Showing posts with label plot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label plot. Show all posts
Vlog: How to Brainstorm Great Plot Twists
How do you come up with a great plot twist? Today I talk about my two main methods and how sometimes things don't always go to plan—and that's a good thing.
What’s Driving Your Plot? by Janice Hardy
Conflict encompasses a wide scope of problems and situations, and can be as varied and interesting as you want to make it. But no matter what type of conflict a character faces, it presents a challenge in how to resolve the conflict. That challenge leads to a choice on the best course of action, and that choice forces the character to act. And that’s good, since those challenges, choices, and actions create and drive the plot (the combination of internal and external conflicts). Without conflicts, the protagonist would have no problems at all, and there'd be no story.
On one side, we have the external conflicts. These are challenges the protagonist has to physically overcome to resolve the core conflict problem (and all the smaller problems along the way). They’re the actions she takes to fix the problems preventing her from getting her goal. They’re what make up most of the action in the plot, since this is what the protagonist does from scene to scene.
For example:
- Protagonist wants to find her missing sister, but someone has stolen the security tapes covering the parking lot she was last seen in.
- Protagonist wants to impress her date on their trail ride, but she has no idea how to ride a horse.
- Protagonist wants to surprise his girlfriend with breakfast in bed, but he has to get her kids out of the house first.
External conflicts are based on how the protagonist uses her intelligence, skills, and resources (or lack thereof) to overcome an external challenge. The key thing to remember with external conflicts is that resolving them takes action—the protagonist does something. While she might take a moment (or longer) to come up with a plan to overcome the challenge, it’s what she does that resolves it.
Generally speaking, the scene will unfold like this: The protagonist will be trying to achieve a goal when she’s presented with a challenge (she’s trying to do something in a scene and something stops her—the conflict). She’ll either react on instinct and try to overcome that challenge, or take time to decide what to do (how much time is up to the writer). The difficulty of the challenge, the level and type of conflict, and the competence of the protagonist determine how that challenge is resolved. What happens at the end of the challenge leads to the next goal of the plot and the next challenge.
This is essentially plotting in conceptual form. Pursue a goal, face a challenge, outsmart or overpower it, proceed to the next challenge with a new goal.
Of course, just watching someone complete a series of tasks can get boring after a while. Most external challenges just require skill, strength, or intelligence to overcome, others will be much harder to resolve due to personal issues. To counter potential task boredom, another layer of conflict is often added to keep the story interesting. This is where the internal conflicts kick in.
Internal conflicts are the emotional, ethical, or mental struggles a character faces while trying to decide what to do about an external problem. The challenge isn’t a physical thing in the way, but a struggle within the protagonist to make the right choice. It’s the mental and emotional debate the protagonist needs to have in order to resolve an external problem.
For example:
- Protagonist wants to save her missing sister, but doing so will reveal a secret she can’t afford to have known.
- Protagonist wants to be loved, but her refusal to compromise keeps her alone.
- Protagonist wants to romance his girlfriend, but he doesn’t want to risk making her kids mad and their not liking him.
An external task that’s easy to complete can be made difficult by adding an emotional roadblock. What needs to be done is clear, but the protagonist doesn’t want to resolve it that way for personal reasons. Either the right choice has consequences she doesn’t want to suffer, or there is no good choice—whatever she does has serious ramifications.
Internal conflicts are based on who the protagonist is and what has happened to her in her life, and this past makes it harder for her to make decisions and resolve her external challenges. They typically come from the morals and ethics of the character, and more often than not, choosing one side negates the other and the protagonist can’t have it both ways.
Internal conflicts are great opportunities to put the protagonist in the hot seat and force her to decide who she is and what she stands for. How far is she willing to go to help a friend? What will she risk? What does she value? Her struggles while making a decision shows readers who she really is as a person.
Mixing the two create a plot- and story-driving engine that keeps readers invested in what problems might be faced and where the emotional challenges will come from. It not only piques readers’ interest about what could happen, but it makes them wonder why, and anticipate how the protagonist will overcome the conflict.
So, what’s driving your plot?
Looking for more tips on creating conflict? Check out my latest book Understanding Conflict (And What It Really Means), an in-depth guide to how to use conflict in your fiction.
Janice Hardy is the award-winning author of the fantasy trilogy, The Healing Wars, and multiple books on writing, including Understanding Show, Don't Tell (And Really Getting It), Planning Your Novel: Ideas and Structure and Revising Your Novel: First Draft to Finished Draft. She's also the founder of the writing site, Fiction University. For more advice and helpful writing tips, visit her at www.fiction-university.com or @Janice_Hardy.
Do You Really Need That Scene?
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| Photo credit: bhayva999 on Flickr |
Unlike real life, everything that happens in the book must have a purpose—from your protagonist's daydream, to that witty banter, to that flashback or cute, fluffy scene. Every little thing must advance the plot or characters in some way, and sometimes, it can be hard to recognize whether or not that scene you love is actually doing something important, or whether its there just because you like it.
Really analyzing your scenes is an important part of large-scale revisions. It can be hard to admit that a scene might not be holding its weight, but once you reach that point, there are two things you can do: cut it or fix it.
Cutting a scene that isn't holding its own is self-explanatory, really—if it doesn't serve a purpose, then it doesn't need to be there. But in some cases, a scene may still have potential, in which case it can be reworked to serve some kind of purpose. Maybe you add a section where your characters talk about something important, or reveal something about themselves; maybe they stumble onto something that affects the plot. Whatever it is, what's important is that you make sure your revisions allow the scene to either further the plot or character—or both.
Analyzing whether or not a scene is really necessary can be hard when it's your own work—another reason why critique partners are so helpful. But by really putting each of your scenes under a microscope, you can discover some important ways to further your plot and character, ultimately strengthening your book as a whole.
Have you ever cut or reworked a scene that wasn't serving a purpose?
Twitter-sized bite:
Do you really need that scene? @Ava_Jae talks the importance of making sure every scene has a purpose. (Click to tweet)
5 Essentials to Establish Before You Start Plotting (or Writing)
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| Photo credit: E V Peters on Flickr |
(P.S.: As always, these are suggestions and I'm in no way suggesting it's impossible to plot or pants without them. But establishing these upfront can certainly make the process a little smoother—and easier.)
- The basic premise. What is your book about? What elements does it involve? This is a pretty obvious starting point because it'd be difficult to start plotting or writing a book without a premise in mind. A general idea of the what is important as you get started—even if that what is still pretty vague, it helps to start here so you can flesh that out before you dive in.
- Your characters' goals. Knowing your main characters' goals upfront is absolutely essential to making sure you don't accidentally write a passive character. This means knowing what your character wants to accomplish on page one and what they want to accomplish near the end (because those things can change!). It's okay if your characters' goals evolve throughout the course of the book—the important thing is that you make sure they always have some kind of goal they're striving for—in every single scene. Because if your characters don't have a goal, chances are likely they'll lose their agency because they won't be pushing for anything—instead, the plot will be pushing them around.
- The opposition to your characters' goals. Of course, there's no story if your characters can easily accomplish their goals. Knowing what the opposition is to your characters' goals and what will make it difficult for them to accomplish what they want is important to establish the foundation of the conflict—and conflict, of course, is essential to any story.
- What's at stake? Relatedly, knowing what's at stake is important when considering your characters' goals, because with little at stake, your character isn't risking much, and thus there isn't much making your story compelling. Consider both what's at stake in the macro sense (saving the world) and what's at stake personally for your character (saving their sister, for example). By establishing the stakes early on and making them personal, you'll make it much easier both for yourself while you're writing and your future readers to connect with the protagonist and care about the protagonist's journey.
- The general setting. While you don't have to have every world building element established upfront (I certainly don't), it's always a good idea to have a basic understanding of the setting. Where is your story located? What basics do you know about this setting? The setting is great to keep in mind as you plot or pants especially because it can play a role in the plot if you let it.
Once you've established these five essential elements, you have enough to start considering the story as a whole—whether that means brainstorming and plotting in earnest or jumping into a draft is up to you. All the other details—more information about your cast of characters, narrators, tense, POV, the structure of the story itself—will fall into place as you push yourself to consider the story more deeply. But once you have these five essentials in place, you've got a pretty good foundation to build the rest of the story on.
What else do you consider before plotting (or pantsing) a WIP?
Twitter-sized bites:
Think you might be ready to start plotting but aren't sure? Author @Ava_Jae talks 5 essentials to establish first. (Click to tweet)
Think you might be ready to start pantsing your WIP but aren't sure? @Ava_Jae talks 5 essentials to establish first. (Click to tweet)
How to Write a Synopsis
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| Photo credit: Rsms on Flickr |
So this blog is turning six years old this year, and I've realized all this time I've managed to avoid writing a post on how to write a synopsis. Sure, I wrote a joke post about writing a synopsis, which was really more like agonizing over writing a synopsis, and I wrote about a new thing I've been doing that's saved me a lot of pain, namely, writing the synopsis before writing the first draft, but there are still times when you and I will have to write synopses for manuscripts we've already written, and, well. It's not easy.
I'd be remiss if I talked about synopsis writing without pointing you to Susan Dennard's excellent post on writing a one-page synopsis, which I reference when writing my own post-manuscript synopses. I'm not going to reiterate everything she says, and there are a lot of important points in there, so take the time to look it over.
But let's say you know the basics about putting down the main plot points and making sure you cover all the important events from beginning to end (yes, that means giving away the end) and you're still struggling. Because condensing your book into a synopsis? Is really hard.
The way I usually go about it when I have to write a synopsis after writing the full manuscript, is to not worry about the length at first. I go through and explain the major plot points, trying to keep each point no more than a sentence or two. If you're a plotter like I am, it helps to have your outline out next to you while you do this—both because chances are likely you already condensed the main plot points into a sentence or two for your outline, and because it's easier to decide what's vital to mention and what isn't when you have the whole outline in front of you.
Then I write. I cover the main conflict and plot, the important plot twists, briefly mention any romantic entanglements when relevant (although, if it's not a huge part of the plot, then I gloss over that), and make sure the core of the story is explained.
When I reach the end of this initial synopsis, it's usually way too long—like, eight to fifteen pages when it should really be no more than three or so. But that's okay; for me, at least, it's much easier to cut than it is to add, which brings me to my next step: condensing.
This is also a good time to make sure you've formatted your synopsis correctly. A synopsis should be single-spaced, Times New Roman point 12, regular margins, etc. I mention this now because in the past I've accidentally had the wrong font, done a bunch of work condensing, thought I was done—then realized the font was wrong and when I changed it still had half a page left to cut. So to save you that agony, make sure you've formatted correctly from the beginning.
Back to condensing! So this is where you need to ask yourself what is vital to cover and what isn't. Oftentimes, when you think about it, you'll find you've mentioned scenes you could breeze over with half a sentence or cut altogether, so that's the first area you'll want to cut. Once you've gone through and made sure every scene you mention is absolutely vital to understanding the plot, you'll then want to take a look at your word choice.
Ask yourself if that scene you described in three sentences could be described in one, or if you could mash those two scenes together into the same sentence. Then when you're done with that, it'll be time to condense your language. For a list of words and phrases to look out for, check out my two line editing posts, How to Condense Without Losing Anything Useful and How to Make Cuts Without Losing Anything Useful.
In the end, how long should your synopsis be? I aim for one to three pages, generally, but guidelines vary situation to situation and agent to agent. If you're querying, it's a good idea to have a one page synopsis and a two-or-three page synopsis ready, because a lot of it comes down to preference. There are situations where longer synopses are okay, too (especially if your manuscript is super long), but in general, shorter is better.
With all those steps in mind, the synopsis is yours to master. Here's hoping you won't have to do another one for a while. ;)
How do you tackle writing a synopsis?
Twitter-sized bite:
Struggling to condense your manuscript into a synopsis? @Ava_Jae shares some tips for this dreaded step. (Click to tweet)
A Key to a Compelling Story
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| Photo credit: humbletree |
From the first to last page, your protagonist should always have some kind of goal. Maybe that goal won't be the same on the first page as it is on the last—and that's okay. What's important is the characters leading your story are always leading somewhere, because they want to accomplish something.
Without that goal, you tend to get a story with a meandering plot. The characters will walk around and stumble into plot-affecting even rather than creating or chasing those events down themselves. This slows the pacing down considerably because your characters are never after anything, they're just reacting, so there's little build up to the events that make the story turn.
This is why, when plotting, I frequently like to start with the protagonist and their goal. Even if that goal changes throughout the course of the book—which is not uncommon with my manuscripts—it gives me a starting point to build the rest of the plot around. If I know what the protagonist wants, I can immediately plan out the tension and conflict—the protagonist not getting what they want, and their struggle to try to get it.
So whether you're a plotter or a pantser, it's often a good idea to figure your protagonist's goal out and keep it mind as you write. After all, you'll never know where it'll take you until you try—and it's a lot easier to build it up the first time than it is to try to revamp it later.
When do you figure out your protagonists's goals?
Twitter-sized bite:
Have you covered this compelling story key in your latest WIP? @Ava_Jae talks the importance of character goals. (Click to tweet)
Vlog: On Plotting a Sequel/Series
In which I talk about an integral part of working on a series: plotting sequels and tips for series development.
RELATED VLOGS:
RELATED VLOGS:
Have you ever worked on a series?
Twitter-sized bite:
From plotting sequels to development over a series, author @Ava_Jae vlogs series-writing tips. (Click to tweet)
How to Write Excellent Plot Twists
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| Photo credit: Romain Toornier on Flickr |
- Planned plot twists. By and large, this is the majority of plot twists. In order to pull off a twist that both makes sense and is effectively built into the story but clever enough that it'll surprise readers, you often need to plan ahead. When trying to come up with a plot twist, some steps you can use to spark a twist include:
- What are all of the possible outcomes? Write them down. Even the most ridiculous, out-there outcomes, add them to the list.
- What are other outcomes I didn't include? By this, I mean push yourself. When you've come up with what you think is a final list, it can be good to push harder and consider what you could add as a possibility that you may have initially censored out. (Remember: don't censor!)
- How can I make this specific outcome bigger/more surprising? Once you have a favorite (or a couple favorites), brainstorm to see how you can make it bigger and more surprising. What can you do to enhance this twist? Again, don't censor even the most ridiculous possibilities.
- How can I make sure this outcome makes sense in the context of the book? Now that you have an outcome, built it back into the plot. This is one of the many reasons why it's helpful to plan ahead—it's much easier to build something into the plot when it's all an outline than it is to add something retroactively to a manuscript.
- Surprise plot twists. Now, this might seem a little incongruous—of course plot twists are a surprise! That's the point! But what I actually mean are plot twists that are a surprise to the writer. This has happened to me a couple times; I'll have a solid plot down, start writing, and out of nowhere a wild plot twist appears! It's always fascinating to me when this happens, but I also have to make sure to integrate it into the plot as I write—and rewrite—because spontaneity can sometimes be messy.
While those are two options for the inception of a plot twist, far more important, to me at least, is honing them in revisions. I'll often use multiple rounds of critique partners and readers to see who gets the twist and when, so I can then go in and make adjustments as necessary to make sure the twist is believable, but not predictable. Sometimes this means tweaking specific characters, or revising several scenes to leave a dusting of foreshadowing (but not too much!). It often takes some careful rounds of testing with readers to get the right balance between surprising but believable—but it's definitely worth the extra work.
How do you write plot twists? And what are you favorite examples from YA lit?
Twitter-sized bite:
Want to write a twisty manuscript but not sure how to nail those plot twists? @Ava_Jae shares some tips. (Click to tweet)
The Benefits of Story Structure by Janice Hardy
Hey guys! I've got a very special guest post today from award-winning author of The Healing Wars trilogy, Janice Hardy! Today she's talking about story structure, so hope you guys enjoy!
I've never been a "wing it" kind of gal, so story structure has always appealed to me. I find it comforting, and it lets me worry about the story itself and not whether or not I'm missing anything important. Even better, I can quickly drape any idea I have over my favorite structure to see if there's actually enough there to write an entire book.
If there is, then understanding basic story structure makes both the plotting and the writing of that book a lot easier. Story structure offers plot turning points to aim for and provide a framework for the plot. Even if you're a pantser, structure can help during revisions when you have a first draft done and want to make sure all your plot points are working.
Some writers worry that structure will create a formulaic novel. If you follow them exactly and take them literally, then yes, that could happen, but the strength of story structure is to let it guide you and remind you of the important plot elements of a novel. The turning points are more conceptual and suggest types of situations to aim for. And even when a novel does follow them exactly, if done well, readers don't even notice. The novel feels tightly plotted, not predictable.
How Story Structures Work
Structure is like the line drawings in a coloring book. How you create your story (color in the line drawings) is up to you, but the structure provides guides and boundaries to help keep you focused. Turning points such as, "leave the ordinary world" are just a way of saying, "the protagonist does something new that starts the plot." This can be a literal "enter a magic wardrobe and discover Narnia," or "decide to wear a dress to school for the first time ever to catch the eye of the boy you like."
Each turning point represents a major shift in what the protagonist is experiencing, and the choices she has to make to move forward.
Why You Want to Use a Story Structure
What makes any structure so valuable as a tool is that the details of each turning point can be anything you want them to be. The structure is just a frame to hang the story on, and having solid, proven turning points can help you decide what events need to happen to get the most out of your own plot.
They also help you find holes in your plot and places where the stakes might need to be raised. If you notice the protagonist never fails, that's a red flag that you might not have enough at stake or enough conflict driving the plot. Or you might not have a solid character arc that allows your protagonist to grow. Structure is a guide, and the scenes and problems encountered are all up to you.
My Favorite Choice: The Three Act Structure
Although there are many common structure, my favorite is the Three-Act Structure. Not only is it the most common story structure out there, it's an easy to use structure for both beginning and experienced writers.
People have broken the Three-Act Structure down in a myriad of ways, but it unfolds basically like this:
Act One: The Beginning (The Setup and Discovery of the Problem)
Act one is roughly the first 25% of the novel and focuses on the protagonist living in her world and being introduced to the problems she needs to resolve. Something about her life is making her unhappy, but she’s not yet ready to do anything about it. She might not even be aware of the problem, but feels unsatisfied in some way. She's presented with an opportunity to change her life, and she either accepts the challenge or tries to avoid it and gets dragged into it anyway. By the end of the first act, she's on the plot path that leads to the climax of the novel.
Act one is all about showing the protagonist's world (her life, dreams, issues, etc, as well as the literal setting) and letting readers see the problems and flaws she'll need to overcome to get what she ultimately wants. In essence, it's where you say "See how messed up this gal's life is? This is what she has to fix before she can win."
Act Two: The Middle (Figuring Things Out)
Middles make up roughly 50% of a novel. The protagonist leaves what’s familiar to her and undergoes a series of challenges that will allow her to get what she wants and solve the Act One problem. She struggles and fails repeatedly, learning the valuable lessons she’ll need in Act Three to defeat the antagonist.
Good middles show this struggle and growth, and braids together the plot and subplots, crashing the conflicts against each other. Each clue, discovery, and action brings the protagonist closer to the Act Two disaster that sends her hurtling toward the climax and resolution of the novel. She’ll start off with some level of confidence, sure of her plans, but as things spiral out of control she’ll become more and more uncertain and filled with self-doubt until she’s forced to consider giving up entirely.
Act Three: The End (Facing the Antagonist and Resolving the Problem)
The ending is the last 25% of the novel. The protagonist decides to take the problem to the antagonist. She’ll use all the things she’s learned over the course of the novel to outwit and defeat that antagonist. They battle it out, and she’ll win (usually), then the plot wraps up and readers see the new world the protagonist lives in, and the new person she’s become after undergoing these experiences.
The final battle with the antagonist doesn’t have to be an actual battle, just two conflicted sides trying to win. The protagonist gathers herself and any allies and challenges the antagonist. There is often a journey involved, either metaphorical or literal, as a final test.
Having a general sense of how these three acts unfold in your novel can be enough information for you to write it. Structure doesn't have to be a detailed outline of every scene and what happens. It's just a frame in the shape of the story you want to tell.
Do you use a story structure? If so, which one?
Win a 10-Page Critique From Janice Hardy
Three Books. Three Months. Three Chances to Win.
To celebrate the release of my newest writing books, I'm going on a three-month blog tour—and each month, one lucky winner will receive a 10-page critique from me.
It's easy to enter. Simply visit leave a comment and enter the drawing via Rafflecopter. One entry per blog, but you can enter on every stop on the tour. At the end of each month, I'll randomly choose a winner.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Looking for tips on writing your novel? Check out my book Planning Your Novel: Ideas and Structure, a series of self-guided workshops that help you turn your idea into a novel, and the just-released companion guide, the Planning Your Novel Workbook.Janice Hardy is the award-winning author of The Healing Wars trilogy and the Foundations of Fiction series, including Planning Your Novel: Ideas and Structure, a self-guided workshop for planning or revising a novel, and the companion Planning Your Novel Workbook. She's also the founder of the writing site, Fiction University. For more advice and helpful writing tips, visit her at www.fiction-university.com or @Janice_Hardy.
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Twitter-sized bite:
Author @Janice_Hardy talks the benefits of story structure on @Ava_Jae's blog + a giveaway! (Click to tweet)
On Combining Two Ways to Plot
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| Photo credit: erstwhile ungulate on Flickr |
I'm not going to lie, though—plotting this WIP was really hard. So hard that I actually took a break halfway through and put it away for several months before I opened it up and looked at it again.
The thing is, as completely necessary as pre-plotting is for me before I write even a single word of the WIP, it's not exactly the easiest of processes. With this most recent WIP I sort of forgot about one of the two plotting processes I've played around with that maybe would've made the experience a little easier, but for my next project I think I'm going to combine my two methods.
The methods I'm talking about are:
- Scrivener cork board. So I've described this method before in my On How I Plot a WIP and How to Use Scrivener's Cork Board posts, so I won't go into super detail here, but it basically involves writing brief summaries of every scene in your planned book, each on a separate flashcard that gets "pinned" to the cork board. Some scenes are more fleshed out than others, but I write just enough for me to understand the gist of what has to happen in each scene. This is the only method I did for the last WIP I plotted, and yes, it worked, as it has worked in the past, but I found it more difficult than the previous two projects I'd plotted, which involved a combination of this method and...
- Pre-draft synopsis. So I know on paper this sounds like voluntary torture, but I have been pleasantly surprised to find that writing the synopsis before I've written the book is a million times easier and more enjoyable than writing it after. Go figure. (I've written about this discovery in this post.) But basically this is exactly what it sounds like—opening up a document and writing however many pages you need to go step by step through what will happen in your book.
In the past, when I've combined the two it usually involved having both Scrivener and Word open at the same time. (I don't know why my brain insists on writing a synopsis in Word when Scrivener is perfectly capable of handling both the outline and synopsis, but whatever, brains are weird.) I'd write the synopsis part first, expanding more and more as I go along, and gradually transfer over what I had to the flashcards, which I would later need for first drafting. Both times I did this I managed to finish fully plotting the projects in a week or less.
Would have been nice if I'd remembered that while plotting the last project, but I digress...
Sometimes playing around with new strategies or combining ones you have can be extra effective, which is why I'm sharing it with you guys. After all, you never know what methods will work best for you if you don't try new strategies here and there.
Have you tried either of these methods for plotting?
Twitter-sized bite:
Looking for a new way to plot? @Ava_Jae shares a combination method you might want to try. (Click to tweet)
On Major Character Deaths
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| Photo credit: kev-shine on Flickr |
Now, I've already posted about how to kill characters with impact, so I'm not going to reiterate that again. But instead I'm thinking about the why—why we choose to kill characters, how we choose what characters to kill, and what it means when we pick one character over the other. I've been thinking about how certain marginalized groups are frequently killed off first on TV, and I've been thinking about all the factors that go into deciding why one character should be killed off over another or why certain characters need to die at all.
I've thinking about controversial decisions in which major characters have been killed (like the protagonist of one major YA series not all that long ago). And I've been thinking about why some readers freak out and trash one book if a protagonist or major character dies, but not another book with another major character death. What makes one character death better than the other? What makes one death acceptable and one not so much?
There are a lot of factors to think about when killing off characters, especially if said characters come from marginalized groups with high fictionalized body counts. You need to think about what it means for this particular character to die. You need to think about why it's essential for that character, and not another, to be killed off. You need to think about what it'll mean to the readers that this character survives, but this other one doesn't.
I personally don't have a problem with major characters, even protagonists, dying (aside from, you know, the emotional trauma)—it's just a sign to me that no character is safe in that particular author's works, which if anything just makes future reading of their books more terrifying...in a good way. But I think the key to pulling off major character deaths is to make sure you have a good reason for it besides bottling reader tears for science. It has to mean something for the overall plot and the story itself—it has to be so integral to the story that anything else couldn't work as effectively.
Of course, it can be really tough to figure out what's essential and what isn't in your own work sometimes, which is yet another reason why critique partners are 100% necessary in the writing process. And even then you may get conflicting opinions—writing is super subjective!—so you'll have to listen to your gut. But I think the thing to remember, when considering a major character death (or several), is to make sure there's a reason for it so it doesn't read as an arbitrary attempt at shocking readers and to be sure that you pull it off in a way that is thoughtful and meaningful.
Easier said than done, of course. But when done well, and done with purpose, it can be an incredibly effective way to make sure your story leaves a mark.
What do you think about major character deaths?
Twitter-sized bite:
Author @Ava_Jae talks killing major characters with purpose & making sure the death fits the story. (Click to tweet)
Discussion: How Much Do You Stick to Your Plots?
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| Photo credit: Maya83 on Flickr |
And since I'm almost between projects, I looked at a half-plotted project I got distracted from and made it a messy, but fully-plotted project, and thus began thinking about plotting. And how necessary it is to me, even though I don't particularly love the actually plotting part (I like having plotted, not actually plotting). And how different the story will look if I actually write it, because everything changes.
I've mentioned briefly before that I use outlines as guidelines, rather than rulebooks. But I thought it might be fun to go into more detail about that, at least in how it affects me.
From the outline to the first draft, I'd say they're probably about 80-85% the same—barring really drastic changes that force me to re-outline a big chunk of the book...but that hasn't happened in the first draft for me quite yet. From outline to *final* draft, however, the percentage is definitely wayyyy lower. For example, I frequently have to replot/rewrite the last third of the book or so in revisions (have I mentioned lately how much I dislike writing the climax and ending?).
In Beyond the Red, I'd estimate probably 70% stayed pretty close to the original outline—though I did change things throughout the manuscript, and yes, rewrite the last several scenes completely (I think at least three times). But with exception to the completely rewritten parts, most of the changes I made, though they were scattered throughout, didn't massively impact the plot overall.
Not so much with my most recent WIP. With that one, I had to rewrite parts of the opening, cut parts from the opening, rewrite sections in the middle, and COMPLETELY rewrite the last third of the book. There was very little that stayed. And I deviated while first drafting, too. So from outline to final-for-now draft, we're looking at probably... 50% the same? Somewhere in there.
So long story short, as vital as outlines are to me (because without them, I frequently get stuck, and also psych myself out about not knowing how it's going to end, etc.), sticking to them is not really my top priority. They're just meant to give me a direction so that while I'm first drafting I don't hit any major roadblocks—if only because I know where the story is going from here.
For those of you who plot, how much do you stick to your outlines?
Twitter-sized bite:
Plotters, how much do you stick to your outlines when writing & revising? Join the discussion on @Ava_Jae's blog. (Click to tweet)
Plot Essentials: Climax
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The Climax is the moment the entire book has been leading up to: when the protagonist comes head to head with the antagonist or antagonizing force. In Speculative Fiction, this often means the hero coming against the bad guy in some kind of epic showdown; in Romance, it's the Grand Gesture, where the hero or heroine has to overcome their flaw and make up for being a jerk previously. Everything hinges on this moment: will the hero overcome insurmountable odds?
Sticking with examples from the previous posts, here are the climaxes for some popular novels (and, obviously, they contain spoilers, so skip if you haven't read them!):
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (J.K. Rowling): Surprise! Harry isn't dead after all—or at least, not permanently—and now he's back and ready to take on Voldemort once and for all, while the Battle of Hogwarts rages around them.
- City of Bones (Cassandra Clare): Clary finds Valentine and Jace, who seems to be helping him. Valentine reveals a massive secret: in a Luke and Leia twist, he's Clary and Jace's father and they are—surprise!—siblings. Luke helps Clary fight Valentine off, but will they be able to defeat him and keep the Mortal Cup safe?
- Divergent (Veronica Roth): Tris and simulation-controlled Four come head to head. Tris needs to shut down the simulation to save her friends, but can she do so without killing Four in the process? Or getting killed herself?
The climax, for me, is the most difficult part of writing a book—and it's the part I often dread reaching while first drafting. But with the right set-up and a sequence that gives your protagonist a significant role in the outcome (as in, no one should do the hard work for them), you'll craft a climax that keeps your readers hooked.
What are your favorite climatic scenes from books or movies?
Twitter-sized bite:
Do you struggle to write your WIP's climax? So does @Ava_Jae—but today she's talking tips and examples. (Click to tweet)
Vlog: How I Plot
You asked, I answered: today I'm breaking down my plotting process.
RELATED LINKS:
- How to Use Scrivener's Cork Board
- How to Plot Without Plotting
- On Writing a Synopsis Before the First Draft
- How to Get Book Ideas (vlog)
Twitter-sized bites:
"I look at my outline as a guideline rather than a strict rulebook." —Writer @Ava_Jae on plotting. #writetip (Click to tweet)
Not quite sure how to start plotting your book? Writer @Ava_Jae vlogs about her process. (Click to tweet)
How to Turn an Idea into a Plot
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| Photo credit: faungg on Flickr |
So it was brought to my attention that I’ve written frighteningly little on brainstorming and my brainstorming process, and I suspect that’s probably because my process is fairly nebulous and can vary depending on the book.
That said, I’m going to try to explain the best I can anyway.
So you have some kind of idea. Maybe it’s just a character, or a single scene, or a vague compilation of images. For me, it almost always starts with a character (though Beyond the Red was a notable exception), usually the protagonist. But regardless of where you idea begins, when all you have is a fragment, it can seem kind of impossible to turn it into a whole book.
The very first thing I do when I have an idea fragment I want to explore is make a bulleted list. This list will include anything and everything I think of related to the idea: What If? scenarios, other characters, potential sources of conflict, possible scene ideas, setting notes, genre/category notes, themes I’m interested in exploring, etc. In this stage, I don’t filter at all—the idea is to just get as much down as possible.
Usually, by the time I get to the bottom of the list, I’ve started to get a feel for the potential book. That’s when I go back and start to weed things out by starring bullets I really like. Once I’ve got my main bullets marked out, potential plot ideas start (slowly) forming in my mind.
The very first plot point I tend to nail down is the inciting incident. Occasionally another random plot point will surface before the inciting incident, but once I have the inciting incident down, that’s when I open up Scrivener and start a new project.
Note that at this point, starting a new Scrivener project does not guarantee the book is going to be written. Or even fully plotted for that matter. All it means is I like where this idea is going enough that I want to explore it further. There’s no pressure whatsoever in this stage—I’m just testing the fragments I have to see if I can expand and weave it together into a potential book plot.
I’ve mentioned before that I am a plotter, and this is where the plotting really begins. I go straight to Scrivener’s cork board, write down the inciting incident and any other scene ideas I already have…then stare at it and try to push it further. I like to start from the inciting incident and think, okay, what could happen next? Some questions I frequently ask myself in this stage include:
- What happens next?
- How can I make this worse?
- What if x happened?
While I do this, I try to keep the main points in mind. Generally the first couple points I want down are the big plot points (Inciting Incident, Point of No Return, Rising Action, Dark Night of the Soul, Climax, Falling Action, Ending) but it doesn’t always work out that way. The ending, especially, I often don’t figure out until I’ve plotted most of the book.
From there, there’s a lot of back and forth. I jump around between flash cards and add new scene ideas wherever I can think of them, writing a sentence to a paragraph on each card to describe the scene/plot point. I delete scenes, rewrite them and move them around until the plot makes sense and fits the way I want it to. Once I’ve hit roughly somewhere between 30-50 flash cards (depending on how long I sense the book will probably be) and I can’t think of anything else to add and it all flows together in a way that makes sense, I know I’m ready to start first drafting.
And maybe when I’m first drafting I’ll fall in love with the characters and the ideas and write the whole book. Or maybe I won’t. But either way, if the idea makes it to the end of the plotting stage (not all ideas do), then I know at the very least it’s worth experimenting with with some words.
How do you turn an idea into a plot?
Twitter-sized bite:
How do you expand a book idea into a whole plot? Writer @Ava_Jae explains her process. (Click to tweet)
On How I Plot a WIP
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That changes right now.
Generally, when I first get a book idea I really like, I’ll let it sit in my head for a little while. Once it’s stewed for a bit, and I’ve decided I still like the idea (usually determined by how much I end up thinking about it during said stewing period), I’ll pull up an Evernote note and start jotting down ideas. How detailed or vague this is depends on the book and what’s in my brain. I don’t really censor in this stage.
Once I have enough ideas to get a general sense of what I want the book to be about, I’ll put together a logline/one-sentence pitch or a book comp. This helps keep me focused while I’m outlining and writing the first draft, and it doesn’t usually take very long (for more info, check out my how to plot without plotting post). By the end of this process, I usually have a good idea of who the protagonist is, who the love interest is (or are), and who the antagonist is.
Next step is actually putting together an outline.
As I’ve mentioned before, I use Scrivener to put together my outlines, using the cork board feature. Initially, my first few flashcards are usually near the beginning of the book, starting with the the inciting incident. And from there…it’s pretty scattered. I jump around from beginning to end, adding things in between, filling in whatever gaps I think of, changing plot points when I think of something better, etc. I ask myself “What if?” questions frequently, try to make the stakes as personal and big as I can, and when I think I’ve put my characters through a lot, I put them through more. I make the lows lower and the highs higher, I add conflict everywhere I can, and if I see opportunities for some twists, I take them. This process continues until I've got a fully fleshed-out plot from beginning to end.
Generally, I don’t go into huge detail with the plot points I figure out. Each flashcard usually will have somewhere between a sentence to a paragraph describing what will generally happen in the scene, and that’s it. How many flashcards I have at the end depends on the book, but I’ll usually end up somewhere between 30-50, and from there I can guesstimate how long I expect the book to be and get ready to start drafting.
And that’s it!
If you’re a plotter, what does your outlining process look like?
Twitter-sized bite:
Struggling to find a plotting process that works for you? Writer @Ava_Jae shares her method for loose outlining. (Click to tweet)
Brainstorming, book comps & Scrivener are all a part of @Ava_Jae's plotting process. What's involved in yours? (Click to tweet)
Balancing Action with Quiet
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| Photo credit: Tambako the Jaguar on Flickr |
Anyway, today’s question:
I've seen you talk about finding your inner sadist when writing and allowing your characters to fail once in a while. I was wondering: what do you think about allowing peaceful scenes in every so often? A lot of books I've read definitely have beautiful moments, but often they're interrupted and cut short. I've been wondering if it's possible to balance the bad things with beauty, and use peace as a tool for character development. I'd love to hear your thoughts.So it turns out, I’ve gotten so caught up in writing about being mean to our characters and pacing and what not that I maybe forgot to talk about the other side of the high-octane balance—the slower, peaceful scenes.
I’ve probably mentioned this before, but I love writing action-y books. The more fighting, blood, fatal wounds, deaths and near-death experiences, the better. I’ve been known to blow things up and set things on fire just because I was getting bored with a scene.
That being said, even in really exciting, edge-of-your-seat-type books, you need to give your readers (and your characters) some time to recuperate.
Quiet, peaceful and even beautiful scenes are absolutely essential to even the most exciting plots. Readers, like your characters, can get tired of non-stop action if it’s really non-stop. Without slower moments to balance out the faster, crazy-exciting scenes, you can very easily end up with reader burnout. Not to mention the shock and intensity of action scenes fade the more you use them—like any writing spice, the key is not to overdo it.
Now, that’s not to say that the quiet scenes should be boring—even when there isn’t active, injury-producing conflict going on, it’s important to make sure you have some sort of tension throughout the scene. But these slower scenes can be a great time for character development and introspection, as long, of course, as it’s well-balanced.
What do you think? Do you use quiet scenes to balance out more intense moments?
Twitter-sized bite:
Do you use quiet scenes to balance out more intense moments? @Ava_Jae writes about the importance of balance. (Click to tweet)
Plot Essentials: The Darkest Hour
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The darkest hour is the point in your manuscript where your protagonist has reached his lowest point. This usually comes right before the climax—it’s where all hope seems lost and the worst of the worst has happened and your protagonist doesn’t know how they’re going to overcome their insurmountable odds.
Keeping with our examples from the last plot essentials posts, here are the darkest hours from some popular novels. If you haven’t read any of these, please skip over that particular example, because SPOILERS. You’ve been warned:
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (J.K. Rowling): Harry is dead. Voldemort has finally killed the boy who lived, the Battle of Hogwarts is lost and the wizarding world’s only hope is gone.
Note: I chose the last Harry Potter book rather than the first in the previous examples because this is one of the best darkest hour points that I can think of in literature, period. - City of Bones (Cassandra Clare): Valentine has opened up the gates to demons, Jace seems to be cooperating with him and worse—Clary and Jace are siblings and definitely shouldn’t be in love with each other.
- Divergent (Veronica Roth): Tris’s parents are dead, all of her friends are under a simulation that’s turned them into mindless murderers, innocent Abnegation citizens are being killed and now Four has fallen prey to a simulation that has turned him against her.
All that said, if you get the darkest hour right, then the ending and victory becomes much stronger and more powerful than it would have been otherwise.
Can you identify the darkest hour in your WIP or favorite book?
Working on a plot for your WIP? Writers @Ava_Jae discusses the importance of the darkest hour. (Click to tweet)
Do you know your WIP’s darkest hour? Writer @Ava_Jae talks identifying this plot point, with examples. (Click to tweet)
Plot Essentials: The Point of No Return
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Whereas the inciting incident kicks the story off that dominos scene after scene into a novel, the point of no return is the moment in the book in which the protagonist must embrace the journey he or she's about to take and move forward, knowing full well that they will never be able to return to their normal life.
Keeping with our examples from the last plot essentials post, here are the points of no return from a couple popular novels:
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (J.K. Rowling): There seems to be some debate online on the PoNR, but I tend to agree with the most popular answer—when Harry boards the Hogwarts Express for the first time. Up until the point, he could have hypothetically returned to Privet Drive and continued to live as he did—but after boarding the Hogwarts Express, there's no turning back. He's on his way to wizarding school, where he'll start on a new phase of his life.
- City of Bones (Cassandra Clare): When Clary's mother is abducted and Clary herself is attacked by a demon, her life irrevocably changes. She can't go on as a normal teenager—her mother is missing, her life is in danger and she can no longer deny that the things she's been seeing (the demons and Shadowhunters) are indeed real.
- Divergent (Veronica Roth): When Tris chooses to become Dauntless, she can't go back. She's made a decision that has altered the course of her life—she can't change her mind and go back to Abnegation, and even if she fails Dauntless initiation, there's no returning home.
Similarly to the inciting incident, the PoNR isn't a plot point you should skip, either. Of course, I wouldn't list it as a plot essential if including it wasn't important. :)
Can you identify the point of no return in your WIP or favorite book?
Twitter-sized bites:
Working on a plot for your WIP? Writer @Ava_Jae discusses the importance of the point of no return. (Click to tweet)
Do you know your WIP's point of no return? Writer @Ava_Jae talks identifying this plot point, with examples. (Click to tweet)
Plot Essentials: Inciting Incident
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The inciting incident is the moment or event that changes your character’s life and sets them on the journey that is the rest of the book. It’s when Harry begins receiving acceptance letters to Hogwarts, when Clary sees the Shadowhunters kill a demon in a club, and when Tris’s faction test results are inconclusive, making her divergent.
The reason I love the inciting incident so much is two-fold—firstly, it’s the very first thing I figure out when plotting. Usually the inciting incident is where my story idea comes from—it’s the spark that sets off the rest of the brainstorming that uncovers the rest of the book. Second, the inciting incident is the first real taste of what to expect from the rest of the book.
The inciting incident is, by no means, an optional plot point. Without a life-altering event to catapult our characters in one direction or another, there isn’t a story. Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look at the examples above.
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (J.K. Rowling): If Harry was never accepted into Hogwarts, he would have continued to live in the cupboard under the stairs at Privet Drive, hidden from the rest of the world, in a rather boring, depressing life. Hogwarts-free Harry, as it turns out, isn’t really epic seven-book series fodder.
- City of Bones (Cassandra Clare): Had Clary never seen the Shadowhunters, she never would have begun to question the reality she knew, nor would she have encountered the hidden, paranormal world of Shadowhunters and angels and demons and werewolves and vampires and mages and all of that exciting stuff that makes The Mortal Instruments series so interesting.
- Divergent (Veronica Roth): Had Tris’s test shown expected results (that is, that she belongs in Abnegation, or another single faction), she would have chosen a faction and lived a normal life in whatever faction she chose. The end.
As you can see, without their respective inciting incidents, the above stories aren’t really novel-worthy stories. But with the incident that changes the protagonist’s life comes the fascinating stories that we all love and adore. And that’s the power of the inciting incident.
What examples of inciting incidents can you think of from your favorite books, movies or TV shows?
Twitter-sized bites:
Working on a plot for your WIP? Writer @Ava_Jae discusses the importance of the inciting incident. (Click to tweet)
Do you know your WIP's inciting incident? Here's why it's so important to identify early on. (Click to tweet)
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