I’ve written a lot about plot, trying over and over again to explain it in a way that will give you an a-ha moment. This excerpt—at Jane Friedman’s blog—from Paula Munier’s Writing with Quiet Hands gave me one of those moments.
Narrative thrust is the taut building of story, beat by beat, scene by scene, chapter by chapter, using the complexities of plot and character to propel the story forward in a dramatic arc that peaks at the climax. You must write each scene so that it leads logically to the next, as if you were connecting a model train, car by car, presenting story questions as you proceed down the track, pushing the action forward to its inevitable, if unpredictable, ending.
Honestly, I thought about using this piece as a quote all by itself, but there’s more good information here, including a fabulous dos-and-don’ts list. Read it!
Click on plot in the tag cloud to the right for more articles on plot.
NOTE: Here in my corner of the world, it’s Christmas week. I normally post on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, but I’m going to pause this week, and enjoy my family. I’ll see you next week. Merry Christmas!
Tweet: “You must write each scene so that it leads logically to the next.”
Tweet: I’ve written about plot, trying to explain it in a way that will leads to an a-ha moment.
Tweet: “What should I write?” Easy! Write what you’d like to read.
Tweet: The best advice is not to write what you know, it’s to write what you like.
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Great post, Jamie (and Paula’s post is outstanding, especially the dos and donts.
Two thoughts – while dialogue shouldn’t replace action, it should – especially for male characters – replace much of the introspection that seems so beloved of many novelists. In that sense, it becomes a form of action, I suppose. Few things wear me out faster than reading about what characters think. It can get awfully Proustian.
Second – I’m not at all a fan of dropping the reader into an immediate character crisis. Meeting the character under ‘normal’ circumstances – even briefly – provides a baseline for both response and motivation.
An excellent example of this is what I consider the best romance novel ever written, Nevil Shute’s 1944 story “Pastoral”. The male protagonist, Peter Marshall, a bomber pilot in the Royal Air Force in England during WW2, is introduced as he wakes up against the background of the post-raid activities of the base. This ‘slow’ introduction allows one to develop an affection for him, and the human foibles he displays later in his relationship with Gervase Robertson (along with the sharpness he shows toward his crew when the relationship seems to go awry) are understandable and worthy of sympathy. It’s been thirty years since I read the story, and the characters are still real to me.
Had the story begun in the modern style, with a wartime ’emergency’ (or less plausibly, a relationship issue), I don’t believe it would have been nearly as effective.
Aside from getting to know the character, the beginning o the story also sets the ambience of service in Bomber Command, an organization in which 51% of those who flew, died.
I hope you have a wonderful Christmas, Jamie, and I will look for you when you return. As for me, I’ll keep my MWF schedule, and even have a substantive post on Christmas Day. Writing is…well, it’s simply what I do.
I’m a big fan of dialogue. I like things out in the open. 🙂
Thank you, as always, for your considered comments. Merry Christmas to you!