Forum: Author Hangout

I know we've touched on this in other threads, from time to time, and even talked around the edges of it in some threads, but I'm not sure if we got very far into the nitty gritty of the process used to sort out the plot. This is really only for those who complete the story before they post it, simply because those who post as they write tend to sort the plot our as they go, except for those who lose the plot along the way.

In general, I come up with an idea for a story, outline the main plot about where I want it to go, and get writing. While writing I fill in the details, the dialogue, and will sometime add new sub-plots. However, between when I layout the story outline and get writing there's a heck of a lot of time spent researching things for the story: locations, how things work, societies, etc. When that's done to the best point I can reach I start writing the story. Now, this is where I sometimes have issues, like:

1. Characters insert the own behaviours and attitudes into the story, especially about sub-plots and interactions with other characters.

2. I come up with additional sub-plots and have to work at fitting them in properly.

3. A sub-plot heads off into a different direction than initially intended for some reason - usually because it seems to offer more for the story at a later point.

4. I hit a wall about how to write a particular scene and set the story aside for a while so I can think about it in a, hopefully, relaxed manner.

Item 4 above, and this next issue are why I often have a number of stories on the go at the same time.

There are times I have a good start point for a story, and have a good end point, but then have a sort of blank about what goes on in the middle, or I have only a few scenes for in the middle. It's filling in these gaps that give me the biggest headaches in a story.

I was wondering if anyone else had similar sorts of issues with their story writing.

And, yes, I am totally ignoring the situations where real life intrudes and you have to put a story aside while dealing with life and then can't get back into the story at that time.

I'm kind of glad that you brought up plot, Ernest. Lately, I've been having issues finding new books (other than blockbusters written by superstar authors), written with plotting skill. I guess I'm mostly talking about self-published authors, but I have to admit that I am often left scratching my head.

I recently bought a title that was supposedly written by an 'international best selling author' (name of author and title removed). It had many outstanding reviews, but I was utterly disappointed from early on in the book and ended up not getting much past the fifth chapter. Why? Because the author who wrote it clearly did not understand what plot was, the importance of a good antagonist, how to design or develop a character or many other basic facets storytelling 101.

So, if it's okay with you, I would like to add to your original question. Not only how do you plot, but how do you make sure your plot is good enough; strong enough to truly lure your readers in and rivet them?

As a popular example, I refer to the Star Wars prequels. For some reason, when Lucas wrote those stories, he clearly forgot how to plot a story properly and the end result was a storyline that was full of holes, but it also resulted in character dialog that sucked, characters that were monotone and boring in their design and a movie series that was nothing more than a bunch of special effects glued together in a series of events.

In addition to asking that question, I thought I'd also forward an answer to Ernest's original question.

I keep my main plot premise simple.

Now, I already know that some of you are probably thinking that keeping your plot premise simple is akin to dumbing your story down, but I disagree. To exemplify what I mean, I'll use two examples. First the original star wars compared to Episode one.

In the original Star Wars, the main plot premise was simple. Vader and the Emperor wanted to do one thing. They wanted to get the Deathstar up and running so they could use it to spread fear and gain control of the galaxy. Of course, there were subplots, but the main premise of the story was easy to grasp and the original Star Wars is an absolute classic. Keeping it simple was a wise choice.

Compare that to Episode one, where the main premise of the story is complicated and muddled. What is the main premise of the Phantom Menace? It's actually quite difficult to sort out, even for me. I've watched that movie probably at least fifty times. I do like it, but only because I love Star Wars in general so much.

The best I can do to describe the premise is to say that its multiple premises glued together. 1) Senator Palpatine wants to become Supreme Chancelor, so he concocts a plan to inspire a vote of no-confidence in Chancelor Velorum. (But if you think about it, some of his actions that lead up to Velorum's vote of no-confidence contradict those motivations, but that's beside the point). 2) Sensing a great disturbance in the force, Qui-Gon seeks to free a slave boy while trying to return Queen Amidala to Coruscant. 3) The Trade Federation, by orders of Palpatine (disguised as a hooded figure) try to wipe out everyone on Naboo. 4) Qui-Gon, having rescued the boy wants to train him to be a jedi.

That analysis may not be exactly right, but I guess that's kind of my point. I can't see any precise plot premise. It's muddled and confusing the whole way through. There are so many things that don't make any sense and the reason they don't make sense is because there is no simple plot line to follow. Lucas tried to make it too complicated. The entire story of the prequels should have been limited and centered around Anakin Skywalker and how he was turned to the dark side. In the first movie, I don't even consider Anakin to be the main character. His role in it is just too small. I don't even really get who the main character of Episode one, but I'm getting a little distracted here.

The point is that when you are plotting a story, my suggestion is that you should keep your main plot premise simple. Complicating your plot premise doesn't make your story better, it only serves to make your story more confusing. Make sure you have a villain whose intentions and motivations are clear. Make him more powerful than your hero and let the story unfold.

The same thing can be said for your subplots. Keep the premises of those simple as well. Complicated doesn't mean better. It just means complicated.

I've discussed my approach before, often fairly extensively, but ...

I basically start with a story idea, then sit back and let the ideas percolate. I'll often start with a beginning, a fairly complete ending, and a series of intermediate points. In order to give me a better perspective on the story, I'll generally toss a monkey-wrench into the story, then sit back until I can figure out how to work around my own story limitations (though I've given up on this approach, as it typically produces overly complicated plots and story lines which don't always work ideally).

Once I figure out how to work the story (including conflicts, themes and character conflicts (conflicting character motivations)), I'll name the characters and start writing. I work from the ending, always working sequentially a chapter at a time, though I'll plot the story out a few chapters at a time, often planning out the details the night before I write the first draft of each chapter.

Once I complete the entire story, I'll then revise the entire story, cleaning it up, keeping details consistent. Once I get about 10 chapters into the revision, I'll start feeding it to my editors.

This past year (2015) was a slow year for my readers, as I worked to revise my writing style, simplifying my process, my plots and making the stories more concise (though not necessarily any simpler). As a result, I only released a single story in 2015 (and published another at the end of the year). I already have 9 books planned for 2016, though I don't know how many I'll get out and in what timeframe.

I used to write by tossing interesting characters together and recording what unfolds, however I now go with the 'if it doesn't advance' the plot philosophy, and now severely curtail my subplots, so they don't get away from me. I've also cut my story lengths from 150,000 words down to 60,000 (on average). My chapter lengths have gone from 6,000 to 10,000 words down to 1,500 to 4,000 words. I'll have to see what my readers think about my style changes. They may not like it at all, but I figured it was time to rethink my approach.

All things start with the simple idea, the elevator pitch sized idea. Since I tend to write science fiction and fantasy genre stuff, that's generally something about the specific story gimmick I want to explore.

Then the brainstorming, the idea bounces around in my head as I think of all the places this gimmick can take me. Some of that is specifically sex-scene related, some is more general plot related. Hopefully by the end I have a good balance of both.

If at this point I think the whole thing shows promise, I start jotting it all down, and then generally I put it aside because my main energies are focused on some other story that I'm currently writing. If more ideas pop up later on I'll add them into the notes. These notes tend to be a mash of various things. Sometimes the ending is clear, sometimes not. Varying amounts of middle bits are worked out in varying levels of specificity. Oftentimes bits of dialogue for key scenes are very clear to me, sometimes I'll even write it out and add it to the notes, though it may not survive to the final story exactly in that form.

When it comes time to actually write the story, I'll go over the notes and start fleshing out everything, taking the existing ideas and filling in any gaps on how the story will get from one to the next, making sure there are enough sex scenes. Characters start to get names. Once I'm satisfied that I've got my story direction worked out from beginning to end, I start writing the actual thing.

I don't think I've ever had to change things at that point due to character revolt or a better idea popping up, once I'm writing I've already been over it so many times that things of that nature have already worked themselves through.