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| Christmas 2024 - Hailey, Riley, Mike, Susie, Cassidy |
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| From Facebook |
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| Vehicle Assembly Building, Cape Canaveral |
In all the years I've lived so close, even when I visited the Space Center, I never heard the statistics recently found on Facebook: The VAB covers 8 acres. It is 525 feet tall, 518 wide. Built of 65,000 cubic yards of concrete, 100,000 tons of steel. The BLUE part of the American flag is roughly the size of an NBA basketball court.
TWO ARTICLES ON WRITING
(from MAKING MAGIC WITH WORDS)
January 17, 2015
WRITING WORKSHOP 4 - Plot
When I ran a search on Amazon, I discovered they offer 1,059* books on the art of plotting. (And I admit I've never read even one of them!) But the number makes it clear how important plotting is to your book. And if you want detailed help, your only problem is plowing through all the possibilities to find the books that are right for you. I will, however, in the short space available, attempt to hit a few highlights. My experience is based not only on writing close to thirty books but my long years as an editor of both fiction and non-fiction and as the judge of more than 400 RWA chapter contest entries.
1. Whether your plot is simple or complex, at least a hint of it should be apparent in the first chapters, Chapter 1, if possible. Example: I once judged a contest entry which sounded like a classic category romance centered around a class reunion. But when I read the synopsis, it turned out the author intended it to be a complex romantic suspense. Yet there wasn't a hint of RS anywhere in the pages of the contest entry. This won't work with readers any more than it did with me. Know what genre you're writing and make sure the reader gets the genre he or she expected right up front.
2. Sub-plots are okay in a long book, but don't stray into sidebars that don't advance your plot. Example: cute dialogue that doesn't move the plot forward; secondary characters who push the hero and heroine off center stage. People sitting around chatting, to no purpose, simply distract, slowing your book to a crawl.
3. Avoid "too much plot." I've judged a number of contests where the entry read well, but the synopsis had enough plot for a 3-book series. Since "showing" a book takes up more room than "telling," a plot with a zillion twists and turns is likely to run out of room. J. K. Rowling may be able to get away with a 700-page book. The rest of us can't.
4. Plots have "rhythm"—character introduction, personality development, action, introspection, romantic developments, action, introspection, the high point, the black moment, resolution.** Unlike, say, Vin Diesel's Fast and Furious movies, romance plots have to allow time for breathing, for getting inside the hero's and heroine's heads, time for romance to develop. And even action/adventure movies have their more quiet moments when the main characters get a chance to slow down (and maybe a wee bit more—what would James Bond be without his throng of women?)
**Under no circumstances take this sentence as a "plot arc." I do not believe in arcs or outlines set in steel. I am merely giving examples of how the rhythm of a book varies. (A terrible blow is all the more powerful for coming directly after a moment when everything seems to be going well.)
5. You can get away with almost any plot, no matter how outrageous, if you provide an explanation good enough to coax your readers into "suspended disbelief." Conversely, your book becomes a "wall-banger" when you toss in something incredible without taking the time to justify what happens.
6. Amendment to #5. There are certain things you must not do, things that cannot be explained away. If you want to believe your readers are dumb enough not to care, well, that's your choice. But among the accepted no-no's are such things as the laws of British inheritance: you cannot have a bastard become a duke. You also cannot toss a murder into a book without providing strong motivation. Basically, you cannot avoid the laws of common sense without an adept set-up.
7. Some authors plot on instinct—at least that's how I do it. They learn from the ebb and flow of the books they've read over the years. We start with no more than a basic premise and build from there. Others need to meticulously plot out every chapter. No matter which method you prefer, remember that if you need help, there are all those 1,059 "How to Plot" books on Amazon.
*Grace note update: when I googled “How to plot fiction” on August 6, 2019, Amazon informed me that there are now more than 10,000 books on this subject!
January 24, 2015
WRITING WORKSHOP 5 - Other “Musts”
Goal, Motivation & Conflict
Unlike the 1,059 books on "How to Plot," when it comes to GMC, one book stands out above all the rest. In fact, I suspect Deb Dixon in her book, GMC: Goal, Motivation & Conflict, may have invented the modern concept of GMC as vital ingredients in every book. What you see below is merely the nutshell version. If you feel you are having trouble with these concepts, don't hesitate to add Deb's book, print or e, to your library.
Goals.
Every author has a different approach to plotting—from "out of the mist" to extensive outlines, storyboards, photos, etc. But no matter which method you use, you should always have a goal in mind. A goal for the book, a goal for a chapter, a goal for a scene. Short-term and long-term goals for both hero and heroine, and for the villain (if you have one). I may be one of those people who does not sit down and make a list of any of these goals, but I could not write a good scene if I didn't have a pretty good idea of where I wanted that scene to go, what I wanted it to accomplish. Yes, sometimes the scene surprises me and goes off in a quite different direction than planned, and then I have to ask myself: did this surprise direction add to the story, or did it distract?
There are also other questions that apply to every scene you write: Have I moved the story forward? Have I achieved my goal for this scene? Or have I wandered off into the wilderness, giving too much emphasis to unimportant details, unimportant people and events? Have I allowed a secondary character to grab too much intention? Or perhaps you've accomplished your goal but inadvertently shot yourself in the foot by giving your hero or heroine qualities so negative there's no retreat, no redemption.
Example: have you tossed off remarks about a main character gathering a stack of speeding tickets? Unless this personality quirk is necessary for your plot, it simply weakens your character without adding to your goal of making readers like your hero and heroine. (Risking an accident—the possibility of hurting other people—is not a sign of daring. It's sheer uncaring recklessness. Definitely not the stuff heroes or heroine are made of.)
Example: do not have someone bump into your main character in a bar unless there is a reason for that bump. Unless the bump moves the story forward. Colorful secondary characters can enhance a plot, but extraneous characters who do not contribute to the story just get in the way.
Example: A group of friends enjoy a kaffeeklatch where the conversation never rises above "cute." The dialogue does not reveal character, does not move the story forward. It serves as nothing more than a "filler." (Filler = Distraction, plot coming to a screeching halt.)
Motivation.
As mentioned under "Plot," you can get away with almost anything, no matter how bizarre, if you give your characters proper motivation. Never forget to make it clear why they do what they do. For example, you can't have a person who seems perfectly normal suddenly grab a knife and stab someone. A reader's reaction is going to be: "Aw, come on!" You need to establish some kind of warning, like a creepy atmosphere, or establish that the villain is insane, a drug addict, or comes from a family with mental instability. Something to account for what he/she does. Even if your plot demands the murder (or dramatic event) come as surprise, you need to get some explanation in there as soon as possible. Otherwise, your book becomes a wall-banger. I wish I had a dollar for every time I've commented in Track Changes (while wearing my editor hat): Clarify. Explain. Why on earth would he/she do that?
Amendment to the above: I recently encountered a situation, while editing, which I felt no amount of motivation/explanation, however clever, could justify. My recommendation: delete. Exorsize that particular bit right out of the book. I strongly felt the plot could survive without it, while readers would definitely dig in their heels and balk if that scene was allowed to stay.
The "too stupid to live" heroine has been out of favor for some time, but you can still have your heroine do something stupid—like investigate a dark cellar—if you cite her motivation: she thinks her child might be down there and needs rescuing, or maybe her lover. She's in law enforcement and it's her duty. The house has gone dark and that's where the fuse box is. Give readers a decent "why" and they'll go along. Toss off cockamamie things without explanation, and you've lost them.
Conflict.
Without conflict, your story is: Boy meets girl, they fall in love, get married, and live Happily Ever After. (Or Boy meets Boy, Girl meets Girl, depending on your genre.)* Your book would be four chapters, tops. Conflict is an essential ingredient in Romance. Conflict is not bickering between the hero and heroine (or the h/h with friends). It has to be much more serious. Some seemingly insurmountable object, such as the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets, incompatible backgrounds, lifestyles, jobs, medical problems, etc. Or outside influences, such as someone trying to kill the h/h or a family member; they're caught in a blizzard, a hurricane, car wreck, war zone, etc. On a more personal level, the hero and heroine live and work in two different towns, neither wants to move. Just keep in mind the Conflict has to be serious.
Then, just to make it trickier . . .
The conflicts mentioned above are External—conflicts superimposed from the outside. Internal conflict is also vital to Romance. This would include the hero's and heroine's private agonies and introspection: their reactions to the serious external problems, their feelings about their relationship; their worries about how they're going to get out of whatever mess they're in. Or is it all going to blow up in his/her face?
In Romantic Suspense and Mystery, the conflicts are frequently more External, such as escaping from a dangerous situation or finding a killer. Nonetheless, Internal conflict remains essential (and is particularly important in the development of the romance).
*When I gave this workshop at Moonlight & Magnolias in Atlanta, a young woman came up to me afterward with tears in her eyes, telling me she was so glad I had included alternative lifestyles. Truthfully, I had thought this a battle that had been fought and won. Guess not. So I hope anyone who reads this will make an effort to be more tolerant of other people's lifestyles.
~ * ~
Featured Book
Another pitch for my latest book, which seems to go with the Plot theme above, since as an "out of the mist" author, I write from the heart rather than the head, "winging it" as I go along. And The Abandoned Daughter is a good illustration of that. I thought I was writing a Gothic set in Bath. Turned out it was more of a Mystery. And with a twist no one could anticipate as I didn't know it was going to happen until, lo and behold . . .
Isabelle Bainbridge—abandoned by her gamester father, leery of the young lord who claims he is rescuing her—is more than a little surprised to find herself employed as companion to his grandmother in Bath, who treats her more like a ward than an employee. A near idyllic situation, until Isabelle discovers a young woman's body floating in the Kennet & Avon canal—an alleged suicide—soon followed by a series of murders that shake the tranquility of the beautiful city known as a refuge for the elderly and infirm.
Although Isabelle is determined to
despise her rescuer—the viscount who won her home in a game of
cards—she is forced to rely on him as she is stalked and it becomes
apparent she may be next on the killer's list. There are several
surprises, as well as moments of terror, before this Gothic adventure
finds its happy ending.
~ * ~
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Thanks for stopping by,
Grace (Blair Bancroft)
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