So what does work to put together the plot if you have the characters? Basically there are only so many plot outlines and they have all been used many times. For me the trick is to find a derivative of that so what I write is fresh. Ideas for what that might be anywhere from dreams, to newspapers, to discussions with friends, etc.
One thing you absolutely had to do back when I began writing seriously was to understand your genre. That would still be critical if you wanted to sell something to a publisher as they want things to fit niches that have already been successful. Each genre has requirements which can be found online if one doesn't belong to a professional group. Readers expect when they pick up say a mystery that it will have certain qualities. I have read authors say, who can write mysteries and romances, that they would literally have to clean their palette between, by reading something totally different like Hemingway, as romances were one way and mysteries quite another for what was needed.
For years when I was trying to write romances, I read a lot of them which was highly recommended. I read them until they were coming out my ears. I also read books on developing stories, worked with a consulting writer on one of mine, and I wrote. Even if my efforts weren't as good as I thought they could be, I'd still write.
Then I stopped being able to even tolerate reading romances. It was like the time you get too much sugar. Your teeth ache (not really) and you think you can't stand one more sweet thing and you go months without any. This turned into years before recently I had to move a bookcase which meant sort through books and then discovered there were some romances in those shelves that I still enjoyed. Mostly they were stories with a lot of what I am trying to put into my own—limited flowery language, descriptive language not euphemisms, and a real problem to resolve. If there is an obstacle between hero and heroine (and in a romance there better be) then it can’t be something silly if it's going to satisfy me.
For my plots, I also don't like endless angst. I like potentially real situations involving strong characters who, besides falling in love, are dealing, not endlessly whining, with a very real problem. Whiners aren't my cup of tea in life or books. I also don't like weak heroines who do silly things but still have this exciting man wanting them. If any of my lead characters start out that way, they better grow and stop moaning about the situation, take life in their own hands and accept responsibility. And when they do take life into their own hands, it should be believable. Skills you knew they had but they are just learning they can wield etc.
Although I generally start out knowing where my stories are going, the core of them, I like to make discoveries along the way. I don’t do an advance outline. When I believe I have these two people (and their assorted connections) then I will stop and think what might happen as a happy little addition here or there—or an additional complication.
Not for me either is writing a plot like Stephen King or what Anne Rice used to put out. I do have one paranormal and it worked okay for me to have a monster, although I didn't much like the research I had do for that one; but generally I don't like to immerse myself in negativity or scary stuff. Some danger, that's fine; but not horror. If I won't read them, I sure as heck won't write them where I'd be spending months, not hours in that situation.
I saw a non-fiction book (I prefer non-fiction at this point in my reading life) the other day, The Murder Room that looked interesting as a story about three men with expertise in criminal cases who meet monthly to try to solve cold cases, which are brought to them by someone else. I thought it might give me some future story ideas for villains and the possibility, from different angles, as to how they might be found out (my romances usually have a crime and villain as part of their edge); but I didn't purchase it because in skimming it, I saw it looked to me like it dwelt way too much on the psychopaths and not enough on the ones trying to solve the cases. It had some photos in the center and they sent me quickly setting it down. I have enjoyed a few Ann Rule books for how a crime happens and how it is found out; but I can only take so much. Hers are best when the emphasis is on how they find and then prosecute the bad gals/guys.
I wrote a story about meeting James Jones when he was writing "From Here To Eternity' and of meeting the woman who sponsored James and other young aspiring authors. She told me that the advice she gave to her kids was to write about what you know. Write about your own experiences. James did write about his experience in the Army and another protegee wrote about almost hanging himself. Both of their stories were published based on their own real life adventures.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly worked for James Jones.
My writing usually, despite my best efforts turns out differently than I planned and my characters develop minds of their own. It's annoying.
ReplyDeleteI think that's true, Darlene, at least to a degree. We write about something we know although to have it just be what we know would make it non-fiction.
ReplyDeleteKay, for me a lot of a story happens before I sit down at a keyboard. I know the characters generally, do know their back story and where the whole thing is going. The discoveries along the way might be a party or picnic or horseback ride or the tweaks that make it fun to write; but the general gist of where it's heading, that I do know before I start.
The few times I have just started to write without that, it went nowhere except a lot of words. Even when I am writing something, I often will think of an addition when I am nowhere near the keyboard which means I try to keep some paper and pen somewhere nearby even if it's a receipt to write down some idea or piece of dialogue. Fleshing it out is where I run into nice surprises and ideas that I hadn't expected. Also sometimes what seems like a side character will grow on me to where they then get their own story sometime later.
A plot that lies somewhere between 'Anna Karenina' and ' Pride and Prejudice' with the clarity of a C.L Lewis or Zane Grey!
ReplyDeleteBased on the old Descartes saying, "I write, therefore I am," you ARE, Rain. All my early life I wanted to be a writer and then somewhere along the line, I channeled that passion into writing newsletters, press releases, etc.--and now the blog. I've lost my mojo for writing fiction, I'm afraid. I greatly admire how disciplined you are about this. To be a professional writer, it takes plot, characters, style--and an incredible amount of discipline.
ReplyDeleteI like that plot idea, MandT :)
ReplyDeleteI still love the old Nero Wolfe and Judge Di mysteries.
ReplyDeleteRain . . It's been a while since I looked in and I am really happy to see that you've been busy putting words together. Do you find, as I once did, that writing is a VERY absorbing and time consuming enterprise? Probably not. You seem to have a genuine talent that just flows from your pen and needs no more than a hint of direction. For you, writing appears to be quite natural and effortless. For me just giving birth to a storyline and then developing it requires more focus than my temperament allows. Therefore, my writing is limited to short, and usually insignificant, bits as noted in my several blogs. Anyway, keep your pen and computer busy - and know that I envy your talent. Bump
ReplyDeleteDon't give up on it Bump. I have more blogs set to go on this theme. One thing I believe is that we cannot, any of us, write anything we want but we each probably have a type of story that will come naturally to us. The more you write, the more that's true.
ReplyDeleteJuly's blogs to come are on the Craft of the Plot, Settings, Snappy Dialogue, and the Ending. They really are about the things I have learned that help me which means they might not work for everyone. If others have ideas that work for them, I hope they will share them.
All of this will eventually go to the blog aimed at selling my stories through eBooks; and at that time, the link to it will be alongside this blog. I will keep this blog away from selling what I write other than letting people know it's out there. I really put this out because I truly believe many many people could write stories if they wanted to do so, and they have the ideas back in their subconscious just waiting to surface. It's not going to be in the same genre, but it probably would fit one of them.
By the way when I use the word genre, I just mean type of story which not all stories fit into one but in general, they are things like-- realistic, mystery, fantasy, sci fi, historic fiction, western, horror, action, etc etc.
The idea of a past life plot is intriguing. Many of us have had those deja-vous moments. I had a powerful one in Egypt once, that came on like a powerful dream when roaming through the ruins of a 5th century desert monastery.
ReplyDeleteReincarnation is a fascinating subject and I have written about some of the regressions I had. I also know people who although they didn't have a story to go with it have been somewhere, such as you are talking about with Egypt, where they know it in a way that doesn't make sense. One friend said when he first got to Yuma, Arizona, he knew the roads. That's the kind of thing you just can't explain.
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