Even Moar Expert Writing Advice: Plot Development

[triedunture]

Is it really time for yet another...

T'S GIANT EXPERT WRITING ADVICE FOR WRITERS
and other people who wanna write good too


Yes, it is.

Today I wanna talk a little bit about making stories, like, go? That's what we call plot, biatches. So here we go!

The Plot
it's kind of a big deal



Every writer is like a snowflake only in that 1) they melt if you salt them, 2) they come down heavily one or twice a year in temperate climes and 3) every single one has a different way of formulating its basic elements. The way you come up with a plot probably looks nothing like the way I come up with a plot, and that's OK. Everyone gets inspired in different ways; there's nothing to be ashamed of. Except when you fuck it up. Then it's time to bring on the shame.

Part One: How Not To Fuck It Up, I Guess?

This is a piece of advice that's stuck with me since CW101: stories don't start with ideas. I know, it sounds wacky, but let me explain. Ideas are different than concepts. Trying to start a story with an idea, that is, a goal to prove something, that's lame. Here's an example:

Betty thinks that abortion is a bad thing. Whatever, it's a free country, she can think anything she likes. OK. But she decides to write a story proving that abortion is bad. Her characters are all formulated to support a plot that's only purpose is to prove abortion is bad. Betty has just written the worst story of all time. It sucks because the things that happen in the story are flat and lifeless, injected with no vim or vigor and reflecting nothing of life or even imagination. It's just dull.

Here's another example, one that may be more familiar? See if you can find it in your fandom:

Betty thinks Jim, a character from a TV show/book/movie/radio program is totally hawt. She would like to see Jim in the act of sexual congress, but since that's impossible in real life, she decides to write a story wherein Jim engages in the act of sexual congress with someone very like Betty. The story sucks because the things that happen in the story are flat and lifeless, injected with no vim or vigor and reflecting nothing of life or even imagination. It's just dull.

I guess what I'm trying to say is you can't (or at least I can't) set out to write a story that proves something; stories require nuances and differing interpretations from readers. Starting out with an idea and only an idea will end up being very boring. Stories are supposed to explore, not slap a one-sentence purpose statement in front of you. See what I'm getting at here?

Part Two: OK, Now That You're Not Gonna Totally Suck, What Happens?

Man, good question, subtitle. Like I said before, developing a concept is very personal and different for every writer. But in keeping with the advice from Part One, it's a good idea to examine that developing concept from all sorts of angles. Because, you know, your readers will. Hopefully.

Why don't I use my ego-centric self as an example? I'll use the development process of Jeeves and the Uncomfortable Morning only because it's the most recent complete fic I've done that wasn't a response to a prompt challenge. Prompt challenge fics are different in how they evolve because of the restrictions, but they're basically the same.

So this is how I started. I was reading Jeeves Makes a Mistake by cuvalwen for about the billionth time; it's a pretty solid story about Bertie confessing his love to Jeeves, and Jeeves initially not returning the sentiments, and Jeeves' journey to realizing he actually does. Very sweet story. I get ideas from other fics. And TV. And movies. And songs and poems and things I find on the sidewalk. It's totally natural to start the process where someone else ended it.

So there I was, re-reading this favorite fic of mine and I wondered what the story would look like if it were reversed, and it was Jeeves who confessed his love for Bertie only to be rebuffed? (You guys will probably have noticed by now that role reversal is one of the tricks I always have up my sleeve. In fact, I might be in danger of over-doing it?) So I had a concept; now I needed visual aids.

The first thing I had to figure out was what that would look like: Jeeves confessing his soppy adoration to a Bertie who doesn't have likewise feelings. That was challenging because it could easily run into OOC territory. So I mentally (I say I take notes, but really it's all just mental) sketched out who would say what, how it would look and sound, and what would logically follow from it. If you know your characters well enough, this is cake. And it's pretty fun.

Then it's simply a matter of formulating a final scene and linking the beginning to the end somehow. With fic like this (smutty stuff, I mean), it's pretty obvious what the final scene is going to be. But you gotta fill those holes, right?

Part Three: I Mean Plot Holes, Ya Perv

It's really easy to lose control of a plot in all the excitement and end up with a swiss-cheese of a story. Some of us are even guilty of ignoring plot holes deliberately in order to force the plot into the shape we want. (I am one, madams and sirs!) But the fact of the matter is that we should be taking care of our plots so they don't spring a leak.

One thing that's very tricky is physical delineation; that is, keeping track of where everything and everyone is at all times. Uncomfortable Morning was easy because it all took place within the apartment with no other characters coming in. But I've misplaced furniture, wall clocks, and tons of other small things in plots before. The only real remedy is to have a beta read carefully, or to become very good at spotting your own mistakes.

But the worst plot holes are when incredibly obvious solutions are available to the characters' problems but no one mentions it. Have you ever read a fic where, halfway through, you're muttering, "The jar. The missing key is in the jar. Go get the fucking jar. GO GET THE FUCKING JAR." Unless you're writing campy horror, you probably don't want your reader yelling at your idiot characters. These sorts of plot holes are usually a product of those holes that are blatantly ignored by an author that just wants to get to the good stuff and leaves the reader in the dust in the process.

Oh, right. I'm supposed to be talking about the process!

Part Four: We Built This House on Shifting Sand and a Dream

More cliched CW101 advice: build a story like you'd build a house. The plot can be the foundation and the walls. It sounds retarded but figure out a beginning, a middle, and an end. You don't have to keep them together in a linear fashion, but get the basics down first before attempting a nonlinear story.

The beginning should establish several things: characters, setting, and mood. These things can and should change throughout the story, but you need that establishing shot at the start of things. Even stories that begin in medias res should artfully establish these things.

A conflict should brew. If you don't have a conflict, you have a drabble, a vignette, a lovely piece, but you don't have a story. At least, I don't think so. This conflict need not be completely resolved by the end, but it should be addressed.

In fanfiction, we usually deal with a built-in conflict for the Ubiquitous First Time Story: how to get these dudes together. Hopefully you have a new way to explore this.

Speaking of overdone tropes, here are some things I don't ever want to see you do:

1. "He woke up and it was all a dream." OMG. Why did I just read your 26-chapter story if it all wasn't real and nothing's changed?

2. "And then everything went back to normal." ZOMG! What did I just say?? This is a classic throwaway episode like you would see in a children's cartoon. But we're mostly all adults here; our stories should contain change.

Change is a good indicator that something has actually happened in your story. It can be a change in a relationship, a character, a setting, anything. Just make sure something fucking happened or else it's kind of a waste of time?


I hope this was helpful. It's a little difficult to talk about How To Make a Plot when every plot is so different. A lot depends on your characterization; at least, for me, characters drive the plot. So maybe soon I'll do a selfish little post about that?

Or maybe it'll be commas.

Please let me know if you agree or disagree with anything, how you think up story plots, what works and what doesn't for you! :D