Don’t Be Fooled by Plot Twists:
Happy April fools day, also happy Easter if you are in the US and
celebrate the holiday. Sometimes writing the plot of a novel can make you feel
like a fool. Sometimes you sit there reading the chapters you have written so
far and wonder, where the heck do I go from here? Is what I have so far trash?
Should I scrap it and start over? Don’t be fooled by these thoughts. They are
just your inner critic trying to throw you off track. Instead of listening to
it, listen instead to your intuition. Your intuition is that little voice that
tells you to keep going and not to give up or doubt yourself.
If you are really stuck, there are things that you can do to
be able to move forward with your story. 1.) You could do some brainstorming,
(even look at old notes for stories if you have them). 2.) You could meditate.
3.) You could read for a while. 4.) You could try writing an outline. 5.) You
could share what you have so far with a coach, mentor, friend, or family member
to gain feedback.
Different people have different ways of writing. Some create
an entire detailed outline of the book before they even start to write. They
research anything that they might need to know like historical facts and they
may even create timelines to keep track of events. Others create a few high
level notes important points of a character’s background or history, a way that
connects two characters or a major pot point that they do not want to forget.
Some may not plan at all, they may simply sit down and start writing and let
the story come to them over time, let it flow into their brains by whatever
means.
Personally, I am a slight combination of the last two. I
usually jot down major plot points and when I was writing my first novel, I
knew the “afterward” I could see the character’s a long time after the conflict
had been resolved in a world that was completely different than their current
one, so I wrote that down. But I had no idea how I was going to get them there,
that was a mystery. So for the rest of the novel I just wrote it re-reading as
I went and letting the story come to me in its own way. Some of it came in much
later, after I had had the story “beta read” and had been given some advice for
things to change. A few of the suggestions given to me by others were so great
that I was a little bummed and felt a little foolish that I had not thought of
them first. But when you are so close to a story, when you read it everyday and
know it like the back of your hand it can be hard to think about changing it.
It is like wearing blinders you are just seeing the end result but when someone
pulls those away from you and forces you to look at your work in a different
way you see things that you had not seen before. It can feel painful at times,
but it can also feel wonderful. Especially when you make changes that make your
story shine even brighter!
If you are just starting out writing it may be good to try a
few different methods of creating your plot so that you can see what seems to
fit you best. I learned some methods and ideas from other writers and from some
classes that I took and I tried them. Sometimes I knew within the first few
seconds that this wasn’t going to work for me. Other times I didn’t know until
I was involved in writing the story but suddenly felt bored or blocked. It took
time to figure out my own groove and was frustrating at times but I stuck with
it.
There are many important aspects to writing an engaging,
detailed, moving plot for a novel. Again, some of knowing how to write a good
one comes from researching and learning from others. Some of it comes from just
reading a lot of books to see what stories you liked and then try to analyze
why. What made those that you loved differ from those that you never finished
or finished and didn’t like?
Sometimes when writing you may be thinking far ahead but
forgetting that your readers do not know where you are headed so you may be
lacking on detail that you need to give them. Or you may be giving them way too
much detail and not leaving enough to their imaginations. It is a delicate
balance. That is why re-reading and having others read your work is essential.
I would love to share some details with you, what is
important to add into a story-line and why? What pitfalls do you need to be wary
of so that your story is not a cookie cutter version of others out there? How
can you add twists into your story that weave stories and characters together?
I’ll answer all of these questions in my next workshop, Crafting A Story-line.
The sign up for it will be posted on my Wise Warrior Writers Facebook page
soon. And if you ever need some individualized help feel free to contact me for
a 1 on 1 session. Until next time friends remember, writing=happiness ;).
Comments