This is going to be short because I have to take my daughter in to have two teeth pulled this morning, then zip up to Portland with the Gremlins for an appt. So I apologize in advance. :)
Ever had a book take an unexpected twist on you? It happened to me this weekend. I'd plotted out my book, knew where it was going and how it would end, then wrote a scene that ended up going in a completely different direction. (I blogged about this at my personal blog but figured I'd do it here and see if it's ever happened to any of you.) Now, granted, I'm not a big plotter. I mean, I have scene lists, plot points I know I need to hit, but generally the book goes where it needs to go and I don't over plot any one point. This scene, however, took the book in a totally different direction. And after I was done, I sat back and thought, Hmm...how on earth did that happen? Then I moved away from the computer, let it sink in, and realized - like a smack to my forehead - that this was exactly where the book should have gone.
I don't overanzlyze things to death, and I sort of think of myself as an organic writer. The biggest problems I've had with books is trying to force a story to go in a direction it doesn't want to go. And maybe that's why this book is taking so dang long to finish. Regardless, now that this new path has been shown to me by the plotting fairies, I think I may actually see the light at the end of the tunnel. I can finally see the black moment and the resolution, and I know what my hero has to give up in order for the story to get there (and it's definitely something he NEVER would have given up when the book started).
So I'd love to hear if this has ever happened to anyone else. Especially if you consider yourself a big plotter.
20 comments:
Eli, good topic!
As you know I'm not a plotter- but I usually know my beginning and end of a story before I start- and inevitably the ending takes twists and turns before I get there and sometimes doesn't end the way I had thought and usually because the characters have progressed so much through the story.
I'm glad your turn made your story better!
I am a plotter out of necessity. I wasn't when I began. Never even wrote a synopsis for the first 18 books. But then I started selling to a bigger market and working on contract and saw the wisdom of selling a story before actually laboring away on it, tweaking it before I'd run up and down the garden path a million times.
And most of the time, the synopsis is so cleverly (yeah, right) worked out that I don't deviate too far. Sure, there are a hundred details to work out (after all, there is a big difference between saying in a synopsis, "They enter the castle" and actually figuring out a legitimate way to enter the castle.) There's always enough room for play and sometimes, someone unexpected dies or someone innocent turns guilty or a new subplot rears its untimely head.
That changes with the last book when I went off as you just described, Eli, and I think you know as well as anyone besides my immediate family (some of whom who avoided talking to me for weeks at a time!) that it threw me for 17 different kind of loops.
I don't know if they were good loops or bad as the completed book went off in May and I haven't heard back yet. I haven't reread it yet either as I save that treat for when the copyedits come. But it sure caused a lot of headaches.
And yet, so what? I think it made things more interesting and it sure as hell woke me up and rattled my cage. Whatever it takes, is my motto. So I'm excited for you that your subconscious (those plotting fairies) came along and opened a new door for you.
Alice
I consider myself a BIG plotter. Not quite the amazing Genene, but still, I need a roadmap. However, I reached the 3/4 quarters + mark in my WIP in Jan. Jan-March were spent trying to force the story in several directions that it didn't want to do. Repairing the damage of that stubbornness has taken several months--and most of the damage was to my own psyche. I lost faith in the story, because I was forcing it, and it sounded forced, yet I wouldn't admit it. Last week, when thanks to Alice, I finally found my way back to writing, an unexpected scene ended up opening up my ending . The ending is still the one I plotted, but this unexpected twist and the scene that resulted have allowed me to see the character's motivation in a new light. Great topic today! You've got me fired up to see where this goes!
I've never written enough on one thing to ever have this be something to deal with. LOL
Sad huh?
But it's good to know what lies ahead for me when I get to where you girls are. :)
Have fun with your twists and turns! I can't wait to find out what the heck it is that your hero would never have given up had this unexpected twist come along.
It's been forever since I've been able to read an Elisabeth Naughton novel. ;)
Of course, there's always the book titled... "The one I won't read". LOL
Good post Eli!
Eli, that's terrific! I'm excited for you. And I'm glad you didn't say "the book is writing itself" because you're the brilliant one, not the book. 8^)
I used to think of myself as a plotter because when I first started writing, I thought that's how it had to be done. Now I "vaguely" plot the beginning, mushy middle ideas, and the big finale. It never, never, never goes as planned. For example, with the book I'm working on now, my character participates in a reality TV show, and I thought I'd be making up challenges and stuff for the competitors, but I didn't have to. The tv crew disappears. WTF? I never would have imagined that happening when I started the book, but it fits perfectly with the story. It presents a whole new dilemma, new direction, new everything. Good fun! I love when that happens. 8^)
Yep, I'm no plotter. Twists, turns, and sudden conflicts pop up without notice as I write, which is the fun part. It's like reading the book I want to read, each day, to find out what happens. ha! (Now if I could just find an agent or editor who thinks of it as the book they want to read and sell/buy....)
So glad your book took a right turn for you, Eli.
Karen--Your books sounds thrilling! Who doesn't enjoy a whole team disappearing. Are they part of the reality, is there another camera crew? Got me thinking.
Piper, enjoy your uncomplicated writing, Piper, because one of these days, you are going to fall into the pit called "I gotta finish this ^&%%#@! novel and then you will need to reread every single one of these blogs! LOL
Wavy--Yea for me! I got you writing again? BY sending you back into your book for descriptions last week? Aren't I brilliant!
Danita--That editor/agent is right around the corner. She is a big old mama fish lurking under the deadfall. She sees little flies plop into the pond and rolls the dull lazy eye. She's waiting for a tasty morsel, something unique and compelling and juicy, and when she see it, she'll slowly flutter a fin and circle it, fire growing in her belly until Whap! She bites!
Don't you love a metaphor?
Alice
Alice, love that metaphor of an agent/editor! LOL
I think anyone who writes has moments when the story takes off sometimes for the good and sometimes for the bad. It's all apart of your brain thinking and you responding and writing.
Congrats to Wavy to getting back in the WIP!
Yeah, Piper I'm so excited you're writing!
Karen- that's what I wish when I watch reality shows - that the camera crew would disappear and the show would go away! LOL - I know I'm probably the only person on earth who hates those shows. I only like "American Idol" and now "So You Think You Can Dance". Otherwise the people on the others are too over the top for me. But your book sounds interesting.
Danita- it will happen and just like Alice says!
LOL, Paty! 8^) I'm not a big Idol fan, but I do love "So You Think You Can Dance." I'm touched to tears by some of those performances. My heart breaks for those poor kids who get cut.
My buggaboo when it comes to plotting, or not-plotting as the case may be, is that I'll be writing along, seriously in the flow, have the next scene figured out in my head, then WHAM! Some unexpected crisis turns my world on its ear and I have to put the writing aside for a while. So I come back to my story, pick up where I left off, and WHAM! I'm struck with an even better idea for the next scene.
Sounds great, doesn't it? Oh, contrare. My silly brain gets to buzzing about why did this great idea come later rather than sooner. I mean, if I waited even longer to get back into the story, will I get an even better idea? I know, I know. Over-analyzing. I shouldn't think so much. It gets me into trouble.
KAREN--Okay, I'll say it. You think too much. Sometimes an inspiration is just that, don't you think? There doesn't necessarily follow a greater inspiration. Remember when you congratulated Eli for realizing it was her (and not some magic) that inspired her? Well, that improved idea was your imagination giving you a boost. Frankly, I think you are messing with the gods when you say you worry that there might be better stuff a coming if you wait further---you're a brave woman.
Alice
Thanks, Alice, for bringing back to reality. I know, I do think too much. I'll get over it... right? 8^)
Karen
My day turned into the day from hell and I never got back on the computer until super late. I'm glad to see Alice filled in for me and commented on everyone's comments! :)
Paty, I generally know the beginning, black moment and end when I start a book. Maybe a few turning points, but mostly it's all a mystery to me. With this book, I could see way more of the beginning, but the black moment and resolution were always out there hanging, which is why I think it's taken me longer than normal to get this thing done. I'm hoping this fixes that problem for me. ;) Thanks for sharing.
Alice, as you know, I wrote a synopsis for this book. 14 pgs. My first time doing so ahead of time. I've stayed pretty true to the synopsis, but maybe that's where I've gone wrong. Now I see the ending is going to be nothing like the synopsis, but I like it better and I think it works better. I've heard lots of pubbed authors say it doesn't matter if you veer off your synopsis - that it's meerly a selling tool and pubs don't really care so long as you story has a beginning, middle and end and follows a logical order, but I think it's still something I have trouble wrapping my mind around.
Yay, Wavy!!!! So glad you're able to see the light at the end of the tunnel too. And kudos to Alice for jumpstarting that for you. She's da bomb. (Why the heck do you think I'm dragging her along to Dallas with me???)
It's been forever since I've been able to read an Elisabeth Naughton novel. ;)
ROFLMAO, Piper. I had a non-writer friend tell me that the other day. Do you know it's been a year since I finished something? OMG. That's way too long. We won't go into detail on how many other books I've started though before finally settling in with this one. This is a topic for another blog, but I feel like I've had direction issues the past eight months or so. So I'm thrilled to be near the end on this one (finally).
Karen, is this the book I read the partial of? I loved that idea. And I love (even more) that the crew ends up dead and the book isn't following the normal reality "challenges". Very cool!
LOL, Danita. I'm the same way. And honestly, I think *part* of the reason it's taken me so long to write this book is because I wrote the synopsis ahead of time, so I already knew how it was going to end. I've slowly been making progress on it, but not with the speed and excitement I did with other books because I was anxious to see what would happen next. It's (obviously) something I'm going to have to learn to get over.
This is the same one, Eli. And thanks! As for the crew being dead, they do disappear, but I'm not sure yet what's happened to them. The point is, the contestants arrive at the base camp after a 15 mile hike over treacherous terrain and no one's there. They're trying to figure out what to do. And therefore, so am I. 8^) I'm right there with them.
Eli--I can't wait to read your blog on "direction issues." I think I may use that to describe my last few months. It's more accurate than "block."
Elli,
sorry about your day from hell yesterday. Hope today was better for you.
As for taking a year to write a book, welcome to my world. This one will be completed at the 10-month mark. Those women like Shirley Jump (8 books a year) and Allison Brennan (eight weeks to write a book) amaze and stupify me. I mean Allison has five kids too...WTF? ha!
When I was finished with the first draft of Vanishings, Alice gave me pointers on the synopsis and it helped with the next drafts. She helped me see the weak spots ie: not enough conflict, so with the synopsis plotted out, it helped the final product.
Alice, I LOVED your analogy. I'm going to cut and paste it, print it and hang it up on my office wall for encouragement. Just hope I send it to the right trout agent, the one basking in the swimming hole...ha!
Post a Comment