How To Grow Plot From Character

In order to understand what actions will effect a transformation in your character, there are a few things one needs to know. Debra Dixon addresses this brilliantly with her concept of Goal, Motivation, and Conflict, and if you haven’t read the book, I highly, highly recommend it. She talks at length about needing to have both an external GMC (plot) and internal GMC (internal growth arc).

Goal – What your character wants.
Motivation – Why do they want it? Why are they pursuing this goal?
Conflict – What is standing in their way.

Ideally you should be able to answer those questions on an external and internal level for your character.

One of the things I constantly stumble over is giving my protagonists an actual, bona fide goal. It takes me a while to figure out what they want, and sometimes I realize they don’t actually want anything. Or at least anything that they could articulate to themselves or anyone else.

However, it finally occurred to me that sometimes simply allowing oneself to want something can be a dramatic act all its own. In fact, I wonder if that’s one of the reasons I write kids books, because they are immersed in learning they have the right and the power and eventually the responsibility to act, not just observe or get carried along. Maybe that thematic issue kind of clusters around kids books. Or maybe that’s just one of my personal themes. Not quite sure about that…

Anywho, sometimes I have more luck by asking myself what my characters needs or longs for. Those words seem less self aware than goal, and especially with young protagonist, having an unarticulated need seems a more realistic way to drive their actions. At least initially.

Often I will start with just the germ of an idea; What if a girl could see curses and black magic on artifacts in a museum that no one else could see? Then I have to step back and decide what kind of girl would have this skill, and how it would affect her. Then I massage and poke and scratch my head until I have at least some semblance of GMC. For Theo, it was pretty easy.

Goal: To neutralize black magic and curses before it harmed anyone
Motivation: Because it was nasty, vile stuff that could cause great harm to those she loved; plus she was the only one who could see it, so the responsibility landed in her lap.
Conflict: She was only a child, with few resources; no one would believe her if she tried to explain; and certain bad guys wanted to let use that magic for their own gains.

Knowing that allowed me to begin to design the framework of the structure of the novel; what the inciting incident would be, what the turning points might look like, how the conflict and tension would rise.

But that was only the externals. To give the novel depth, I had to find a way to put what I knew about Theodosia emotionally onto the page. These physical events had to force her to some new understanding or awareness on her journey to becoming an adult.

I knew that one of the things that Theodosia hungered for was her parent’s attention as she was often overlooked. (Luckily, there was a fairly hands-off child rearing philosophy in 1907, so her parents didn’t appear to be horrid people.) She also wanted their professional respect, perhaps simply an extension of the above, since her parents were consumed by their professions, she felt that would be the best way to gain their attention, with her professional expertise.

For me to be able to develop the internal GMC, I often have to look to my character’s wounds or scars; what is lacking in their life, what hole are they trying to plug up, for those are often what drive our actions. So the internal GMC might look something like this (and notice how I word them differently so they make sense to me):

Goal (Emotional need/longing/desire): To be reassured that her parents really do care about her.
Motivation (Why she has that longing/Emotional Wound): Emotionally abandoned by her parents
Conflict (What prevents her forward growth): Parent's preoccupation with selves, child-centric perspective

Dixon has designed a nifty little GMC table that looks a lot like a tic-tac-toe square and goes something like this:




Can you fill in those blanks for your character?

A couple of additional things: Goals can be to NOT want something, to NOT move, or NOT go to a new school. They can also change over the course of a book as they character grows or acquires new knowledge.

Plots - Getting Started

If, as Julia Cameron says, transformation happens through action, then plot is simply the actions our characters go through in order to grow and change.

Of course, in real life, we all stumble upon events and revelations, epiphanies and sudden tragedies, all of which can move us to change. But fiction is different than real life. Fiction has to make sense. Therefore, it is up to the author to take their characters through a sequence of actions that force those characters to grow or transform.

Now some writers do this instinctively. Others have such beautiful prose or skillful characterization that we never even notice a lack of plot in their writing. But not all writers—or not me at least—possess that innate skill. I have to work at it.

The thing is, we have all been studying plot since our parents first began reading Good Night Moon or Harold and the Purple Crayon to us. Ever since our first cartoon, we became consumers of story, and most classic story comes with a plot.

In its most simple form, plot is merely a beginning, a middle, and an end. And really, as a reader that’s all we need to know. Well, that and whether or not the combination of beginning, middle, and end works for us.

But as writers, or more specifically, writers for whom this is not instinctive, we need to break it down a little more.

First Act - Beginning
Second Act - Middle
Third Act – End

And as long as one act pulls the reader along into the next act, you’re golden. But as writers, how do we make that happen. I think the first step is to understand the structure behind the structure.

First Act (Awareness of problem/situation)
Second Act (1st Attempt to solve or fix the problem/situation)
Third Act (Second Attempt to solve or fix the problem/situation)
Fourth Act (Third and successful attempt to solve or fix the problem/situation)

Wait a minute, you say! I thought we were talking about three acts! For me and my process, it is hugely helpful to break that middle act into two parts, thus Act Two becomes in my mind Act Two and Three. The reason for this is that I think the middle of the book is a very important moment, one that deserves to be included in the structuring of the novel.

So that gives us a vague idea as to what different acts should entail, but still maybe not enough to actually start writing the dang book.

But first, some definitions so you won’t all think I’m speaking Greek.

Story – a narrative with a beginning, a middle, and an end.
Plot – the physical actions of your story that drive the narrative; the choice of events the author uses to propel their character’s growth.
Acts – the sections of a story; beginning, middle, and end. Usually mini stories within the bigger story framework that build toward the ending.
Arcs – the forward trajectory taken by the plot or character.
Turning Points – scenes that come at the end of an act and propel the reader into the next act, either by a dramatic revelation, ramping up the stakes, increasing the tension, or spinning the story off in a new direction.

Now let’s take a look at all the structural components of a plot, from a writer’s perspective.

First Act
Set up - Section of the story that gives a sense of who the character is, what is missing from their lives, and what they will need to change and grow.

Inciting Incident - what forces the character to engage in the elements of the plot, where the trouble starts, the day that is different

1st Turning Point (TP) - the scene that propels the reader into the next act


Second Act
Increasing Conflict/Dramatic Action – action that has some meaning or purpose within the greater context of the story as opposed to simple physical action.

Rising action – scenes increase in dramatic tension as the plot progresses. Also causality. This happens, because something else happened, which in turn forces even more conflict to happen.

2nd TP - MID POINT - this scene propels the story into the next act, but it also is the point of no return, the hero cannot go back to who they were, must go forward, which is why I think it needs to be marked on its own.


Third Act
Continued Rising Action (Protagonist and Antagonist engaged in escalating struggle)

Final TP - the moment when everything coalesces to propel the hero toward the final showdown


Fourth Act
Climax – the final confrontation (either internal or external but preferably both) that the story has been building to.

Resolution – how the newly changed character, using skills and knowledge acquired through the course of the story, fixes the problem or comes to terms with the situation.
~ ~ ~

So that are the basic components of a plot. Tomorrow I’ll talk about how to go about creating them from your what you know about your characters or story idea. And please feel free to ask questions in the comments!

Writing Block--Or Not, Part 2

So if you’ve ruled out the need to fill the creative well and proved to yourself that you’ve learned to admirably apply your butt to the chair in a disciplined fashion, what is keeping you from putting words on the page?

Whenever that happens to me, it is usually one of two things: I don’t know enough about the story yet to go forward, OR, I am going in a wrong direction and my subconscious is doing everything it can think of to get me to Stop! Now!

And the only solution for either of those is to just poke around and immerse oneself in the story and see what breaks loose or coalesces or [insert your own metaphor here, after all, you’re creating your own process!]

There are a couple of things I do if it turns out I don’t understand enough about the story to know what happens next.

Research

Perhaps the easiest of these is delving deeper into research, especially since I write with a historical bent. Often if I’m stuck, it’s because I can’t truly visualize the setting, or don’t understand the landscape, or am stumbling over what slinking around in a castle would actually entail. Interestingly enough, in addition to finding the answers I knew I was looking for, I often also find answers or plot points I hadn’t been looking for. True serendipity.


Look at Structure

The truth is that by looking at structure, I can often pinpoint what’s wrong with a story (as in what’s missing) or gives me a clue as to what has to happen next structurally (character must makes choices and decisions that make things worse). I know some people are allergic to plot—just saying the word gives them the heebie-jeebies. Maybe if you look at structure as a blank map that you can draw your own journey on, it might help it seem less intimidating or formulaic.

By analyzing the acts and the turning points and the risking action sequences, I can often see where the story is flabby or I have no arc or there is no cause and effect. If I recognize that, then it becomes clear that the events in my story are not working and I have to rethink those. The events in my story are the physical action my characters are engaged in. So that might mean that poor, timid little Nate might be spending too much time watching Aunt Phil doing all the interesting stuff and not getting a chance to do any himself. Or maybe he just needs to try and prove to himself he doesn’t have the skills yet. Or maybe the action can be much more subtle; he just needs to voice his concerns—for a kid who isn’t convinced they have a right to be heard, that can be a very dramatic action—simply stating his objections. But by looking at structure, I can see if my character is actually doing enough, taking enough action to make sure the story is moving forward.

Note: I always talk about plot but am unclear how fully everyone else grasps/understands plot structure. Would it be helpful at all if I posted some of my plotting tools?

Go Deeper into the Characters

But sometimes when I look at the story, I can see that the structure is there, but I still don’t know enough to keep going. In that case, it usually means my character’s motives and internal arc isn’t making it onto the page or into the writing. The emotions are the fuel for the engine of the story. If the emotions aren’t there, the actions will feel flat and lifeless.

This is also where I will usually identify if a story is going in a wrong direction. Usually because I don’t fully understand my protagonist, or because I have some preconceived plot point that seems like it should work, but isn’t ultimately what the character would truly do.

That’s when I pull out my character journals and characterization exercises. Particularly this one. This one also proved helpful on my latest wip.

So maybe I have some great action sequences and maybe my character is actually doing stuff, but is it stuff that changes him, that propels him along that growth continuum of my story arc? Is what he’s doing making things worse in some way? Not only physical peril, but emotional peril? Is he taking two steps toward his new improved self, then pulling back and retreating into his old behavior patterns? How is he really and truly feeling about these events and changes going on in his life? Is he truly feeling them and reacting to them? Or merely a tour guide on the journey, reporting it but not truly experiencing it?

Is he afraid, bored, detached, in denial?

Pick a string of scenes from your book, maybe a day’s worth of activities or the build up to some big incident in the book, then pretend you are your character filling in your diary about the day’s events. What frightened you, scared you, what did you look forward to. What are the characters private secret emotions that they would never articulate to someone else? Once you know those, once you really have an emotional grip on your character, it might be easier to understand what they’d do next, and you might find yourself unblocked.

Also, once you discover those, then find ways to slip those into the narrative, not in an “on the nose” sort of way, but subtlety. Or maybe in subtext.

The truth is, if I do all of these things listed above, I find I am never blocked. Hopefully these tools will work for you, as well!

Wow. And this has turned into yet another epistle. Sorry about that!

(And just in case my agent or editor reads this—I still got 1500 words done on my manuscript today, so I’m not writing here in stead of there!)

Writer's Block-Or Not

So, with the sound of screeching metal and the smell of burning brake pads, my muse has come to a sudden and complete stop on my Medieval France story. Just like that, she was done with it and try as I might, I could not eke out another single word.

Now, that might sound frustrating, but it actually worked out pretty well. I reached 100,000 words on the mss, with the last 2,000 words being a very rough outline of the last handful of chapters. So I know what happens, I’ve filled in the daunting middle, and now just need to let everything stew for a couple of weeks before writing any more on it.

Some people might consider this a writer’s block. I am not one of those people. For a number of reasons. One of the things I notice is that if I have a writing binge, I cannot sustain it indefinitely. I eventually catch up to my muse’s output then have to stop and wait while they generate more material. It’s not a writing block, more of an empty tank. Until the fuel levels rise, I ain’t goin’ anywhere.

I could choose to apply firm discipline and try to make myself keep going, but I’ve learned from bitter experience that that is almost always a major waste. This does, however, work for some people. My guess is that it depends on WHY you’ve stopped writing in the first place. If it’s fear or trepidation, sometimes working through it is exactly what you need. But if it’s an empty tank or well run dry, I’m not sure any amount of discipline will help. This is where spending some time to get to know yourself and your writing process can be of enormous value.

For myself, I know that I default to writing. It is one of my preferred activities in life. It is my job, my hobby, my escape, and my passion. Therefore, if I’m not doing it, it usually means there is a really good reason for me not to be doing it and I have learned to respect that.

For others, however, who have not yet awakened to the absolute necessity of having writing in their lives, perhaps discipline is called for in order to really ingrain the writing habit. In fact, a very wise writing teacher once told me that one of the best reasons for really devoting yourself to writing for a couple of years was that the habit became fully ingrained and then you would not have to fight that particular battle all the time. You will have convinced yourself of the “rightness” of having writing in your life, and would be free to pay closer attentions to other writing lesson and patterns.

So for me, the best approach is to turn to another project. Luckily, I have a contracted book that I really should get started on anyway, so this screeching halt coincides very nicely with my writing schedule. It is also one of the ways I’ve learned to make ADD work for me. It doesn’t always have to be a negative. If you structure your life in the right way, it can be a huge plus. So for me, between my fickle muse and my short attention span, having revolving projects like this works very well. Which is a really convoluted way of saying whatever works for you so that you end up with words on the page over time, with as little frustration as possible, is the right approach.

But let’s say you’re a one-project-writer kind of gal (or guy) or you really don’t think you need to recharge your creative batteries. In that case, I think another common cause of “writer’s block” is that we simply do not know enough about the story to keep going, OR, we are going in the wrong direction. But since this post is already the size of a small chapter book (Clearly I studiously ignore the cyber rule that blog entries should be short and punchy) I'll post more about that tomorrow.

Word Tics

Otherwise known as crutch words. All writers have them. With luck, they have eagle eyes and pluck them from their manuscripts before turning them in to their editors. If not, their editor gently points them out (Did you really mean to use the word splendid 117 times in this 50 page manuscript?) so you can remove them in the revision.

The thing is, I never really thought much about word tics, except as how they were slightly embarrassing, like burping in front of your editor. Until this manuscript. And then it hit me square in the forehead that my words tics were my voice touchstones, the equivalent of a verbal collage that I could use to help quickly re-anchor myself in the character’s voice when I felt I was veering too far off into my own voice. They weren’t just lazy verbal smears on the manuscript, but held a very specific, legitimate, purpose.

In Theo, some of the word tics are honestly, wretched, vile, beastly, and lovely. I’m trying to think what tic words showed up in Nathaniel Fludd. Probably the biggest one is then, mostly because I was trying to keep sentences short and simply structured.

But the thing is, Nathaniel Fludd is written in third person, and it turns out when I’m writing in 3rd, I don’t use tic words as much. (Yes, I went back and reviewed my older books just to see if the theory held true.) Turn is another tic word, but that’s mostly for blocking, to help anchor me in the physical movements of what the characters are doing. Not that the reader needs to know every time they turn or pivot, but apparently I do. ☺ Then I try to take them out afterward.

In this medieval French thing I’m working on, my tic words are in truth, naught, milord, and mayhap. For some reason those words feel archaic to me and so help gently bump the voice back into the correct character and time period.

What about you? Do any of you have tic words that you’ve found yourself using a lot? If so, I'd love to hear them!

Necessary Losses

One of the things that makes this particular project so difficult is that I’m weaving fantasy into a historical backdrop. Also, since it all occurred so long ago, and in non-British based country, much of the historical documentation is in a language I don’t speak fluently. A bit of a problem, that. (And a good reason to stay up with one’s high school French.)

But the thing I keep having to remind myself is that even when writing a book against a historical backdrop, it’s still about the characters. That means I need to sift through all the historical facts and actual events and pick and choose those that will best highlight and resonate with the story I’m trying to tell. The problem is, there are just so many fascinating bits of history that happened around this incident, it’s hard to narrow it down and choose only a few.

And it occurred to me yesterday, that for every thing a writer chooses to put into a story, by that very choice, we eliminate others. Until we make a decision about which path our character chooses or which historical event to set our story against, all things are possible. But once we make that choice, all those other possibilities die a small quiet little death and will never be born on the page. If I choose to have my character stand and fight, there will be no story about the character who had to deal with guilt and loathing because she ran away. But if I write about that character, then I will never get to explore what it felt like to stand and fight with all the attendant mix of guilt and honor that choice would bring. There’s no way around it, it’s a necessary part of any creative process, making choices and committing to a specific story or visual compilation.

But I also realized that was one of the things that was making this particular manuscript so difficult, dealing with all the rich possible story threads and directions, and having to pass many of them by.

So this morning I wanted to lift my coffee mug and toast all those stories of ours that didn’t make it to the page; that got left behind on the road to our true story. I seemed important to acknowledge their place in our creative stew, and thank them for their contributions; to recognize their passing and mourn them, just a little bit.

And now I have to get back to work on the story I did choose!

Connect The Dots

or The Beauty of Writing out of Order . . .

Oh, it’s messy, I’ll grant you that. And after about 75 pages, you begin to feel like you’re floundering. At that point, I usually give in and print out what I have so I can get my arms around it. (Is there anyone else who finds they cannot edit effectively on the computer screen?)

Then the the magic part happens. As I’m reading back over those out of order scenes that are now arranged in as close to chronological order as I can guess, suddenly connections become clear, transitions from one scene to the next, self explanatory. All of a sudden it is clear what the heroine’s thoughts need to be between point A and and point B. It's like all the spaces between the written scenes begin to fill up with just the right words.

It reminds me a lot of those dot to dot drawings we used to do when we were kids. But how can I know what direction to draw the line if I don’t know where the blinkin’ dot is! Well, these scenes I’ve written out of order are my dots, and now that I have them laid out, I can see what has to happen in between those dots and I know what to do with the line between them.

The thing is, if scenes are coming to you out of order, it’s usually because there is something compelling, vital, and dramatic about them. Something really important to the story will be revealed there. It's like having your story's fortune told. :-) Okay, maybe not. But try it some time, just for an exercise, if nothing else. I firmly believe our muses thrive on the new and unexpected.

Also, I wanted to let you all know we'll be having another drawing this month. I thought this time I'd give away a copy of Orson Scott Card's book, Characters and Viewpoint, since I've talked so much about it. (And if you already have that, I'll send you something else!) All you have to do to enter is leave a comment some time this month!