Writer to writer: From think to ink - Gail Carson Levine 2014
Plotting along
Hatching the plot
A plot type that I find easy to work with is the quest. In Ella Enchanted Ella is on a quest to end her curse. In The Two Princesses of Bamarre Addie quests to find the cure to the Gray Death and save her sister. In Ever Kezi’s quest is simply to survive. A quest can be for a greater good than merely saving our MC or a single person she loves. In The Lord of the Rings, for example, the quest is to destroy the ring of power lest all Middle-earth be taken over by evil Sauron.
The goal is paramount in a quest story. To try one, think of your MC’s objective. Make attaining it hard-hard-hard and make her fail-fail-fail until, for a happy ending, she finally succeeds, or, for tragedy, she’s defeated for good.
Notice that I wrote both hard and fail three times in the last paragraph. Three is a useful number in plotting, so useful that it has its own rule, called the rule of three. When your hero strives to overcome an obstacle, try giving him two attempts (using different methods each time) before he succeeds. Three is often a satisfying number. Cinderella goes to the ball three times. The evil stepmother visits Snow White in the forest three times. The queen guesses Rumpelstiltskin’s name three times.
Not always three, however, or the reader will be able to predict what’s coming. Sometimes your hero should succeed on his first shot and sometimes on the fifth, and sometimes not at all, at least for the time being. Variety adds richness and interest.
The circle is a satisfying plot shape, too. This kind of story ends where it began, as in The Lord of the Rings, The Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan, and my book Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg.
Setting takes on special importance in these tales. Peter Pan would lose all its magic if there were no Neverland, and the suspense would disappear if there weren’t the tension between the island and the ordinary, grown-up mainland.
Although a circular story returns to its original setting, the MC is usually changed by what happens in the middle. Frodo, for example, is quite a different hobbit when he returns from Mordor. Dorothy returns from Oz with a new understanding of herself and an appreciation for her aunt and uncle’s farm. But your MC may not change, and the story can still be wonderful. Wendy changes by the end of Peter Pan, but Peter doesn’t, and we don’t want him to. We love him as he is, conceited and lighter than air.
Let’s leave shape behind and try this plot tactic for a floundering story, which can be done with a pen or using computer software. Here’s the old-fashioned way: Try writing a short summary of each scene on an index card, then spread the cards out and move them around, altering their original sequence. You can even bring in scenes from other unfinished stories. Edgar in your old story can turn into Garth with a few personality adjustments. When you think about the characters, do you see new threads that connect them? Does one scene suggest itself as a fresh beginning? Another as the end? If your story flows except for a few scenes that stubbornly don’t fit in anywhere, you can cut them and move them to your Extras folder.
If you find that the cards move you further along but then you bog down, you can lay them out again starting with the point where you got stuck—you don’t have to go all the way back to the beginning.
And here’s a plot exercise that comes from What If? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers by Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter. You can use it on a new story or an old one. If this is a new story, whenever you’re not sure where to take the story next, ask yourself What if? In your notes write down five options for directions the story might take, within the confines of your big idea or use this method to help you discover the big idea, which we discussed in chapter 16. Be wild. Be carefree. Don’t even look at what you have till you’re done.
It might go like this: My MC is at a party and feeling all alone. What if she sees a framed photo of her long-lost brother on the mantelpiece? What if she starts writing on a wall of the living room where the party is happening? What if she decides the party needs livening up and starts singing? And so on.
Now look over your list. Suppose two options appeal to you. Write a paragraph about each, what it would mean for your story, how it would take place. Pick the one you like best and return to your story. If you reach the next story decision point and you’re not sure, ask What if? again and repeat.
Writing time!
• This familiar lullaby is totally crazy (and creepy), in my opinion:
Rock-a-bye, baby, on the treetop,
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock,
When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall,
And down will come baby, cradle and all.
Who put Baby up there? Does somebody want to kill her? Turn this one into a story or a novel.
• Pick a secondary character from one of your old stories and make him the MC in a new one. Ask what he fears most. Bring his worst fear down on him. Write about how he responds. Does he overcome? Or, if you’re writing a tragedy, does he succumb?
• Take the humor road with a disaster deluge. Write a story that involves the end of civilization, lost love, drowning rats, a curse on green-eyed men, and the spontaneous combustion of umbrellas! Handicap your MC with double vision, an inability to pronounce the letter t, and a fear of metal. Or make up your own disasters. This is the silly side of storytelling.
• Your MC sets out in this circular story, taking his dog (or other animal or creature) for a walk. What sparks the adventure? What gets in the way of his return? How does he get home again (because a circular tale always winds up where it began)? Write the story.
As you get ready to write, consider where your MC lives. In a city? On a farm? In a suburban subdivision? Dog walking is going to be different in each. If this is a fantasy, your MC could be walking a young unicorn from rock to rock in a swamp inhabited by I-don’t-know-whats.
Also think about time period. Nowadays, people in many places are required by law to pick up after their dogs. That wasn’t always true. Dog walking itself is probably relatively new. I suspect people in the Middle Ages didn’t do it. If your story takes place during pre—dog walking history, invent a reason for this unusual activity.
Have fun, and save what you write!