LLucille> Keeping track of plot is
sometimes a problem.
Shirley> Keeping track of plot meaning
that you are trying to juggle too many things in your head about the book?
LLucille> I sometimes make a bunch of
squares on a page and try to indicate chapters, or scenes and fitting
in subplots
Shirley> Ah, a novel diagram. A novel
diagram works well for some people. Be sure to keep an eraser handy.
Shirley> The tool that I use is a
synopsis. Some people are uncomfortable with a synopsis because they want to
work the book's plot out as they write.
LLucille> I've tried that, also chapter
summaries.
Shirley> Which seems to work best for you?
LLucille> I need to know where I'm going.
I like to know the ending so I can get there
Shirley> It sounds like the synopsis would
be a great tool for you. I do the same thing, know the ending and work
toward it. Tell you what, let's start the official chat.
Shirley> Welcome to ALL ABOUT PLOTTING.
First topic Brainstorming. Every author gets asked where the
ideas come from.
The simple answer is, "I pull them out of
the air." The correct answer is, "I pull them out of the air, after
carefully preparing the air."
mickey> salting it
Shirley> Like seeding rain clouds.
Shirley> Your own life can be a source of
ideas. Unless you are rich, famous, or the celebrity of the moment, I am not
talking bout an autobiography. Periodically in our lives there come
moments that sweep over us and produce strong, lasting memories and powerful
emotions, whether pleasant or unpleasant. I call them the tsunami moments.
Shirley> They can be the basis for a
novel, if you take a step back and create a character for the book that
isn't exactly you.
georgel> it is hard to express emotions
about something never experienced
Shirley> That's why tsunami moments from
your own life can be a valuable starting point for a novel. You know
what the emotions are like. Now you have to create a character to
experience them in your place.
Another good source is the newspaper. I
don't mean those big headlines on the front page. Look in the back page
stories or police reports. You'll find examples of people experiencing
emotional moments. Something might ring a bell with you, something you
can relate to.
If you can't relate to the main thrust of
your novel, you can be sure your readers won't be interested in it, either.
Your writing will be dry and uninvolving.
Observe people around you. Be a keen
observer of people, if you aren't already. Take circumstances you witness
and ask questions. For example, you're sitting in a restaurant and witness
an argument at a nearby table. Usually it's the woman who storms out.
Suppose it's the man who tosses the wine glass and storms out of the place?
Suppose he's twenty years younger than she is, but they've been holding
hands unlike mother and son? How does the woman react?
There's a little nugget of a story there,
or maybe a scene that fits into your current work. You can use people's
characteristics to create your own characters, just mix them up a little.
Take your waitress's sassy attitude and your son's kindergarten teacher's
good looks and your banker's skepticism. Take one from column A and
two from column B.
Shirley> Other books can be a source of
ideas. Don't lift plots whole, but you might find a little backwater
subplot in someone else's book that you think could be developed with your
own characters. Start thinking about where that subplot would lead your
characters, and in no time you'll have a fresh plot.
Shirley> I want to talk about the high
concept of evaluation of plot ideas. High concept is a Hollywood method
which has been percolating into the print publishing world. Take hold of it
and develop your own characters for it. You may see a subplot in
someone else's book that fires your imagination.
Start asking "What if this happens, then
that happens?"
mickey> are you thinking of subplot
involving main characters, or a subplot of different lesser characters
Shirley> The subplot that interests you
could be one with many characters or secondary characters, but in your book
the characters will probably be the main ones. Because you will be using
that subplot of someone else's to expand and develop further into the main
plot of your book.
georgel> you mean my sleuth can be
involved in a developing friendship that might lead to romance? and that
would have no connection to the murder stuff
Shirley> That rounds out your character by
showing a different aspect of her. You don't want flat characters who
are only interested in one thing. A developing friendship makes her
appear more human. You could also have the developing friendship cause
some kind of conflict for her sleuthing. For example, the target of the
friendship, and a possible romantic interest for her, is the son of the
murder victim.
georgel> his friend is his confidant, but
has no real interest in him
Shirley> You mean the sleuth is gradually
falling in love with a person who has no interest in him? Dynamite!
georgel> yes, she is too successful to
need him
Shirley> There's a human situation if
there ever was one. I think many readers could relate to this.
The only problem is how to wrap it up.
georgel> they do have a common interest in
the murder victim
Shirley> Even better. Does she start
to see his qualities, or will his love never be returned?
georgel> she does admire him
Shirley> This is an excellent subplot.
It does not have to end favorably for the sleuth. If you are looking at a
series of books, the subplot can continue from one book to the next.
LLucille> I was thinking that.
Shirley> Just don't let it overpower the
murder plot. And be sure that in the last pages or so of the
book, you devote yourself to the resolution of the murder plot, and don't
have the subplot interfere at that point. In other words, don't detract from
the tension and buildup you have done toward the murder resolution with your
sleuth pining after the woman he loves. Save it for the epilogue!
georgel> right. I have them
discussing and wrapping up the murder just a sort of co workers just
as friends
Shirley> Fine. He will have to put
aside his emotions to work with her at the murder's resolution, but the
reader knows how he is feeling. That adds a second level of interest.
georgel> right
Shirley> Let's get back to high concept,
which I will discuss only briefly. There are three parts to the high concept
approach.
The first is the comparison of two
different books to portray yours as fresh yet familiar to your audience.
Think of two books that are familiar to agents or editors, that have some
relationship to your book. For example, Harry Potter meets Indiana
Jones. You have told your readers that your book has a group of unusual kids
who are involved in a uncovering an archaeological wonder. Familiar
but totally fresh. You are looking for a "Wow!" response.
Shirley> If your story has no resemblance
at all to any previously successful story, it probably isn't easily
marketable. If you can't think of two books, you can use a single one, such
as this high concept for the Jurassic Park: Love and betrayal among
the dinosaurs.
The second part of the approach is the use
of a log line. A log line is an extremely short description of the
idea which has a beginning, middle, and end of your story in one sentence.
It may not be a very elegant sentence!
Sticking with Jurassic Park, here's it's
log line:
The hero, a dedicated paleontologist,
encounters a dream come true when he walks living dinosaurs, but nature,
aided by a treachery, gets the upper hand.
LLucille> wow
Shirley> Look at descriptions in TV Guide
to get examples.
The log line is the true Hollywood pitch,
in written form.
Shirley> The third part of the approach is
the mini-synopsis, of no more than five or six sentences. It has to show the
character's goals and conflicts, the dilemmas, and the climax.
LLucille> that would be hard for something
that has more than one strong actor character
Shirley> Keep the focus on the main
character, who is the one the reader identifies with.
LLucille> might that be the victim, for
instance, and all else builds around her?
Shirley> I would avoid portraying the
victim as the main character, because obviously she dies. The reader
does not want to identify with her. Your sleuth would be the main character,
with the victim as the one who draws everyone together.
Shirley> Here is an example of the
mini-synopsis taken from one of my own books. It uses movie
comparisons rather than book comparisons because it was written for a
Hollywood agent.
Shirley> A journalist pokes into a
controversial project in the Amazon rainforest, and becomes entangled in the
actions of a group of oddball vigilantes and a powerful man with a hidden
agenda. She finds herself falling in love with the man she's supposed to
hate, and ends up saving their lives deep in the jungle. THE STAR
CHAMBER meets ROMANCING THE STONE
Shirley> Notice that the main character,
the journalist, is the entire focus of this mini-synopsis, and all the
events/people are whirling around her.
Shirley> In this shortened form, there is
no time to mention a lot of secondary characters, including victims who are
in this book, because everything has to be boiled down to as few words as
possible.
LLucille> yes, just skeleton plot
Shirley> Try this with your book. If
you can't write a few sentences that describe the book in a satisfying
manner, you probably don't have your own thoughts clear on it yet.
Shirley> That leads me to writing the
synopsis as a plotting tool. Just about everyone will end up writing a
synopsis at one time or another when working on a novel. You will need
one during the submission process. Why wait until then? Do the
synopsis ahead of time and get double duty out of it.
mickey> right, good idea
Shirley> It can be your road map for the
book. That doesn't mean that the synopsis determines every little
detail of what you need to write. Far from it. Start with a paragraph
and expand it to a full page. Then try to lengthen it to about 5 - 10
pages.
Shirley> You do that by adding more
information about the characters and plot. You don't have to spell out
everything, just know where the book is going in a general way. I wrote my
first book without a synopsis. I wandered around for months with it,
and eventually produced a book that didn't sell.
Shirley> All of my books since then have
been written with a synopsis. As an interesting sidelight, I later
went back and wrote a synopsis for that first book that kept everything on
track in a more logical way. I revised the manuscript and sold the
book. So my fifth published book was actually the first one I wrote.
Shirley> A synopsis is written in the
present tense, regardless of the tense in which your book is written.
mickey> even back story?
Shirley> No. Back story is written
in past tense in the synopsis, unless it is being told as a flashback.
mickey> ok
Shirley> The synopsis has no dialogue and
no subplots. In your case, the friendship/romance is so important I
would definitely include it in a synopsis. Just the bare bones. No
chapter outline. Just tell the story in about five pages, and make it
an interesting read all by itself. A very, very, condensed book.
Shirley> Don't think that because
something is in the synopsis that it has to happen when you begin to write
chapters. You might find reason to change the direction things are taking.
That's fine. Just make the changes in the synopsis and see how they
play out.
Shirley> It is a lot easier to mess around
and change a page document than to discover pages into the
manuscript that you don't like the way things are working out.
LLucille> YES
Shirley> My synopses go through changes as
I write the manuscript, but they are well thought out enough originally that
the story's still easily recognizable in the final work.
Shirley> It can save you a lot of grief to
try this method.
LLucille> I see that
Shirley> Some writers say that it cramps
their creativity to know the whole story. I think it just keeps you
focused.
georgel> trouble is, my story does not
follow a straight line
Shirley> You mean, a chronological line?
georgel> I involve two families, unknown
to each other. One causes tragedy.
Shirley> In that case, I would do a
preliminary write up of the time line for each family - what happens to them
and when. Then I would take those two "family plots" and interweave them in
a synopsis.
Shirley> You can do that by having a
section about one family, and then a section about the other family, but you
will have to have a character who connects them and that character I presume
is your sleuth.
georgel> victim is innocent, sleuth
finally makes connection the connection is a ring, accidentally given to the
victim
Shirley> Sounds like a good structure to
work with. Not as easy as it could be, but rewarding.
Shirley> You will have to show your sleuth
interacting with one family and then with the other. It doesn't have
to be by chapters, a strict alternation from one to the other.
Shirley> Good night, and good luck to each
of you with your manuscripts.
