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By: Martha Alderson, M.A.,
on 12/12/2014
Blog:
Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers
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The straight and well-defined line of the Plot Planner is an attempt to control the twistier and often blurry reality of the Universal Story. Plot twists engage readers. Each time the dramatic action twists in an unexpected (and carefully foreshadowed) direction the protagonist is forced to define new goals and perform difficult tasks, pointing the reader in the direction of her true goal.
At each of the
4 Energetic Markers, imagine and list five horrible
antagonists that create five most horrible events. Look for people and action that feel the most thematically true to the protagonist's ultimate transformation AND that twists the story in a new (and carefully foreshadowed) direction. The Plot Planner guides the direction and degree of story intensity and provides a place for expansion. Each horrible thing broadens the readers appreciation of the protagonist's sense of self beyond the limitations of what was currently visible in the story.
The New England Horror Writers (NEHW) just today followed me on Twitter, @NEhorrorwriters and RTed one of my tweets to their followers. I followed back with the comment how horror writers penetrate our deepest fears and bring darkness to light.
In real life most of us run from the dark. We're afraid of the unknown and always looking for the light or dulled to an ashy grey. We deny our feelings and our protagonist's their shadows. We attempt to navigate the straight and narrow line of the Plot Planner, afraid of losing control of the story and falling into an abyss.
The braver you are, the bigger your story. Rather than confuse the reader, each plot twist spins the story deeper into the darkness of what haunts the protagonist, urges her to take heart and gather her courage for her next defined test of initiation and, in the end, brings the light and her true personal power.
At each step deeper, name the emotion. Search for the truth in the emotion. Convey that step, that emotion in an active, energetic and meaningful way, fulfilling the three major plot lines:
Character Emotional Development Plot -- emotion
Dramatic Action Plot -- steps taken / resistance met
Thematic Significance Plot -- defines that action / the meaning of her emotion
At each twist and turn and dark thing that happens as she pursues lofty ideals define her next specific short-term goal. Imagine the next horrible thing, obstacle, challenge, demon she meets. Foreshadow and twist the forward action in yet a different direction that affords a new view of her. Show emotions thematically true to her.
Each time an antagonist twists the story in a new direction, the protagonist defines a new goal like an arrow flying in the direction that brings forward her true purpose, releases power and provides her the freedom to conquer her fears and align with the final confrontation in her willingness to transform.
For more on plot twists
:
1) The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories2) The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master
Two On-going Plot Phone Consultations in a row, with two separate writers, each of whom suffers from a sophisticated form of procrastination.
Both writers, one fiction, one non-fiction, have had the dream of writing / finishing their books for a long time now. Both writers, after years of thinking and planning and researching their projects have both settled down and committed to the process. (Or, so they think.) By signing up for my services they crossed from the ordinary world of stopping and starting, dreaming and waiting to doing something about it = The End of the Beginning.
The antagonists they faced in the Beginning (1/4) -- life, jobs, family -- are nothing compared to what they face now that they have crossed over into the Middle. Both writers have outrageously important books to write -- important for a multitude of reasons, the most important being, in my mind, to save their very spirits (I know, I'm a bit dramatic here but you know writers...) = the act of completion. Neither writer is able to move on to other writing projects that call to them (many of which they've started but never quite finished) or really much of any other creative endeavors until this one is done.
Now that they have crossed over into this new and exotic world of the Middle -- the writer's life, they face a most formidable antagonist = the dreaded procrastination. Now their internal doubts and insecurities are no longer hidden behind the worthy causes of caring for children and providing financial security to those they love. Now the doubt and insecurity oozes out all over and when they least expect it. Especially now. Always before they were competent and successful and selflessly giving to others.
Now they flounder and feel unworthy and stripped of control (after all, who really can control the creative source. It's more like sliding aboard the Giant Dipper and holding on for dear life). And, where do they hear their doubts the loudest? In the silence of their writing caves and on the blank page.
So what do they do? They do what they do best. They research more, spend hours pondering and planning, and come up with a million and one excuses -- all of them worthy -- for not sitting down and writing.
Though my primary job is to act as the archetype of the Mentor and help writers with their plots and support writers in the process of crafting a story, for these two writers and countless others just like them, I long to shape shift into the Trickster and burn, toss out, throw away their binders of research notes, stacks of reference books, and zip drives filled with information. Each of these two writers know their subject matter to a level of such expertise that they could lecture to thousands. They know so much that the act of condensing it into a compelling read paralyzes each of them.
Neither one has hit the Halfway mark yet. They are still organizing, pondering, mapping out.
Until they keep to a writing schedule and the rough ("vomit") draft is finished, they have not truly committed to the process (what symbolizes the Halfway Point of any great story)(yes, to those of you reading this who are familiar with the Universal Story form, they don't even have a clue about the Crisis that awaits them).
Until they do, I wait.
The muse waits.
Their stories wait.
The world waits....
As noted in this post, I’ve been thinking about antagonists who aren’t actual characters. It’s a lot easier to think of popular books with clear-cut villains, though. SAVVY’s success notwithstanding, I suspect a lot of readers prefer actual antagonists, whether an individual or a group, to, say, natural forces.
I started wondering why this was, and think I’m concluding that many of us would secretly or not-so-secretly prefer life to be more black and white. Shades of grey regarding any action or decision require more thought, self doubt, and analysis, so books where good and evil are obvious are attractive escapes. You know who to blame, who to root against, and why. Even if the antagonist isn’t really evil, just misguided or dumb or wants something that will stymie the hero, it’s comforting to feel that he or she can be overcome. And that “evil” (no matter how mild or relative) CAN be beaten — versus the reality that we really can’t conquer most natural disasters, time, or, often, our own dark sides, but only mitigate them.
One completely unscientific and fully biased example: HUNGER GAMES vs. FEED. I’ve recently read the former (just started the sequel), and think it’s terrific, don’t get me wrong. But I had to use a major dose of suspension of disbelief about the world-building in which the ruling class enforces the deadly Games annually and has done so for umpteen years. (I’m just not remotely convinced that it’s possible or would play out that way for a variety of social and political reasons that would be a whole ‘nother post, not that anybody would care why I think that.) Still, the Capital does provide a clear villain group for Katniss, and us, to really hate.
FEED, by contrast, puts various social, economic, and psychological forces that we deal with daily in the role of antagonist (such as it is). It’s very difficult to pin down who the protagonist, or the reader, is supposed to battle. Or how. And I think that’s one reason this award-winnning book, while successful, did not get the level of hype that GAMES enjoys. It’s too realistic. Like FEED, life rarely provides us antagonists for whom we can’t at least see where they’re coming from and what’s motivating them, even if we disagree violently on their methods or values. Darn it all.
Maybe I’m full of baloney, though. Another explanation is that, just as humans tend to anthropomorphize things, we want to individualize — anthropomorphizing, if you will — any forces against us, too. Put a face on the storm, put a motive in the heart of the wildfire. What do you think? Are discreet antagonists we can hate simply part of the pleasure of reading, and if so, why?
– Joni, who will probably get a few tomatoes for this and will shut up for a while now
Posted in Joni Sensel Tagged: antagonists
During the SCBWI conference in LA last month, I attended Ingrid Law’s session on antagonists in fantasy. Her point in brief: For most fantasy sub-genres, you really don’t have to have a personified villain (whether human, dragon, alien, or other). Her SAVVY is a case. There’s no “bad guy,” just plenty of other obstacles for the heroine to overcome. These don’t have to be well-meaning people who simply have different goals or ideas about what’s right than the protagonist does (such as parents or teachers), either. Among the forces that can serve as antagonists are nature (e.g., storms, fires, floods, death, time, the vacuum of space); society (laws, disapproval, shame, norms, economic forces, discrimination); and our own psyches (inner conflict about a goal, self-sabotage, guilt, psychological damage, our own character flaws, etc.).
I agree heartily. Personally, I prefer spec fic that includes a healthy dose of reality, as I know it, and in my experience, there’s a lot of truth in that old chestnut about us being our own worst enemies. Their own demons defeat far more real heroes and heroines than any other person or competitor does.)
So what non-character antagonists have you enjoyed (in what books), and why? My favorites are probably the economic and social forces behind M.T. Anderson’s FEED and Sparrowhawk’s demon in LeGuin’s WIZARD OF EARTHSEA (which only counts once you understand it, I guess). What are yours?
– Joni, who also likes to battle the occasional mountain, desert, or chocolate shortage, but will come back for more bookish evils for Part B of this post next week.
Posted in Joni Sensel Tagged: antagonists
I twittered recently about how at first writers often give their full attention to one plotline alone. Subsequent rewrites, we are able to multitask.
The plot line that first comes to a writer generally reflects the writer's strength and preference.
This particular writer gives great thought to the action plot line -- outer plot -- and to the romantic plot line -- romance plot (not necessary in every book, though this particular writer is a romance writer, so... Also, because romance fiction is selling well despite the economic downturn, seems to make sense to include some romance??)
Same writer struggles with the character plot line -- inner plot. She balks at filling out the character profile as it applies to the character traits and has done little to explore the protagonist's inner life. Thus, the character shows no transformation in the end. The writer especially resists coming up a flaw -- "I've never been any good at that."
I quickly establish elements in the key scenes:
1) Launch
2) End of the Beginning
3) Halfway point
4) Crisis
5) Climax
6) Resolution
The scenes themselves point to the character flaw.
As soon as we know the flaw, it is possible to determine how to rewrite each of the key scenes (and all the other ones, too), at least in relationship to the inner plot -- the character emotional development plot line.
**Beginning (1/4):
Introduce the flaw
**Middle (1/2):
Deepen the readers' understanding all the different ways the flaw is revealed. Expand upon all the ways her basic flaw sabotages her from achieving her long-term goals. Yes, the Middle (1/2) is the territory of the antagonists and of the exotic or unusual world, but both of those elements serve to underline the flaw in no uncertain terms. Antagonists serve to challenge the protagonist, but generally speaking our inner issues and beliefs directly influence the growth and development of the flaw and that flaw does more to sabotage us than any external source. (Can't help it, the plot work I do gives me valuable insight into not only character's behavior but our behavior as writers, as well.)
**End (1/4): Shows the character becoming conscious of flaw and the steps she take to remake herself = character transformation.
A writer I've been working with on an on-going basis picked a unique time in our country's history to write about. Built into this time frame is an event where nature colluded with industry and for five days led to the deaths of many in the community.
It's an age-old dilemma -- what brings a livelihood to everyone in an entire community ends up killing them. Unwilling to admit to what is right there in front of them, people trust the "powers-that-be" -- they would never knowingly poison an entire community in the name of profits, or would they?? Issues specific to this time in our shared past have been repeated countless times before this specific event and will be repeated countless times in the future = creating a thematic universality to her story.
The event lasts five days and serves as a perfect antagonist. Every step the engaging cast of characters take toward their own personal goals is thwarted by the event. Page-turnability is built in as the events unfold.
Years of research and the author's own passion for the time have contributed to the authenticity of the project.
As the days pass, the situation worsens. The built-in "ticking clock" creates tension and conflict and challenges all the characters, though in the end the protagonist is affected the most and is transformed at depth.
I've always been a sucker for a great historical. Hers has got all the elements. I wish her loads of luck in writing the next draft all the way through, taking care to treat the event as a major character and plotting out each and every turn the event itself takes as it destroys everyone around it.
Adversity does not build character.
Adversity reveals it.
The Beginning of a memoir or work of fiction (1/4 of the entire project) for any age group serves -- among other things like the setting, the dramatic question, the mystery - if there is one, the love interest- if there is one, and the like -- to introduce the character's emotional development. This is where the character strengths and flaws, loves and hates, dreams and goals are introduced.
The Middle (1/2 of the entire project) serves to reveal the deeper nuances of the character's emotional development. This is the part of the story where the writer thrusts the protagonist into as much adversity as possible in order to reveal to the reader or movie goer who the character really is. (Plot tip: make a list of all possible antagonists-- other people, nature, society, belief system, and/or machines -- that can help to create conflict, tension and suspense or curiosity and thus reveal who the character is under pressure -- the more pressure the better)
The End (1/4 of the project) is that portion of the project that actually shows how the character's emotional development has been affected by the adversity in the Middle and reveals how the character has been transformed.
These steps in the overall character emotional transformation can be plotted out on a Plot Planner for ease in developing your project.
What is the most revealing adversity you have experienced either through your character or in your own life?
Think of the CRISIS, which generally occurs around 3/4 into the entire project, as the ANTAGONIST'S CLIMAX, or where the antagonists prevail.
OR
The CRISIS is the PROTAGONIST'S moment of truth, where afterwards nothing is ever the same.
OR
In the CRISIS, the PROTAGONIST has a breakdown that leads to a break through.
By: Martha Alderson, M.A.,
on 12/1/2007
Blog:
Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers
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Thanksgiving came quickly. Not much advance planning except in brief contemplation when I plotted out vague ideas of food and events. Tradition dictated lunch and Thanksgiving dinner at home. Old family friends to join us for dessert. Next day, leftovers at the beach. Fingers crossed that once again Northern California would offer up one of the best beach days of the year.
Decisions made for who brings what, where and when.... Pre-plotting gives me a feeling of control over that which I know is uncontrollable. As much as I can plot out the events, the dishes, grocery lists, and sleeping arrangement, I know from experience that with the characters involved, disaster loomed.
The End of the Beginning arrives the Monday before Thanksgiving as the first family members trickle in.
Old friends invited say yes. Wednesday spent pre-cooking with Sister One, Mother, and Niece One. The doorbell rings. Niece Two beams at my look of surprise. Niece Three arrives. More sleeping arrangement plotted out. Grocery lists grow longer.
The big day arrives. Antagonists and allies align. Yes, predictably, the fun and surprises led to a Crisis, but this year there was also a personally satisfying Climax at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk on a glorious ride on the Big Dipper, the oldest wooden roller coaster in America.
One of the benefits of working with writers about plot is knowing the Universal Story form inside and out. As weird as it sounds, I live plot. That means I, as the protagonist of my own life, have the power to create Climax after Climax of my own liking.
Sounds simple, doesn't it? The challenge is to stay conscious of my own Character Emotional Development. If I get too caught up in the Dramatic Action of others in the moment, I lose clarity.
I recently entered a writing contest (a well-known one) and didn't make the short-list. No biggie, I learned a lot and made some good progress with my writing. Then I got a very encouraging letter from one of the contest judges (the chair), letting me know that I'd made the informal "long-list" of the top 20 entries and giving me some feedback on my submission. She didn't have to do this (the contest stated that feedback would only be given to short-listed folks), and made it clear she did it on her own behalf. This was very cool and much appreciated. My question is this...would it be okay to send her a short thank-you note care of her publisher? Just a "thanks for taking the time to do this, much appreciated" kinda deal? I'm not looking to come off as some psycho-stalker chick, so should I be grateful in silence, or is a brief note okay?
A short thank you note via the publisher is always in order.
You'd do better to email her from her website; publishers are notoriously slow about forwarding author mail.
You only come off as psycho-stalker chick if you send gifts, or more than one note.
Never send any object to an agent or an editor until you've signed a deal with them. Given the lunacy of this day and age, gifts from strangers mostly get thrown away still wrapped and unused.
Your Snarkiness,
While lounging at the bookstore today, browsing through the tables of "Was $25, now $3.99" books, I wondered... who takes the loss on these huge discounts? The publisher has sent the books to the bookstore, but I know the bookstore can get its money back if it returns the books to the publisher. But if the bookstore instead sells them at what I presume is a loss, is it the bookstore that takes the hit? Or does the publisher somehow not get its full price?
Basically, I'm just hoping it's not the author, but I have a bad feeling...
My two cats send a wary greeting to Killer Yapp and wish him a pleasant afternoon, as far away from them as possible.
Killer Yapp is safely passed out cold on the sofa after a busy day at Grandmother Snark's gnawing on roast beast and fetching a red rubber ball that seemed to always be bouncing around (silly humans, losing things, you don't notice poodles losing their toys).
I think I know the answer to this but I'm going to foist it off on
Ben at BleakHouse for his podcast.
Ben...would you school us all on remainders?
You want to find out what goes on at a publishing company?
Here's your chance.
Ben at Bleak House books is doing a podcast a day about publishing.
Here's the link.
First thing I wanna know....
When's the new John Galligan book coming out?? I'm desperate here.
Dear Miss Snark,
When you submit to Ballantine, for instance, and receive a rejection, do you then submit to other Random House family publishers like Knopf or Shaye Areheart? Or is one editor's opinion applied to the entire family? Random House, again just as an example, has a whole slew of imprints and divisions, and it appears that many of them overlap in type of books they publish--for instance, a bunch of them publish commercial women's fiction. Or is each imprint very precise in what it handles, even if that's not apparant to an outsider?
Precise?
Excuse me I think I fell off my chair laughing at that idea! KY is having a hilarity seizure at my feet. Where's the inhaler??
Now that we've restored what passes for order around here:
The big houses like Random, Penguin, Simon and Schuster, Holtzbrink and Hachette (formerly Warner) all have divisions within divisions, imprints within divisions and groups gathering many but not all under one VP. Confusing doesn't BEGIN to describe it.
I have maps to sort out who's where and reports to whom.
Just to make everything REALLY fun, some editors who work at a specific imprint can also acquire for other parts of a division. So, a guy who works for a science fiction division has lunch with me, mentions he likes cowgirl lit, and next thing you know I've sold him something that can be described as women's fiction but won't be cause it's going to be a western now.
I spend a good part of my day yapping with editors about what they are looking for and what they aren't. My colleagues and I exchange info so we can all try and stay up to speed on who's where and what they want.
I don't think any of this would be obvious or even fathomable to someone who isn't in the mix on a daily basis.
And just to keep us all on our toes, every imprint has different policies about whether no from one editor means no from everyone.
Oh sage Miss Snark -
How do I become a literary agent? I have a BA in English Lit, editorial experience at college papers, sales experience, a lifetime of reading everything I could get my hands on, plus the desire to combine all of this into a career... So how does one go about it?
You get an internship, or a job as an assistant at an agency.
Publishers Marketplace lists jobs like "agency assistant" and "assistant to head agent".
Internships are generally not advertised and the interns I get my paws on come from NYU or Pace i.e. your college connections.
You'd be better off to start on the other side though and get a job at a publisher. You'll learn a LOT and if you're smart you'll make friends with the folks in contracts, sales and special sales. Everyone always talks about the editorial side of things but I can be of greater value to my clients by knowing how the sales, marketing and pr departments work than helping them unsplit their infinitives.
Dear Miss Snark,
Your advance copy of the MJ Rose book makes me wonder.
Being that you’re in the publishing world, you could perhaps answer a trivia question that keeps some of us awake at nights. Along with the rest of the known universe, I’m waiting for the last Harry Potter book. I know this is a book release like no other. I’m curious how all the mechanics for the Harry Potter releases work, without ANYONE ANYWHERE getting hold of an advance copy. All those bookstores, all those UPS drivers, all those people who work at printing presses, all those mysterious warehouses where books are kept… and NO ONE gets a copy out early? The mind boggles. Please elucidate, from your perch on the inside of the publishing biz.
Lounging Labrador sends her regards and many pawprints of spring garden mulch to Killer Yapp. (Killer Yapp will send the dry cleaning bill for his muddied up Burberry rain vest)
You mean you want to read this copy of Harry Potter here on my desk?
Really?
No.
Ok, enough screaming, I'm only joking.
First, the books come in big ol boxes with strapping tape, then shrinkwrapped and palletized. It's not like there's just one in a manila mailing envelope. There are truckloads.
And yes, of course, the copies will be all over town soon enough. It doesn't matter though, cause the fun of this is the waiting, and the excitement and being in line on the first day.
Those smug snots who say "oh I've read it already, Mummy's secretary had it messengered over" are not people you want to know. It's no fun to know first, cause you have no one to share the juicy fun details with. And NO ONE wants to have you spoil the surprise.
But yes, there are copies. We just don't tell you about it.
Pass me another oar, I'm in the same boat.