I recently had my 37th Birthday. My present to myself was a new tattoo, I chose a mermaid design. The road to get my Mermaid was much more complicated than I had first planned. The plan: Go to the tattoo studio as soon as it open, get my tattoo, then go to work. Simple, right?
Well, plans are made to be broken, the same is true for plots. There are two types of writers; the Planners and the Pantsters; when it comes to plotting. Planners sit down and plan out each aspect of the plot, sub plot. They write out character descriptions, back story, and planning out the character's life. This group can spend months or years in the planning stage. The other group are the Pantsters. This group sees stories as found objects, something that needs to be discovered and uncovered. The Pantsters sits down and just writes, where the muse takes them. Many try to say which is the correct way to write. I say there is not one correct way to write; but I am definitely a Pantster.
When it comes to plot it doesn't matter if you are a Planner or a Pantster you should be able, at some point, to boil the plot down to about 300 words. If you can do it in a sentence or 50 words even better. For example one of my favorite books by Dean Knootz Dark Rivers of the Heart, can be boiled down to this. A scared man meets a broken woman one night at a bar, the next night he goes back only to find the woman is missing. The man goes in search of the missing woman he hopes he can save, from those hunting her. In the end the woman saves the man, and the dog. Together they bring down the men hunting the woman. Now if only I was able to do that with one of my own stories. Normally I am like a cat on catnip with a new toy.
But there is more to good plot than being able to tell your story in 50 words. I good plot also needs structure, and engine and to lack cliques. For a Pantster (like myself) the structure is what hangs me up. Idea's flow from my fingertips like ink from a pen, but making it more than just a meaningless doodle is the hard part for me. So, this month I am going to work on: boiling each of my current projects down to 100 words or less, adding in structure, and clearly stating what the engine for the story is supposed to be. I'll work on cliques later.
Today's Plot is for Gutter Punk (a short Story): Tabitha came to Portland, for a mission that she hopes will be the end of State rule. She is unaware that one of her own is no-longer loyal to the cause, but only to self-preservation. Tabitha’s mission starts to fall apart. At first, she thinks that it is because of the OSBI, but this does not seem right. As the mission deteriorates, Tabitha questions her resolve to remain in the field, and if change is possible. The mission in ruins, Tabitha has lost her friend and her lover. She faces the loss of herself, as she seeks revenge and looses sight of the mission. The engine for the story is Elena, she is the problem Tabitha has to solve.
And that brings us back to Mermaids, mythological creatures of the deep, that are as likely to sing for you, as they are to drag you down to the depth of the ocean. Both beautiful and dangerous Mermaid are everything a plot should be, but also rings of cliques from Splash to Little Mermaid. And so was the my Odyssey to get a mermaid tattoo, from a car crash, to hours waiting, to missing work, but at long last I succeeded. At least mostly, the tattoo is not done yet.
So until next time, Write madly, Live boldly and plot wildly but give it some structure.
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