Robert Kernen’s “Building Better Plots”, part 19

Exposition—that age-old demon who afflicts experienced writers as well as new ones. It’s like the stick that you realized was no good after all, so you threw it away. But look out! It’s a boomerang, and it whacked you in the noggin!

I see writers who haven’t shown their work to strangers much shovel in so much backstory and explanation that it reads more like stream of consciousness. I did it too, so I understand the impulse. Inexperienced writers seem convinced that readers need to know a whole bunch of stuff before they can fully appreciate the story. They don’t realize that when readers get caught up in a story, it’s because the plot—yes, this again—steadily moves forward. It doesn’t stop in the middle of running for your life, and say, “Well, pull up a chair, I want to tell you about the childhood of the guy who’s trying to kill you. And, well, about his parents’ upbringing too, because you can’t understand him without that.”

How about right now we run, and you talk later?

The idea of not dropping in chunks of backstory has been talked about in other places, so I won’t belabor it here. But I do like the way Kernen discusses it, so if you read his book, you won’t waste your time with this section. His main point, perhaps, is that in real life we get to know people gradually, often over a period of years. In fiction, you can mimic that by disclosing things about major characters a little at a time.

I am not fond of one thing he does: using “relevant revelations”.  Mentally I tripped over that a few times, and that interrupted the flow!

I do want to mention something else that Kernen touches on. Writing is not a straightforward depiction of reality. Even in a memoir, when you expect more realism than in fiction, you have to tweak *how* and *what* you say to fit the medium. Ever listen to somebody relating information in such a boring way that you covered up yawns as they droned on? You don’t want to make readers feel that way, because they’ll simply put your book down and leave it there.

My friend Ray writes plays. He doesn’t do comedies, but he is the funniest man east of the Mississippi. He can tell a story about the most dull and mundane thing, but spin it so you laugh so hard you literally can’t breathe. You have to make reality more interesting than it is. You have to compress some things, draw out others, talk about things from a different perspective.

What I like to say when I critique is, We write for readers, not other characters.

When I write a scene for the sheer fun of it, I let characters play freely off each other. I can follow the reasoning of their conversations, but people reading it would get lost in places. Every few days I work on the scene of Sandy’s wedding. It starts with him and Neal bouncing their particular quirks off each other. It helps me understand how both characters feel that day, but a lot of it wouldn’t go into a manuscript draft. Long sections *are only interesting to me*.

You gotta face it, champs. A story idea grabbed you, the characters burned themselves into your soul, and the whole thing won’t let you go. This is *good*, but nobody can feel it the way you do. So please, don’t drive potential readers crazy by telling them long paragraphs of stuff they really don’t care about.

It’s hard. I know. I am so in love with my characters that I could write hundreds of scenes without any plot at all and I’d still love it. But I won’t subject readers to that. Slowly, slowly, I’m learning to condense and delete. I don’t have to throw away that stuff because I do find it helpful, but look at it this way.

If you cut some stuff *from the manuscript* that helps you learn about your characters, the end product will look smooth as glass. Readers will think you were born with such an intuitive understanding of your characters and the writing process that writing well is easy for you.

Fiction writers are, after all, liars ;)

Next week: Another guest post, this time by retired Los Angeles police officer Kathy Bennett, who is anticipating the upcoming release of her first novel, "A Dozen Deadly Roses". You can read about it here: www.kathybennett.com/ I think a lot of writers are interested in the backstory of other writers who have made the enviable transformation to author, and Kathy will tell us a bit about what it took for her to reach that goal.

shout out

A stuffed smiling virtual penguin to Lindsey for following my blog J

I'm thinking "cool" things cuz it's pretty warm here today, for a change!

Lindsey, it's blingy of you to come along for the ride!

Scenes added to blog

I've included three scenes, each on a separate page. The title of each begins with "Scene" and adds a phrase descriptive of that particular scene. I have Neal and Lola, Sophie's Christmas Tree and Sandy and Neal Before The Wedding.

Each scene was started to help me get a clearer picture of the characters and how they relate to each other. I stuck them in my blog to give readers a feel for my writing and for the characters. As of now, only the first scene "Neal and Lola" is planned for inclusion in a manuscript. It needs additional work but you can get a sense of the personalities of both characters.

I love exploring character interaction. Most of the first scenes I ever wrote with these people were just to see what would happen when they met up. Over the years, they've surprised me and pissed me off, made me laugh and taught me things about human nature. It's addicting to throw characters together and watch the fireworks. I'm sure Freud would have something to say about it!

I think Sandy and Neal are my favorite characters, but the rest of the band and a few others come in as close seconds. Which of your characters motivate you the most?

And a big "hiya" to Lindsey! Thanks for joining my blog. J

Part 18 of "Building Better Plots" and, well, a rant

In discussing the timing of major plot points, Kernen says that many of today’s movies are “like high-speed freight trains, careening violently from one explosive plot point to another, never giving the audience a chance to relax, reflect or recover”. He describes that as a “sledgehammer approach to storytelling”. I’m guessing producers use it to hide weak plots. I suppose that if all you want in a movie or novel is non-stop flash and bang, you won’t mind that approach. Personally, I prefer the books I read and most of the movies I see to offer insights as well. If you’ve read this far along my series on Kernen’s book, I bet you feel the same.

While plot points should continually move readers toward the climax of the tale, it’s okay to have some slower moments. That lets readers catch their breath and have events sink in, just like the characters. When readers can think about what happened, they can see how characters’ reactions make sense, adding to a feeling of realism. Of course, for that to work, your characters’ reactions actually have to make sense!

I have to laugh at how Kernen says to make sure each plot point keeps the story moving, doesn’t drop the tension altogether, yet sometimes gives everybody breathing space. Again, you want me to juggle 20 eggs while moving along a tightrope??

I seriously wonder how many published authors sit down with a half-formed outline and ask themselves if they have the right number of points that increase tension, the right amount of points that show characterization and just a bit of backstory, the right number of points that pull together subplots with the main plot, all while keeping most readers interested and never bored or feeling assaulted by things happening too fast.

This seems like a fair amount of subjectivism, to me. I’ve read many times how a manuscript was repeatedly passed up, only to be read by somebody at the office who doesn’t normally read manuscripts, who then brought it to the boss’ attention, who then bought the darn thing. Is it really worth spending so much of my time on something, when the people whose attention I try to catch may not feel like giving my work a second glance because they’re running late to meet their friend for lunch?

“Ahhh, this one’s in Courier New, I’m tired of looking at that font today. Toss that one out.”

“Damn, I couldn’t sleep last night. Toss this whole batch of submissions out.”

J.K. Rowling, as I understand it, got a lucky break. Somebody else in the office read her manuscript and said to the boss, “Hey, this is good, you need to read it.”

I bet J.K. didn’t sit at her computer and say, “Now do I have the plot points spaced properly?”  Sure, she had editorial help, but that was after the MS got accepted. Something about that first manuscript caught somebody’s attention.

I’d be happy with a fraction of Rowling’s readership. I’ve still got the “geis” feeling about my work in progress. Things need to be said, people need to be encouraged to think about a whole slew of stuff. It feels less like something I want to do than something that needs doing.

What about you? Do you think your project is worth slaving over a hot computer and braving the subjective weather in the publishing industry? What is that drives you to work it every chance you get, week after week? Is your WIP mainly to entertain people, or do you have a higher purpose? Or are you just doing it because it’s fun?

When we meet again, I’ll offer a perfectly acceptable reason for lying.

"Building Better Plots" by Robert Kernen, part 17

Kernen didn’t say I had to have 6 - 10 major plot points on my first effort at listing them. I have 20. Okay, so I need to cut! Actually, it’s a true miracle that my first pass had *only* 20. After a lot of hemming and hawing and gnashing of teeth, here are my 10 points:

1.  Spurred by a beating, and an outside offer of help from Sandy, Neal leaves his street gang.
2.  Neal finds his lovers and his kids, all murdered by the gang.
3.  Sandy admits to feeling responsible for the deaths of his cousin Renee and of his friend Greg.
4.  Neal gives up on drug rehab once, then realizes he has to try harder. Drugs continue to be one part of his past that he can’t seem to leave behind.
5.  Neal agrees to Sandy’s suggestion of starting a non-profit, and being an active and equal partner.
6.  Neal begins a life-changing relationship with Laurie. Her death sparks a serious falling-out with Sandy.
7.  Neal is caught in the Rodney King rioting, and is kidnapped by Tony Esteban, his biological father. While in captivity, Neal meets up with his mother, who abandoned him at age 10.
8.  Sandy struggles with the possibility that he can’t save Neal just as he couldn’t save Renee and Greg years earlier.
9.  Neal reverts to some gang-like behavior when Tony threatens his friends’ lives; Sandy and April fear how deep the reverting has gone.
10. Neal experiences his first tour as a member of the band. When he gets home, he’s frustrated by the lack of rebuilding after the riots and twists the mayor’s arm till he agrees to a tour of hard-hit barrios. (This point will probably change by the time my outline is finished.)

I cheated a bit by having more than one sentence for some points. I’m still not happy with this list, because I really feel I’ve left out big things that move the plot forward. Maybe professional agents and editors would come up with different points for me. At least it’s a starting place. I’m keeping my list of 20 points, because I think the two lists are important lessons in cutting.

And damn it, I feel like I’m giving my plot away here!  :P

Kernen says settings should be chosen with each scene in mind. He uses the example of Hamlet. The prince confronts his mother about her rush to marry Hamlet’s uncle, and he does it in his mother’s chamber—an intimate setting that amplifies Hamlet’s emotions, and is the same room where his mother slept with his father.

In my WIP, Neal and Sandy have their first confrontation—about staying with the gang or leaving—in the gang’s rattletrap hangout. In his comfort zone, Neal seems to hold all the cards in the scene. Sandy got himself lost and doesn’t know what neighborhood he’s in, yet he meets Neal’s belligerence head on. Suddenly Neal feels less sure of things, though he’s still in his own territory.

If that scene happened in Sandy’s neighborhood, the impact would be lessened. Some years later, Neal is kidnapped by his biological father, whom he’s only met recently. He’s hauled across the country in handcuffs and leg chains. He’s worse for wear, having been caught in the Rodney King rioting and been kicked around by cops. That’s all bad enough, because he’s treated like the gangbanger he thought he no longer was.

He’s in his father’s prison (a stinking, windowless room) with his ankles chained together, in pain from beatings. It’s here Neal faces his mother. She tells him he’s better than where he was born, but at that moment, all he knows is that he tried to get away from his past, and it’s swallowing him whole.

This scene would also have less impact on both characters and readers if it happened somewhere else. Plus, even minor scenes benefit from being in the right setting. See Becca’s *awesome* guest post for more on setting.

Next post—a bit of a rant about the sometimes hit-or-miss publishing industry. I learn something from my own rant J

Robert Kernen’s “Building Better Plots”, part 16

“Many writers construct stories without ever clearly identifying [major plot points] and without looking closely at how they propel the audience forward.”

Argument accepted. This has been my problem, as mentioned in the previous post in this series. I had a bunch of scenes, some related, some not, most written independently of each other. There’s more to a good novel than just a bunch of related scenes. The relationship must be *intimate*.

Kernen suggests identifying each major plot point in my story. For a novel, he says I should have 6 to 10 such points. Ihhhh, wow. That’s all? I’ve started a tentative outline for this draft; I have almost 2 pages and I’m still describing early stuff. Granted, some of what I’ve included is to jog my memory for when I actually get to the writing part, but apparently I’m now confronted with my another problem I’ve struggled with before: condensing. I have to understand the details of how characters get from point A to point B, and I have to include that in my outline so I know how to write each scene. However, that doesn't mean *all* of that is important for anybody else.

Kernen describes the objective of major plot points this way:

• How does this event advance the story?
• Does it lead the protagonist and the audience toward the climax?
• How does this event increase the tension and suspense of the story?
• How does this event affect the development of the characters?
• Where does this event need to lead the protagonist emotionally/mentally for the plot point to be successful?

Maybe I’ll copy those questions onto another sticky note for my computer screen. If you don’t have a program for sticky notes, a physical note will work.

Kernen then goes on to list some general examples of early, middle and late plot points, such as: the protagonist questioning the status quo; a secondary (and previously neutral) character showing herself to be an enemy; and the protagonist finding a hidden strength. As I read each of Kernen’s examples, I immediately think of scenes I’ve already written. On one hand, that seems good. On the other, I worry that I haven’t put those things in the best places. I guess I should think through what my major plot points are.

I am kind of confused as to exactly what counts as major in my own project. For example, everything starts after Neal leaves his street gang, but is that the first plot point? Without Sandy’s involvement, Neal wouldn’t have made that move. Those two characters interact with each other for the rest of the novel. Is Sandy’s offer of help the first plot point, or should it be included in Neal’s action?

• Spurred by a beating, and an outside offer of help, Neal leaves his gang.

Or is it:

• Sandy offers to help Neal. (Is that a hair I need to split now?)
• Neal leaves his gang.

— then additional points that show how those two continue to feed off each other? Wait, here’s a clue. My plot points should ideally pull off several goals, and the strongest ones will have an intersection of forces. I should bring together setting, characters, current subplots, and the timing.

What Kernen doesn’t mention is that the relationship among these elements has to be clear to me at all times, but when they first show up, readers may not recognize them as important. That’s okay, because it allows for “ah ha” moments. “This character tried to sabotage her sister’s job interview. Ah ha, that’s why she said, during the birthday party days before, that sometimes you have to take fate into your own hands. She actually hates her sister.”

Okay. I’m off to mull over my plot points. I’ll have a report next time.

Coming up — Kernen didn’t say I had to have 6 - 10 major plot points on my *first effort* at listing them.  I have 20. :D

Part 15 of Robert Kernen's "Building Better Plots"

“Each plot point should build upon the one before it to create a gradually growing cumulative effect.”  There’s a concept.  Novels I thought were great had that impact partly because I saw how each new major plot point grew out of things that came before.  Some things were surprises, but even those made sense.  Without points C, D, and E, plot point F would never happen. 

Characters’ personalities play into it as well.  One of the things I love about Katherine Kurtz’ novels is that I can see how and why characters act and react as they do.  Person A hears that something happened and goes postal, and Person B gets killed.  Person C hears the same news but reacts by getting a group together to talk about how to respond to the event.  At the meeting, they decide to do something that Person B could have warned them will be disastrous, but because Person B is now dead, disaster is *not* averted.

Things link together, like falling dominoes.

I’ve had trouble with this, because up until January 2009, I had bunches of scenes that were written mostly independently of each other.  I wrote during the first six months of that year with a better sense of things happening based on what came before, but I still didn’t have a coherent sense of *plot*.

And yet, the further along I got, there were times when I’d think, Hey, X could happen now, because that’s logical after U, V, and W happened.  Once I hit on Neal getting caught in the 1992 Los Angeles rioting and kidnapped by his biological father, I had a strong sense of holding a gift in my hands.  Frankly, when I wrote the first draft of that scene, I didn’t think at all about what might happen afterward.  I had no idea that scene would become pivotal.  It crystallizes everything Neal has been through up to that point.

So I believe in writing “by the seat of one’s pants”.  Yet, for the fantasy short story I’m also working on, I’ve been fanatic about planning major things out and having a ton of backstory that isn’t intended to make it directly into the plot.  I guess I’m the writerly equivalent of ambidextrous.  I’m sure I’m not the only one.  Stories can be like snowflakes: no two alike, from planning to finished product.
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Kernen defines plot beats as “distinct movements of the plot, or individual sequences that make up discreet pieces of the story”.  These beats should be like short stories that are linked to create the novel.  Each should have rising action, a climax, and a resolution.

This is supposed to make it easier for the writer to handle all the plot points and subplots, but also offers breaks from all the drama for readers.  I see the wisdom in that, but wow, really?  I’m expected to plot out short story arcs that always bring me closer to the Grand Climax?  You want me to juggle twenty eggs *while* walking a tightrope??

And people wonder why writers drink.

I’m not sure those little arcs are *always* necessary.  I wish my WIP was an action or adventure piece, where the protagonist has to get from physical Point A to physical Point Z.  It’s got to be easier to move toward the climax in every chapter when your characters have to physically travel.

Would you believe I’ve read over this post to see if it has a stated goal and then moves toward that goal?  Plotting out blog posts??  My muse says that’s good, but I just think I’m fried. ;)

Next time . . . If you were a major plot point, what would you look like?