plotting approach is:
1. What is the moment of change that starts the story moving?
2. What is the hook for the reader?
3. What is the story problem?
4. What is the first doorway of no return? What is the point where the main character, the protagonist, commits to solving the problem?
5. What are the complications that they are going to face in trying to achieve that?
6. What is the second doorway of no return? What is the twist, the revelation, the point where the main character figures out how to achieve their goal, and starts into the climax?
7. What is the ending? What is the climax, the character change, and the answer to the story problem?
8. Now go back and consider, what backfill and back story do you need?

Another way to brainstorm about it is answering questions. Here's one set:

1. Where are we? Setting!
2. Who is there? Characters, with their pluses and minuses.
3. Where are we going? What are their goals and motivations?
4. What blocks them? What are the obstacles or opposition?
5. What are they going to do? What are their plans?
That's all kind of background. The story itself revolves around:
6. What's the hook? What's the story question or problem?
7. What background do we need?
8. What's the build up? Lay out the scenes, the information, the turning points, the reveals, the surprises.
9. What's the climax? What is the character change, the plot resolution, the story answer?
10. What is the purpose or theme? You may not be able to answer this until you have written at least a first draft.

Or maybe you want to think about genres? Lots of different lists, here's one from Save the Cat:
1. Monster in the house: a monster, and the house. Something scary, and a restricted field.
2. The Golden Fleece: we are on a quest to get…
3. Out of the bottle: wish fulfillment.
4. Dude with the problem: ordinary guy, extraordinary circumstances
5. Rites of passage: life changes
6. Buddy love. Love stories, odd couples, mismatched…
7. Whydunit. A mystery by any other name.
8. The fool triumphant. The underdog wins!
9. Institutionalized. What happens inside.
10. Superhero. An extraordinary person in an ordinary world.

Take your character, your seed of a plot, or whatever, and try running it into some of these questions, or maybe brainstorm how you would write it up as several of these genres. Remember, it's still early, so you've got time to kick the tires. Next week, we'll start having to actually write a story every week! But, I'll let you do a little preparation if you want to. That way you just have to pick out a story idea and sit down and write, write, write.

Whoosh! All that for a little story? Well, you don't have to. You can just sit down and write by the seat of your pants. Many great writers swear that they just sit down and open a vein, and... the words come. The arguments between seat-of-the-pants writers (pantsers, or discovery writers) and outliners have been going on probably since the first cavemen sat down to tell a story over that new invention, the fire. Frankly, do whichever works for you. Some people swear that thinking about it, outlining and planning, takes all of the excitement and interest out of it, and they just can't write a story once they've done that. Others find that blank page terribly intimidating, and a little bit of brainstorming and planning helps reduce that terror.

And just think! Starting Sunday, March 18, we'll all be scratching our heads and churning out a story (or 6!). So watch for the submissions, starting March 24! Right here on Writers! Okay?

Okay? So who's with me? 6 stories. Any size, but write a story, okay?

Get on your marks...

mbarker

Original Posting Feb. 13, 2018

Writer's Digest, May 1994, had an article by Nancy Kress, with the title "Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch…" And a subtitle "Transitions are the signposts that guide readers smoothly – or not – through your story." Aha. Those funny little transitions.

Nancy starts by pointing out that we all struggle to smooth out the bumps between paragraphs and scenes. Well, what are the guidelines for transitions?

First, there are lots of transitions you don't need! Nancy says she sees more student writing with superfluous transitions than missing ones! Superfluous transitions call attention to the mechanics. But which ones don't you need? Well, first look for the ones within a single scene, instead of between scenes.

"Eliminate transitions between types of narrative modes." Dialogue, description, action, thought, and exposition are the ways we narrate our stories, and most of the time, you don't need to signal when you're switching. For instance, between dialogue and thought, you don't need to say Henry thought or something like that. The reader will figure out that you are telling us about thoughts.

"Eliminate transitions between flashbacks." The tense change, from past tense to past perfect tense, often is enough to let the reader know that we've switched. Yes, we can remember that first summer, but "Her first summer had been so different." is enough to let us know we've jumped into a flashback.

"Minimize locomotion writing." Unless the trip is necessary, just do a cut. Tell us where we've arrived, maybe when it is, and go on. We don't really need to know all the steps.

"Don't become the Weather Channel!" Weather reports are often used for transitions. If it's important, maybe. But be careful, don't overdo it.

At the same time, there are transitions you do need. At the start of each new scene or chapter, orient the reader. Time and space, who's there. The straightforward approach is to do this immediately. Although, that can get tiresome. So you might change it up, some action, some dialogue, and then orient. Do watch for what I call lurking characters – scenes where you think two people are talking, and there's a whole chorus group just waiting to surprise me when they start talking.

Oh, if your story uses multiple points of view, make sure that the scene transitions also tell us which POV this scene uses.

Transitions you might need. Nancy talks about large chunks of time. The easiest thing is, skip the time between chapters, and start with a clear indication of how much time has gone by. It was 1936, six years later… You can also fill in with a little expository summary. That's right, you get to tell, not show! Toss in a little characterization, maybe reveal some interesting changes, and… On with the parade.

Nancy summarizes her advice in three principles:

1. If you can leave a transition out, do.
2. Make clear the where, when, and who of each new scene.
3. Present the where, when, and who in varied ways that also contribute to characterization, description, or plot.

"Transitions are the guideposts that direct readers through your story. Provide them as needed – but put them by the side of the road, where they belong, not under your story's wheels."

So, a squeaky wheel needs some grease, but not too much. Make those transitions help your reader slide right through the story!

Practice? The obvious thing is take a work in progress, or a piece you like, or something like that. Now look closely. You might even want to highlight the transitions that are there. Is this transition necessary? Try taking it out and see what happens. Look for the beginnings of scenes. Does it have a clear who, when, and where? Does it need a smoother transition? Again, try adjusting the transition in that beginning and see what happens. Then look at the ways that the transitions are handled across the scenes. Do you use the same one repeatedly, too many times? Could you do a little bit more with characterization, description, or plot in the transitions? You might even consider adding to your revision checklist a piece about checking the transitions?

Write?

mbarker

Original Posting Dec. 30, 2017

Writer's Digest, January 1994, had an article by Nancy Kress on pages eight, 10, 11, with the title, "Is It Good?" The subtitle was, "That depends on who's doing the judging – and on these four criteria."

Nancy starts out by pointing out that it's a really good story, her book wasn't very good, he's a good writer, and similar judgments all have that word in them: Good. Just what do we mean by that? Why does one person thinks something is good all another person thinks it's mediocre or even worse? What, if anything, ties being good and being published? For that matter, how do you judge if your work or somebody else's is good? Well…

Nancy suggests that there are various definitions. You need to be aware of at least a few of the major ones. For example:

Judging by texture. "This is the literary criterion for judging fiction." Texture? Well, it's hard to define, but not too hard to recognize. Prose with a high level of detail. Details that create an interlocking set of symbols that conveys meaning, related to the voice. Usually, the details, symbols, and all that is used to explore subtlety of characters. Details, emotional reactions, motifs, voice…

Or maybe judging by plot! Yes, some people don't care about texture. Instead, they want a fast-moving plot, plenty of incidents, unexpected developments, danger, overt conflict. Excitement, action! This actually tends to be the commercial definition, because these books sell a lot of copies. They may or may not have interesting texture and well drawn characters. But what people are looking for is the action! Action, fast pace, danger, lives at stake, a clear-cut resolution to plot complications, and characters that your readers can root for.

Or, judging by scope? Within the realm of commercial, plot-driven fiction, some are better than others. What's the difference? Nancy says it's scope. The background, carefully researched, and portrayed. "It's about an entire era: its hopes, ambitions, briefs, fears, selfishnesses, heroisms." Scope and depth! "Genre work transcends its genre by aiming for – and achieving – a complex setting that takes on a life of its own."

Or perhaps, judging by emotional response? Bland texture, tired plots, stock characters, little scope – but still a bestseller? Well, "such books fill an emotional need. They reaffirmed for readers whatever they already believe or want to believe…" Emotional reassurance and hope. Romances that let them feel love, war stories that let them feel victorious, adventure tales and let them feel tough, and so forth. The readers get something they value, and they consider such books good.

So, texture, plot, scope, emotional response? If someone says your work is or is not good, try probing a little bit to find out which value system they are using.

"Finally, some stories have it all. Textured, individual prose. Compelling plot. Complex characters. Scope of background. Timely emotional satisfaction. We call these books classics."

Understand the criteria which you are using, and which other people are using to evaluate your fiction. Then decide whether you're going the right direction.

And have a good time writing!

Practice? Well, I suppose you could take your work in progress or maybe some of your favorites, and tried judging them by the various criteria that Nancy has described. Does it have great texture? How about the plot? Scope? Or is it provoking an emotional response? You might even consider trying to modify your work to push one or more of these little bit higher!

Just write!

mbarker

Original posting Nov. 3, 2017

That’s really the rallying cry, I think, of Nanowrimo. Just like most marathons (does anyone do dance marathons anymore? I’ve seen them in movies, at least), the question isn’t really so much getting started, or how beautifully you run or dance, but simply keeping going. One word after another, one step after another, keep on trucking, keep those words coming! And, in a little while, badda boom badda bim, you will have a big pile of words. Yes, some of them may not be wonderful, some of them may in fact badly need trimming or discarding, and revision is a wonderful thing, but... learning that you too can crunch out the words, keep them coming, and keep it going for a month... that’s a big thing!

So, here we are, 3 days in, probably somewhere around 6,000 words more or less depending on whether you got excited and forged ahead (Yay! As those down south are reputed to say, good on you!) or you might be a bit lower with perhaps a plan to push on over the weekend or later. But you may also be feeling some quivers from that old inner editor urging you to go back and do some revision, just a little rewriting, some clean up. Resist that urge! Make notes if you want about that new idea, the cleanup that you thought of, or whatever, but keep on moving forward! Revision comes later. Right now we are in production mode, full speed ahead, damn the errors, just keep writing and fix it later!

Still crunching away? Great. But you might consider the basic building block of the Lester Dent Plot. Really pretty simple. Start by heaping trouble on the hero. Let him struggle with it, leading up to a physical conflict. Then bring in a plot twist, something intriguing to keep the reader going. Trouble, struggle, and the ever popular yes-but or no-and. What are those? Yes-but means the hero succeeds, BUT that very success leads to a new and bigger problem. No-and? The hero fails, falls flat on his face, AND in failing, finds out that things are worse than before! That’s right, no matter how the hero struggles, things get more complicated or worse. Poor hero! But that’s what readers love, is that continuing struggle despite the continuing addition of new problems and worsening conditions.

So are you enjoying churning out the words? Finding it relaxing, thinking about how these characters face their problems, stand up and try to achieve great things, dream the impossible dream... outstanding! Just keep on keeping on, and before long, well, there will be enough words to make the story ring, and plenty to work on when you do turn back and start revising. And just think, you’ll know who these people are, where they are, what they are doing, and all that! Why? Because you pushed ahead and wrote, wrote, wrote until the story started to make sense, and you could see what was going on. Even though there were times when you thought it was going to turn into so much random hash, when you get far enough, you’ll look back and say, “Yes! Now I see it.” I mean, we all talk about how great the view is when we’re looking back, and how often we don’t see things when we are in the midst of the struggle, but somehow we expect our writing to be different, that we will know everything ahead of time. Sorry, it doesn’t work that way. All too often, you have to write the story to find out what you need to know about it — and then you can go back and do that great revision! But if you wait for perfect knowledge before you start, you will have a long, long wait.

So, keep on crunching out those words. Just think, you’re about one tenth done already! Only 9 tenths more to go! Sure, 27 Days, but take it one day at a time, and keep on keeping on. You’ll be glad you did!

Write?

mbarker

Original Posting Aug. 19, 2017

Writer's Digest, March 1999, on pages 30-33 and page 52, have an article by William J. Reynolds with the title Keeping Them in Suspense. All about how to build a page turner.

Reynolds starts out by posing the challenge that you want your readers to say, "I've gotta know." That's the essence of suspense. And to keep them turning pages, you want suspense. Compelling characters, plausible plot, intriguing subplots, richly evoked settings, appealing writing… Yes, you want those too. But suspense is what gives fiction that kick.

Now, he suggests you start by setting up three different sizes of suspense, just like soft drinks: small, medium, and large. Watch out for supersize? Anyway, most stories include all three sizes in different places. Maybe start with some small suspense, I wonder what is really going on. Then add some mortal danger, and get to medium-sized suspense. And build to large-sized suspense, who is this masked man? And, you might have a supersize twist.

Next, Reynolds suggests you plan a roller coaster ride. Waves of suspense! Start slow, build to a peak, drop, build again, drop, and so forth. Give your readers a bit of a breather, some release, interim resolutions.

But where does suspense come from? Well, what is the obvious source? Plot. But sometimes suspense grows out of the characters, too. Their actions and reactions, their motivations. "So suspenseful elements in the plot generate suspenseful episodes that grow out of the characters' personalities." And how the characters respond or react drives forward the plot, generating new suspenseful episodes to which our characters must react." Even the place – setting – may contribute suspense. Earthquakes, bandits, weather, all of these things can add suspense.

And, you need to keep track of your pace. Your style of writing, the viewpoint, the words and the way you use them, all can build suspense. Long, slow passages turn into short, telegraphic bursts.

And the last page – well, the resolution of your story – is a key part of the suspense. Watch out for inadvertently leaving your reader hanging on the edge of a cliff, you do want to resolve events satisfactorily. Not necessarily everything. And you do want the end to come quickly after the climactic shock. A few loose ends is not a problem. Give us a satisfactory conclusion, logical, perfectly in keeping with everything that's gone before. Then don't blunt it.

"Most important, we finally found out what we've gotta know."

Stop.

Practice? Take that work in progress, and go over it, looking at the suspense. Do you have some questions that the reader has just gotta know about right from the start? Do they build, and get resolved, and build again? If you've got some sections where there's no suspense, add a dash. And make sure that when we get that resolution, we don't spend too long hanging around trying to tie up every little loose end. Mostly...

WRITE!
tink

mbarker

Original Posting July 31, 2017

[As the summer doldrums warm up… It must be time for doing something?]

Writer's Digest, January 1999, pages 29-32, had an article by Monica Wood with the title "The Plot Thickens." All about complications! It starts out with the assertion that "every good story needs a complication." Or, as Monica explains, "A story needs a point of departure, place from which the character can discover something, transform himself, realize a truth, reject a truth, right a wrong, make a mistake, come to terms. This point of departure is the story's complication." Cool, right?

"A good complication engages the reader, gets the story going, and forms the beginning of a dramatic arc that will lead eventually to the story's conclusion." A critical structural element, but… Often misunderstood. Enter the situation, often mistaken for a true complication.

You start writing your story or just thinking about it, and you have an idea about the character and what he's doing. So you've got a set up. Now something happens. Major accident on the interstate? Some exciting predicament, full of sounds and textures of drama… A textbook complication? Well, no, you probably have just a situation. So what is a bona fide complication? "A complication must either illuminate, thwart or alter what the character wants. A good complication puts emotional pressure on a character, prompting that character not only to act, but to act with purpose." Interesting situations are just that interesting, but they don't motivate the character. A complication means the character is motivated.

Sometimes that's just adding back story! Something at stake, something that turns the terrible accident, the exciting predicament, into a meaningful complication. Something that connects with the character, that brings up desires, memories, all that kind of stuff. The motivation really comes out of the back story, but it transforms that situation into a true complication. Now the actions have meaning.

How can you tell if you got a true complication or just a situation? Well, practice and experience. Monica provides a couple of examples, and adds twists to turn them into complications. Make the character act!

Now is it a good complication? Well, good complications raise the stakes. And then thicken the plot. They open pathways for further complications. More and more choices.

Now, while raising the stakes in thickening the plot, the complication should also create and sustain dramatic tension. Check your complications!

In a story, complications serve a variety of functions. But double check them. Even if they're fulfilling the functions, are the complications strong enough for the story you want to tell. Simple complications might be enough for a short story. Longer stories, more complex complications. And of course, as you get into even longer stories and novels, you need more and better complications.

Now, complications may be just internal, or they may be external. Internal complications often result in reflections, while external complications usually run to action. Sometimes you mix them up, partially internal and partially external.

So, there you go. Start mixing up that story, a dash of character, a bit of setting, maybe a fascinating event… And a healthy set of complications!

Practice? Take a short story, something you're working on, and look closely at the complications. Are they situations? Build up that motivation, that back story, and turn them into real complications. Make your characters act! Now raise the stakes, thicken the plot, build the dramatic tension, check complications versus story weight, and of course, consider the balance of internal and external complications. Make those complications complicated!

Write?
tink

mbarker

Original Posting March 23, 2017

Writer's Digest, March 2001, had an article by Nancy Kress on pages 10-12. The title was "Out Of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire." The subtitle was "Why bad things should happen to good plots: creating problems for your characters keeps your plot moving and your readers entertained."

Nancy starts with a short anecdote about novelist Maureen McHugh. Apparently Maureen has a sign above her computer. She says, "It is the only thing I know about how to plot."

Wow! What do you think the sign says?

Actually, it says, "THINGS GET WORSE."

All right! Nancy reminds us that "stories are about things that went wrong." The basic story plot is first, something happens that someone doesn't like, second, the problem gets fixed or it doesn't. Of course, that's not quite enough to build a plot about. So what should you be looking at? Nancy recommends thinking about four questions.

1. What can go wrong for the protagonist? Your character want to do something positive, reasonably straightforward, and knows how it's supposed to go. Then the writer gets into it. What can go wrong? And let the character deal with that.

Nancy gives the example of a woman on her way home from work with just enough time to go to the bank and cash a check before she picks up her son at daycare. What could go wrong? Some possibilities! An accident on the way. At the bank, a robbery, and Susan is taken hostage. At daycare, the little boy doesn't want to go home. No matter which one you introduce, now the character has some extra things to do and think about.

Now admittedly, lots of stories have built-in problems. Mysteries usually start with a murder, and someone's trying to find out who done it. Along the way, lots of things can go wrong.

2. How can solutions make situations worse? Well, suppose that your character tries to do something to fix the problem. And in the process of fixing it, makes things worse.

For example, Susan could drive away from the accident to call for help. But when she gets back, the police and ambulance are taking care of things. Should she tell them she caused it? Or, as a hostage, Susan might try to escape. And get shot in the process! Whoops. Or maybe thinking about her little boy not wanting to go home, Susan quits work to spend more time with him. But… Now she doesn't have that income.

3. What else can go wrong? Novels often have multiple unrelated troubles. Pile them on! Make sure they have some natural relationship, but adding problems can keep the story going.

4. What can go wrong for the other characters? Your protagonist has got lots of other people around. "Sometimes, you can generate interesting plot developments by asking what can go wrong for these people."

That poor woman trying to cash a check and pick up her child? There's a husband who certainly might have some reactions to all that other stuff. But he could also have some problems in his own life. An affair, new job, heart attack, being arrested? Those are certainly going to affect Susan.

Clearly, these questions are not a formula for mechanical plotting. Instead, they're to help you brainstorm, to take that idea for a story and turn it into a full-fledged plot. Go ahead, use them to find your own personal exciting combinations.

So that's the article. But, there's a sidebar on page 11 that summarizes these four questions. Here's how Writer's Digest put it.

– Think about what your character is trying to accomplish. What are some of the things that can go wrong?
– Don't let your character off the hook too easily – think of how solutions to the character's problem can make the situation even worse.
– Once you've established a primary problem, throw your character a few curveballs by developing additional woes.
– Allow your secondary characters to have problems of their own. How do these troubles affect your protagonist?

So, there you go. What can go wrong, how can fixing it make it worse, what else could go wrong, and who else can have problems?

Lots of ways to build up that fire!
tink

mbarker

Original Posting March 22, 2017

I've lost track, I may have written about this before. James Scott Bell, who has been teaching writing for over 20 years, has a pile of books, articles, and so forth out there, and... he says, "I believe this may be the single most powerful writing strategy I have ever developed."

The title of the book is "Write Your Novel from the Middle: A New Approach for Plotters, Pantsers and Everyone in Between." It's by James Scott Bell. I got mine from Amazon, on the Kindle store.

Basically, Bell was taking a close look at the midpoint. He was trying to figure out just what belongs in there, and why everyone had so much trouble with it. So he started by looking at movies and novels, and seeing what was in the middle. What he found was a moment within a scene that "tells us what the novel or movie is really all about."

One moment that defines the whole story? Wow!

Now, his whole book is talking about how this works and why this works. But, let me pick out some of the highlights. Then you can decide if you want to read the book yourself. I do recommend it, in case you can't tell.

So, Chapter 1 kind of throws down the gauntlet. Here he sketches a plotter, carefully outlining, a pantser, scribbling away with artistic freedom, and even someone in the middle, and promises to help all of them! Then, in chapter 2, he explains where he found this new insight. Right in the middle!

Chapter 3 talks about stakes. "A great novel is the record of how a character fights with death." Simple, right? Life or death. But… Bell admits, there are three kinds of death. Physical, especially for thrillers and such like, is pretty obvious. However, professional death is also a possibility. Where failure means your career is down the toilet, there is no future. Mysteries often use this. Or, perhaps the death is psychological. Dying on the inside. Romance, oddly enough, is probably about facing psychological death – if you don't get together with your soulmate, you're going to die on the inside.

Now, chapter 4 adds in the two pillars. You've probably heard of the three act structure. Between Act I and Act II, between the introductory bang and the middle turning pages, you need a doorway of no return. You tell us who the characters are and the situation, and then something happens that forces that character to deal with the major problem of the plot. Something that makes sure that "there is no way back to the old, comfortable world." Something that forces the main character to confront those life-and-death stakes!

You want to check your first doorway of no return? Bell gives us a checklist!
1. Does your introduction give us a character worth following?
2. Do your opening pages have a disturbance?
3. Do you know the death stakes of your story?
4. Is there a scene that forces the character into the confrontation with those death stakes?
5. Is this strong enough? Can the lead character resist going into battle?
6. For novels, does this scene occur before about 1/5 of your total page count?

The second pillar, as you might've guessed, is another doorway of no return. Bell labels it the "Doorway of No Return #2." Guess what? This time, the doorway makes inevitable the final battle and resolution. That's right, in the second act, we have "a series of actions where the character confronts and resists death and is opposed by counter forces." Then the second doorway looms! This might be an event that feels like a major crisis or setback. It could be a clue, discovery, revelation. Whatever it is, it pushes the lead character into Act III – the climax, the final battle, the resolution.

Checklist!
1. Have you created a major crisis or setback that the lead must overcome?
2. Is there a clue or discovery that makes the final resolution possible?

There you go. Two doorways. And, in between them, you'll discover…

Chapter 5. The magical midpoint moment. Bell calls this the "look in the mirror" moment. What happens here? Well, basically, the lead character looks at himself (in the mirror). There are two basic thoughts that occur here. In a character-driven story, the lead looks at himself and wonders what kind of a person am I? What kind of person am I becoming? What will happen if I overcome my faults? What do I need to change? In a plot-driven story, the lead looks at himself and considers the odds he faces. Typically, death seems certain! So, transformation or facing the toughest odds. Either way, the character looks in the mirror and thinks about what to do.

That moment, and it's not even a whole scene, is the magical midpoint moment. Bell lays out a golden triangle based -- well, peaked -- with that mirror moment. That's right, take a triangle, and put the mirror moment at the top. That's the middle, and everything else in your story fits around it. On one side, the ending, you know the ultimate transformation that the character is headed for, and on the other side, the beginning, you know their pre-story psychology, where they came from.

So that's the middle. One little moment that makes a story! With a look in the mirror (or whatever your character uses to reflect on their situation), and either a thought about who I am and how I am going to change OR a thought about just what kind of odds I have to overcome. And then...

Chapter 6. Backup and think about the pre-story psychology, how did your character get here.

Chapter 7. Look ahead, and describe the ultimate transformation that your character is headed for. Show it to us. Make it visual. Bell suggests a two-step process.

1. Write a paragraph about the inner realization. Free write this, how does the character feel, what kind of thoughts go through their head?
2. Brainstorm actions that prove the transformation has taken place. Not just an internal change, what do they do that shows they are a new person?

Chapter 8. Whoosh! Mirror moment, back story, and ultimate transformation. Simple, right? And yet, it provides a framework to help guide your writing. In fact, in this chapter, Bell walks through how each kind of writer might use this. First, for the outliner, the plotter, Bell suggests starting with a set of "signpost scenes." Here's his list of 14 signpost scenes.

1. Opening disturbance. The ordinary world, and a change, challenge, trouble, or difference.
2. Care package. Someone that the lead character cares about at the beginning of the story. Show the lead doing something.
3. Argument opposed to the transformation. The lead character states a belief that will be overturned by the end.
4. Trouble brewing. Things may settle down after the initial disturbance, but now a greater trouble is coming.
5. Doorway of No Return #1. Something pushes the lead character into Act II, where they face death!
6. A kick in the shins. While trying to solve the problem, achieve the objective, do something, there is a significant setback for the lead character.
7. The mirror moment. This is where the lead character faces what's going on.
8. Pet the dog. During all the turmoil of Act II, the lead character still takes time to help a person or animal weaker than themselves.
9. Doorway of No Return #2. A major setback, crisis, clue or discovery that sets up the final battle.
10. Mounting forces. The opposition brings in even larger opposition!
11. Lights out. Alone, in the dark, all is lost. The dark night of the despondency!
12. Q Factor. Something gives the lead an emotional push, the courage to fight on, to make the right choice. Often a memory or reminder of emotional impact from Act I, or a trusted character recalling the lead to the need to fight for the right.
13. Final battle. Will the lead overcome the forces of evil (outer) or will the lead make the right choice (inner)?
14. Transformation. Show us the change to a stronger or different self, and build the emotional resonance for the audience.

There you go. With the golden triangle, you can focus on the mirror moment, transformation, and back story, and lay them out against this list of signpost scenes.

Pantser? All right. Go ahead and start writing. Meet the characters, try out a few scenes, see what happens. After about 10,000 words or so, stop and take a look at this checklist:

1. Who is the main character? What is their problem?
2. Do they have a moral flaw that is hurting others? If not, could you give them one?
3. How did they develop it? What's the back story on it?
4. Do you want to write an upbeat ending? If so, how will they overcome the flaw and be transformed? What will that scene look like?
5. Do you want to write a downbeat ending? If so, show how the character has a chance to be transformed, but rejects it.

Think about the mirror moment for the character. What do they see in the mirror? Write their inner thoughts.

There you go. You've got the big pieces, the back story, the transformation, and the mirror moment. Write around that! Keep going!

In Between? Use what you like. Probably, start with the outline of the mirror moment and the transformation. Then go back and fill in some pre-story.

Bell also takes a look at how genre, character, theme, and even parallel plots (or multiple subplots?) fit into this approach. If you like to start with a genre, go ahead. He suggests you might start by filling in the sentence, "My XYZ is about (character/vocation) who is (death stakes situation)." XYZ is the genre, and of course, the character, vocation, and death stakes situation describe your story. Next, brainstorm your mirror moments. Do you want it to be internal or external? What is the moral flaw of your character? What are the odds that they face? Third, brainstorm transformation and back story. Your genre work is going to sizzle with that golden triangle in the middle.

How about character? Well, you might want to start by thinking about transformation. What does this character want to achieve, how do they need to grow and change? What will they do to show how far they have come? Then go back to pre-story, and finish up by thinking about the mirror moment to tie that together.

Theme? One of those grand statements about life, the universe, and how it all fits together? Go ahead, pick your statement. Now, who would be a good character to reflect that. You probably want to go directly to the mirror moment, and focus on the kind of death they are facing. What's a scenario that puts them face-to-face with death and that thematic statement? Come up with several versions, and then pick the one you really like. Then lay out the transformation, and go back to the backstory. Bam!

Parallel plots, subplots – guess what. Put a golden triangle in each one, and work out the pieces.

That's it! You've got the writing from the middle insight firmly in your grasp. Now, go practice it.

An exercise? Sure. Take a story, or a novel, that you know well and like. Now, what is the mirror moment in that story? What's the transformation, and what is the backstory? Study how your favorites have done this, or even how you have done it yourself.

By the way, Bell finishes his book with chapter 9, Some Writing Tips. He's got a pile of good information there, so don't think it's all done yet. But the writing from the middle insight really seems to be pretty much wrapped up at the end of chapter 8, so I'll stop here for now.

tink

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original Posting Dec. 2, 2016

Let's see. Someone was talking about pulp fiction recently, and I pulled out Lester Dent's plot. They seemed surprised to learn of it, so... what the heck, let's review!

http://www.paper-dragon.com/1939/dent.html has a copy, if you want to follow along.

First off, Lester recommends brainstorming about four different things. They are:
1. A different murder method for the villain to use
2. A different thing for the villain to be seeking
3. A different locale
4. A menace which hangs like a cloud over the hero
You need at least one, two is better, and three is great! Okay? So do some thinking about what's going to be your unique points.

Next, divvy up the story into four parts. Lester was doing 6000 word stories, with 1500 word parts, but adjust to taste.

First part.
1. First line, or as near as possible, introduce your hero and hit him with a bunch of trouble. Hint at a mystery, menace, or problem that the hero has to deal with.
2. Make the hero pitch in to deal with the bunch of trouble.
3. Introduce all other characters as soon as possible, bringing them on in action.
4. Near the end of the first part, let the hero's efforts get him into an actual physical conflict.
5. Also, near the end, drop in a complete surprise twist in the plot.
Suspense? Menace to the hero? Logical sequence of events? Make sure that your action does more than just move the hero around in the scenery. Let him learn things, and surprises.

Second part
1. Load more trouble on the hero.
2. The hero keeps struggling, leading to
3. Another physical conflict and
4. Another plot twist!
Make sure we have more suspense, increasing menace, and the hero is getting in more and more trouble. Also, we still need that clockwork logic progression.

Show! Make the reader see things.
Try to put at least one minor surprise o each page.
Use tags to keep your characters easy to remember.
Continuous action!

Third part
1. More trouble for the hero!
2. Hero begins to make some headway, and corners villain or someone in
3. (You guessed it!) a physical conflict
4. And yet another surprising plot twist.
Whoosh! More suspense, that menace is turning solid black, and the hero is really in trouble! All in logical lockstep, right?

Feel free to make the physical conflicts different, just to avoid monotony.

Action: vivid, swift, make the reader see it.
Atmosphere: all the senses.
Description: scenery and details.
Make each word count.

Fourth part!
1. More troubles for the hero!
2. Get the hero almost buried in trouble.
3. Let the hero pull himself out using his own skills!
4. The big mystery gets cleared up during the final confrontation.
5. Final twist, a big surprise.
6. Punch line ending!
Keep the suspense going to the last line. Keep the menace there until the ending. Make sure that everything is explained, and that the events all happen logically. Use the punch line to make the reader feel warm and fuzzy! And, make sure that your hero kills or defeats the villain, not someone else.

There you go. Simple, right? Get the character in trouble, keep them fighting and finding out new twists, build it up to another fight and twist, build it up to one more fight and twist, and then kaboom! Let the hero fight their way out, with a final big twist.

Got it? Now write it!
tink

Current Mood: pulpy

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original Posting Nov. 8, 2016

Let's see. November 8? So in theory, if we're pounding out 2,000 words a day, we're hitting around 16,000 now? Aiming to leap over tall buildings, or at least rumble past that 50,000 word goal with words to spare?

Although... One week in? So about a fourth of the way? And more than likely heading into the dry gulch known as the middle, where so many caravans have come to an end, sputtering and gasping as the initial steam ran out?

How about this? Here's some points along the way that you might want to check off? From the Hero's Journey.

1. Ordinary world
2. Call to adventure
3. Refusal of the call
4. Meeting the mentor
5. Crossing the first threshold
6. Tests, allies, enemies
7. Approach to the inmost cave
8. Supreme ordeal
9. Reward (seizing the sword)
10. The road back
11. Resurrection
12. Return with elixir

Just consider. What might that look like in your story? Where are you right now? Have you crossed the first threshold (aka the doorway without any return)? Starting into the complications, the try-fail cycles of tests, allies, and enemies?

Or you could go with the full-blown Blake Snyder's 15 beats:

1. Opening image
2. Statement of the theme
3. Set up -- who are the characters, and what's the hero missing?
4. Catalyst -- What kicks off the action?
5. Debate -- wait a minute?
6. Break into act two -- The hero takes that step
7. The B story -- changeup
8. Fun and games -- let's try it out
9. Midpoint -- raise the stakes, hit a false victory
10. The bad guys close in
11. All is lost! The mentor dies, friends turn away
12. The dark night of the soul.
13. The break into act three. Aha! There is hope!
14. The finale. The climax. The hero wins.
15. The final image

Again, consider which of those landmarks you want to try to fill in, and then write it in!

Heck, if you get bored, try The Big List of RPG Plots available at http://www222.pair.com/sjohn/blueroom/plots.htm and see if one of those sparks your thoughts.

The point, of course, being to keep writing! Only 34,000 words to go (more or less, depending on how many you've gotten down now).

And the world, will be better for this, that one writer, alone with a computer, wrote a nanowrimo tale so true... alright, blue. What color is your tale, anyway?

tink

Current Mood: wicked

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original Posting Nov. 6, 2016

Over in the book Steal This Plot by William and June Noble, they suggest a set of

Plot motivators

Vengeance
Catastrophe
Love and hate
The chase
Grief and loss
Rebellion
Betrayal
Persecution
Self-sacrifice
Survival (deliverance)
Rivalry
Discovery (quest)
Ambition

Take a story idea, add a motivator, and more than likely, you've got at least the nucleus of a plot. It will need filling in, with characters, setting, and all that, but... these are good places to start your brainstorming.

Story spicers

Deception
Material well-being (increase or loss)
Authority
Making amends
Conspiracy
Rescue
Mistaken identity
Unnatural affection
Criminal action (includes murder)
Suspicion
Suicide
Searching
Honor and dishonor

So along the way, you may need to add in some seasoning to help things along. That's the role of the story spicers. Again, consider this as a list to help kick your brainstorming. This scene needs a bit more oomph. What if I added dose of suspicion, or authority, or... there you go, that adds a dash of spice!

So, for the fun of it, consider mixing in a little motivator and a bit of spice. And keep those nanowrimo words boiling!

tink

Current Mood: swizzlesticks

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original posting 18 Jan 2012

I was just thinking. It seems to me one of the ways to do "quick" stories is to start at the end. What's the climactic scene going to be? Boy gets girl, Joe gets the job, Willie crawls up out of the swamp on to dry ground, the clown falls into the pot of boiling water... Whatever? Start by daydreaming about that.

No ideas? Go over to one of the collections of images, art, magazine covers, or other pictorial stimulation and do a little browsing. Pick one that catches your attention. Make that your climactic scene. Who is that in the middle? What exactly is happening to them?

Then work backwards. What's the beginning scene that goes with your ending? Girl slaps boy, the company president retires, the newspaper prints an article about the Civil War fortune lost somewhere in Crandall's Corners, the circus comes to town? Work on it. What is going to kick your protagonist into the action that eventually ends with your climactic scene?

Finally, fill in the middle with try-fail cycles. Your protagonist tries something, and fails. He builds a house out of straw, and the wind just blows it down. He builds a house out of sticks, and the wind just blows it down. Finally... You know what's coming, right? Yes, a house out of bricks!

But for the middle of your story, the try-fail cycles are the important part. And usually, at the end of the last one, as the protagonist looks up at the edge of the ring, they suddenly realize something that helps them reach that climax, that success. For a short story, two or three scenes showing the hero trying and failing is probably plenty.

So there's a "quick" story.

Current Mood: enigmatic

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original posting 23 Dec 2011

Just listening to the muzak playing everywhere -- I saw Mommie kissing Santa Claus, I'm dreaming of a White Christmas, Jingle Bells... Most of them have a little story (or two or three) buried in those words and melodies.

So, your assignment, should you choose to accept it, Mr. (or Ms.) Writer, is to tease out that plot -- that string of events. Either the one in the music, or perhaps the one that the music reminds you of? Feel free to add backstory or consequences as needed. Mix your own characters, setting, subplots and other problems in (what if Daddy DID see Mommy kissing Santa Claus? Uh, oh...) and retell that story as only you can.

Do it for the Grinch, for Marley and Tiny Tim, for the little drummer boy, for Saint Nicholas taking presents to the poor, for all those, known and unknown, who said and showed us in one way or another...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Have a great holiday, one and all.
And, of course, WRITE!

Current Mood: seasonal

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original Posting 11 Nov 2011

First of all, over here

http://writercises.livejournal.com/143199.html

There are some comments about Chekhov's gun -- the idea that when you talk about something early in your story, later on something should happen with it. A gun hanging on the mantle really deserves somebody taking it down and shooting it, sooner or later. Or perhaps you prefer a MacGuffin, a Maltese falcon, a holy Grail, or one of those other things to be searched for. There's also plot tokens and plot vouchers -- if you get the six parts of the ancient crown, you too can reign incandescent or something like that.

The key here is that some of the objects and bits and pieces floating around in your story imply things, and you want to show them to the reader sooner or later. A bear trap being set up in Chapter two will turn up later, probably with something or someone's leg in it. Or perhaps the music box on the dresser will eventually be played, revealing that someone really did like Fantasia? Whatever, keep those keys ready to turn in locks, alright?

Another thought, while we're at a turning point -- one third of the month roughly behind us, two thirds ahead. You might want to consider what you learned about your protagonist and antagonist. Quite simply, by writing to this point, you've probably figured out more about what's going on. Even if you had a detailed outline, character sheets, and all that planning, when you start writing, you start inventing, and suddenly you realize where the scar on your protagonist's shoulder came from, what happened to the antagonist's favorite cat, and all those little details that bring your story to life. You may also find yourself getting a bit confused.

Which makes it a great time to sit down and remind yourself who everybody is and what they're trying to do. Based on what you've already written, take a little time and write up again who your protagonist is, what their goals are, what the blocks and conflicts are that they face, what they plan to do about it, and just what's ahead for them, as you see it now. Then give the other guy equal time, and think about your antagonist. What are their goals? What about the conflicts and problems that they face? As they wind up their thin black mustache, what kind of an evil plan do they have? And what's ahead for the antagonist? Are there any other important secondary characters that you need to reconsider, now that you've come this far?

What about your plot? Are there events that you want to add to the mix at this point? Perhaps some that you want to take out? Take a look back at the 10 days worth of writing that you've done, and consider the next 20 days or beyond. You might want to think about the promises that you've made and consider when and where you're going to pay them off. What questions have you raised for the reader, and what kind of answers are you going to give them?

Okay? 15,000 words more or less already out of the way, and you probably have a feeling for what it's going to take to keep going. Frankly, I don't think it's as important to hit the quota as it is to set your own goals and keep going. Be consistent.

So, sit down and write. Word after word after word, a bit here, a bit there, and watch the pile grow.

Incidentally, as Nanowrimo likes to remind you, back up your work! You don't want your writing to fall into the great bit bucket and disappear!

Current Mood: spritz

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original posting 5 Nov 20111

Okay. Here we go. Look, your characters are doing things, running around, waking up, whatever, right? And they are going charging off to do good, to win their job back, vanquish the invisible dragon, take care of something? So...

Along the way, just as a complication, try one of these. Pick a number from one to six? Got it? Here's what you have picked...

1. As they are going somewhere, the car breaks down, there's an accident, there's road construction, the horse throws a shoe... something happens out of the ordinary to make that trip more difficult. Commercial travel has its own difficulties. Take your pick, but perhaps the airplane is delayed, the train has decided to derail, or whatever... leaving your protagonist trying to decide what to do! No matter how they are traveling, something makes it harder. How do they react? What do they do?

2. Just getting up, and... the toilet breaks. The bathtub springs a leak. The oven door falls off. The window cracks. Something that was working fine yesterday breaks, and really needs fixing, urgently. What do you mean, the roof sprung a leak? Okay, sure. Again, walk through your character reacting and dealing with this household emergency.

3. And... oh, he really shouldn't have had that vending machine hotdog. Or maybe it was letting that little kid sneeze nearby yesterday? Or... once again, the character encounters some illness, some failure of the physical plant that makes it just a bit more difficult to get anything done!

4. He was going to walk over to the girl next door, and... it's raining? It's SNOWING? Hail, ice, wind, flood, tornado, hurricane, earthquake, tsunami... the weather is against him! Go ahead, whether it's the ordinary foggy morning in Half Moon Bay or something a bit more severe (crossing a lava flow on flaming boots? Sure, why not!), whatever it is... neither rain nor snow nor heat nor gloom of night will stay your protagonist from the speedy completion of his plot action? GREAT. Oh, yeah, don't forget heat waves, forest fires, dust storms, and other things on that side of the weather.

5. The neighborhood association is holding the yearly bazaar? Yard sale at the next house over? The guy with the dachshund is using the front corner as a place to rest, and wants to talk? The minister is collecting for Lent? Girl Scouts on a cookie drive, high schoolers washing cars, something unexpected and somewhat time consuming is happening! Your protagonist runs right into the local social network, and gets all balled up. How do they react to this disruption in plans, and what do they do?

6. Just the news, or maybe it's a movie? Anyway, the wonderful media gets into the act, and tosses out some bits and pieces of news, dialogue, action, whatever that distract your protagonist from whatever they were planning. I mean, toss in something happening out there in the big wide world that the protagonist is interested in, and tell us a little about how they react to all that.

There you go. Whether it's trouble with travel, household, body, weather, the neighbors, or just the world in the news, add some bits and pieces of grit to make the wheels turn a bit rougher for your protagonist.

Current Mood: extended

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original Posting 9 Sept 2011

I can tell from the excitement in your eye that you're thrilled to see step number four! Yes, having battled your way through thinking about character traits that you like and dislike, the kind of story that you enjoy, trying to answer a whole list of questions about your story, and then thinking about the characters, now, at last... It's time to figure out the plot. Something that gets readers interested early, keeps them involved, and pays off at the end.

Writer's Digest, April 1992, pages 40 to 43 have the article by Jack Bickham. All about plot, or structural planning, that creates a desired emotional response in the reader.

So what is plotting? Well, first of all, Jack wants us to understand that the plot is not a rigid structural framework, where you just fill in the blanks. It's dynamic. "It's a way of structuring your work in order to hook readers early, keep them involved then guessing throughout, and let them finish with a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment. Plot is never the same in any two stories. It's a process, not a format."

You actually already started working on plot. After all, when you looked at character roles, you started making decisions about the story line -- locale, the problem, the action, and the outcome. Any research you did also helped to define the action in your story. You've already thought a little about the length of the story, the pace, the mix of action, dialogue, and mood. Those are all plot related.

Another thing that you've already started to think about is what you want the reader to worry about. One reader worry has to be the strongest -- that is the dominant story question. And the most important thing for planning the plot is making sure you know clearly and precisely what the story question is. So what is a story question? Almost anything, but it has to be vital to the happiness of your viewpoint character. Will he get a better job, can he climb the mountain, will they ever stop fighting, who killed Adam Jones, will Marcel ever find happiness again, what is behind the locked door, what makes this strange blue light flash across the lake? Any of these could be your story question.

Your story question has to be something that can be answered. You need a specific story question that you're going to establish early in the story, and you need a clear answer to the story question that will be revealed in the outcome for your main characters. Your opening introduces the character and setting and the story question. Your climax answers the story question.

You should be able to write down your story question and your story answer on a sheet of paper. Okay, some of you will use your computer, tablet, or something else. But any way you look at it, stop now and write down your story question and your story answer. Don't be surprised if your first effort is vague and you have to try again. Remember, a vivid, clear story question helps you build your plot. Also, the story ending depends on a clear answer -- yes or no, a solution to the puzzle, a change in mood or tone. Make it as clear and precise as you can.

So now you have your beginning -- your story question -- and your ending -- your story answer. How do you connect them?

This my friend is the very heart of plotting. And it all revolves around a sequence of scenes and sequels. So what are scenes and what are sequels? I'm glad you asked!

Scenes are simply story actions portrayed as if on stage (in a movie, on TV...). They are immediate, concrete, and portray conflicts.

Sequels on the other hand, let the reader know how your viewpoint character reacted to the scene. Feelings, thoughts, plans about what to do next... If scenes are action, sequels are reactions.

So, plot is a sequence of scene, sequel, scene, sequel... Connecting the opening that introduced story question to the climax that provides the story answer. Now, in some cases the jump from scene A to scene B is so obvious and tight that the writer puts in only the smallest sequel or even skips it. In other stories, the scenes maybe relatively minor, with long, involved sequels.

The kind of story you're planning helps you determine the right balance between scenes and sequels. Adventure story, strong conflict, clear specific goal -- dramatic scenes with very little sequel, maybe. And you have a fast-moving story with lots of action. Another story might make the change in the character's feelings and thoughts the focus, and spend much more time on sequels.

So how do you structure a scene? Well, scenes center on an immediate goal or problem that the viewpoint character wants to achieve right now -- on his or her way to the ultimate answer. Like the story question and answer, the scene question needs to be shown quickly and clearly to the readers, so that they can worry about it. Then, let the main character struggle to achieve that in this scene. And at the end of the scene, there is an answer. However, the answers at the end of scenes are almost always bad news for the viewpoint character. You want to build the tension, so things just get worse for your viewpoint character. Disasters, new roadblocks, all kinds of problems.

Now when the viewpoint character hits that disappointment, you normally want to give them time to react emotionally, think about what just happened, and come up with a new plan. Emotion, thought, decision -- ETD?

Even though you may decide not to actually describe every step of the way in your story, in your planning, it can be very helpful to go ahead and include each and every step. So for each scene, write down:

1. The name of the viewpoint character
2. The goal -- in 10 words or less, what does the character wants to achieve in this scene?
3. The problem: often another character. Identify the character or problem in the way in this scene.
4. Conflict: briefly, sketch in how the conflict will be presented dramatically
5. Disaster: in 10 words or less, describe the end of the scene -- what is the unanticipated setback that your character experiences at the end of this scene

Next, write the sequel that goes with that scene. Three parts:

1. Briefly describe the emotions your character feels after the unanticipated setback.
2. Briefly describe what the character thinks -- review, analyze, plan -- next.
3. What does the character logically decide to do next? (This introduces the next scene!)

Repeat this, making a chain of scene and sequel pairs that reaches from the story question to the story answer. Feel free to adjust, change, and modify -- this is a plan, and plans change.

Consider the story length. Short stories won't have as many scenes and sequels, novels will have quite a few. Also, consider the type of story, market, and how quickly or slowly you want the story to read. You may want to cut out some scenes or add some. You may want to consider the balance between your scenes and sequels. The kind of characters and the kind of story also can influence where you put your effort. But if you've got the scene and sequel chain built, deciding how to transform that into writing is easier.

Jack ends his article with a list of questions to help you check your plot. Here they are:

1. Do you have a clear story question?
2. Does the ending answer that question?
3. Does every scene relate somehow to that story question?
4. Do the scenes follow each other in a logical way?
5. Does every sequel relate in feeling and thought to the scene ahead of it?
6. Does each sequel lead logically to the next scene?
7. Are there scenes that can be trimmed or eliminated without hurting the story?
8. Are there sequels that can be trimmed or eliminated without hurting the story?
9. Does each scene have a clear goal driving the conflict?
10. Does each scene end badly for the viewpoint character?
11. Are the feelings and thoughts of the character in each sequel believable?
12. Is there any scene or sequel that I have forgotten to include?

Take the time now to look over your plan. Make sure that it's as solid as you can make it. And then... Step five! The first draft! Writing at last? No, you've been writing in every step. But now you can let the words flow...

After, that is, you've actually gone through and done the plotting. Story question, story answer, scenes and sequels... Get that skeleton in order.

Current Mood: moldy

mbarker.livejournal.com

Writer's Digest, October 1992, pages 24 to 27, had an article by Gary Provost with the title Plot Partners. Just below that, a headline said, "A subplot is not just a bunch of stuff that happens to the hero during slow moments in the main plot. A veteran author and writing instructor tells how to create subplots that work with your main plots to bring balance to your stories."
( making the best of your subplots )
A strong subplot, pacing, understanding, all of it together strengthens the plot. They work together -- like partners.

So, there you go. That's what Gary Provost suggested. I like his exercise. Start with a main plot, and then consider what subplots you might want to play against that.

Just write!

Current Mood: silly

mbarker.livejournal.com

original posting 5 July 2011

The April, 1992, issue of the Writer, had an article on pages 15 to 17 with the title, "Plotting from A to Z" by William F. Nolan, the author of Logan's Run and other books. It starts out...

"Plot has a double purpose in fiction. Actively, is the driving force of any story or novel... Passively, it's the spine of a story, the structure around which the story is told."

"A strong, surprising plot is essential if you are to capture and hold readers. The plot must keep them engaged and draw them deeper and deeper into the narrative."

So the plot's the thing within which we'll capture the readers... With apologies to Shakespeare.
( Mulligan stew )

Current Mood: exercised

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original posting 12 May 2011

Out of the pile of old articles, let's pull another one! Writer's Digest, October 1989 (do you remember that time in October when we were young... imagine me crooning, if you like :-). Pages 26 to 29 have an article with the title, "Hot to Plot! A plotting 'system' that works" by Mary Kittredge. The secrets of superb stories, how to build plot skeletons, and grow stories from them... sounds pretty exciting, doesn't it?

OK. So let's get down to business. Mary suggests starting with a story idea. Almost any one. For her example, she uses a mystery about an attic that drips blood. That's it. Just because it's a place to start. Pick something that sounds interesting to you.

The first thing that Mary suggests to start building our plot is to think up a main character. The main character needs three things: something that they need or want, a strong point, and a fatal flaw. So they want something, they have a desire or goal. They've got some personality trait, something that gives them the potential to win. And, they've got a problem -- a personality trait that could lead to them failing.

Next, put the character in a fairly stable situation and introduce the story problem. This is what the character has to solve to get what they want.

In trying to solve the problem, the character only makes things worse. As they try things and get some insights from their strong point, they learn about the fatal flaw.

And then, with a final climactic effort, they overcome the fatal flaw using their strong point to beat the story problem.

Problem, struggle, climax... that's the story. The trick of course is developing it. And by setting up the strong point and the fatal flaw, we're setting up the plot.

Next, Mary works her way through this process. Who is the character with blood dripping from the attic? A housewife, whose husband vanished recently, leading the police to think that perhaps she did it. Her strong point? Well, how about a love of nature. And her weakness? Fear of authority sounds good.

What's the story problem? A murder suspect with blood dripping from the attic has a story problem. The police are sure to come knocking on the door. So... a housewife calls a friend for help. But somehow, the police here about it instead, and turn up to investigate! Whoops, things just got worse.

Now, when the police go upstairs to look -- there's the body of the dead husband!

This is the Black Moment, when things look just as bad as possible. In this case, the police are sure they've got their suspect. So the character has to figure it out.

Take the strong point and develop an event that naturally uses the strong point and shows the character their fatal flaw. In this case, since she loves nature, maybe she's got a birdfeeder. And watching the police walk by the birdfeeder, she sees the birds get scared. And realizes that fear can kill. Then she realizes that it's her own fear of authority that will kill her, if she doesn't overcome it. Now, she thinks about it. And realizes that the only way that the police could know that her attic was dripping blood is that the friend told them. And the friend must be the murderer. But how can she prove it?

Ha ha. How can she use her strong point to beat this problem? Well, given that she knows her attic inside and out since she uses it to store herbs and so forth (remember that love of nature?), maybe she can explain to the police about the different temperatures in the attic -- and why would anybody put a body in the warmest spot?

So one key to growing a story with this system is developing the character's fatal flaw, which they need to recognize and then overcome. The other key is figuring out a scene or event that shows the character recognizing the fatal flaw. Make it an event that grows out of the strong point.

That's all there is to it. And the fun part is that it's not nearly as mechanical as you might think.

"Fiction is life by design. And fictional design, like other kinds of design, comes from design elements -- from the plot elements we have been discussing." This particular plot shows the good character winning. So the strong point is more powerful than the fatal flaw.

You can read the article to find out what happens if the fatal flaw of stronger, or if outside forces just smash the character, but I wouldn't recommend those. Mary also discusses some bad character versions.

In summary, get an idea. Match it with a main character who wants something. Set up a fatal flaw and strong point. Let the character do things to try to solve the problem, but fail, making everything worse, until things are as bad as possible. Take an event that uses the character's strong point and forces the character to look hard at their fatal flaw. Let the character decide to beat their fatal flaw, and the story problem, with one enormous effort based on the strong point.

"A 'hot-shot' plot is one whose parts are present and working because you put them there. So -- put them there. Do it again... and again, until plotting comes to you as naturally as breathing. Before you know it, you'll be building more than plots. You'll be writing the stories that go with them."

Oh, wow! All that from blood dripping from the attic.

Current Mood: fiddling

mbarker.livejournal.com

Original posting 20 November 2010

Drat, skipped a day again. Yesterday was an odd day for me, as far as nanowrimo goes. I mean, I'm making my words, but somehow? middle of the afternoon, I found myself just sitting there saying I'm not so sure this is going anywhere. Then I took a look at Holly Lisle's Plot notions, and got confused, because she starts with characters? and I wasn't quite so sure I knew my characters in the kind of depth she seems to expect, even if I do know the story I'm telling! So? I took the afternoon off. And went ahead and wrote some words in the evening, just to keep things moving.

Then today, I took a look at a set of YouTube talks by Dan Wells on story structure (5 of them, about an hour's easy listening). Very interesting, because he seems to be stressing a much more event-oriented approach to plot. And along the way, I decided I liked doing events, not trying to delve deeply into my characters' background and personalities.

Link for the first chunk is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcmiqQ9NpPE

And then? I was waiting for Mitsuko, and the TV was on. The daily kid's program, oddly enough. And they had a little tiny vignette. See, there's the big, strong, somewhat dumb character, and the short curious friendly character, and a couple of others. Big, Dumb is a brown slab of a character costume. Short is a little white ball of one. The others are more human.

And they're all playing ball. And the ball gets lost. Short goes to find it, and runs into a stranger! Who is holding the ball, and says, "Hey, you! Is this yours?" Short says, "Yes. Can I have it back?" The stranger shrugs, and tosses it to Short. Then he turns to leave.

And Short says, "Wait. Thank you!" The stranger turns around and kind of sneers. "You're welcome." Then Short says, "Say, would you like to play with us?" The stranger says, "Your friends won't like me." And Short says, "Sure they will."

And then the friends show up. And they aren't very happy to see a stranger. They ask Short if the stranger hurt him, and so forth. The stranger starts to leave again!

And Short says, "Hey, let's play tag. You're it!" and touches the stranger. Who looks around, shaking his head, and says, "Tag? Well?" So the stranger touches one of the friends, who immediately starts screaming. And Big, Dumb grabs the stranger.

At which point Short pushes Big, Dumb who starts to trip and fall on the screaming friend. And the stranger pulls Big, Dumb back, so that he falls on the stranger. Then they all help get everyone standing again. And now we're all friends.

For some reason, that little vignette caught my attention. And reminded me of other "little stories." And I realized that these little stories usually are just actions, very little character development. And yet they are FUN! I mean, yeah, the stranger goes from being a rude unknown to being a new friend, but really, we still don't know what's making him tick. And that's okay.

Anyway, that's what I'm chewing on yesterday and today. The balance between action or event-oriented storytelling and the internal stuff, the psychological intrigue of the internal world.

Let's see. Over here http://community.livejournal.com/writercises/145852.html I reflected a bit on the way that just letting the words flow in nanowrimo can be relaxing, maybe even cleansing. Fun, per se? And then here http://community.livejournal.com/writercises/145935.html I borrowed from Bradbury again, and his lists of words. So many writers talk about making lists, lists of words, lists of phrases, lists of one-line scene ideas? sit down and make your lists! Before writing, while you're writing, whenever you need to stretch a bit. Make a list, check it twice, gonna write out some naughty and nice, nanowrimo month is running along.

By the way, this is the third of the four weekends in nanowrimo this year. And if you're going to be tied up with Thanksgiving (oh, turkey, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, stuffing, ah, all that great eating!) you may consider this the last weekend that you can devote to nanowrimo. So let the words roll! Make those wordmills grind hard and long.

Write!

Current Mood: fiddling

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