Sunday, October 19, 2008

Perpetual Plot Problems?

(The subhead here should be: Perceive! A Non-Political Post!)

In a little less than a month, I'm going to be appearing at the Illinois SCBWI's Prairie Writer's Day, with the esteemed Martha Mihalick of Greenwillow, Caroline Meckler of Wendy Lamb/Random, and the agent Michelle Andelman. Each one of us will be speaking on a different aspect of the writers' craft, and I drew the Plot straw.

Well. On the one hand, I am thrilled by this, because if there's one aspect of craft I've thought and written a lot about, it's Plot, and so I don't have to go through the agonies (or enjoy the discoveries) that I would with Voice (the one major aspect of writing I've never done a talk on). In other words: Yay for getting to be lazy! On the other hand, there's a good chance that some of the people at the conference will have read that link or my other musings on plot, and I don't want to bore them. (Hello, people I will meet in future!)

So I ask you people who have read my plot talks: What questions do you still have about plot? What do you struggle with in your own plots? What are those talks lacking? Where should I go from here on this subject? Your advice would be very much appreciated.

One thing I am already thinking about: the narrative weight of individual events in a plot, which often comes down to two terms my authors will be familiar with: narration vs. dramatization. Narration is "Lisa and Alexandra had a fight." Dramatization is "Lisa punched Alexandra, who staggered backwards into a tall stack of boxes, which dominoed to the ground behind her. Alexandra got her feet back underneath her and barreled toward Lisa . . ." etc., etc. All of the major events of a plot -- the Inciting Incident, the events that heighten a Conflict, the discovery of the clues to the Mystery, the introduction of people/things and the incidents with those people/things that slowly fulfill a Lack*, the Climax -- should be dramatized, not narrated; and those events must involve your protagonist acting, not other people. (That is, your protagonist should be the one discovering the Clues and so forth.) But I do not know that I have a great deal more to say on it than that.**

* I invented the Lack plot category because I was testing my plot theories against each of Jane Austen's novels, and Persuasion didn't fit into either the Conflict or Mystery mold. And Persuasion is a perfect example of dramatization vs. narration: Anne's first re-encounter with Captain Wentworth is fully dramatized, and each major incident that shows him slowly reconsidering her or warming toward her likewise, interspersed with narration like "From this time Captain Wentworth and Anne Elliot were repeatedly in the same circle. . . . [And] this was but the beginning of other dinings and other meetings." And it's because we see all those important events so fully (dramatization), still with a sense of the life continuing around them (narration), that Persuasion is so satisfying. Glory, I want to reread it now . . .

** Clearly, I am a liar.

14 comments:

  1. I'd love to give you some profounds words on plot, alas, I have none. So go ahead, give us more political food for thought. I'm still hungry!

    News junky

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  2. Hm, maybe some discussion on the difference between front story, back story, and how they intersect in the plot? By backstory I don't mean endless asides to tell the whole history of some minor character. More like backstory in a mystery (or novel that involves revealing and resolving things from before the front-story book starts). In a mystery, for example, you're mostly dealing with discovering things that have already happened. (Or in a non-mystery like Speak, half the book is just getting your character to reveal what happened.) How do you keep them in the right proportion to each other? Hm, I don't think I'm explaining this very well. But I know that dealing with backstory that will come back and be significant later in the book is something I've had to deal with in my own writing and something I've noticed when I've critiqued others' work.

    The other bit about plot that bears repeating and expanding is its causative nature, as well as getting the plot started in the very first chapter (plot as opposed to just a nifty concept).

    (And I'm really going to have to plan my husband's job transfers to match your speaking schedule--this will be the second time you'll be talking somewhere I've moved *away* from.)

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  3. Pacing. Especially when you stretch from introduction to conflict and resolution in stages until the eventual climax and satisfactory end. Learning how to map these important factors in good storytelling would be a wonderful topic and a technical part of the craft that is sometimes lost in the fun of creativity.

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  4. Transitions? Does that make sense? How to keep things fluid as you're moving through. Transitions and pacing. *nods* Movement.

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  5. Here are some plot issues I'm struggling with as I revise my WIP:

    Where should the story begin? - How do I pull off an irresistably exciting or intriguing beginning without needing to fill in a big load of backstory details soon afterward?

    What's the right balance between action and description? - How do I intersperse enough tangible details to satisfy the reader's senses without unduly slowing the pacing?

    How should I structure chapters? - Where should the chapter breaks go? How about line spaces? Should there be a mini plot arc within each chapter? How much does the length of each chapter matter? How much can the length vary from one chapter to the next? Are there chapter length guidelines by age group for children's novels?

    ---
    Thanks so much for sharing your lecture notes. You're a wonderful teacher. I look forward to see what you produce for the Illinois SCBWI.

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    BTW - Michelle Andelman's listing on AgentQuery.com says she's no longer working as an agent, and she's not on the Andrea Brown website. (I checked because she was supposed to attend the Maryland SCBWI conference in July, but cancelled at the last minute because of sprained ankle.) Have you heard anything about this?

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  6. Hi Cheryl! Interesting to hear you discuss narration vs dramatization -- though I was on some level aware of the difference, I couldn't have clearly verbalized it until Arthur made a request on my ms that I "dramatize" a particular moment that was told in quick narration. It was kind of like a light-bulb. Seems silly I hadn't consciously thought of it before, because it was something I was really grappling with in writing style. Lips Touch has a lot more "narrative" than my Dreamdark books, which I *think* are almost exclusively dramatization, with the exception of telling backstory in dialogue. Interesting topic!

    I second what Jeanie says above: a tough thing for me is figuring out where to start the story. I always want to come in at an intriguing moment, and I end up with backstory that I have to weave in.

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  7. Jeanie -- Michelle is now a literary scout for Franklin & Siegel, who seem to go looking for books to pass on to movie people, if I'm understanding that correctly. But you're right, she doesn't seem to be agenting YA stuff anymore.

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  8. That is a super way of characterising what's great about Persuasion. It's one of my favourites. I've got no suggestions on plot for your talk, but I just wanted to drop by with a comment and say how much I enjoy reading your blog!

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  9. I'm looking forward to hearing your presentation and learning more about your insight about plot at Prairie Writers Day.

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  10. The flip side of the narration/dramatization issue is that sometimes you WANT narration. I've critiqued manuscripts which dramatize every single detail of the characters' actions, and after a while you just wish they'd say, "Then they went home and had dinner," instead of describing the route home and every dish consumed. You want simple narration to blip over bits that are sort of necessary but not really significant.

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  11. FOr me, the important thing about plot is that it comes directly from the characters. If the characters don't make things happen (and hotly enough for the reader's enjoyment) then my construction of the character is not fully developed.

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  12. Regarding what Jeanie W and Laini Taylor said about where to start the story: James N. Frey (who writes great books on writing) says to start just before the beginning. The idea is to show who the character is and why the reader should care about him before you plunge him into trouble. This follows the Hero's Journey, in which you show the character in his common day life before he receives the call to adventure. Think of Luke in Star Wars, a New Hope.

    As for backstory, that's just one of those things that keeps the reader reading. He wants answers to his questions about the character. It can be challenging to figure out where to fit it in, but that's half the fun.

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  13. There was a last minute change in roster when Michelle Andelman left Andrea Brown. Now, the newest agent at Andrea Brown is taking her place: Jennifer Rofe.

    See you in November!! I'm really excited to finally hear you speak in person!

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  14. What's the best way to differentiate between plot and a series of events? Or, how does one recognize they have plot or a series of events?

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