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This thread is for participants in the Mead Hall Writers' Society writing group to post exercises from Lesson 8: Plot.
After you've posted, you're encouraged to review other entries, and discuss the assignment over in the general discussion thread.
edit: reposted with thread prefix
Tamur’s questions: lesson 8
Which method worked the easiest for you?
“I found it is far easiest for me to go backwards, spending time filling out the history of a person and place, but that doesn’t do much to advance the plot. So, for me, doing the exercise that pushes the plot forward 3 steps was most effective in actually producing a plot. Although it felt like running uphill on sand dunes.”
Did your core event seem pre-disposed to flow more easily one way than another?
“I had more problems keeping the time periods tighter on the backstory. It seemed to skip decades each time I put down a new sentence. Going foreward was always more immediate. Maybe because I myself don’t look very far ahead in life, but often puzzle over the twists and turns of the past.”
What advantages and disadvantages did you find in the different methods?
“Advantage: using the “what next” out three steps. It pushes me to think of intersting consequences. Disadvantage: going in both directions at the same time. It made me disoriented, like I was trying to focus on two characters at once – because a person can be so changed after one event if it is the climax of the story.”
What annoys you about one method, or did they all seem helpful?
Actually what was very helpful in this activity was the phrase “boil down to the core why something is intriguing to you”. I missed the find-a-seed-of-a-story-lesson apparently since I joined up late. Doing that, and then projecting a certain number of steps broke the plot up into a manageable progression. Previously I would just have a nebulous idea of possibilities as far as how a story could progress.
I have come face to face with my biggest (that I know of) weakness. The number of things I found that 'had to be done' rather than bringing structure to producing a plot was astounding. Resisting structure is pretty much the story of my life. So, I confess, I let this one get away. I will examine the options and incorporate them into the next assignment.
Thanks Tim, and MountainTroll.
I think a lot of people resist structuring the plot, and prefer to simply go with what feels right as the writing progresses.
There are some very good things about that approach - mainly, as a writer you're able to allow the characters freedom to create the plot "on their own". Anyone who hasn't experienced it thinks it's a sign of mental instability, but a well-defined character really does take off and do unexpected things as a story progresses.
That said, the exercise of establishing a plot guideline, even if it's only four or five major story events, brings the benefit MountainTroll wrote of at the end of her comments -- the nebulous cloud of possibilities becomes nailed down in a few spots. Also, the painful work of defining some plot points will make you much more aware of how events flow in and out of each other, how tightly they weave together, and how difficult it can be to weave subplots into the mix successfully.
Very interesting that you found it easier going backwards, and this is an good idea about why -- never thought of that myself.Quote:
Originally Posted by MountainTroll
I tend to build in both directions, going backwards for a bit until I have all the answers to my initial scene, then go forwards until something I don't expect comes up and go backwards again to answer why that happened. I can see the reason I do this -- because I'm very cautious and don't like making decisions without knowing everything about the situation.
Personality and plot creation preference, someone should do a correlation study!