How Many Plots?

I’ve been reading about lots of journeys lately.  Call them quests or pursuits or escapes if you will – but they all boil down to a beginning point and a period of travelling to get to the end, right?

In Ronald Tobias’s book 20 Master Plots and How to Build Them, he reminds us that Rudyard Kipling thought there were exactly 69 distinct plots in the universe. Aristotle, on the other hand, through there were precisely two, from which all other plots could be derived. Writer Carlo Gozzi originally suggested there were 36 different plots, but Tobias suggests his list could be realistically pared down to 18 distinct plots in use by writers and storytellers today.

I’m no expert – and would not propose a different number than those above; however, lately….well, lately it seems to me all of the stories I’ve come across have been about journeys.

Tobias’s chapter on the Quest plot outlines three different acts of the story:

·         Act One – the Question. A force moves the hero to act, either out of necessity or by desire.

·         Act Two – The Path. The journey that connects Act One to Act Three, the spice, the flavor for the story.

·         Act Three – The Revelation. The hero obtains or is denied the object of her search.

Off the top of my head, I can list lots of my favorite stories that fit neatly into this pattern. Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars, True Grit, The Wizard of Oz, Shane, Outlander, Treasure of the Sierra Madre (or any other treasure hunt story). I could go on and on… I’m sure you could, too.

If pushed, I could start to break down some of these stories and categorize them differently. Tobias’s book offers 19 other options – like adventure, pursuit, revenge, rescue, riddle, temptation, metamorphosis, forbidden love, and sacrifice.

Is Dorothy on an adventure in Oz? Sure. Does Mattie convince Rooster to help her find revenge for her father’s murder? Absolutely. Does Anakin Skywalker transform from a little boy into one of film’s best villains while on his journey? Yes.

So while I’m stuck in a difficult patch with my own Work In Progress (see those capitals? After all the months of work…it deserves to be capitalized! Trust me!), I’m looking to other authors and other journey stories to help me find my way.

Beth Revis brought me Across the Universe – a journey across not only space but time. In it, our heroine must travel across the universe frozen like a human popsicle. When she is awakened after centuries (but still decades before the space ship’s landing) her journey takes an unexpected turn – and Revis uses her Act Two to give us one of the most claustrophobic dystopian settings in YA literature. I’m not sure Revis finishes the journey in this story and am interested to find the sequel so I can see the end.

(On a site note: Interesting to me that many YA stories lately are outgrowing a single book. In this one, I felt like I got Act One and Act Two (in part) before the last page…)

In Erin Morgenstern’s Night Circus, we have crossing journeys. Le Cirque des Rêves is open only at night and arrives in a new location without warning or advertisement. For decades, Le Cirque is the stage for a hidden competition as two magicians compete. No sure of what they are competing for, these orphans-turned-world-makers travel through cities and towns but also journey down internal paths of understanding and love. Is this a straightforward journey plot? No… There is nothing straightforward about Morgenstern’s book. But who wants to read about a trip that moves from home to far away and back again without some adventure?

Food for thought for this writer, to be sure. Does my WIP need to have all three acts solidly completed in one book? I think so…although if my story leads me elsewhere, maybe I should follow. Does my WIP need to stick strictly to a physical journey? Absolutely not. I think it needs to combine some of Tobias’s suggested plot types – merging adventure, escape, maturation, and quest together into one complete story.

But can I do it? Can I tell this story? Are there list of rules I need to follow – “acts” I need to be sure to structure and character development points I need before I can move my characters’ journey forward? I think the answer to all of those questions is yes… as long as I don’t let myself get strangled by the rules. Right?

Maybe that first rule of writing (WRITE!) should outweigh all structure and plot rules and regulations. If only for a while…until the story grows a little on its own.

In the meantime, I’m going to queue up a good Indiana Jones movie go work on chapter 23. Wish me luck!

Outlines and Re-writes and Edits, Oh My!

I haven’t been using outlines when I write lately. One of my WIP manuscripts is completely un-outlined. If I dig around in my files, I probably have an old plot treatment of some sort that I haven’t looked at in years. But no working outline. Each chapter is occurring as I sit down and write. Kind of organic, really.

My other WIP manuscript has a sort-of outline attached to the end of the manuscript. Literally…a few blank lines after the last sentence, you would find a bullet list of the events in the plot. I ended up jotting down the high-level plot points on this one because I found myself getting swept up in the fantasy of this story. There are magic, dragons, and journeys through dark forests in this book and I’d MUCH rather write all that description than stick to the action. So – to keep myself honest, I figured having a cheat sheet of the actual EVENTS that needed to take place wouldn’t hurt. I can definitely say it is handy for keeping me on the right track and keeping my action moving along the plot curve. This way, I hope I won’t forget any crisis points or events that will help my characters change the way I need them to as their story unfolds.

But…even though I do refer to those last pages of my manuscript when I sit down to work, and even though I just told you it is helpful…there is something so planned about it. Something the opposite of organic. Something sort of…well….limiting.

I will say that some hybrid form of outlining (not the roman numeral type from school, but still…) was absolutely necessary when I wrote a novel with a friend.  Keeping a full story straight as you move it from your head to your laptop or paper is hard enough, let alone when that story is growing and emerging from two writers simultaneously. It was sort of a magic trick – writing with a partner. And I like to think of our ever-shifting outlines and notes and conversations about what coulda/shoulda/oughta happen next or last or sometime in the book were organic in their own right. But we did write those “coulda/shouldas” down so we were both on the same page (pun definitely intended).

I think I like organic, but might need outlines and notes.

Here’s the other thing I should confess – the organically growing manuscript? It’s been organically growing for years. Really. Years. The outlined one with dragons? Moving much faster.

So maybe the outlines are not only a good tool for keeping the details straight – but offer some sort of impetus, too. An urge. A nudge. If something can be outlined, it can be written, right?

What about you? Do you use outlines? Do you take notes, write up other “tools” like character sketches or plot diagrams when you write?

The Drummer Boy

I've been stuck with my writing lately -- but was challenged by a friend to write a Christmas story and share it with other writers I know. So...as a gift to myself this holiday season, I've taken time for myself. Time to write when I've been not giving myself that time lately at all.

It is just a first draft -- the beginning of a simple story, but I'll share it with you. I've always loved the Christmas carol "The Little Drummer Boy." Even as a little girl, I loved the pictures in my head when I heard that song -- pictures of a small boy who wanted so desperately to show his love for his new king that he gave the only thing he had: his music.

So -- as inspired by my favorite Christmas carol... a first, unfinished (much work still to be done) draft of The Drummer Boy. Merry Christmas.

“He’s arrived!”

Father heard the shout and stopped walking. The night was black as ink, but I was still out with Papa and the goats.  I gripped Papa’s thumb tighter so I wouldn’t lose him to the voices in the dark.

“Who’s there?” Papa called.

The figures, dressed in robes that glittered with moonlight, waved from the other side of our little sea of moving goats. When they walked toward us, the animals scattered in two directions, moving out of the way and bleating their unhappiness.

I worried about gathering them back up, but Papa kept a hold of my hand and watched only the men coming toward us in the darkness.

“Blessings to you, on this beautiful night,” the tallest man said. He smiled at Papa and laid one warm hand on my head. He ruffled my hair just a little when he took his hand back. This man was not a shepherd, not in clothes that captured the moonbeams and a beard combed soft and full.  

Papa bowed his head in greeting. “Kind sir, what brings you through our valley tonight?”

“Haven’t you heard? The babe we’ve waited for has come.”

Papa didn’t say anything, but his hand tightened on mine again. I looked up at his face – the face usually full of laughs and smiles and kisses – and saw something new.

“Papa?” I asked. “Papa? Do we have another baby?”

Papa did not answer. He looked at the visitors, one after the other. “Say it again? Tell me again.”

The tall man smiled again and laid one hand on Papa’s shoulder. “It’s true. We are on our way to welcome him. The world will be different now that he has come.”

I tugged on Papa’s finger. “Papa? Who is coming? Is Mama having another baby?”

The visitors all chuckled. Their rumbling laughter sent me hiding in the folds of my father’s dusty robe, but I peeked out of my safe haven and sent a smile to the closest stranger. He smiled back and winked one eye.

“Where?” Papa let go of my hand and let me cling to his clothes.

“Not far. Only another day’s journey from here, we think,” one of the men replied. “We are bringing gifts to celebrate his birth.”

“I want a gift!” I said, boldly, from my hiding place.

Laughter rumbled from the men again. “Oh, my boy! He is a gift for us all, this new baby.”

“But who is he?”

“The king.” My father’s voice was soft.

“He is our new king,” the tall man said as he kneeled down in the dust. He held out his hand, each finger encircled with a wide gold band and jewels that reflected the stars.

I looked up and Papa nodded at me with a smile. I reached out and took the stranger’s hand. He pulled me closer, until I was tucked right up against his chest, looking out over our herd with him. One long arm pointed up to the sky over my shoulder. “See that star? That is a sign from God that his son has some to lead us all.” I could feel his voice against my back. He smelled of wood smoke and something spicy. I leaned into his warmth and followed his gaze up to the bright star.

“God’s son?” I whispered. Papa had told me God would send us a king some day and that king would teach us to love one another. He would bring all of God’s love down to us and keep us safe.

“Can I give the new baby a gift, Papa?” I asked from within the tall man’s embrace.

Papa’s eyes changed. He looked out over our goats and the dry ridge where we lived. He looked back over his shoulder to where our tents stood, a small fire burning on the horizon. Finally, he looked at the men surrounding me – at their rich robes and jeweled hands.

“We do not have as great a gift as these men, son. We do not have a gift worthy of a new king.”

“But your welcome will be gift enough,” one of them said. “His parents will know you come to welcome him. That will be enough.”

Papa shook his head just a little and looked at me as I stood still tucked in the man’s glittering embrace. “We may not have a gift worthy of a king, but I insist we welcome you for a rest and a meal. Come, son – show our new friends the way home.”

Inspiration, Dedication, Tremulation...

What inspires you to write?

I’ve had a few weeks away from my keyboard lately. I could blame it on my daughter’s new equestrian team or my son’s football games or my new job…but if I’m honest with myself, I think I have been my own biggest hurdle.

If you are a writer, do you ever go through times when sitting down and putting fingers to keys, words to screen or paper, just seems too painful? It all seems hard…and in a way, an open door to failure?

Harsh? Maybe… but I’m also my own biggest critic, so why does it not surprise me if I turn out to be my own biggest obstacle?

I have two WIPs going on right now – one a middle-grade fantasy and the other an edgy contemporary YA novel. I was on quite a roll with the fantasy there for a while, but got stuck in an invisible rut that has grown into the Grand Canyon where stories go to languish.

I need to get my creative juices flowing again. I need to find the energy and the strength to write stories again. I need to write. Then, perhaps, life will find a balance again.

So what do you do when you need inspiration? I used to belong to a writer’s group where we sat together and wrote “writing practice” a la Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones. We’d come up with phrases or even words, set a timer, and write until the clock reached zero. Once in a blue moon, we’d bring along pictures as prompts, just to change things up a little.

Maybe I need a little old-fashioned practice to get across that grand canyon.

Any other ideas?

Spook-tastic

I’m not much for horror stories. For example, the year I made it through about a third of The Exorcist with my hubby…I couldn’t go down into the basement for MONTHS. He literally had to rig a light switch in our kitchen that would turn on lights and a radio  in the basement so I could go throw in a load of laundry. In broad daylight.

Yep. Not good with horror stories.       

I had an encounter with an Ouija board when I was 16, which probably explains my fascination and terror when it comes to stories that have to do with spirits and evil and the like. (By the way, vampires don’t count. Especially sparkly ones. Just in case you wondered.)

The Ouija Board Story, Part 1:

I was home alone one weekend and a friend brought over the board. We joked and teased each other about it, but ended up lighting candles and turning off all of the lights. I don’t remember what questions we asked or what the answers were from the board – but I do remember that every candle in the room was extinguished simultaneously for no good reason. (Gives me goose bumps just to type that.)

The Ouija Board Story, Part 2:

Later that weekend, I was still home alone. Just me, my dog, and the cats. A huge thunderstorm whipped up and the power went out. No TV, no lights, nothing.

I huddled in an overstuffed chair in the family room (my back to the rest of the house) trying to read a book by flashlight. Strange bumping sounds started up in my basement. The dog perked up her head, looked past my chair into the kitchen….and whined. She was not a whiner, this dog.

The bumping in the basement was erratic. The dog started growling. My heart in my throat, I finally worked up the courage to peek around the edge of my chair toward the kitchen and the basement door. The light over the kitchen table – which should have been dark since the power was out all over town – was glowing red. By this time, my hands were shaking so badly, I couldn’t hold my book still anymore. The occasional lightening lit up the entire house with bright white light – but the glowing red in my kitchen was steady. Every time I looked behind my chair, that light was glowing…and sometimes swinging just a little bit.

I was bolted to my chair, terrified to move. To get to my phone, I would have had to pass the open basement door and walk right through the kitchen. The dog continued to growl and whine and I continued to shiver until the power came back on.

I turned on every single light in the house, pulled the basement door shut and blocked it with a heavy chair, and tried to get some sleep. (What did I think the chair was going to do? Stop some evil from coming up from the basement? GACK! But it somehow made me feel better.)

I picked up The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin a few weeks ago based on the cover.  Little did I know, an eerily familiar scene at the beginning of Ms. Hodkin’s story would suck me right in. Teenage girls huddled around an Ouija board… And I’ll just tell you this story gets much spookier than a glowing red light over a kitchen table!

Keep a flashlight handy. And maybe a generator. Just in case. You definitely want the lights on when you’re reading this one.

Have you read any good October Spooky Stories lately?

A writers' challenge -- and a chance to win a free book!

I have a challenge for you: Go dig around on your laptop or under your bed for something you wrote a few years ago. For some of you, it might be only a few months ago. Either way, dig it out and take a look.

Here are the rules:

1.      Be kind to yourself.

2.      Be willing to chuckle at your own writing.

3.      Look for what you were already doing well.

4.      Identify why you are better now at certain aspects of writing craft.

5.      Thank your mentors.

6.      Dabble in editing the piece. But be sure to save your edited version with a new name so you can preserve that writing time capsule. You may need to go back and look at it again some other day.

It is a great thing to be able to look back for the sake of seeing how far you have come.  But don’t gaze that direction for too long. Appreciate your progress – then continue your journey.

Write something new.

Leave a comment below to enter a drawing for a free copy of Seize the Story – a writing craft book for young adult writers. Tell me how the challenge worked for you – or comment on what you’ve learned about your own writing recently. I’ll draw the winner on Sunday, October 16^th.

Talking with Meg Rosoff, Author of How I Live Now

If you are a regular Carpe Keyboard reader, you know I had a minor addiction to post-apocalyptic YA fiction a few weeks ago. One of the novels I read during that genre marathon was Meg Rosoff’s How I Live Now.

Ms. Rosoff generously agreed to a CP interview. We discussed one of her many novels as well as the writing life she leads.

Welcome, Ms. Rosoff!

Carpe Keyboard: I thought How I Live Now was a beautiful story about family, loss and love. I was particularly interested in the shift in Daisy’s voice from the bulk of the story to the last section where we find out she’s been recovering back in NY from her war experiences. Voice for YA fiction is such a tenuous thing – and difficult for many writers to feel that they have captured an authentic young person’s voice.

How did the shift come about as you wrote this story? Did you plan all along to show Daisy’s changes and growth that way? Or was it more organic and her voice changed as you got to the end of the story?

Meg Rosoff: I don't really plan my books, so the voice develops in a completely organic way. The shift in voice was useful to indicate that time had passed, and Daisy had changed considerably from her younger self.

Why did you choose to have Daisy fall in love with her cousin? At first, I was taken aback, as an adult reader, when I realized how much Daisy and Edmond were in love. On the other hand, their situation and circumstances made their love story seem plausible. Did you have any negative feedback or concern from your agent, editor, or readers about this unconventional love story?

I'm fairly astonished that people endlessly commented on the cousin aspect of the relationship and not the fact that Daisy and Edmond were 15 and 14 at the time they were having sex. Almost no one (in the US particularly) worries about Daisy and Edmond being underage, but lots of readers freak out that they're cousins. Marriage between cousins is a traditional method of keeping dowry in the family and not "marrying out" -- it's not illegal in most places (UK and most US states as well) and I was really surprised at the reactions by some readers. It never occurred to me that it would bother anyone.

So much of How I Live Now was about family. Family to Daisy meant a distant father and an antagonistic step-mother…until she met Penn and her cousins. It was as if, in the midst of this time of war, Daisy uncovered a fundamental truth about family in a way that changed her life.

Were you writing Daisy’s story to send a message specifically about the importance of family? Were you inspired by your own life experiences or other stories to focus on meaning of family with this book?

I don't write books with agendas or to send messages. I'm interested in love, the complexities of relationships within families, adolescence, identity and coming of age, so that's what I explore in my writing.

What tools do you use when you write? Do you outline? Plot on index cards? Write character sketches?

None of the above. I plunge in and see what happens.

When do you carpe your keyboard? What are your writing habits?

I write almost every day, for most of the hours of the day -- when I'm not walking dogs or riding horses or (occasionally) paying attention to my daughter and husband. Some days/weeks/months i don't accomplish very much. I'm a very fast writer, so once I know where I want to go, I get there. Plot gives me a lot of trouble, and all my downtime is spent figuring out where to go next. I also waste a vast amount of time on facebook and wandering around on the internet or blogging (http://www.megrosoff.co.uk/blog/)

Any advice for hopeful writers who want to “break in” to the business?

 Ha! Everyone's saying the book is dead. I don't think it is dead, but it is morphing into something a bit different. The best advice I can think of for getting published is to write something really really good. Publishers are (still) gagging for good books.

Check out Meg’s blog and her website to learn more about her other stories. You can read up on her latest novel, There is No Dog. Sounds like a great one!

Thanks so much for spending some time with us, Meg.