Twist of Fate: When Your Story Takes an Unexpected Turn

Ever have a spurt of inspiration reveal a new dimension of your plot or story? It could be a brave new adventure or a step off a cliff into the abyss. Here's a second post on how to vet inspiration — for plot twists and subplots.

As an editor, I get queries from writers asking whether their idea for an initial plot, a plot twist or a subplot will work. I rarely say no outright, even to the most outrageous concepts. Why? Because the exercise of following inspiration — even when it doesn't lead to an idea that works for that particular story — can yield two things: writing experience and an idea for another story.

Nobody wants to spend hours, days, weeks or longer following a dead end, so it's good to reap the benefits of following a new trail without getting hopelessly lost. It's analogous to following a real-life woodland path; so are the caveats.

As is true for character-related inspiration, it's common to uncover new subplots — as well as plot threads, changes and twists — in draft two. In draft one, you're still getting to know the characters and the story they tell, so many problems will resolve by the end of the draft, or in the second. But what about those persistent problems and your idea for a twist or subplot? Disaster of disasters — you may even decide to change the plot entirely halfway through or earlier. How do you know what will work and what won't?

Many writers can follow a plot through its meanderings without an outline. Some can follow more than one. But if your story is complex — and even if it's not — you may want to record your idea in an outline or a tree diagram. It's the best way to see how the idea will "flesh out," literally. Plot shifts often arise from changes in characters. They mature faster, into different people or in different directions than you thought. Now your plot can't contain them. It's too thin, not compelling enough to fit who your people are becoming. And the more I learn, the more I believe characters drive plot, or should, rather than the reverse.

Here's an example. A woman returns to Barcelona for business and family obligations. She dreads the trip because her grandfather, with whom she was close as a child, has dementia. On the surface, the story is about the woman confronting the reality that life in the land of her youth is no longer what it was, a la You Can't Go Home Again. However, when the woman boards a train to the Mediterranean, she meets a young artist who reminds her of another creative type she met years earlier. Does she engage in conversation with this younger man and leave it at that? Probably not. Tracing her decision to have an affair, presumably to avoid the sadness of her family situation, could bring her full circle to realize she can't expect anyone to "create" life for her, that her life is her responsibility, as are her choices and their consequences. A difficult lesson, but one that makes the outcome more valuable because of the cost involved. Here, it's important to understand why the woman makes one choice instead of another, even if the writer doesn't include all the details.

And that's the key to the decision-making process — understanding your characters well enough to know why they make one choice instead of another.

Although creating a plot tree, outline or diagram can be scary — it's difficult to face the fear of your story spiraling out of control, which is what a new idea can feel like — going through the exercise will show you, literally, the consequences of your decisions in a much shorter time span, certainly than if you were to rewrite your piece for each new idea. Instead, you can diagram (a plot tree allows you to include subplots) the idea — or outline it if you need to "see" more detail — and see where it takes you.

As I write this, it's clear more needs to be said on the subject of subplots and plot twists, so I'll continue the discussion in my next post.

Resources: Plot Planner Exercise, from Writers Digest and Plot & Structure: (Techniques And Exercises For Crafting A Plot That Grips Readers From Start To Finish), by James Scott Bell

Out of Character? When Characters Do the Unexpected, or Want To



When characters do the unexpected

Ever have an idea ignite to suddenly reveal a new dimension of a character or story? It could be the light at the tunnel's end or an oncoming train. Here's how to vet sudden inspiration.

As an editor, I get queries from writers saying they were suddenly inspired on how to fix a complex character or plot problem. While we hope they're right, it's best to begin with the premise that an idea is like a spark. It may take more than one to fire things up. Two common areas where inspiration can greatly help, or hinder, are the superficial character and the lackluster story. We'll start with the one-dimensional character.

First, it's common to have comparatively flat characters in a first draft, even of a nonfiction piece. After all, you're still getting to know these people and how to portray them. But then, while you're writing draft two, something unexpected happens. A character does something unscripted, or wants to. Do you let her? The answer, usually, is yes.

Some writers can follow the consequences of a character's unexpected action in their minds. Certainly, the imagination is a great place to start. To put this new facet of a character to the test, it's best to sketch out the scene. You'll have to edit it; you may even need to file it away for future use. But the exercise of writing what the action — or the desire behind it — reveals is invaluable.

Here's an example. A husband and wife are on the verge of divorce. The wife's mother has been instrumental in destroying the relationship, and the husband has said so for years. Just as the couple comes to grips with their plight, the wife's mother suicides, leaving a note confessing what she's done. The husband is tempted to say, "I told you so." He's that type. Instead, he's moved with compassion for his wife, though he's exhibited precious little of this trait before. Does the writer let him express his emotions? The answer is yes, not because it's expected in a situation like this, but because the husband's response is spontaneous and shows another side of him. The couple may still break up, but if they do, it won't be because of the clichéd "my husband is an ogre" rationale.

The great thing about this scene is that it not only reveals another aspect of the husband, it also advances plot. Two positive outcomes for the effort on one. Still, the important thing isn't just that the husband turns out not to be the brute he's been so far, but to consider why he showed compassion in this instance. What previously untapped aspect of his character and past prompted him to show such empathy? The writer may not use this bit of backstory overtly now, but it will inform her development of the husband, and she may choose to use some aspect of the husband's history later on.

Tip: Consider a story you're working on where a character has done something unexpected or wants to. Outline the past events that could have led to this action (backstory). Then, outline the consequences of his or her actions to see how they affect this character and others.

Resources: "How to Develop Characters That Work," by Lauren Grodstein, author of A Friend of the Family (Algonquin Books), from Poets & Writers, March/April 2011

Visit next week to learn how to address the unexpected plot twist.

Ideas Into Images: Illustrator-Writer Adrienne May on Creating Characters

Illustrator-Writer Adrienne May

Artist, children's book illustrator and writer Adrienne May found her way into a second life career writing and illustrating children's books. She uses traditional and contemporary tools to create pieces in a realistic style, and takes the same approach to crafting her stories and characters. The tag line of her WinsomeWays online portfolio says it all — "ideas into images."

AA: How did you get into writing?

AM: I came to writing by accident. My career destination is children's book illustration, especially children's picture books. However, designing characters and a world setting(s) are tasks that illustrators and writers must do. Writing was the result of thinking of children's picture books as visualized stories, rather than a series of isolated illustrations.

AA: With experience in fine arts, how do you approach writing the stories?

"Jamaican Doll," by Adrienne May

AM: When I write, visual imagery lets me immerse myself in the story. I try to experience each scene with all my senses. As a writer, I want visual imagery to be a stepping stone to a full-sensory experience of the characters, their world setting and any changes to them in the story. I need this in order to describe them to someone else. As writer and illustrator, I aim to reconcile the voice and physical appearance of each character, the pace of the plot and the narrative weight any physical illustrations must bear.

AA: How does that impact your role as an illustrator?

AM: In my illustrator role, I want to respond to the needs of the story, and update my drawings to reflect physical changes to the characters and world setting. (In one story a character became three years older, and I added three new characters.) While I draw, I ask myself what else is there to understand about the story. In the end, the illustrations ideally show details beyond the text.

AA: How would you describe "success" as an artist?

AM: From "Making Artists," and The New York Times article, "The End of the Great Big American Voice," by Anne Midgette:

"In the end, artistic success depends, as it always has, on intangible factors that no training program can provide. One is luck. Another is stubbornness."

'People who really persevere,' Ms. [Dolora] Zajick [mezzo soprano] said, 'find themselves in lucky places.'"

Tip: Try Adrienne May's winsome approach to illustrating your characters with words, and visit WinsomeWays for a visual tour.

           

"Stuck for Ideas? Let Your Work Go to the Movies"

I grew up watching offbeat Saturday afternoon westerns like "Sky King" on TV. Not very original and highly formulaic, series like these featured stories a kid could snack on without spoiling her dinner. They were also instructive on plot, setting and a bit of character development. Now, with Comcast and Dish Network, the prospects of finding old and new flat screen gems from all over the globe are virtually limitless. If you're looking for story ideas, try the "it's so old, it's new" or the "it's so new, it's new" approach.

From A&E to the History Channel to Turner Classic Movies, today's cable fare offers a nearly infinite variety of old films and true stories (check out international news channels like ITN, too) that if studied and emulated (not plagiarized) for their strengths can break writers' block and reinvigorate a writing slump. The key is to select the salient story points — plot twist, offbeat setting, funky character — and consider how to bring these into the 21^st century a la Kenneth Branagh setting Shakespeare's As You Like It in Japan (okay, the reviews are mixed on that one, but you get the point). Speaking of Branagh, on the modern side of the coin, check out Wallander, a British detective series set in Sweden. Emmy-winning Philip Martin's direction in this stark, minimalist setting is refreshing.

Don't limit your search to movies. Stories from genealogies to "Antiques Road Show" can inspire fact-based stories, often the best kind.

Tip: While the classics are great (The Hunchback of Notre Dame just appeared on TCM), look for offbeat stories. A recent showing of Joan Crawford and Leif Erickson in Straight Jacket (also on TCM), had a wonderful twist ending that surprised even a fan of Alfred Hitchcock's Ghost Stories For Young People. But watch the difference between drama and melodrama — it's a fine line.

Learning to Think: A Study on Plot

It's amazing the thoughts that come while waiting for the commuter train before dawn. To keep awake and distracted from the chill, I pulled out The Vagrant Mood, essays by Somerset Maugham, the chapter on Kant, whose  goal was to "teach his students to think for themselves" and who didn't like it when "they busied themselves … to write down his every word." And then I thought about plot.

Rather than knowing all that will happen in a story from the get-go, it's more important to consider the story as you go along, to retain a balance between having a plan and knowing that plans change—most often and best because of what happens within and among the people in the story. This is the organic approach.

Road to Milano

As Peter Selgin notes in 179 Ways to Save a Novel, writers often wonder how far head to plot. The query is similar to when a writer states with great authority (and misguided control), "I have to get the character to do this, or that." Here, the control factor is likely too rigid, as Selgin notes, as if plot were "a separate process, an independent act of volition—a verb that we force into our stories, rather than a noun that grows out of the process of writing them." Usually, the real question is how much a writer needs to know about what happens next. The answer, as Selgin notes, is "not that much."

Learning to think while writing is key, to bring a mindfulness to the process, because plot, especially in novel writing, isn't knowing all that will happen in a story from beginning to end, but knowing that things of consequence must happen to make a story a story and that even if nothing of apparent consequence happens, the piece must be written well enough, and usually better, to truly make it a story.

Stephen King to the Rescue: Using Imagery to Bring a Story to Life

I just read an article that has literally changed my writing life. I was stuck on a plot problem and couldn't figure out how to resolve it. The problem? I couldn't imagine what happened. Since I like to inhabit my work, it's more accurate to say I couldn’t see what had happened. Not what should happen, but what had happened, and I couldn’t see it. Why? I hadn't taken the time to imagine it.

As providence would have it, I was in Starbucks waiting for a friend and catching up on reading when I came across an article in the August issue of The Writer. It was a magazine archive piece by Stephen King called, "Use Imagery to Bring Your Story to Life." And life is what every writer wants, and what every story and the people who populate it need.

Here are snippets from the piece and observations to accompany them:

• "… the most important thing that film and fiction share is an interest in the image…" — without image there is no story, at least none that's memorable
• "…story springs from image: that vividness of place and time and texture…" — without imagery, there is no texture
• The difference between ideas and images? "Ideas have no emotional temperature gradient; they are neutral."
• "Imagery is not achieved by over-description …" In fact, less usually is more.
• "Imagery does not occur on the writer's page; it occurs in the reader's mind."
• "Good description produces imagery …"
• As to the oft-asked question what to leave in? "Leave in the details that impress you the most … the details you see the most clearly; leave out everything else."
• How does this "imagining" occur: "… we must see with a kind of third eye—the eye of the imagination and memory."
• Why do this? "… to write is to re-experience, and as you write, that image will grow brighter and brighter, becoming something that is very nearly beautiful in its clarity."
• Why is this crucial to good writing? "…image leads to story, and story leads to everything else."
• It also benefits you, the writer: "… remember that a writer's greatest pleasure is in seeing, and seeing well."

To borrow another maxim, "when the eye is good the body is full of light," and so is the writing. The point is to see, and to inhabit the scene. To experience it. And experience is the best foundation for writing.

To hone this skill, slow down. And imagine. Make King's writing prompt your own:
Close your eyes and see. Imagine the scene you want to convey. Per King, "You opened your eyes too soon." Close them and try again—give yourself 30 seconds, maybe even a minute. OK. Go ahead."

I recommend The Writer magazine and the article; I certainly recommend the technique.