Plotting is what creates the action in your novel. The technique varies. Some people are what writers call Pantsters or SOTP (writing from the seat of their pants) while some writers create an outline or synopsis. Often the outline or synopsis is sketchy, leaving openings to take interesting detours on the character’s journey. This allows creativity without being tied to a pre-proposed plot. No matter what kind of writer you are, one element that happens early in the story planning is called creating the premise. A premise is the core of the novel—what it’s about and the dramatic issues that move it to its ending. A premise also forms assumptions for readers. From the way you build your story, readers presume the story will follow a logical pattern, so authors can be assured that readers have expectations.
The readers expectations are based on their past experiences. Let’s say, a man and woman decide to marry on an exotic island. Readers assume the novel will contain a wedding and a trip to an island, probably romantic, possibly humorous. If a book opens with a man lifting the lid of his trunk and finding a dead body, the reader assumes he will contact the police and the story will be the pursuit of the killer and perhaps why the body was in this man’s car. Consider your personal assumptions when you hear the premise of a novel or movie.
A premise begins with the central story idea. Something is going to happen. For example, what happens if someone left a baby on your doorstep? What would happen if you received a letter saying you are the heir to your great uncle’s fortune? What would happen if you won a multi-million dollar lottery? What would happen if the woman you loved asked you to marry her only for convenience? You could come up with a hundred ifs.
. . .if your dog dug up a human arm in your back woods?
. . .if you found an old map in your attic?
. . .if you learned as an adult you had a biological mother who gave you away?
. . .if you were accused of murder without an alibi?
. . .if your husband vanished coming home from work?
. . .if you fell in love with a prisoner?
. . .if you were asked to work undercover?
Here are some movies you may have seen that offer a unique premise.
. . .if people were unable to lie. Invention of Lying
. . .if four men on an overnight stag party forget what happened. Hangover
. . .if an abused pregnant teen decides her life must change. Precious
This list could go on eternally, but this premise list is a sample of many creative “what ifs”. The premise is the central idea that you will use to build your story.
Authors, though, want their novels to be unique and different, not just the standard premises that are sometimes overused. By creating a premise with a traditional expectation and twisting it, you come up with a more original story. What if. . .
. . .the person who falls in love with the prisoner is a man and not a woman?
. . .the body in the trunk looks identical to the man who found it?
. . .the map in the attic leads to a place vaguely recalled from childhood.
. . .where .something happened but the person had blocked it from his memory?
. . .the body found in the woods is the person’s former spouse?
By twisting the premise, you open new doors and make your novel more original. Look at your WIP’s premise and ask yourself how you can give it an unexpected twist. How can you make it more original? How can you add something that will surprise your readers? A unique premise is one way you can add a spark to your story that will linger with readers long after they’ve read your novel.
To learn more about plotting techniques, please join me, Gail Gaymer Martin, for a three week online workshop—Plodding or Plotting?—from April 23 to May 14 sponsored by the Fantasy, Futuristic, and Paranormal, a chapter of RWA. The cost is very inexpensive.
Visit their site at http://ffnp.blogspot.com/2012/03/plotting-and-premise.html
To learn more about the workshop: http://my.rwa.org/p/cm/ld/fid=110
To register: Registration http://my.rwa.org/e/in/eid=18
Showing posts with label Plotting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Plotting. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Difference Between Plot and Subplot
On the Writing Fiction Right blog, I often receive questions within the comments from writers, and sometimes I receive emails from newer authors asking questions. This question—What is the difference between a plot and a subplot—came to me a short time ago, and though I responded to the questioner, I decided others might enjoy an explanation.
Plot is the full flow of your story---what happens from the beginning to the end. The plot provides the main characters, their goals and motivation and their conflicts—the obstacles that keep them from reaching their goal. The plot is where you’ll find the story’s theme or main idea.
Sub-plot is a secondary plot (or side story) that is unfolding in your story. The subplot adds complications and puts obstacles in the way of the main character and therefore becomes a story conflict. Sometimes a subplot will mirror the struggle of a main character, and though the character has wisdom for her friend's issue, she can’t relate it to her own until something happens to help her see that she has the same problem and now has the answer.
Below are some examples:
Family saga - Plot deals with a mother-daughter relationship and the struggles they have to resolve their problems. Sub-plot would be the daughter's husband's business is going under adding stress to her life and their relationship.
Romance - Plot deals with hero and heroine falling in love as they meet conflicts and issues that keep them from admitting the love they feel or that keep them from accepting the love that's within reach. The sub-plot might be the heroine's former fiancé shows up in her life again trying to rekindle their old relationship.
Suspense - Plot deal with a detective who is struggling to solve a crime that keeps alluding him. The bad guy is getting more dangerous and pressure is on the detective. Subplot - The detective's wife is tired of his long hours and dangerous job. She wants out of the marriage.
As you can see, a subplot is another significant situation in the story that causes conflict, creating deeper tension and thus emotion while the main character tries to resolve these personal issues while striving to reach the goal that’s important to them.
Subplots helps a book's pacing by adding deeper conflicts, but too many subplots can complicate a story unless the book is the length that can handle them. Shorter novels of from 50,000 to 65,000 word count can handle one subplot well. Stories of 80,000 word count is open to perhaps two subplots. So judge wisely. When a novel is too burdened with subplots, the reader can lose the original story. Use wisdom and select the most powerful subplots that will make a difference to the characters and that is affects the original goal of a main character.
Plot is the full flow of your story---what happens from the beginning to the end. The plot provides the main characters, their goals and motivation and their conflicts—the obstacles that keep them from reaching their goal. The plot is where you’ll find the story’s theme or main idea.
Sub-plot is a secondary plot (or side story) that is unfolding in your story. The subplot adds complications and puts obstacles in the way of the main character and therefore becomes a story conflict. Sometimes a subplot will mirror the struggle of a main character, and though the character has wisdom for her friend's issue, she can’t relate it to her own until something happens to help her see that she has the same problem and now has the answer.
Below are some examples:
Family saga - Plot deals with a mother-daughter relationship and the struggles they have to resolve their problems. Sub-plot would be the daughter's husband's business is going under adding stress to her life and their relationship.
Romance - Plot deals with hero and heroine falling in love as they meet conflicts and issues that keep them from admitting the love they feel or that keep them from accepting the love that's within reach. The sub-plot might be the heroine's former fiancé shows up in her life again trying to rekindle their old relationship.
Suspense - Plot deal with a detective who is struggling to solve a crime that keeps alluding him. The bad guy is getting more dangerous and pressure is on the detective. Subplot - The detective's wife is tired of his long hours and dangerous job. She wants out of the marriage.
As you can see, a subplot is another significant situation in the story that causes conflict, creating deeper tension and thus emotion while the main character tries to resolve these personal issues while striving to reach the goal that’s important to them.
Subplots helps a book's pacing by adding deeper conflicts, but too many subplots can complicate a story unless the book is the length that can handle them. Shorter novels of from 50,000 to 65,000 word count can handle one subplot well. Stories of 80,000 word count is open to perhaps two subplots. So judge wisely. When a novel is too burdened with subplots, the reader can lose the original story. Use wisdom and select the most powerful subplots that will make a difference to the characters and that is affects the original goal of a main character.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Your Plot Drags? Fix It.
Authors don’t always realize their plot drags until they step back and take a fresh look. It’s always good to give your story a rest for a week or two, if you have time to spare, and then read with new eyes. The brilliant words can dull with time and that means authors need to dissect the plot, the language and techniques to bring the story to life and make it shine again .
In December of 2007, I discussed four technique problems that affect the quality of a novel: POV, pacing, dialogue and passive writing (show don’t tell). Here are a few more elements that deal with faltering plots to add to that list:
• Descriptions: Bringing a scene to life takes balance. Too much description can bog a novel, but too little loses some of the ways in which your reader can envision your story. Describing each pebble on the path is a bit too much, but describing how a path meanders into the woods weighted with tree limbs, their fingers reaching for the sun can add to your novel. First the language is vivid. Next it can set the tone. Using the phrase “fingers reaching for the sun” can add a sense of foreboding to a suspense novel as can the word weighted. It can also reflect the characters personal burdens, his despair and heavy-heartedness. Use description effectively by making it do more work for you.
• Language and Grammar: Although grammar and punctuation are important elements, especially in narration, remember that even narration comes from a POV character. We are looking at the scene through a character’s eyes. Keep the vocabulary, sentence structure, and tone reflecting the POV character. Use the career lingo and regional vocabulary to make the language real for a specific character. Don’t forget we often speak in partial sentences. We don’t always respond to a question with an answer. Sometimes we restate part of the question: “Hit by a car?” or we respond to requests with: “You want me to what?” Listen to conversations and make your dialogue real. Short sentences add excitement or urgency. Longer ones are more thought-provoking or romantic. Plots bog when dialogue becomes chitchat or when the language is stilted.
• Slow Action Scenes: Though you are trying to make an action scene exciting, learn when to present move by move detail and when to tighten your descriptions. As I said that short sentences in dialogue add excitement, the same happens with description. Joe saw it coming. The chair hurled past. He ducked his head and hit the floor. These three sentences create an image of excitement and action. The same idea can lessen the excitement with too much description. Joe watched the man enter the room, his eyes nailing Joe to the spot. With a quick move, the stranger grasped the chair, raised it over his head and flung it toward him. As he watched it sweep past, Joe ducked and threw himself on the floor behind the sofa. See the difference? Sometimes the readers feels more emotion from fewer words that create more tension and excitement.
• Missing Information: Authors are required to do research for most every book, and often gather far more details and ideas than they can use. Sometimes in trying to be discriminating by choosing only what seems the most important details or facts, the author ends up with the feeling that something is missing. Before adding more information, have a second party read that scene or chapters where the problem seems to occur and decide what will fill in the blanks. If the missing pieces are historical, do more research or try for a reasonable guess, and you can always add a line in your letter to the reader—that you’ve taken an author’s prerogative to make historical changes or additions. If the knowledge on any other topic is not readily available,(for example whether or not a certain code can be deciphered by a computer program and how long it would take), you can use your imagination. If you watch TV, you’ll see many police shows use tests and equipment that stretch the truth. Again it’s screenwriter’s prerogative. If you acknowledge the deception, readers will be less likely to write long scathing letters to tell you how stupid you are.
• Giving Your Book A Classic Plot: When your plot seems to be unraveling, think of other novels you’ve read even childhood tales and fairy tales. Notice the classic story structure and review your novel to make sure you’ve provided good motivation, a strong personal goal that makes a difference in the life of the main character, and a series of growing conflicts with powerful opposition. Opposition can be a person, a group, a belief or a deep-seeded fear. Then make sure you provide a satisfying ending that gives a reader pleasure. If you do this, you can stop worrying. If you’ve missed one of these important story elements, revise your plot to make it more dynamic.
These additional solutions can help your novel to be saleable and a great read.
In December of 2007, I discussed four technique problems that affect the quality of a novel: POV, pacing, dialogue and passive writing (show don’t tell). Here are a few more elements that deal with faltering plots to add to that list:
• Descriptions: Bringing a scene to life takes balance. Too much description can bog a novel, but too little loses some of the ways in which your reader can envision your story. Describing each pebble on the path is a bit too much, but describing how a path meanders into the woods weighted with tree limbs, their fingers reaching for the sun can add to your novel. First the language is vivid. Next it can set the tone. Using the phrase “fingers reaching for the sun” can add a sense of foreboding to a suspense novel as can the word weighted. It can also reflect the characters personal burdens, his despair and heavy-heartedness. Use description effectively by making it do more work for you.
• Language and Grammar: Although grammar and punctuation are important elements, especially in narration, remember that even narration comes from a POV character. We are looking at the scene through a character’s eyes. Keep the vocabulary, sentence structure, and tone reflecting the POV character. Use the career lingo and regional vocabulary to make the language real for a specific character. Don’t forget we often speak in partial sentences. We don’t always respond to a question with an answer. Sometimes we restate part of the question: “Hit by a car?” or we respond to requests with: “You want me to what?” Listen to conversations and make your dialogue real. Short sentences add excitement or urgency. Longer ones are more thought-provoking or romantic. Plots bog when dialogue becomes chitchat or when the language is stilted.
• Slow Action Scenes: Though you are trying to make an action scene exciting, learn when to present move by move detail and when to tighten your descriptions. As I said that short sentences in dialogue add excitement, the same happens with description. Joe saw it coming. The chair hurled past. He ducked his head and hit the floor. These three sentences create an image of excitement and action. The same idea can lessen the excitement with too much description. Joe watched the man enter the room, his eyes nailing Joe to the spot. With a quick move, the stranger grasped the chair, raised it over his head and flung it toward him. As he watched it sweep past, Joe ducked and threw himself on the floor behind the sofa. See the difference? Sometimes the readers feels more emotion from fewer words that create more tension and excitement.
• Missing Information: Authors are required to do research for most every book, and often gather far more details and ideas than they can use. Sometimes in trying to be discriminating by choosing only what seems the most important details or facts, the author ends up with the feeling that something is missing. Before adding more information, have a second party read that scene or chapters where the problem seems to occur and decide what will fill in the blanks. If the missing pieces are historical, do more research or try for a reasonable guess, and you can always add a line in your letter to the reader—that you’ve taken an author’s prerogative to make historical changes or additions. If the knowledge on any other topic is not readily available,(for example whether or not a certain code can be deciphered by a computer program and how long it would take), you can use your imagination. If you watch TV, you’ll see many police shows use tests and equipment that stretch the truth. Again it’s screenwriter’s prerogative. If you acknowledge the deception, readers will be less likely to write long scathing letters to tell you how stupid you are.
• Giving Your Book A Classic Plot: When your plot seems to be unraveling, think of other novels you’ve read even childhood tales and fairy tales. Notice the classic story structure and review your novel to make sure you’ve provided good motivation, a strong personal goal that makes a difference in the life of the main character, and a series of growing conflicts with powerful opposition. Opposition can be a person, a group, a belief or a deep-seeded fear. Then make sure you provide a satisfying ending that gives a reader pleasure. If you do this, you can stop worrying. If you’ve missed one of these important story elements, revise your plot to make it more dynamic.
These additional solutions can help your novel to be saleable and a great read.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Grabbing Readers And Hanging On
Authors use all kinds of phrase that means the same thing. Grab the reader, hook the reader, create a page-turner, or write a keeper. Obviously all of these phrase mean an author wants to engage readers to the point that they can’t put down the book and once it’s finished, they can’t let it go. They put in on their bookshelves, often not loaning them to anyone, in case the borrower doesn’t return them. Writing a Keeper is what each author wants to do.
So then, the question is how do you write a book that grabs the reader and hangs on? A book is a keeper, first, when the story relates to the reader’s experiences. When they can say, I’ve been there, I’ve done that, I’ve felt that. Next, the book is a Keeper when the reader relates so well to the characters he wants to continue reading their story. I’ve received many letters from readers, and hopefully you have to, when they ask if I’m going to continue the story in another book. I’ve even had a reader write and ask me if Annie and Ken ever had a baby and how was Grandma Ellie’s health now. These were all story characters. I laugh but then I am flattered that the reader loves and remembers these characters as real.
Writing a Keeper means you will need to analyze your novel by story elements and ask yourself questions. The story premise or theme is the first, followed by characters, plot, and setting. Here are some thing to ask yourself.
Premise, Theme, or Message
• Is your premise realistic and yet special? Have you added a twist or a surprise?
• Does the theme or message tug at the readers emotions? If a reader laughs or cries you’re on the right track to a keeper novel.
• Is the message or theme strong and meaningful? Does your novel tackle realistic problems and issues that people face in their own lives? Does the resolution make a significant difference in the lives of the main characters?
• Does the theme or message cause readers to relive times of their own lives or offer them experiences they’ve always wanted but have never experienced.
Identify the main theme or message in your novel and review it against these questions. If you find a weak area, ask yourself what you can do to make it more meaningful and realistic
Characters
• Do your main character reflect real life people not stereotypes? Do they have admirable qualities as well as flaws?
• Are they vulnerable—showing weaknesses common to others? Are they strong despite their vulnerability?
• Do they have goals that are significant and important to others as well as themselves.
• Are their motivations realistic? Did you create a past with their strength and weaknesses documented by life experiences and their upbringing? Family, friends, talents?
• Are the character’s realistic and consistent in their emotional and psychological attributes?
• Do the characters have realistic fears and phobias that are their nemesis?
• Are these qualities your reader can relate to?
Plot
• Are the character’s goals and motivation clear and meaningful to readers? Is this something to which readers can relate?
• Are the character’s behaviors and attitudes psychological realistic and are the story problems real?
• Does the story open in a dynamic way that grips the reader from page one?
• Is backstory used to build characterization but not plopped in the first pages of the story?
• Does the plot allow the reader to participate—to speculate, to cheer, to warn?
• Does the story keep moving with good pacing—a few slower moments for readers to digest what’s happening and then moves ahead with dynamic action?
• Does the plot reinforce the theme or message of the story?
Story Setting
• Why did you chose this setting? How can it be used to add deeper meaning to your story?
• Does the setting enhance the plot?
• Does the setting create nuances in the characterization—added stress, feelings of home or loss?
• Does the description bring the setting to life?
• Do the setting aspects relate to the story’s mood, heighten emotion, and serve a purpose beyond offering a sense of place?
If you can answer these questions with positive answers, wonderful. If you find that you need to make changes, then do so. The more realistic and compelling these four elements of your story, you will create a page-turner, a book that grips the reader and one they want to keep.
So then, the question is how do you write a book that grabs the reader and hangs on? A book is a keeper, first, when the story relates to the reader’s experiences. When they can say, I’ve been there, I’ve done that, I’ve felt that. Next, the book is a Keeper when the reader relates so well to the characters he wants to continue reading their story. I’ve received many letters from readers, and hopefully you have to, when they ask if I’m going to continue the story in another book. I’ve even had a reader write and ask me if Annie and Ken ever had a baby and how was Grandma Ellie’s health now. These were all story characters. I laugh but then I am flattered that the reader loves and remembers these characters as real.
Writing a Keeper means you will need to analyze your novel by story elements and ask yourself questions. The story premise or theme is the first, followed by characters, plot, and setting. Here are some thing to ask yourself.
Premise, Theme, or Message
• Is your premise realistic and yet special? Have you added a twist or a surprise?
• Does the theme or message tug at the readers emotions? If a reader laughs or cries you’re on the right track to a keeper novel.
• Is the message or theme strong and meaningful? Does your novel tackle realistic problems and issues that people face in their own lives? Does the resolution make a significant difference in the lives of the main characters?
• Does the theme or message cause readers to relive times of their own lives or offer them experiences they’ve always wanted but have never experienced.
Identify the main theme or message in your novel and review it against these questions. If you find a weak area, ask yourself what you can do to make it more meaningful and realistic
Characters
• Do your main character reflect real life people not stereotypes? Do they have admirable qualities as well as flaws?
• Are they vulnerable—showing weaknesses common to others? Are they strong despite their vulnerability?
• Do they have goals that are significant and important to others as well as themselves.
• Are their motivations realistic? Did you create a past with their strength and weaknesses documented by life experiences and their upbringing? Family, friends, talents?
• Are the character’s realistic and consistent in their emotional and psychological attributes?
• Do the characters have realistic fears and phobias that are their nemesis?
• Are these qualities your reader can relate to?
Plot
• Are the character’s goals and motivation clear and meaningful to readers? Is this something to which readers can relate?
• Are the character’s behaviors and attitudes psychological realistic and are the story problems real?
• Does the story open in a dynamic way that grips the reader from page one?
• Is backstory used to build characterization but not plopped in the first pages of the story?
• Does the plot allow the reader to participate—to speculate, to cheer, to warn?
• Does the story keep moving with good pacing—a few slower moments for readers to digest what’s happening and then moves ahead with dynamic action?
• Does the plot reinforce the theme or message of the story?
Story Setting
• Why did you chose this setting? How can it be used to add deeper meaning to your story?
• Does the setting enhance the plot?
• Does the setting create nuances in the characterization—added stress, feelings of home or loss?
• Does the description bring the setting to life?
• Do the setting aspects relate to the story’s mood, heighten emotion, and serve a purpose beyond offering a sense of place?
If you can answer these questions with positive answers, wonderful. If you find that you need to make changes, then do so. The more realistic and compelling these four elements of your story, you will create a page-turner, a book that grips the reader and one they want to keep.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Can a One-Day Plot Be Effective?
A while ago Jesse Young who follows this blog sent me a link to an interesting article from ODP.com, and I thought it might be of interest to you. When we plot, most of our novels cover a span of time. Family sagas cover decades while suspense spans only in a few days. Romance usually last a few months to a year. But have you ever thought of plotting a book that lasts only one day?
What must be considered when planning a one-day plot? Obviously excitement must happen immediately, an event so significant that makes a huge difference to the character. The plot could hinge on a catastrophic event or often a timebomb-type plot, something that drives the plot forward. If the hero doesn't locate the heroine, she will be gone from his life. If the terrorist isn't stop, the bomb could end the world. Think of novels like the TV show 24.
This article titled, 11 Excellent Novels that Take Place All in One Day, suggests that authors can learn a great deal from dissecting one or more of these classics to understand the elements that make these novels grab the reader and be remembered. The titles range from a classic Ulysses by James Joyce to the novel, A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood, recently made into a movie. Read the synopses of the plots to understand the elements that made these books stand out among the multitude of published books.
http://www.onlinedegreeprograms.com/blog/2011/11-excellent-novels-that-take-place-all-in-one-day/
What must be considered when planning a one-day plot? Obviously excitement must happen immediately, an event so significant that makes a huge difference to the character. The plot could hinge on a catastrophic event or often a timebomb-type plot, something that drives the plot forward. If the hero doesn't locate the heroine, she will be gone from his life. If the terrorist isn't stop, the bomb could end the world. Think of novels like the TV show 24.
This article titled, 11 Excellent Novels that Take Place All in One Day, suggests that authors can learn a great deal from dissecting one or more of these classics to understand the elements that make these novels grab the reader and be remembered. The titles range from a classic Ulysses by James Joyce to the novel, A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood, recently made into a movie. Read the synopses of the plots to understand the elements that made these books stand out among the multitude of published books.
http://www.onlinedegreeprograms.com/blog/2011/11-excellent-novels-that-take-place-all-in-one-day/
Monday, December 13, 2010
Plotting Online Course beginning in January
Since you are all writers, I wanted to tell you about an inexpensive online course I will be teaching for three weeks in January sponsored by Outreach International Romance Writers, a chapter of RWA. Even if you are not a romance writer, this course is focused on plotting. Plotting and pacing work hand in hand, and when pacing is bad plotting begins to plod.
The course beginning on January 4 and will cover these topics:
Part I will define story and explore how story connects with the reader. Styles of plotting will be explained, then Plotting and Pacing will be defined with explanation on layering the plot and showing growth and change of the characters. Looking at plotting as a Three-Act Play, the Act I will be as to the purpose it serves, proper use of backstory and hooking the reader and ending Act .
Part II will explore what the author must accomplish in Act II. It will cover reader expectation, purpose, conflicts, deepening the stakes, and emphasis on pacing by using scene and sequel and positioning plot points. Plot hooks will also be covered.
Part III will cover techniques to avoid the sagging middle in Act II and the major setback. Act III will cover the purpose this act and resolving all major issues with tips on ways to leave the reader with a memorable story.
For more information, go to: http://www.oirw.net/campus/currentcourselist.htm
I hope to see some of you there.
The course beginning on January 4 and will cover these topics:
Part I will define story and explore how story connects with the reader. Styles of plotting will be explained, then Plotting and Pacing will be defined with explanation on layering the plot and showing growth and change of the characters. Looking at plotting as a Three-Act Play, the Act I will be as to the purpose it serves, proper use of backstory and hooking the reader and ending Act .
Part II will explore what the author must accomplish in Act II. It will cover reader expectation, purpose, conflicts, deepening the stakes, and emphasis on pacing by using scene and sequel and positioning plot points. Plot hooks will also be covered.
Part III will cover techniques to avoid the sagging middle in Act II and the major setback. Act III will cover the purpose this act and resolving all major issues with tips on ways to leave the reader with a memorable story.
For more information, go to: http://www.oirw.net/campus/currentcourselist.htm
I hope to see some of you there.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Part VI Suspense - Plotting a Suspense Novel
Plotting is plotting. All the techniques you’ve used in good plotting work for all types of suspense novels, but suspense adds some elements that are not always found in other genres. A suspense falls into a similar pattern of the three act play that I discussed under plotting.
Beginning (Act I)
The beginning of a suspense must be dynamic and hook the reader within the first few seconds. Part V of this Suspense series talks about the opening paragraphs and you can review this information there.
Act I also includes the same information any novel provides—establish main characters, setting, and the opening conflict. In suspense, this conflict is the beginning of the suspense element—something traumatic happens: kidnaping, stalking, murder, robbery, threatening letter or phone call, break-in, or any strange phenomenon that will cause major problem to the main character or the person he or she is protecting. This immediately evokes the dangerous or sinister tone of the novel which all readers expect.
The initial introduction of the crime can be done in a variety of ways:
• finding a body
• someone is missing
• threats of danger
• a cryptic note
• an old map or letter
• a telephone call or email
• focus on a playground with a child’s bike parked near the jungle gym bars but no child
Any of these elements set the reader on edge as well as the main character and the race begins.
Middle (Act II)
The middle act of a suspense novel is the building of conflicts—tension and emotion—as the hero or heroine tries to solve the major issue in the story. This is where red herrings are found, meeting the villain or contact with the villain, and watching the hero or heroine dig deep into their abilities to find resources they didn’t know they had. Here is where you see cunning and growth. The middle of a novel covers about 50% of the plot.
As I said earlier, the middle is made up of conflicts and tension which results in emotion. Emotion makes the readers care about your characters and what happens. Therefore it’s important to make sure that the middle is action and emotionally paced in a suspense. Conflict is the action that happens as the main characters follows the leads to the villain.
Ways to reveal conflict and tension are:
• Through dynamic dialogue
• Plot twists—faces roadblocks, resolve on issue to face another, things aren’t as they seem.
• Ticking Clock—setting a timeline with horrific results if not resolved, bomb under the table and the reader knows but the characters don’t
• Cliffhangers—stopping a scene in the middle of action and changing the scene to a different POV character usually in a different location.
• Jack In The Box—letting the reader know through hints or clues that something is about to happen, but they don’t know when.
• Foreshadowing—tossing out a comment or showing a piece of business that has greater meaning than it appears. Readers often realize, and it makes them work at putting the pieces together and solving the crime. It also promises that something will be fulfilled.
Pacing
Plotting is the journey from one place to another and pacing is the speed at which the character travels. I have used white water rafting as an example. The rafter begins the journey and knows where he’s headed, but the river has shallows, rocks, large boulders that pull at the raft, eddies, dangerous white water experiences that can overturn a raft, and even a waterfall. The journey is filled with moments of danger followed by moments of calm. As you plot your novel, use pacing to plan how your story will flow. Make each problem more and more serious as they approach their destination. Use the calm moments to review the clues, think through the crime solving process, recount suspicious activities, introduce new characters, discuss possibilities, reveal information, romance the heroine, rejuvenate and grow as a character.
The Ending (Act III)
The final act is the last quarter of the book when the most desperate situation must be faced. This is where time is running out, where the villain has become even more devious and all seems lost. The hero will then find a way to overcome the villain and where final threads are quickly resolved and the story ends in a way to please the reader. In most cases, this would be the punishment or capture of the villain and the victory of the hero.
Plotting is complex because it is also affected by the number of POV characters you will use in your novel and it includes many other elements such as conflict, tension and emotion as well as other suspense techniques such as foreshadowing and red herrings. So it is important to keep track of each of the these facets of fiction writing so that the story isn’t confusing to the reader and you cover all of the elements you set up in the novel.
Keeping Track
For each chapter, you must keep track of what’s happened in terms of foreshadowing, conflicts, red herrings, characters’ POV and plot lines. You can use any of the following techniques. Make notes for each chapter, chart the plot showing what special elements were used, keep a running synopsis, and one final method is using index cards to keep track. I have found jotting ideas and info on index cards allows me to shuffle them and see where they best fit into the plot to keep the tension and conflicts growing.
Beginning (Act I)
The beginning of a suspense must be dynamic and hook the reader within the first few seconds. Part V of this Suspense series talks about the opening paragraphs and you can review this information there.
Act I also includes the same information any novel provides—establish main characters, setting, and the opening conflict. In suspense, this conflict is the beginning of the suspense element—something traumatic happens: kidnaping, stalking, murder, robbery, threatening letter or phone call, break-in, or any strange phenomenon that will cause major problem to the main character or the person he or she is protecting. This immediately evokes the dangerous or sinister tone of the novel which all readers expect.
The initial introduction of the crime can be done in a variety of ways:
• finding a body
• someone is missing
• threats of danger
• a cryptic note
• an old map or letter
• a telephone call or email
• focus on a playground with a child’s bike parked near the jungle gym bars but no child
Any of these elements set the reader on edge as well as the main character and the race begins.
Middle (Act II)
The middle act of a suspense novel is the building of conflicts—tension and emotion—as the hero or heroine tries to solve the major issue in the story. This is where red herrings are found, meeting the villain or contact with the villain, and watching the hero or heroine dig deep into their abilities to find resources they didn’t know they had. Here is where you see cunning and growth. The middle of a novel covers about 50% of the plot.
As I said earlier, the middle is made up of conflicts and tension which results in emotion. Emotion makes the readers care about your characters and what happens. Therefore it’s important to make sure that the middle is action and emotionally paced in a suspense. Conflict is the action that happens as the main characters follows the leads to the villain.
Ways to reveal conflict and tension are:
• Through dynamic dialogue
• Plot twists—faces roadblocks, resolve on issue to face another, things aren’t as they seem.
• Ticking Clock—setting a timeline with horrific results if not resolved, bomb under the table and the reader knows but the characters don’t
• Cliffhangers—stopping a scene in the middle of action and changing the scene to a different POV character usually in a different location.
• Jack In The Box—letting the reader know through hints or clues that something is about to happen, but they don’t know when.
• Foreshadowing—tossing out a comment or showing a piece of business that has greater meaning than it appears. Readers often realize, and it makes them work at putting the pieces together and solving the crime. It also promises that something will be fulfilled.
Pacing
Plotting is the journey from one place to another and pacing is the speed at which the character travels. I have used white water rafting as an example. The rafter begins the journey and knows where he’s headed, but the river has shallows, rocks, large boulders that pull at the raft, eddies, dangerous white water experiences that can overturn a raft, and even a waterfall. The journey is filled with moments of danger followed by moments of calm. As you plot your novel, use pacing to plan how your story will flow. Make each problem more and more serious as they approach their destination. Use the calm moments to review the clues, think through the crime solving process, recount suspicious activities, introduce new characters, discuss possibilities, reveal information, romance the heroine, rejuvenate and grow as a character.
The Ending (Act III)
The final act is the last quarter of the book when the most desperate situation must be faced. This is where time is running out, where the villain has become even more devious and all seems lost. The hero will then find a way to overcome the villain and where final threads are quickly resolved and the story ends in a way to please the reader. In most cases, this would be the punishment or capture of the villain and the victory of the hero.
Plotting is complex because it is also affected by the number of POV characters you will use in your novel and it includes many other elements such as conflict, tension and emotion as well as other suspense techniques such as foreshadowing and red herrings. So it is important to keep track of each of the these facets of fiction writing so that the story isn’t confusing to the reader and you cover all of the elements you set up in the novel.
Keeping Track
For each chapter, you must keep track of what’s happened in terms of foreshadowing, conflicts, red herrings, characters’ POV and plot lines. You can use any of the following techniques. Make notes for each chapter, chart the plot showing what special elements were used, keep a running synopsis, and one final method is using index cards to keep track. I have found jotting ideas and info on index cards allows me to shuffle them and see where they best fit into the plot to keep the tension and conflicts growing.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Fiction - A First Meeting
While reading a speech on Diversity In Action delivered by Heather Burns on October 2, 2007, I realized that what she talked about summarized three distinct ways characters respond to one another on first meeting. This works well for any novel, when two important characters first meet and especially in romance, the most widely read genre in popular fiction, or any novel with a romantic thread. Three distinct elements in first meeting is: curiosity, introspection, and openness.
Two people meet, and the first reaction is curiosity. Each studies the other—their dress, their voice, their vocabulary, accent or not, their actions, and appearance in general. Questions and attitudes being to form. Who is this person? What is his purpose being here? I like his smile. His clothing looks good. He needs a haircut. He avoids direct eye contact. Is he genuine? Curiosity rouses an emotional feeling of like or dislike or offers reservations.
Conversation is initiated as the character weighs the pros and cons of this person. Dialogue is scrutinized for meaning and innuendo. The characters stretch themselves to understand this person and how he may affect their life or their purpose.
Introspection begins when one character tries to understand his reaction to meeting this new character. He wants to know if he’s reading the new character right. Why is he reacting as he is? Is he uncomfortable, nervous, awed, or making unwarranted judgments. These questions help the character to delve more deeply into conversation so that he may gain better understanding of the character and his own feelings. It is now he realizes they are different or similar but that’s not necessarily bad or good. They are different and that could prove interesting.
When this new awareness comes—different but interesting, the third element appears. Openness. The willingness not let the other person into your life and to set aside doubt. Our as Burns said, to take a leap of faith.
New relationships can mean taking risks. Allowing a character to accept a new person into their circle of acquaintances or friendships. In romance, it’s the movement from awareness to interest. In mainstream relationships, it’s the awareness that this person can add something new to the character’s perspective. He can help the character move forward in pursuing a goal or in opening a new door for change or growth, and help the character to be comfortable in the decision.
When you introduce one character to another in your novel be it romance, suspense, or mainstream fiction, use these three elements—curiosity, introspection, and openness to provide a deeper look into characterization as well as set up opportunities for character growth and an more dynamic way to move the story forward.
Two people meet, and the first reaction is curiosity. Each studies the other—their dress, their voice, their vocabulary, accent or not, their actions, and appearance in general. Questions and attitudes being to form. Who is this person? What is his purpose being here? I like his smile. His clothing looks good. He needs a haircut. He avoids direct eye contact. Is he genuine? Curiosity rouses an emotional feeling of like or dislike or offers reservations.
Conversation is initiated as the character weighs the pros and cons of this person. Dialogue is scrutinized for meaning and innuendo. The characters stretch themselves to understand this person and how he may affect their life or their purpose.
Introspection begins when one character tries to understand his reaction to meeting this new character. He wants to know if he’s reading the new character right. Why is he reacting as he is? Is he uncomfortable, nervous, awed, or making unwarranted judgments. These questions help the character to delve more deeply into conversation so that he may gain better understanding of the character and his own feelings. It is now he realizes they are different or similar but that’s not necessarily bad or good. They are different and that could prove interesting.
When this new awareness comes—different but interesting, the third element appears. Openness. The willingness not let the other person into your life and to set aside doubt. Our as Burns said, to take a leap of faith.
New relationships can mean taking risks. Allowing a character to accept a new person into their circle of acquaintances or friendships. In romance, it’s the movement from awareness to interest. In mainstream relationships, it’s the awareness that this person can add something new to the character’s perspective. He can help the character move forward in pursuing a goal or in opening a new door for change or growth, and help the character to be comfortable in the decision.
When you introduce one character to another in your novel be it romance, suspense, or mainstream fiction, use these three elements—curiosity, introspection, and openness to provide a deeper look into characterization as well as set up opportunities for character growth and an more dynamic way to move the story forward.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Outlining #3 – Setting that makes a difference
From the list of screenwriting techniques from the Gideon Media and Film Festival, the third technique you can work with to enhance your story is using setting to make a difference in your story.
3. Setting should be specific and used to deepen characterization and conflict, not just a place to plop characters. Setting influences the storyline because it influences the lifestyle of the characters, and it affects their needs and wants or their ability to reach these goals.
All Writers know that in fiction “setting” means establishing a sense of place. You don’t want “talking heads,” characters having a conversation where the reader can’t envision where the characters are. Not only in a little town or the bustling city, but the kind of town and what part of the big city is important. Take the TV show and movie, Sex in the City, and move it from the bustle of Manhattan---Fifth Avenue, Central Park, Wall Street—to the Bowery or to Harlem. The story would change. Crime might be more prevalent, the women’s glamorous, professional lives would be downplayed, and the situations might be dealing more with lack of money or fear of being out at night. They would be dropping by sleazy bars, approached by panhandlers, and eating in diners. I think you can see the difference, and that’s just taking them from one part of the city to the other.
So where you set your story also provides a “tone.” A small town atmosphere, where everyone knows everyone, would create a story much different from an urban area where the person is lucky to know the neighbor. In a small town, gossip, nosey neighbors, people helping people, secrets, tradition, fighting change, etc. would be characteristics that would influence the plot and the conflicts. Secrets are easier to hide in the city but not in a small town where everyone knows everything.
Setting allows you to create unique secondary characters who bring with them interesting subplots---the nosey neighbor in the next apartment to the crotchety old man who runs the candy shop.
Beyond a sense of place, setting can deepen characterization by allowing the reader inside the head of the character reacting to the setting---a young woman who feels stifled in the small town, the man caught up in a high-powered job who longs to open a garage in his small hometown in the mountains. It reflects the attitudes of the characters played against the attitudes and social/political influences of the. And finally, use setting to reflect the character’s mood and emotions. I’ve written on this before. A woman gazes at the sun as a cloud passes over it, and shadows fall over her. She shudders, knowing that her own sunny spirit has been darkened by the abandonment of her husband. This is one example but I know you can think of many.
Think of movies you’ve seen --- rain in sad scenes, sun in happy ones, panning cameras over the sweep of landscape to reflect loneliness, dark basements or attics to reflect fear, a shadowy figure through a shower curtain (think Psycho). The impact of setting on plot and characterization can be very effective.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Outlining #2 - Creating Character Arcs
In the Outlining for Screenwriting blog provided early, the second point deals with the topic of creating characters arcs.
2. Create individual character arcs. What does the character want? What does the character need? The need factor is often the hidden desire of the character. The difference between the want and the need are sometimes in conflict and an effective technique is to create a situation where to gain what the character needs means to give up what he wants. This is an excellent technique to create conflict.
A character's arc is the growth of one character as to who he is when the story begins and how he changes as the story ends. It has to do with viewpoint and attitude. A character may be prejudice against an ethnic group, for example, but by the end of the story, his experiences will lead him to a new understanding and an appreciation for people of that ethnic group. He will have changed.
This arc is needed for the major characters in your novel. In real life, we often want things. We want a new job, a new boss, a new spouse, a new home, or a trip to Europe. Sometimes our wants are more internal. We want to be more outgoing, to be funnier, to be more beautiful or handsome, to be more talented, to be more discerning and to be secure. Other times we want to be left alone, we want to suffer silently, we want to run away from life. But our wants do not always match what we need.
The conflict comes when we see a solution to a problem that isn't realistic or that won't equal the result we want. Let's look at the person who wants a new job. Why? What's wrong with the job? Is it the job or is it something inside the person that's causing the job to be unpleasant or unsuccessful? Would updating the character's education help the character to be more adept at his work and therefore more happy? Rather than wanting a new job, the character perhaps needs a better education to give him the feeling of confidence and success.
The want in this case seems the easy way out. Walk away and get a new job. Would he find another job that will make him happier and successful? Not necessarily. If the problem is in the inner workings of the character's attitude and feelings, then a new job will lead to unhappiness again.
Someone who wants to be left alone is usually depressed, unhappy, and lonely. Instead, this person needs to face the internal issue that is holding them back from feeling comfortable with people and the help they are offering. As someone strives to draw out a character who is depressed and unhappy, conflict will be created. What makes a good novel? Conflict? In fact, a novel must have lots of conflict to be a novel.
So take a good look at your characters and ask yourself, what do they want, and then ask what they need. This will stimulate a story that offers conflict and growth of the characters which is a sure way to grab readers. Why? Because we've all been there.
2. Create individual character arcs. What does the character want? What does the character need? The need factor is often the hidden desire of the character. The difference between the want and the need are sometimes in conflict and an effective technique is to create a situation where to gain what the character needs means to give up what he wants. This is an excellent technique to create conflict.
A character's arc is the growth of one character as to who he is when the story begins and how he changes as the story ends. It has to do with viewpoint and attitude. A character may be prejudice against an ethnic group, for example, but by the end of the story, his experiences will lead him to a new understanding and an appreciation for people of that ethnic group. He will have changed.
This arc is needed for the major characters in your novel. In real life, we often want things. We want a new job, a new boss, a new spouse, a new home, or a trip to Europe. Sometimes our wants are more internal. We want to be more outgoing, to be funnier, to be more beautiful or handsome, to be more talented, to be more discerning and to be secure. Other times we want to be left alone, we want to suffer silently, we want to run away from life. But our wants do not always match what we need.
The conflict comes when we see a solution to a problem that isn't realistic or that won't equal the result we want. Let's look at the person who wants a new job. Why? What's wrong with the job? Is it the job or is it something inside the person that's causing the job to be unpleasant or unsuccessful? Would updating the character's education help the character to be more adept at his work and therefore more happy? Rather than wanting a new job, the character perhaps needs a better education to give him the feeling of confidence and success.
The want in this case seems the easy way out. Walk away and get a new job. Would he find another job that will make him happier and successful? Not necessarily. If the problem is in the inner workings of the character's attitude and feelings, then a new job will lead to unhappiness again.
Someone who wants to be left alone is usually depressed, unhappy, and lonely. Instead, this person needs to face the internal issue that is holding them back from feeling comfortable with people and the help they are offering. As someone strives to draw out a character who is depressed and unhappy, conflict will be created. What makes a good novel? Conflict? In fact, a novel must have lots of conflict to be a novel.
So take a good look at your characters and ask yourself, what do they want, and then ask what they need. This will stimulate a story that offers conflict and growth of the characters which is a sure way to grab readers. Why? Because we've all been there.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Impacting Fiction Writing with Script Writing Techniques
I have heard that authors can learn some great writing techniques through studying screenwriting. So I decided to act on this idea, and I'm away from home attending the Gideon Film Festival Conference. This unique conference has pulled together award-winning authors with multiple published books, movie producers, actors, screenwriters and more to open doors for the purpose of networking and learning.
Yesterday I attended the Art and Craft of Screenwriting, presented by Sarah Anne Simpolec. A part of the workshop on pre-writing activities included outlining, ten a fiction writing technique and a place where index cards can be useful. Sarah explained many techniques used for screenwriting but the section on outlining for screenwriting works extremely well for fiction writing.
Outlining
1. Define the overall theme or meaning of your work. What will happen and why does it matter? Sarah made an excellent point about the why. If your story does not make a difference, if it doesn't matter, then why write it? How can it serve the reader?
2. Create individual character arcs. What does the character want? What does the character need? The need factor is often the hidden desire of the character. The difference between the want and the need are sometimes in conflict and an effective technique is to create a situation where to gain what the character needs means to give up what he wants. This is an excellent technique to create conflict.
3. Setting should be specific and used to deepen characterization and conflict, not just a place to plop characters. Setting influences the storyline because it influences the lifestyle of the characters, and it affects thier needs and wants or their ability to reach these goals.
4. Develop subplot arcs that affect the main plot. Weave these subplot arcs through the novel rather than dropping them into the story and then resolving them early. A subplot must make an impact on the main story and change it in a meaningful way by adding conflict.
5. Pacing needs to flow like a river with all its hidden dangers. Through outlining the author can visual pacing before writing the book. He can see the river's calm and the turbulence and then place these scenes in the most meaningful way to impact the story.
By considering these five points, an author can impact the power of story and create a book that grabs the reader and keeps him hanging on for the amazing ride.
This is only one small way in which screenwriting can enhance fiction writing so learning more about writing scripts can help you grow as a writer.
Yesterday I attended the Art and Craft of Screenwriting, presented by Sarah Anne Simpolec. A part of the workshop on pre-writing activities included outlining, ten a fiction writing technique and a place where index cards can be useful. Sarah explained many techniques used for screenwriting but the section on outlining for screenwriting works extremely well for fiction writing.
Outlining
1. Define the overall theme or meaning of your work. What will happen and why does it matter? Sarah made an excellent point about the why. If your story does not make a difference, if it doesn't matter, then why write it? How can it serve the reader?
2. Create individual character arcs. What does the character want? What does the character need? The need factor is often the hidden desire of the character. The difference between the want and the need are sometimes in conflict and an effective technique is to create a situation where to gain what the character needs means to give up what he wants. This is an excellent technique to create conflict.
3. Setting should be specific and used to deepen characterization and conflict, not just a place to plop characters. Setting influences the storyline because it influences the lifestyle of the characters, and it affects thier needs and wants or their ability to reach these goals.
4. Develop subplot arcs that affect the main plot. Weave these subplot arcs through the novel rather than dropping them into the story and then resolving them early. A subplot must make an impact on the main story and change it in a meaningful way by adding conflict.
5. Pacing needs to flow like a river with all its hidden dangers. Through outlining the author can visual pacing before writing the book. He can see the river's calm and the turbulence and then place these scenes in the most meaningful way to impact the story.
By considering these five points, an author can impact the power of story and create a book that grabs the reader and keeps him hanging on for the amazing ride.
This is only one small way in which screenwriting can enhance fiction writing so learning more about writing scripts can help you grow as a writer.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Pacing Your Novel
As always, I love to hear author Randy Ingermanson share his knowledge of writing fiction and the next best thing is to read it in his Advanced Fiction Writers Ezine. Randy has granted me permission to share his article on pacing with you.
Randy says:
When I sold my first novel, one of the comments I got back from the editorial team was this: "The pace for this novel was perfect -- never too fast nor too slow."
I was surprised, because I'd never thought much about pace. Certain things come easy to every author, and other things come hard. Pace comes easy to me. What is pace? It's the amount of time you spend on each part of the story. The Goldilocks Principle applies to pace -- it should be neither too fast nor too slow, but just right.
There isn't any tidy little rule you can memorize to define what the perfect pace is for a story. A general rule is to vary the pace to suit the tension in the scene. So most often, you'll want to zip through the boring parts of the story and take more time on the exciting parts. That seems very strange, doesn't it? If you're showing a high-speed car chase, surely you'd want to make it read fast, wouldn't you? Which means using fewer words, doesn't it?
Yes and no. Yes, you want it to read fast. But no, you don't want to spend fewer words on it, you want more.
There's really no paradox here. Ever seen a football game in which one of the players makes a huge play, dodging first one defender, then another, all the way down the field, finally dancing into the end zone for a touchdown? What happens next?
You can bet your shirt that the networks are going to show the whole thing AGAIN, this time in slow motion, dragging out every twist, turn, head-fake, missed tackle, fancy step, jump, roll, block, clip, and lost helmet, all the way down the field. Showing it in slow-motion takes a lot longer, but it doesn't cut the pace. It INCREASES the pace.
Why? Because when the play ran at normal speed, you missed most of the action. You saw a guy running and you saw guys missing him. It all went by in a blur so fast that you couldn't take it all in.
When they ran it in super slo-mo, you saw every little move. You saw your man do an inside-outside-inside fake. You saw the defender respond to each fake in turn, finally over-committing in the wrong direction. Then your man cut to his right and sped on to the next defender, faking left, then right. You saw the defender freeze, then set himself low for a tackle. Then your man leaped right over the defender.
And on down the field. When your man reached the sidelines, you saw him threading a needle between his blocker and that thin chalk line. You saw every block, every weave. You saw the last desperate flying tackler miss your man's heels by an inch.As he entered the end-zone, you saw his gait change to a high-stepping strut, saw him raise the ball in triumph. And then the normal pace resumed.
It took ten times as long to see it that way, but this time, YOU SAW IT ALL. You saw every action, every reaction, in beautiful, sharply cut detail. That's what you came to see. With that one play, you got your nickel's worth for the game.
In your novel, the moral equivalent of super-slo-mo involves spending far more words than you normally would, but using much shorter sentences and shorter paragraphs. You alternate rapidly between what your point-of-view character is doing and what his opposition is doing. If your paragraphs are normally three sentences apiece, they might drop down to two sentences or one. If your sentences are normally ten words apiece, they might fall to five words. Or three. Or one.
You can't keep that up very long, of course. That would be crazy. In the same way, it would be crazy to watch an entire football game in slow motion. You want to ramp up the pace only for the high-tension scenes, where the stakes are high.
Slowing down the pace works the opposite way. Longer sentences. Longer paragraphs. Fewer actions and reactions. More interior monologue, longer dialogue.
Why does this work? It's really very simple. The reader reads fiction hoping to have a Powerful Emotional Experience.
Inside a scene, you provide this by showing actions and reactions between your point-of-view character and the other characters. Every time you show your POV character reacting to the other characters, you have a chance to provide an emotional hit point to your reader.
If you have short actions and short reactions (using short sentences and paragraphs), then you score emotional points with your reader faster. If you lengthen out the actions and reactions, then you score fewer emotional points.
Naturally, it only makes sense to speed up the pace when the tension is high. If you try this when the tension is low, the story is going to drag. (Imagine showing the team's huddle in slow-motion.)
There are an infinite variety of paces you can use as you work through each scene. You speed it up and slow it down, possibly several times in the scene.
How do you know when you've got it right? That's easy. You've got it right when it feels right. Fiction is about creating a Powerful Emotional Experience in your reader. Tweak the pace until you're doing that, and your reader will feel like Goldilocks.
Award-winning novelist Randy Ingermanson, "the Snowflake Guy," publishes the Advanced Fiction Writing E-zine, with more than 14,500 readers, every month. If you want to learn the craft and marketing of fiction, AND make your writing more valuable to editors, AND have FUN doing it, visit http://www.AdvancedFictionWriting.com.
Randy says:
When I sold my first novel, one of the comments I got back from the editorial team was this: "The pace for this novel was perfect -- never too fast nor too slow."
I was surprised, because I'd never thought much about pace. Certain things come easy to every author, and other things come hard. Pace comes easy to me. What is pace? It's the amount of time you spend on each part of the story. The Goldilocks Principle applies to pace -- it should be neither too fast nor too slow, but just right.
There isn't any tidy little rule you can memorize to define what the perfect pace is for a story. A general rule is to vary the pace to suit the tension in the scene. So most often, you'll want to zip through the boring parts of the story and take more time on the exciting parts. That seems very strange, doesn't it? If you're showing a high-speed car chase, surely you'd want to make it read fast, wouldn't you? Which means using fewer words, doesn't it?
Yes and no. Yes, you want it to read fast. But no, you don't want to spend fewer words on it, you want more.
There's really no paradox here. Ever seen a football game in which one of the players makes a huge play, dodging first one defender, then another, all the way down the field, finally dancing into the end zone for a touchdown? What happens next?
You can bet your shirt that the networks are going to show the whole thing AGAIN, this time in slow motion, dragging out every twist, turn, head-fake, missed tackle, fancy step, jump, roll, block, clip, and lost helmet, all the way down the field. Showing it in slow-motion takes a lot longer, but it doesn't cut the pace. It INCREASES the pace.
Why? Because when the play ran at normal speed, you missed most of the action. You saw a guy running and you saw guys missing him. It all went by in a blur so fast that you couldn't take it all in.
When they ran it in super slo-mo, you saw every little move. You saw your man do an inside-outside-inside fake. You saw the defender respond to each fake in turn, finally over-committing in the wrong direction. Then your man cut to his right and sped on to the next defender, faking left, then right. You saw the defender freeze, then set himself low for a tackle. Then your man leaped right over the defender.
And on down the field. When your man reached the sidelines, you saw him threading a needle between his blocker and that thin chalk line. You saw every block, every weave. You saw the last desperate flying tackler miss your man's heels by an inch.As he entered the end-zone, you saw his gait change to a high-stepping strut, saw him raise the ball in triumph. And then the normal pace resumed.
It took ten times as long to see it that way, but this time, YOU SAW IT ALL. You saw every action, every reaction, in beautiful, sharply cut detail. That's what you came to see. With that one play, you got your nickel's worth for the game.
In your novel, the moral equivalent of super-slo-mo involves spending far more words than you normally would, but using much shorter sentences and shorter paragraphs. You alternate rapidly between what your point-of-view character is doing and what his opposition is doing. If your paragraphs are normally three sentences apiece, they might drop down to two sentences or one. If your sentences are normally ten words apiece, they might fall to five words. Or three. Or one.
You can't keep that up very long, of course. That would be crazy. In the same way, it would be crazy to watch an entire football game in slow motion. You want to ramp up the pace only for the high-tension scenes, where the stakes are high.
Slowing down the pace works the opposite way. Longer sentences. Longer paragraphs. Fewer actions and reactions. More interior monologue, longer dialogue.
Why does this work? It's really very simple. The reader reads fiction hoping to have a Powerful Emotional Experience.
Inside a scene, you provide this by showing actions and reactions between your point-of-view character and the other characters. Every time you show your POV character reacting to the other characters, you have a chance to provide an emotional hit point to your reader.
If you have short actions and short reactions (using short sentences and paragraphs), then you score emotional points with your reader faster. If you lengthen out the actions and reactions, then you score fewer emotional points.
Naturally, it only makes sense to speed up the pace when the tension is high. If you try this when the tension is low, the story is going to drag. (Imagine showing the team's huddle in slow-motion.)
There are an infinite variety of paces you can use as you work through each scene. You speed it up and slow it down, possibly several times in the scene.
How do you know when you've got it right? That's easy. You've got it right when it feels right. Fiction is about creating a Powerful Emotional Experience in your reader. Tweak the pace until you're doing that, and your reader will feel like Goldilocks.
Award-winning novelist Randy Ingermanson, "the Snowflake Guy," publishes the Advanced Fiction Writing E-zine, with more than 14,500 readers, every month. If you want to learn the craft and marketing of fiction, AND make your writing more valuable to editors, AND have FUN doing it, visit http://www.AdvancedFictionWriting.com.
Monday, December 29, 2008
More on Episodic Writing
Cheryl Wyatt is a member of the blog called Seekerville. I asked her if I could share her blog with you on the same topic of episodic writing. The blog is a commentary which happened between Cheryl and her editor. She gave me her permission. Below is Cheryl’s blog entry on Episodic Writing
Cheryl says:
Today, I'm sharing my editor's definition in hopes it will help those of you whose manuscripts have been deemed "episodic."
She said (paraphrasing) episodic writing is when one scene happens then another and another and so on but there is really no point to the scenes. They end up trumping the overall story arc but do nothing to move the plot forward.
In my case, my overall story arc running through the book is Parachute Jumper Ben helping the heroine who is down and out financially and has recently been evicted. Her car breaks down in Refuge, and Ben is determined to befriend and help her.
Yes, this is a romance, and the romance arc must be front and center, but as far as character story goals and plot arcs, the main one that should run entirely through the story is Ben helping the heroine.
My editor went on to explain that episodic writing means loose writing where the author is just getting the characters from one scene to another (such as ending one scene with dinner and starting the next scene at breakfast) without anything really significant happening in the middle or at the hooks in and out to raise the stakes or increase the tension.
She said to make sure the stakes are constantly being raised and that there is tension in every scene and always a forward movement of plot...which comes from conflict. Also, the pacing needs to stay on track.
So, with her explanation, I gathered that non-episodic writing is tight writing where there is sufficient conflict and where the stakes are continually raised. Tension is present in every scene and every scene has a vital purpose. There is always a forward movement of the plot.
Hmm...that sounds eerily like some of the elements on contest score sheets and feedback forms.
So, can we gather from this that acquisitions editors really DO care about internal and external conflict, pacing, tension, plot, tight writing and every other element on most contest score sheets?
Absolutely.
If you've been marked down on "Conflict" on contest score sheets, it is possible that your writing is episodic. (My words, not the editor's.)
So...In Summary.....
SOME WAYS WE CAN AVOID EPISODIC WRITING:
---Don't let your story be merely a stream of pointless scenes. Give it direction
---Don't let a series of random scenes trump your overall story arc
---Have AT LEAST one vital reason for every scene
---Write tight
---Hold true and fast to the overall story arc
---Continually build tension
---Constantly ramp conflict
---Characters must have clear cut goals and growth. Constantly challenge those goals.
---Constantly up the stakes
---Put tension in every scene
---Always have forward movement of the plot and not just "episodes" or stagnation
---Maintain smooth scene transitions so the story flows in logical progression. (In one long running arc instead of reading like a bunch of episodes or scenes stringed together.)
From Cheryl Wyatt's blog: http://seekerville.blogspot.com
Thanks, Cheryl. I hope that you have gained some good information on avoiding episodic writing and, instead, can write scenes that moves your story forward in a dynamic way.
Cheryl says:
Today, I'm sharing my editor's definition in hopes it will help those of you whose manuscripts have been deemed "episodic."
She said (paraphrasing) episodic writing is when one scene happens then another and another and so on but there is really no point to the scenes. They end up trumping the overall story arc but do nothing to move the plot forward.
In my case, my overall story arc running through the book is Parachute Jumper Ben helping the heroine who is down and out financially and has recently been evicted. Her car breaks down in Refuge, and Ben is determined to befriend and help her.
Yes, this is a romance, and the romance arc must be front and center, but as far as character story goals and plot arcs, the main one that should run entirely through the story is Ben helping the heroine.
My editor went on to explain that episodic writing means loose writing where the author is just getting the characters from one scene to another (such as ending one scene with dinner and starting the next scene at breakfast) without anything really significant happening in the middle or at the hooks in and out to raise the stakes or increase the tension.
She said to make sure the stakes are constantly being raised and that there is tension in every scene and always a forward movement of plot...which comes from conflict. Also, the pacing needs to stay on track.
So, with her explanation, I gathered that non-episodic writing is tight writing where there is sufficient conflict and where the stakes are continually raised. Tension is present in every scene and every scene has a vital purpose. There is always a forward movement of the plot.
Hmm...that sounds eerily like some of the elements on contest score sheets and feedback forms.
So, can we gather from this that acquisitions editors really DO care about internal and external conflict, pacing, tension, plot, tight writing and every other element on most contest score sheets?
Absolutely.
If you've been marked down on "Conflict" on contest score sheets, it is possible that your writing is episodic. (My words, not the editor's.)
So...In Summary.....
SOME WAYS WE CAN AVOID EPISODIC WRITING:
---Don't let your story be merely a stream of pointless scenes. Give it direction
---Don't let a series of random scenes trump your overall story arc
---Have AT LEAST one vital reason for every scene
---Write tight
---Hold true and fast to the overall story arc
---Continually build tension
---Constantly ramp conflict
---Characters must have clear cut goals and growth. Constantly challenge those goals.
---Constantly up the stakes
---Put tension in every scene
---Always have forward movement of the plot and not just "episodes" or stagnation
---Maintain smooth scene transitions so the story flows in logical progression. (In one long running arc instead of reading like a bunch of episodes or scenes stringed together.)
From Cheryl Wyatt's blog: http://seekerville.blogspot.com
Thanks, Cheryl. I hope that you have gained some good information on avoiding episodic writing and, instead, can write scenes that moves your story forward in a dynamic way.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Plotting Problems - Episodic Writing - Part II
This continues Marg McAlister’s blog on Episodic Writing. Remember, she defines it as:
The story is a series of episodes, or events, that are very loosely tied together. The "events" crop up one after the other as a way of entertaining the reader, but there is little character growth between one episode and the next. Nor can you easily see how one event grows out of the one before.
Marg gave examples of two kinds of plots for classic or popular fantasy novels, and she says that you can probably think of many successful classics that met this formula yet have lasted. Here’s what she says:
Let me point out why some books work and some don't (even though they appear to have the same 'ingredients'). This applies to any genre.
1. The character is reactive rather than proactive.
In other words, he spends the book stumbling from one obstacle to another, reacting to whatever crops up. He doesn't sit down and formulate a clear plan of action. Quite often, other characters guide the outcome.
2. There is no story question.
The 'story question' is the question that is aroused in the reader's mind at the beginning of the story: "Will the guy get the girl?"; "Will Mary succeed in taking over the firm?"; "Will Xanor take his rightful place as Head of the Galaxy Alien Committee?"; "Will Laura track down the serial killer before she becomes the next victim?"; "How will Toby find his way back from the Land of Giants?" and so on.
You can see why 'Little Tommy's Exciting Day' type of story doesn't succeed. Tommy doesn't set out to do anything or solve a problem (other than being bored) and is faced with no challenges along the way. Stuff just happens.
Any book needs to answer the story question, but it must be more than a simple yes or no. It must show HOW the main character achieved his goal, and it must show how the character grows and changes as he pursues his goal. He needs to have a plan of action. Inevitably, he will need to adapt to circumstances - but with each new obstacle, the main character must (1) react; (2) evaluate the plan and make necessary changes, THEN (3) move forward. In most episodic stories, the character simply reacts then moves forward to the next obstacle WITHOUT making further plans. Quite often, older/wiser/stronger secondary characters will decide on the next step for him. Not a good idea! This gives you a weak main character.
3. The reactive character does not operate from his strengths.
He magically finds new skills when needed, rather than possessing them beforehand. He overcomes each obstacle by luck, intervention by someone else, or an amazing new talent that comes as a surprise to him.
What You Can Do to Save An Episodic Story
• Give your character a goal. e.g. "Mary is forced to leave her child behind. She is determined to come back for him." Then begin the plan of action. (Mary's first step is...??? What further action does she plan?)
• Give your character significant strengths and some weaknesses. These strengths and weaknesses will determine her plan of attack and ultimately reveal the flaws in that plan.
• Decide on the obstacles that the character will encounter on her way to the goal.
• Decide how your character will react to these obstacles and how this will affect her plan of action. Her reaction should be governed by her strengths and weaknesses as well as by circumstances. She will either overcome obstacles, go around them, or turn them into opportunities. Each setback will require a new plan of attack. Each triumph will determine the next step. Other people can help, but make sure your protagonist makes most of the significant breakthroughs.
• Check every scene to make sure it moves the story forward. How will the scene affect the character's growth and the eventual outcome? Is she moving closer to achieving her goal? Has she earned her success? How does each scene relate to the initial story question?
• Make sure each scene flows logically from the one before.
If you can see that your story is episodic, then take the time to work out just what it needs. You may be able to fix the plot with minimal rewrites, but that's unlikely. By having your main character make more decisions, you could easily find that he would have chosen a different direction. That's probably a good thing... you've discovered that you've been more of a puppet master than a wise author who lets her characters learn by their mistakes.
Grit your teeth and get to work. After you've diagnosed an episodic plot, then operated on it, you're going to be a much better writer.
Thank you to Marg McAlister for her interesting blog.
© copyright Marg McAlister
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marg_McAlister
The story is a series of episodes, or events, that are very loosely tied together. The "events" crop up one after the other as a way of entertaining the reader, but there is little character growth between one episode and the next. Nor can you easily see how one event grows out of the one before.
Marg gave examples of two kinds of plots for classic or popular fantasy novels, and she says that you can probably think of many successful classics that met this formula yet have lasted. Here’s what she says:
Let me point out why some books work and some don't (even though they appear to have the same 'ingredients'). This applies to any genre.
1. The character is reactive rather than proactive.
In other words, he spends the book stumbling from one obstacle to another, reacting to whatever crops up. He doesn't sit down and formulate a clear plan of action. Quite often, other characters guide the outcome.
2. There is no story question.
The 'story question' is the question that is aroused in the reader's mind at the beginning of the story: "Will the guy get the girl?"; "Will Mary succeed in taking over the firm?"; "Will Xanor take his rightful place as Head of the Galaxy Alien Committee?"; "Will Laura track down the serial killer before she becomes the next victim?"; "How will Toby find his way back from the Land of Giants?" and so on.
You can see why 'Little Tommy's Exciting Day' type of story doesn't succeed. Tommy doesn't set out to do anything or solve a problem (other than being bored) and is faced with no challenges along the way. Stuff just happens.
Any book needs to answer the story question, but it must be more than a simple yes or no. It must show HOW the main character achieved his goal, and it must show how the character grows and changes as he pursues his goal. He needs to have a plan of action. Inevitably, he will need to adapt to circumstances - but with each new obstacle, the main character must (1) react; (2) evaluate the plan and make necessary changes, THEN (3) move forward. In most episodic stories, the character simply reacts then moves forward to the next obstacle WITHOUT making further plans. Quite often, older/wiser/stronger secondary characters will decide on the next step for him. Not a good idea! This gives you a weak main character.
3. The reactive character does not operate from his strengths.
He magically finds new skills when needed, rather than possessing them beforehand. He overcomes each obstacle by luck, intervention by someone else, or an amazing new talent that comes as a surprise to him.
What You Can Do to Save An Episodic Story
• Give your character a goal. e.g. "Mary is forced to leave her child behind. She is determined to come back for him." Then begin the plan of action. (Mary's first step is...??? What further action does she plan?)
• Give your character significant strengths and some weaknesses. These strengths and weaknesses will determine her plan of attack and ultimately reveal the flaws in that plan.
• Decide on the obstacles that the character will encounter on her way to the goal.
• Decide how your character will react to these obstacles and how this will affect her plan of action. Her reaction should be governed by her strengths and weaknesses as well as by circumstances. She will either overcome obstacles, go around them, or turn them into opportunities. Each setback will require a new plan of attack. Each triumph will determine the next step. Other people can help, but make sure your protagonist makes most of the significant breakthroughs.
• Check every scene to make sure it moves the story forward. How will the scene affect the character's growth and the eventual outcome? Is she moving closer to achieving her goal? Has she earned her success? How does each scene relate to the initial story question?
• Make sure each scene flows logically from the one before.
If you can see that your story is episodic, then take the time to work out just what it needs. You may be able to fix the plot with minimal rewrites, but that's unlikely. By having your main character make more decisions, you could easily find that he would have chosen a different direction. That's probably a good thing... you've discovered that you've been more of a puppet master than a wise author who lets her characters learn by their mistakes.
Grit your teeth and get to work. After you've diagnosed an episodic plot, then operated on it, you're going to be a much better writer.
Thank you to Marg McAlister for her interesting blog.
© copyright Marg McAlister
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marg_McAlister
Monday, December 15, 2008
Plotting Problems - Episodic Writing Part I
When I was reading email from one of my writer’s groups, the discussion was on episodic writing and I realized it’s a worthwhile topic for this blog. The author of this blog entry, Marg McAlister, encourages others to share the information so I am including her blog here. Credit is at the bottom.
Marg says:
The rejection letter says: "Your story, on the surface, appears to be well-told and has appealing characters. However, the writing is episodic; the story lacks direction."
You frown. Huh? The story lacks direction? How could it? Your main character is on a quest; how much more of a direction could you have than that?
Clearly, this editor doesn't know what she's talking about. Oh well. It takes all types... you bundle up your manuscript and send it out to the next publisher.
Six rejections later, you feel more than a bit miffed. This is a good story; everyone in your writing group says so. Your writing style is smooth and accomplished (even a few editors have said that).
So why the heck do they keep rejecting it? It's something to do with the plot; that much is clear.
But what?
If you're lucky enough to get feedback, look for clues in the comments that have been made. The moment you see the word 'episodic', that is the biggest and best clue you could have. Not all editors will use this term. They might say things like 'what is the story question?' or 'the character has no clear-cut goal' or 'there is no character growth'. All of these things can point to your story being episodic.
What Does "Episodic" Mean?
If someone tells you that your story is 'episodic', they mean that your story is a series of episodes, or events, that are very loosely tied together. The "events" crop up one after the other as a way of entertaining the reader, but there is little character growth between one episode and the next. Nor can we easily see how one event grows out of the one before.
Some examples of how a story may be episodic:
(a) The "Little Tommy had never had such an exciting day!" theme:
FIRST: A child starts out in a normal/boring situation. Then something happens to change things. (A child might find a doorway into a magic kingdom, go on a balloon ride, go to stay on the grandparents' farm etc etc)
SECOND: The child sees a series of amazing sights/takes part in various fun activities/experiences several hair-raising incidents.
THIRD: The child says "What a lovely day I've had. I'll keep this fairy land a secret, but I'll keep going back to have more fun with my new friends!" (Or: "Phew. I'm glad that's over. I'm so happy to be back home!")
What's wrong with this? There is no plot. Just a bunch of 'stuff' that happens to fill in time.
(
b) The "Fantasy Trap"
FIRST: The main character is drawn into a different world or discovers that he/she is 'the chosen one'.
SECOND: This character is presented with a 'quest' to prove his worthiness to take up the mantle of the Chosen One. (He might have to free a character/being from enchantment or imprisonment, OR to learn to use the magic that is buried deep within, OR to right a great wrong etc etc.)
THIRD: The character sets off on his quest. On the way he is faced with one challenge after another (Menacing Fantasy Creature #1, the Hypnotic Field of Flowers, the Dreadful Sucking Swamp, the Shape-Changer, Menacing Fantasy Creature #2, the Dark and Deadly Forest, the Awful Abyss, the Mountain of Sorrows, Menacing Fantasy Creature #3 and so on and so on...)
FOURTH: The character overcomes each obstacle in turn. He finally frees the imprisoned Queen or finds the Sword of Destiny or whatever. He saves the land from annihilation or closes the door between two worlds and keeps evil at bay for another 1000 years.
Yawn. Another cliched fantasy novel ends. (Continued)
© copyright Marg McAlister
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marg_McAlister
Gail says:
Before forging ahead, study these ideas, then take a look at your work in progress. Can you see where you have piled one episode on another without showing character growth and without providing the character with a driving purpose to continue toward his goal. Is it his goal or a goal given to him? If you spot these problems, the next blog will present the problems with theses stories and why classic fantasies that appear to have the same formula provided the ingredients that make them classics. You will also learn a number of ways you can save your episodic novel and make it a good book.
Marg says:
The rejection letter says: "Your story, on the surface, appears to be well-told and has appealing characters. However, the writing is episodic; the story lacks direction."
You frown. Huh? The story lacks direction? How could it? Your main character is on a quest; how much more of a direction could you have than that?
Clearly, this editor doesn't know what she's talking about. Oh well. It takes all types... you bundle up your manuscript and send it out to the next publisher.
Six rejections later, you feel more than a bit miffed. This is a good story; everyone in your writing group says so. Your writing style is smooth and accomplished (even a few editors have said that).
So why the heck do they keep rejecting it? It's something to do with the plot; that much is clear.
But what?
If you're lucky enough to get feedback, look for clues in the comments that have been made. The moment you see the word 'episodic', that is the biggest and best clue you could have. Not all editors will use this term. They might say things like 'what is the story question?' or 'the character has no clear-cut goal' or 'there is no character growth'. All of these things can point to your story being episodic.
What Does "Episodic" Mean?
If someone tells you that your story is 'episodic', they mean that your story is a series of episodes, or events, that are very loosely tied together. The "events" crop up one after the other as a way of entertaining the reader, but there is little character growth between one episode and the next. Nor can we easily see how one event grows out of the one before.
Some examples of how a story may be episodic:
(a) The "Little Tommy had never had such an exciting day!" theme:
FIRST: A child starts out in a normal/boring situation. Then something happens to change things. (A child might find a doorway into a magic kingdom, go on a balloon ride, go to stay on the grandparents' farm etc etc)
SECOND: The child sees a series of amazing sights/takes part in various fun activities/experiences several hair-raising incidents.
THIRD: The child says "What a lovely day I've had. I'll keep this fairy land a secret, but I'll keep going back to have more fun with my new friends!" (Or: "Phew. I'm glad that's over. I'm so happy to be back home!")
What's wrong with this? There is no plot. Just a bunch of 'stuff' that happens to fill in time.
(
b) The "Fantasy Trap"
FIRST: The main character is drawn into a different world or discovers that he/she is 'the chosen one'.
SECOND: This character is presented with a 'quest' to prove his worthiness to take up the mantle of the Chosen One. (He might have to free a character/being from enchantment or imprisonment, OR to learn to use the magic that is buried deep within, OR to right a great wrong etc etc.)
THIRD: The character sets off on his quest. On the way he is faced with one challenge after another (Menacing Fantasy Creature #1, the Hypnotic Field of Flowers, the Dreadful Sucking Swamp, the Shape-Changer, Menacing Fantasy Creature #2, the Dark and Deadly Forest, the Awful Abyss, the Mountain of Sorrows, Menacing Fantasy Creature #3 and so on and so on...)
FOURTH: The character overcomes each obstacle in turn. He finally frees the imprisoned Queen or finds the Sword of Destiny or whatever. He saves the land from annihilation or closes the door between two worlds and keeps evil at bay for another 1000 years.
Yawn. Another cliched fantasy novel ends. (Continued)
© copyright Marg McAlister
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marg_McAlister
Gail says:
Before forging ahead, study these ideas, then take a look at your work in progress. Can you see where you have piled one episode on another without showing character growth and without providing the character with a driving purpose to continue toward his goal. Is it his goal or a goal given to him? If you spot these problems, the next blog will present the problems with theses stories and why classic fantasies that appear to have the same formula provided the ingredients that make them classics. You will also learn a number of ways you can save your episodic novel and make it a good book.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Mind-Mapping For Plot and Conflict
Authors can purchase brainstorming programs. I purchased one and never could use it, but the Mind-Mapping site provides information and how to use mind-mapping. In my opinion, a writer can use this techniques without purchasing a program. While a program might give ??, allowing you to get the most out of your brainstorming, I think you can apply it this way.
Use a large piece of poster paper and in the middle put your conflict, situation, character, or anything that will help strengthen your plot. Begin to brainstorm ideas by jotting down possible ways to deepen conflict, add tension, broaden characterization, or confuse a situation.
You’ll find no right or wrong ideas to add to your list. You can use symbols, simple sketches, words or thoughts. If your idea is silly don’t worry about it. Silly ideas can sometime trigger another more practical thought that will add a new plot element to your story. Branch out with sub-topics. Use arrows to connect ideas. Show relations to idea by placing some in boxes, some in circles, some in other shapes – like hearts or stars. The mind-mapping program linked below is for corporate brainstorming, but think how this can work for you.
For example, Jim has been offered a new job in a new city. If he accepts it, how will it affect your plot?
Job Location: So put Jim must move in the center of your paper. Now add thoughts about this:
Would Jim like to move?
Will he be in an area that adds new benefits or opportunities?
Job Requirements:
Will the job bring more money or prestige?
More Responsibility? Link of this: Can Jim handle it.
Responsibility means more job stress: He will be away more? His wife will be more stressed?
Home Life:
Obviously moving affects a whole family. So you begin to ask questions about how the new job will affect his family?
Will his wife be willing to move?
Will she be willing to give up her own job? Life change for her.
Link to this: Her wages will be lost. Will his raise equal the lose?
Will she fulfill the corporate expectations to be a party-giver?
Will she be willing to lose the time she has with Jim because of his added responsibilities?
As you see an idea sprout up that will add to the tension or conflict in your story, put it in a star. If you see something that will show another side of your character, put it in a box. Use these symbols in anyway they will work to help you make the most out of brainstorming.
Here’s the link to this mind-mapping program:
http://lifehacker.com/software/note-taking/a-beginners-guide-to-mind-mapping.php%20-meetings-288763.php
Use a large piece of poster paper and in the middle put your conflict, situation, character, or anything that will help strengthen your plot. Begin to brainstorm ideas by jotting down possible ways to deepen conflict, add tension, broaden characterization, or confuse a situation.
You’ll find no right or wrong ideas to add to your list. You can use symbols, simple sketches, words or thoughts. If your idea is silly don’t worry about it. Silly ideas can sometime trigger another more practical thought that will add a new plot element to your story. Branch out with sub-topics. Use arrows to connect ideas. Show relations to idea by placing some in boxes, some in circles, some in other shapes – like hearts or stars. The mind-mapping program linked below is for corporate brainstorming, but think how this can work for you.
For example, Jim has been offered a new job in a new city. If he accepts it, how will it affect your plot?
Job Location: So put Jim must move in the center of your paper. Now add thoughts about this:
Would Jim like to move?
Will he be in an area that adds new benefits or opportunities?
Job Requirements:
Will the job bring more money or prestige?
More Responsibility? Link of this: Can Jim handle it.
Responsibility means more job stress: He will be away more? His wife will be more stressed?
Home Life:
Obviously moving affects a whole family. So you begin to ask questions about how the new job will affect his family?
Will his wife be willing to move?
Will she be willing to give up her own job? Life change for her.
Link to this: Her wages will be lost. Will his raise equal the lose?
Will she fulfill the corporate expectations to be a party-giver?
Will she be willing to lose the time she has with Jim because of his added responsibilities?
As you see an idea sprout up that will add to the tension or conflict in your story, put it in a star. If you see something that will show another side of your character, put it in a box. Use these symbols in anyway they will work to help you make the most out of brainstorming.
Here’s the link to this mind-mapping program:
http://lifehacker.com/software/note-taking/a-beginners-guide-to-mind-mapping.php%20-meetings-288763.php
Saturday, June 28, 2008
More Plotting Assumptions
Here’s another idea from John’s Ideas on Blogspot, and it works well with my other techniques on getting rid of the sagging middle of a book or even twisting the premise.
This idea, however, is closer to brainstorming plot ideas. Take a subject from a novel you’re planning or one you’re working on at the moment. Ask yourself what’s happening to this subject right now. Step outside the box and let your imagination fly. For example, look at ideas for these subjects: an ER room, Statue of Liberty, or Goldengate Bridge.
What’s happening in an ER room?
Life and death surgery
Life-threatening surgery of the president
Someone using anaesthetic to commit suicide
Someone using anaesthetic to commit murder
Romantic Rendezvous
Finding an alien child during surgery
Releasing a plague during surgery
What’s happening at the Statue of Liberty?
Someone finds a body
A bomb is found
Someone commits suicide
Tourist finds a secret hiding place with amazing information
A man propose to a woman
The view takes someone back in time to the past
What’s happening on the Goldengate Bridge
A suicide attempt
A bolt loosens
Someone spots a swimmer struggle to survive
A car goes over the edge
Paper catches on a windshield with a meaningful message
I’m sure you can add idea to these lists, but what you see is imagination at work. Now take a room, a location, a person from your own novel and see where this kind of brainstorming can lead. When you’re story begins to sag or when you’re stuck for an idea, take any subject and see where the question “What’s happening now” can lead you.
This idea, however, is closer to brainstorming plot ideas. Take a subject from a novel you’re planning or one you’re working on at the moment. Ask yourself what’s happening to this subject right now. Step outside the box and let your imagination fly. For example, look at ideas for these subjects: an ER room, Statue of Liberty, or Goldengate Bridge.
What’s happening in an ER room?
Life and death surgery
Life-threatening surgery of the president
Someone using anaesthetic to commit suicide
Someone using anaesthetic to commit murder
Romantic Rendezvous
Finding an alien child during surgery
Releasing a plague during surgery
What’s happening at the Statue of Liberty?
Someone finds a body
A bomb is found
Someone commits suicide
Tourist finds a secret hiding place with amazing information
A man propose to a woman
The view takes someone back in time to the past
What’s happening on the Goldengate Bridge
A suicide attempt
A bolt loosens
Someone spots a swimmer struggle to survive
A car goes over the edge
Paper catches on a windshield with a meaningful message
I’m sure you can add idea to these lists, but what you see is imagination at work. Now take a room, a location, a person from your own novel and see where this kind of brainstorming can lead. When you’re story begins to sag or when you’re stuck for an idea, take any subject and see where the question “What’s happening now” can lead you.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Using Assumptions To Create Page-Turning Plots
In an early blog, I talked about plotting with premise twists. A premise is really an assumption. When you do many things in your life, they are based on assumptions. You assume when you go into a movie theater, they’ll have a candy and drink counter. You assume when you get into your car and turn the key it will start. You assume while waiting at a red light that eventually it will become green. When these things don’t happen or aren’t as you anticipate, it is a surprise.
Assumptions are something readers make when they learn the premise of a story. The story opens with a child running toward a woman who’s stepped into the room from outside. The assumption is perhaps:
1. This is her child.
2. The child heard her coming.
3. Someone in the house has been caring for the child while she's been gone.
4. The child is happy to see her.
But none of these assumptions might be so:
1. The child might not be hers. She might be raising the child as her own and it was kidnapped.
2. The child might be blind and felt the thud of her footsteps or smelled her perfume.
3. The child might be alone with no one in the house.
4. The child might be frightened being alone or someone else might have been in the house.
Think of the surprise to a reader when the assumptions they make are shattered. This is the kind of premise we are thrilled to find as we plot our ideas preparing to begin a novel. Sometimes these ideas might strike us once the story has already begun.
Strategies have been made to create assumptions for our novels, and I found an interesting blog called John’s Ideas which provides some creative techniques for writing that talks about this concept. It’s the same one I discussed early in other Plotting chapters.
This technique is described in this manner: You want to find some assumptions about an old chair found in a shed. John’s method suggests you make a list of possible assumptions you might want to make with directives: person, time, location, usage. Then you take the first directive “person” and you begin to ask yourself questions about a person in relationship to the chair. Don’t stop with my suggestions. Continue on with creative questions.
Assumption about Person:
Someone has sat in this chair
Someone owned this chair
Someone built this chair
Someone felt a connection to this chair
Assumptions about Time:
This chair was built in the 20th century.
This chair was part of someone’s life.
If it had eyes, this chair would seen history pass it by.
Someone sat in this chair during an emotional period of life.
Assumptions about Location:
This chair sat in a kitchen.
This chair had been in a bedroom.
This chair sat in front of a computer.
This chair was in an office building.
This chair was in someone’s house.
Assumptions about Usage:
This chair was useful for eating meals.
This chair had things piled on it.
This chair was used as a valet to hold clothing draped over the back.
This chair tripped someone.
Then you can begin to ask questions about the chair as you found it:
Why is the chair in the shed?
As one of four, two chairs were broken.
Someone died in this chair.
The chair become out of fashion.
Someone didn’t have the heart to throw this chair away.
As you can see, asking questions about this chair can trigger some very creative ways you can use this chair in your story or even create a new subplot that affects a character’s journey. You can build an entire story around this chair if you use your imagination. Perhaps it's magical and it can take you on a journey. Who knows? Only you. . . so use assumption brainstorm in a creative way.
Assumptions are something readers make when they learn the premise of a story. The story opens with a child running toward a woman who’s stepped into the room from outside. The assumption is perhaps:
1. This is her child.
2. The child heard her coming.
3. Someone in the house has been caring for the child while she's been gone.
4. The child is happy to see her.
But none of these assumptions might be so:
1. The child might not be hers. She might be raising the child as her own and it was kidnapped.
2. The child might be blind and felt the thud of her footsteps or smelled her perfume.
3. The child might be alone with no one in the house.
4. The child might be frightened being alone or someone else might have been in the house.
Think of the surprise to a reader when the assumptions they make are shattered. This is the kind of premise we are thrilled to find as we plot our ideas preparing to begin a novel. Sometimes these ideas might strike us once the story has already begun.
Strategies have been made to create assumptions for our novels, and I found an interesting blog called John’s Ideas which provides some creative techniques for writing that talks about this concept. It’s the same one I discussed early in other Plotting chapters.
This technique is described in this manner: You want to find some assumptions about an old chair found in a shed. John’s method suggests you make a list of possible assumptions you might want to make with directives: person, time, location, usage. Then you take the first directive “person” and you begin to ask yourself questions about a person in relationship to the chair. Don’t stop with my suggestions. Continue on with creative questions.
Assumption about Person:
Someone has sat in this chair
Someone owned this chair
Someone built this chair
Someone felt a connection to this chair
Assumptions about Time:
This chair was built in the 20th century.
This chair was part of someone’s life.
If it had eyes, this chair would seen history pass it by.
Someone sat in this chair during an emotional period of life.
Assumptions about Location:
This chair sat in a kitchen.
This chair had been in a bedroom.
This chair sat in front of a computer.
This chair was in an office building.
This chair was in someone’s house.
Assumptions about Usage:
This chair was useful for eating meals.
This chair had things piled on it.
This chair was used as a valet to hold clothing draped over the back.
This chair tripped someone.
Then you can begin to ask questions about the chair as you found it:
Why is the chair in the shed?
As one of four, two chairs were broken.
Someone died in this chair.
The chair become out of fashion.
Someone didn’t have the heart to throw this chair away.
As you can see, asking questions about this chair can trigger some very creative ways you can use this chair in your story or even create a new subplot that affects a character’s journey. You can build an entire story around this chair if you use your imagination. Perhaps it's magical and it can take you on a journey. Who knows? Only you. . . so use assumption brainstorm in a creative way.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Plotting — Act III
So you’ve made it to the end of your book, except for three or four final chapters — exciting chapters and ones that bring an "ah-ha" to the reader at the end. This reaction means readers are satisfied. You’ve excited them and ended with an emotion punch whether it’s to solve the mystery, brought the suspense to a close, enjoyed two people falling in love, or resolved a long-time mother-daughter relationship.
Near the end of Act II, your story appears to begin to resolve. The reader breaths a sigh and smiles, sensing that all is well, but not so. As Act III begins, the story switches. What appeared to be a calm was only the calm before the storm. Something happens to disrupt the serenity or the happiness, and the worst situation strikes your characters. This is why you always save the worst, most devastating conflict/crisis until the end of the book. You will bring the story to a screaming pitch, a "nothing can work out now" feeling that arouses the readers tension and emotion.
Then you have the final task of resolving this issue and bringing the book to a satisfying conclusion. In a suspense or mystery, the crime is solved, the culprit is captured, the lost child is found, the mother and daughter accept forgiveness, the wife learns her husband had not committed adultery, the fiancé doesn’t have to move to China, or the hero says he loves the heroine and proposes.
Act III is the resolution of your book—the last drama as each problem is resolved, explained, and the situation calms and draws to a close, allowing the reader to know that all is well.
One caution for writers is to avoid rushing the ending. Sometimes the story runs away with itself and when an author is restricted by word count, it is easy to find the words running out and then rush the ending. Make sure you allow yourself enough word count to bring the book to a well-rounded and satisfying conclusion. This means to resolve all subplots, all issues, and then the relationship part of the story—the mother and daughter, the husband and wife, or the hero and heroine. No matter what kind of story you write it must ooze emotion. Realistic emotion is the crux of a good story. It’s what draws the readers to your characters as they cheer them on to happiness.
Do you have a topic you'd like discussed? If so, please send a comment or write me an email at authorgailmartin@aol.com
Near the end of Act II, your story appears to begin to resolve. The reader breaths a sigh and smiles, sensing that all is well, but not so. As Act III begins, the story switches. What appeared to be a calm was only the calm before the storm. Something happens to disrupt the serenity or the happiness, and the worst situation strikes your characters. This is why you always save the worst, most devastating conflict/crisis until the end of the book. You will bring the story to a screaming pitch, a "nothing can work out now" feeling that arouses the readers tension and emotion.
Then you have the final task of resolving this issue and bringing the book to a satisfying conclusion. In a suspense or mystery, the crime is solved, the culprit is captured, the lost child is found, the mother and daughter accept forgiveness, the wife learns her husband had not committed adultery, the fiancé doesn’t have to move to China, or the hero says he loves the heroine and proposes.
Act III is the resolution of your book—the last drama as each problem is resolved, explained, and the situation calms and draws to a close, allowing the reader to know that all is well.
One caution for writers is to avoid rushing the ending. Sometimes the story runs away with itself and when an author is restricted by word count, it is easy to find the words running out and then rush the ending. Make sure you allow yourself enough word count to bring the book to a well-rounded and satisfying conclusion. This means to resolve all subplots, all issues, and then the relationship part of the story—the mother and daughter, the husband and wife, or the hero and heroine. No matter what kind of story you write it must ooze emotion. Realistic emotion is the crux of a good story. It’s what draws the readers to your characters as they cheer them on to happiness.
Do you have a topic you'd like discussed? If so, please send a comment or write me an email at authorgailmartin@aol.com
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Plotting – Act II
While Act I and Act III are each normally three or four chapters long, perhaps 120 pages of your book, the other 280 belong to the middle, and while Act I and Act III have very specific purposes to accomplish, Act II’s task is to tell the story—this means telling a story that will capture readers attention and leave them wanting more.
How do you keep readers interested? First work with the pacing techniques that I mentioned in earlier posts on pacing. Balance action with the more contemplative moments that help to deepened characterization and adds complications to the plot. Next, makes sure that each scene has a more complex crisis or conflict than the last. Makes sure that you initiate a new conflict before you resolve the earlier one. Use the technique of foreshadowing to arouse the readers curiosity, and initiate new situations that complicate the solution of the conflict.
End chapters with hooks—leave the reader asking questions, stop the action as the telephone rings or as the window breaks. Change scenes to another character, and then return to resolve the problem. This kind of writing is bound to keep readers reading. Use the Jack-in-the-Box method or the Time-Bomb technique to keep readers aroused both discussed in an earlier post.
Most of all make sure that every scene provides new and important information. Each scene should show character’s change and eventually grow, just as the romance, faith or solution to the crime will come closer to being resolved.
If your story tends to bog down change the pacing or try some of these methods to add new zing to your plot. My book Writing the Christian Romance covers this more fully, and while this book focuses on romance, the techniques can be used for any type of fiction. These methods might give you something to think about.
1. Arrive at a new conflict that you hadn’t planned. Give thought to what’s going on in your story and see if you can do something else to complicate matters. The male protagonist loses his job or a family member becomes seriously ill and pulls him from the matters at hand. The female protagonist learns something about a friend or fellow employee that affects her way of looking at what’s going on in her life.
2. Include characters with secrets, and let little pieces of the secret be revealed until you totally expose it at the end of the book. Readers enjoy trying to figure out the secret.
3. Add a subplot that’s related to the main plot, perhaps a character who’s going through something that mirrors the main character’s situation. This could provide more tension or help the characters come up with ideas on how to resolve their own problems.
4. Deepen the stakes, meaning change the problem to something even deeper. If a problem involves the character, then have the situation involve the character’s family as well. If it meant losing a major contract in a business, then let the problem grow to losing the total business.
5. Use the tried and true "what if" to add a new event that affects a major character’s situation – an automobile accident that puts the character in the hospital for example.
6. Add people’s phobias and fears, then put them in a situation to have to overcome this.
7. Remove a character from the story and give the roles to the main characters. This is a technique suggested by agent and writer Donald Maass.
8. Add a character. Bring back a prodigal sister or brother, an old boyfriend, a new boss.
9. Twist the plot. Don’t go with the expected, but put your ending on it’s ear. Have the culprit not be the culprit at all but someone else while the assumed culprit was covering for the real person who set the fire, caused the accident, or stole the money. If you give enough clues, yet focus on someone else, the reader will follow you until you turn the tables.
10. Keep your writing sharp and dynamic. Use vivid verbs and realistic dialogue. Don’t over describe, but bring the scene to life with enough details, and fill the story with emotion. Emotion is what helps readers relate.
By using some of the ten techniques listed above, you can keep your middle from sagging and create a page-turner in the process. Isn’t that what we all want to write?
Next we’ll talk about Act III – The Ending. How about emotions next? Or do you have any other thoughts? Drop me a note in the comments on your ideas.
How do you keep readers interested? First work with the pacing techniques that I mentioned in earlier posts on pacing. Balance action with the more contemplative moments that help to deepened characterization and adds complications to the plot. Next, makes sure that each scene has a more complex crisis or conflict than the last. Makes sure that you initiate a new conflict before you resolve the earlier one. Use the technique of foreshadowing to arouse the readers curiosity, and initiate new situations that complicate the solution of the conflict.
End chapters with hooks—leave the reader asking questions, stop the action as the telephone rings or as the window breaks. Change scenes to another character, and then return to resolve the problem. This kind of writing is bound to keep readers reading. Use the Jack-in-the-Box method or the Time-Bomb technique to keep readers aroused both discussed in an earlier post.
Most of all make sure that every scene provides new and important information. Each scene should show character’s change and eventually grow, just as the romance, faith or solution to the crime will come closer to being resolved.
If your story tends to bog down change the pacing or try some of these methods to add new zing to your plot. My book Writing the Christian Romance covers this more fully, and while this book focuses on romance, the techniques can be used for any type of fiction. These methods might give you something to think about.
1. Arrive at a new conflict that you hadn’t planned. Give thought to what’s going on in your story and see if you can do something else to complicate matters. The male protagonist loses his job or a family member becomes seriously ill and pulls him from the matters at hand. The female protagonist learns something about a friend or fellow employee that affects her way of looking at what’s going on in her life.
2. Include characters with secrets, and let little pieces of the secret be revealed until you totally expose it at the end of the book. Readers enjoy trying to figure out the secret.
3. Add a subplot that’s related to the main plot, perhaps a character who’s going through something that mirrors the main character’s situation. This could provide more tension or help the characters come up with ideas on how to resolve their own problems.
4. Deepen the stakes, meaning change the problem to something even deeper. If a problem involves the character, then have the situation involve the character’s family as well. If it meant losing a major contract in a business, then let the problem grow to losing the total business.
5. Use the tried and true "what if" to add a new event that affects a major character’s situation – an automobile accident that puts the character in the hospital for example.
6. Add people’s phobias and fears, then put them in a situation to have to overcome this.
7. Remove a character from the story and give the roles to the main characters. This is a technique suggested by agent and writer Donald Maass.
8. Add a character. Bring back a prodigal sister or brother, an old boyfriend, a new boss.
9. Twist the plot. Don’t go with the expected, but put your ending on it’s ear. Have the culprit not be the culprit at all but someone else while the assumed culprit was covering for the real person who set the fire, caused the accident, or stole the money. If you give enough clues, yet focus on someone else, the reader will follow you until you turn the tables.
10. Keep your writing sharp and dynamic. Use vivid verbs and realistic dialogue. Don’t over describe, but bring the scene to life with enough details, and fill the story with emotion. Emotion is what helps readers relate.
By using some of the ten techniques listed above, you can keep your middle from sagging and create a page-turner in the process. Isn’t that what we all want to write?
Next we’ll talk about Act III – The Ending. How about emotions next? Or do you have any other thoughts? Drop me a note in the comments on your ideas.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
