Creative Writing 101

Lesson 4: Plot Building.

Silver Shoes, High Concepts and Graphs.

SILVER SHOES.

The "Silver Shoes" plotting method is similar to the "Building the Forest", but instead of an environment, it uses an object for a focus. It also produces more of the plot.

Using the same visualisation technique (closed eyes, no distractions), think about an object. Most people prefer a qualified object, such as those in the list below.

Silver shoes

Flying carpet

Unknown car

Blue knife

Ancient statue

Foreign clock

Empty box

Locked cupboard

Cobwebbed gate

When you can "see" the object's location (or surroundings) open your eyes and write it down.

Continue visualisation sessions to find out;

(1) Who owns or acquires the object.

(2) What the owner does with it.

(3) Who else wants it.

(4) What happens to it in the end.

After this, you should have the basis for a narrative.

CHARACTER-DRIVEN PLOTS.

So far, we have looked at plots driven by ideas and situations, by environment and by objects. A character can be used in much the same way. Look for more about character-driven plots in Lesson 5.

HIGH CONCEPTS.

A high concept, (sometimes known as "a logline") is the plot of a book expressed in about 25 words. Once you have worked out the high concept of your novel or story, it is a good idea to write it down and look at it often. This helps you to stay on track.

A high concept is rather like the idea/conflict discussed before, but is more detailed. Before you start writing high concepts for your future mss (manuscripts) or w.i.p.s (works in progress), you should practise by writing some for the last few novels you have read.

Example.

High Concept for 'E is for Evidence', by Sue Grafton.

"PI Kinsey Millhone is accused of collusion in an insurance scam. Efforts to clear her name reveal shameful secrets in her co-accused's family. Murder ensues."

High Concept for 'The Luck Piece', by Anna Mario.

"The luck piece reminds widowed Annie of the good times. Her daughter Polly hopes it might be the key to a better future."

High Concept for 'A Villain's Night Out', by Margaret Mahy.

"Writing a book, Formby is helped by his own villainous character. Then their little sisters hijack the story. Quick thinking and teamwork save the day."

When you are able to produce high concepts for other books, try creating one for an idea or w.i.p. of your own. Limiting yourself to 25 words forces you to concentrate on the main strand of the plot.

PLOT GRAPHS

Another useful aid to plotting is a plot graph. Imagine a well known story (such as Cinderella) laid out as a line graph, with the points illuminating major story events.

To draw this graph yourself, take a piece of paper and write the letters A-L along the bottom. Next, write the numbers 1-10 up the lefthand side. "A" and "1" should be closest together, "L" and "10" farthest apart.

Now, begin your graph at point 3/A. This story event is the beginning of the story.

3/A Cinderella has to work for her stepmother and stepsisters. (The graph begins middling low.)

The next point comes at 5/B. Cinderella hears there is going to be a ball. (Good news, so the graph rises.)

The next point is at 2/D. Cinderella is disappointed because she can't go to the ball. (Disappointment takes her lower, emotionally, than she was in the first place.)

6/F. The fairy godmother arrives, bringing hope, a dress and coach. (Highest yet - very good news.)

G/8. Cinderella goes to the ball. (Graph rises again.)

H/9. She falls in love with the Prince. (2nd highest point.)

1/J. She must leave the prince and the ball - she thinks it is forever. (Worst moment yet.)

K/9. The prince seeks her out. (High point repeated.)

L/10 They marry- happy ending. (Highest point on graph.)

The graph you have drawn has a very characteristic shape. You will find this "Cinderella Graph" repeated in many (if not most) books where a "happy ending" relationship is the main focus of the story. This includes almost all romances, many romantic novels, friendship stories and family stories. It also finds echoes in genres where an activity, art, sport or animal takes the place of the protagonist's object of affection.

The similarities in the Cinderella Graph plots are not that they are necessarily fairytales or romances, but that they take the protagonist (and reader) on an emotional journey. Typically, the protagonist has an on-going problem. Hope offers, is withdrawn, then reappears. Things improve to a point where the protagonist is "riding for a fall". The fall arrives, (in romance writing this is called "the black spot") then the protagonist somehow wins through to a reward.

Although the Cinderella Graph is common and effective, there are plenty of other typical shapes. If you read (or write) a book in which nothing much happens, the graph is likely to be flatlining. Television soap operas have a typical graph of choppy waves, punctuated by troughs and peaks. Often they look as if three or four graphs have been superimposed, because storylines run concurrently.

The Reverse Cinderella Graph is the one which begins at a high point (perhaps at A/9) then drops to D/7, recovers to F/8 then slides by degrees down to L/1. Sometimes it will manage a small rise at the end.

Then there is the Tadpole Graph, which begins at A/1, proceeds to D/3, then to F/5, then to H/7 and then just stops. These are the novels that end very abruptly, and this shape is much more likely to appear in novice work, especially in stories written by children.

When you have planned your plot, it is sometimes useful to draw a graph. If you find the graph proceeding in even waves, your pacing is probably wrong. Redraft your plot to allow for more variation.

The longer the projected novel, and the faster the pace, the more points you will need on your graph.

What if you are writing a multi-stranded story, with more than one protagonist? And what if these protagonists spend much of the plot apart?

You can still plot using Roadmaps or a Plot Graph. You simply produce "Meanwhile" or two-colour passages in the Roadmap to indicate the second (or subsequent) protagonist's progress and superimpose a second graph (in another colour) on the first one.

Linear plots are much easier to manage than multi-stranded plots.

FLASHBACKS.

Some writers find flashbacks difficult to handle, especially in the transitions between "Designated now" and "Then" and back to "Designated now". Some editors dislike flashbacks, and so do some readers.

Most seem to agree that a very short flashback is OK, but long ones can be a problem. The reader gets involved in the story in "Designated now", and is jerked back to the story in "Then". S/he gets interested in the characters "Then" and is pitched back to the characters in "Designated now".

Occasionally, an entire novel can be written in flashback.

Apart from reader rejection, the main problem with flashback lies in handling the past participles. At what point do you change from "He had watched as Mr Fielding peeled the apple" to "He saw the peel spiral slowly to the ground"? To serve up an entire flashback in "had watched" / "had felt" mode is tiresome, but a lurch to "he watched" / "he felt" is a sign of poor transition.

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