Mmm, yummy! Layers of tastey characterization and scrumptious motivation stacked between thick hearty slices of conflict. Doesn't that sound good? A delicious book is like a well-built sandwich, meaty and richly textured with a variety of character plot lines.Okay, so I like metaphors. Maybe I like them too much, but bear with me. I really do have a point.
People sometimes get sublots and plot layers confused. Subplots are plot lines given to different characters. Plot layers are plot lines given to the same character. Layered plotlines is what gives your story depth and make your characters and their situation more compelling, not to mention satisfying.
When talking about the big plot picture, I can't separate character from plot because one depends so much on the other. Character is story, and that couldn't be more true when it comes to plot layering. So lets take a look at some character "slices" that you'll stack up on your plot sandwich.
A juicy layer of backstory goes a long way. What happened to your character in the past determines his behavior in the present, so readers need to know what past events shaped him into the person they're reading about. You need several layers here to create depth and give your story substance. Each layer will enhance and explain the motivation behind your character's actions as he weaves his way through the plot.
I can explain best by example. Nora Roberts wrote a novel called Carolina Moon about a woman who returns home to face her past and finds love in the process. That's a fairly common story line. What sets this one apart is how Nora creates her heroine Tory beginning with a solid first layer from her childhood when she was savagely and routinely beaten by her fanatic dad. This creates a horrible memory for her, but she plans to go back and face that nastiness to prove to herself she can get past it and be happy.
That's a heck of a layer. But there's more. Add to this the day when she was only 8 and planned to meet up with her friend Hope for a midnight adventure in the woods, but Tory misses their meeting because her dad intervenes and beats the crap out of her. Little Hope is raped and murdered. The murderer remains at large in the present.
That second layer added to Roberts' plot sandwich is guilt and mystery, but she doesn't stop there. Enter layer three, a gift of second site that enabled Tory to witness her friend's murder as it happened. She was helpless to stop it and shared her friend's horror. But she wasn't able to identify the man who killed little Hope.
Layer four is that Tory's second sight continues to plague her in the present. She must cope with it and the psychological pain that comes as she witnesses events that reveals the killer now has Tory in his crosshairs.
This is how a plot sandwich is made. These layers are stacked together for a hearty meal of a story. Can you identify the layers in your WIP's plot sandwich? Can you identify where you could deepen you character's motivations and up the stakes with more layers?
Bon appetit!
23 comments:
I'm not good at this! I don't think of plot points and such, I just write.
The spirit book II:
The heroine is raped and threatened by a Whiteman. Her people and family won't listen to her because they are afraid to cause a war.
She is pregnant from the rape and wishes the child dead, but needs the child to prove the man's deception to both her people and the Whitemen.
The man who raped her tries to use intimidation to keep her quiet and when that doesn't work resorts to other means.
Is this plot layering??
The other book:
The hero believes the woman he is in love with could be the daughter of his uncle. In his quest to prove otherwise, he uncovers the uncle was a outlaw and not the miner the heroine thought him to be. Then to make matters worse he discovers secrets about his own deceased father.
Better sandwich building??
Thanks for making me think, Karen!
Wait a minute, Karen!
I just started to read your post, and is that a slice of meat on that cartoon sandwich?
Let me take a closer look.
By golly (can you believe I just said by golly?) it is. A slice of ham, perhaps pastrami. Unless it is well camouflaged chopped, pressed, diced and colored tofu....
I am speechless with surprise.
Double ha.
Now, back to reading...
Ok. I NEED to do this for my WIP. But, like Paty, it's not my favorite thing.
Heroine:
Layer One: She's the ignored younger sister. "Generic versus Perfect."
Layer Two: She's got an MBA, but a string of failed careers behind her.
Layer Three: She's rapidly approaching 35 with no kids or husband.
Layer Four: Her father just died leaving her holding secrets and debts.
Layer Five: If she doesn't clear her father's name, her mother's going to be forced to leave town in disgrace.
Layer Six: In order to do that, she needs to make a success of his failing business.
Layer Seven: Mother would be willing to stay in town if she had the aforementioned family.
Layer Eight: Her own home's a mess of partially finished remodeling projects.
aggggh. Beats head against keyboard. Aggh. It's a mess. I swear there's a plot in there somewhere. And a romance. And a hero. And some subplots. But gaaaa!!!! The stakes aren't high enough. The layers aren't compelling. And somehow I have 56,000 words of this so far. Kill me now. Golly gee, editing's going to be so much fun after I finally get to the end. Off to commit hari kari on my book.
Nice, tasty blog, Karen, ham and all... ha.
Plot layers. Yes, I love them. I like figuring out my hero and heroines tortured pasts and layering the info into my stories.
My WIP is about a young widow whose husband died (duh) 10 months before start of story, when she was only a couple months pregnant with his baby. The love of heroine's life dumped her years ago, and now wants her back. Heroine's father left when she was only two -- she doesn't know why, and heroine's mother ran off to Malaysia with a new husband when heroine was still in high school, so heroine moved in with her grandmother, who passed away two days before story opens.
The hero has mainly one past event in his life that shapes him.
It gives more depth and meaning to a story, I think. And it's challenging to figure out how past events would shape a given character, and make them react the way they do to stimuli.
I love it!
Karen--Nicely put. I like the whole sandwich concept and you described Nora's layering in a very clear, concise way that made me think.
I believe I layer as well, though I have noticed that your brain (Karen) sees things in more clearly defined ways than mine does--sigh, want to trade brains? No? Just asking.
I think of it--or have until you gave me this yummy new way to ponder--as one writer put it years ago: Put your heroine up a tree and keep throwing rocks at her.
And whose past doesn't guide their present and portend their future? Have you ever written a book and all of a sudden it occurs to you that some minor point in your character's past makes the present situation that much nastier, or their reaction to their situation that much more likely in ways that you hadn't plotted? Is that your writer's brain at work or is that just life, as true for fictional characters as it is for "real" people, where your past wraps around and pulls you along?
In my last book written, the hero is a product of a crazy childhood filled with secrets and midnight moves and no understanding of why, not even when he becomes an adult. When someone tries to kill him, he disappears, giving one and all the impression the murder attempt succeeded. I needed him to do this to set up the plot. It wasn't until I was almost half way through that it dawned on me (duh, okay, I'm dense) that this is exactly how a person raised in this manner would cope with this situation--he would run, he would regroup, he would hold his secrets dear.
Thanks again, Karen. Can't wait to read your answer to Paty's questions.
Alice
Danita, I wasn't going to say anything about the m-word. LOL
Wavy- welcome to the world of writers who whip it out and don't know why! And that doesn't mean my heroes go around whipping it out for no reason. Sheesh- I know where all your thoughts were going.
Wavy
After reading your list of layers (and I'm not sure they are layers and not the rocks I mentioned, let's let Karen tell us, okay?) I am reminded of one thing that I personally believe is terribly important and which might help you tame the beast and prevent a messy episode involving flying words and sparks of electricity. The thing: focus. Look at your list with your main focus in mind and perhaps it will help you decided what must stay and perhaps be expanded and what should be cut to float free on the wind.
My one and a half cents,
Alice
Thanks for the advice everyone. Just one of those "burn the book" days. Must keep writing.
Paty, once plot layers are established, they need to work together, which means you need to connect them, which I think is what you did. The next step after this (the condiments that glue your sandwich together -- snort) is to drag secondary characters into storylines they did not expect to confront. You know that old saying "the plot thickens?" Well, that's what that would be.
Your second book looks, to me, a little like conjecture because the hero spends the beginning of the story trying to prove something he's not sure happened in the first place. So that's not a layer. He's using guesswork as motivation and that's not especially compelling. If he started out with definite proof that his lover was also his cousin, that would be different.
Helpful or confusing? Sorry.
Karen
Danita, I didn't think a sandwich made with veat (vegetarian meat) would have the same impact. 8^)
Karen
Wavy, Alice is right, those are plot points (rocks), not layers, but you need those, too. The impact of a layer is usually so threatening to a character mentally and emotionally that it strongly influences his decisions, and therefore hugely effects the direction of the plot. Her being the ignored sister is a good starting point, but how and why, and what was the result? Why is turning 35 with no kids or husband so bad? Does it threaten her sense of self and why? How will changing that eventuality improve her life?
Go back to your Story Magic character chart and put your characters through the paces. That might help.
Karen
Danita, you and I think alike. 8^) I also love to torture my characters. It used to bother me, as if I was harming real people, then I had a critique partner in my early writing days tell me to leave the land of the happy people behind, lol! Who wants to read about well-adjusted, beautiful, wealthy, pick-your-positive-aspect people? It took me a while, but I finally got it. I started paying attention to what I was reading and why I enjoyed it. A light bulb went off and I was cured.
Ooh, Danita, it sounds like your characters have some nice juicy backstories with a good dollop of extra baggage to spice it up. Can't wait to read the book. 8^)
Karen
Alice, you're too funny! 8^) My brain isn't all that clear, believe me, especially when it comes to my own stuff. Which is why I hate writing a synopsis! I'm not really a plotter, but I am a planner when it comes to my characters. So I wing it as I write, keeping a clear view of the backstories I planned for my characters, though that often changes, too.
Alice said:
Have you ever written a book and all of a sudden it occurs to you that some minor point in your character's past makes the present situation that much nastier, or their reaction to their situation that much more likely in ways that you hadn't plotted? Oh, yes! The point wasn't all that minor, but it launched some other consequences I hadn't considered beforehand. One past event can blossom into a bunch of nasty situations. Sigh. I love fiction.
Hey, Alice, I've been trying to email you back but my messages are getting bounced. I'll try giving you a call.
Sorry to interrupt the comments area of this blog, but we now bring you back to your regularly scheduled blog-cast.
Karen
Want an exercise? It's fun, makes you think really hard, and switches on some amazing lightbulbs. You'll also get to know your characters better.
Here goes: What's one thing your character would NEVER do?
Now, make him or her do it. And give that character a reason that makes sense based on the person he or she is.
Example from my WIP: Chalice almost lost her life when she was attacked by a gargoyle while trying to run away from her sorcerer step father. She'd never kiss a gargoyle.
Towards the end of the story, she kisses a gargoyle because it saves her life.
Huh. Well, that's a plot point I hadn't considered. What a nice surprise. And it connects to one of her plot layers. Well, well, well...
You never know what you'll discover until you push yourself outside the box.
Karen
Wow, Karen,
I'm doing that in my WIP, making my character, someone who doesn't believe in anything paranormal, go to a fortune teller. It is her last hope after evil dogs take off with her baby and vanish, without leaving so much as a paw print.
I never thought it all through, it just sort of fell into place.
Woo, hoo! Look at me layer!! And I don't even like ham sandwiches.
Ha.
I say, ha, but I'm dead serious about the ham thing.
Thanks for an insightful blog, Karen.
That's great, Danita! I did this exercise for a book I was writing a few years ago (and never finished) and said the one thing my character would never do is run down the street naked! I sure learned something new about her when she did. 8^)
Karen
Karen--I like your exercise!
I can't try it yet because my current heroine is still too sketchy to me but you better believe I will when I get a little further along.
Using the last book. My heroine would never abandon a child as she was abandoned. Man, I blew it because I had her move heaven and earth not to abandon. I should have had her leave the kid! Rats. That would have been a good ending though of course, I would have had to figure out a way to save the baby later.
Food for thought...
Alice
Alice, I think you would have had a hard time creating a sympathetic heroine that leaves a baby. In this case, you did the right thing.
Great post, Karen. Loved everyone's contributions and comments. I read Carolina Moon years ago. That was the hero that kept losing his sunglasses, right? :)
My hero is a jaded homicide detective. He walks a thin line most days. There's not a lot he wouldn't do (or hasn't done), but you can bet I'll definitely be thinking about your exercise.
AT the beginning of the spirit story the heroine doesn't want to live - in the end she ends up with eternal life as a spirit.
The other one - is still sketchy. I would say the hero would never put anything between himself and his family - yet in the end - he does.
And the contemp. I'm working on - she would never do anything to endanger a child after having had a miscarriage, yet, she has to leave one child alone to save another.
Alice, that might have worked if she were to abandon the baby to save the baby's life. Perhaps an act of self-sacrifice?
What's really challenging is if you face your character with a moral dilemma and turn it on its ear, like the abandoned baby scenario. For example, a character who would never steal from her mother. No one likes a thief, especially someone who'd steal from a mom who's a pillar of the community, a church lady -- give her a halo. But what if a situation came up where the character is forced to do so because the consequences of NOT doing so are far worse than the act itself? This is the stuff of good drama and great plot layering.
Sigh. I'm procrastinating. I have to go the dentist this morning to get my teeth cleaned. These are periodontal cleanings and they HURT!
Thanks for all the great participation!
Karen
I've written a post for today and sent it to Eli to post for me, because I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get my account switched over to beta blog.
Just wanted ya'll to know, I didn't flake on you. At least not on purpose.
Karen, sorry to clog your blog with this.
Merry Christmas all. The count down is almost counted down.
I think my plot sandwiches are all in place... but you know what they say. We can be so close to it that we don't see the whole sandwich for the bread... (sorry, corny)
Methinks I need to make use of your very cool exercise, Karen. Thanks much!
I had coffee yesterday with a couple of my writer gal-pals, and we talked a little about this. One of them is writing a funny mystery series ala Stephanie Plum and her heroine is a moritician. So she asked us what we thought would be something Willy (her heroine) would never do. My other friend said "Willy would never have sex with a dead person." Hmmm... Can't turn that one around, lol! So my exercise doesn't work for every situation. Ahem. 8^)
Karen
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