Plot: Make it Happen

Everywhere I go I'm asked if I think the university stifles writers.  My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them.  There's many a bestseller that could have been prevented by a good teacher.  ~Flannery O'Connor

Write down the thoughts of the moment.  Those that come unsought for are commonly the most valuable.  ~Francis Bacon

Writing the next plot-driven best seller shouldn’t be our goal.  As writers, we are collectors and interpreters of events.

Plots come easy, but that doesn’t mean they should drive the story. A plot-driven story is just a series of meaning less, though possibly clever, events happening in places a reader doesn’t care about to people a reader doesn’t care about.

When I was young, I wrote in plots. I had a million fantastic plot ideas, but my books were over in 30 pages or less because, once the plot took place, the story was over. (My personal favorite plot idea was about a tom-boy who was transferred to a prep school where she tried to get the girly-girls to play powder puff football for homecoming. It was called Preps Go Long.) Writing from one event to the next gave me a small word count and lifeless characters.

Yet, a writer cannot discount the importance of plot, and the elements of plot (though you may be aware of them) are worth the time to review.

Ø  Exposition

o   In the beginning, the exposition sets the scene and gives the reader any background information needed to move into the story.

o   Some stories can start in medias res, or in the middle of things. These stories may feel as though they don’t have a well-formed exposition, or it may feel as though the background information is sprinkled throughout the story instead of placed at the start.

o   No matter how you begin, never underestimate the power of the first line of your writing.

Ø  Foreshadowing

o   Sometimes a writer gives clues to what is to come in the plot.

Ø  Conflict

o   Mike Judge explains, “In order to have a plot, you have to have a conflict, something bad has to happen.”

o   Laura Bokesch says conflict is “the essence of fiction. It creates plot.”

o   She breaks conflicts into Man versus Man, Man versus Nature, Man versus Society, and Man versus Self.

o   A relatable conflict will connect the reader to the characters.

Ø  Inciting Force

o   A conflict has a starting point: an event or person.

Ø  Rising Action

o   This is “a series of events that builds from the conflict. It begins with the inciting force and ends with the climax” (Bokesch).

Ø  Crisis or Turning Point

o   “At this point the opposing forces in the story meet, and the conflict becomes most intense. The crisis occurs before or at the same time as the climax” (Bokesch).

Ø  Climax

o   Generally, the climax is considered the most intense moment. Bokesch explains that the climax is what occurs because of the crisis; often a reader can predict what the outcome of the conflict will be based on the climax.

Ø  Falling Action

o   These are the events after the climax that lead towards the end of the story.

Ø  Resolution

o   The end of the action and events is the resolution.

Ø  Catharsis

o   Some stories have this “silver lining.” If the story is especially sad, readers often appreciate at least some level of catharsis. It might just be a lesson learned.

Of course, not every story has every one of these elements. One of my favorite short stories, “Hills like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, is mostly just the conversation between two people. The reader sees little background information, and the final line creates debate by readers on what the resolution is; the conflict is not clearly resolved. In fact, the story is centered mostly on conflict with little action. Great writers use these elements of plot as needed to produce great writing.

image from http://turtola.edublogs.org/2010-11-classes/creative-writing/language-and-literature/hills-like-white-elephants/

Possible Writing Challenges

1)   Which kind of conflict do you find yourself most interested in reading (Man vs. Man, Man vs. Self, Man vs. Society, or Man vs. Nature)?

2)   Think of your favorite books and movies, and identify some of the elements of plot.

3)   Write up a brief sketch of an event that happened to you. Try to include many of the elements of plot.

Bacon, Francis. “Writing.” n.d. Quotegarden.com. 10 February 2011  

<http://www.quotegarden.com/writing.html>.

Bokesch, Laura. “Literary Elements.” n.d. Orange Unified School District. 6 September

2008 <http://www.orange usd.k12.ca.us/yorba/literary_elements.htm>.

Judge, Mike. “Plot.” n.d. Brainyquotes.com. 10 February 2011

<http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/plot_2.html>.

O’Connor, Flannery. “Writing.” n.d. Quotegarden.com. 10 February 2011  

<http://www.quotegarden.com/writing.html>.

10 “Conflicting” Stories You Should Read

1)      “Hills like White Elephants” short story by Ernest Hemingway

2)      The Year of Secret Assignments young adult novel by Jaclyn Moriarty

3)      The Giver young adult novel by Lois Lowry

4)      “Revelation” short story by Flannery O’Connor

5)      Hamlet play by William Shakespeare

6)      The Pearl novella by John Steinbeck

7)      The Awakening novella by Kate Chopin

8)      “My Last Duchess” and “Porphyria’s Lover” poems by Robert Browning

9)      “Why I Live at the P.O.” short story by Eudora Welty

10)   “A & P” short story by John Updike

The Author: Why Write?

If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn't brood.  I'd type a little faster.  ~Isaac Asimov

The following is an excerpt from an article about the art of the written and illustrated word.  This article will by published later this semester in volume 2 of The Abbey Leix Anthology: O’More Articles on the Art and Design of Education.

Just like any other art form, writing is not an easy craft, and yet people anywhere from dabble in to obsess over the process. Why?

Ø  to release the story within

o   Maya Angelou believes, “There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside of you” (qtd. in Christensen).

Ø  to feel the physical, emotional, and spiritual experience of writing

o   Eudora Welty writes, “Suspense, pleasure, curiosity, all are bound up in the making of a written story” (4).

Ø  for immortality

o   for those you write about

§  Just Mona Lisa is forever immortalized in her half-smirked painting, “So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, / So long lives this [Shakespeare’s sonnet], and this gives life to thee” (Shakespeare ll.13-14).

o   for the author-artist

§  Hilaire Belloc has one of my favorite quotes on the topic: “When I am dead, I hope it may be said: ‘His sins were scarlet, but his books were read’” (455).

    

Writing as an art form is a vicious cycle: writers need responsible readers need responsible writers need something worth saying needs someone able to effectively communicate it needs the effort of a responsible writer needs the respect of a responsible reader.  It will go on forever. Stories need to be written and read. The talent of a crafty writer creates the craft of writing.

Despite those pop-culture explosions that make me smack myself on the forehead in misery for those who find these stories worthy, there are books ready for my reading, and those ready for my writing. Nothing can compare the feeling of pride when I can step back and view my finished work of art. My clothes are not slashed with paint, but my wrists are with the creases from my keyboard. I am author-artist: hear me type. 

Possible Writing Challenges

1)   Why do you write? Answer the question, in writing of course.

2)   Search for three great quotes on writing. Write one paragraph for each quote interpreting and explaining how the quote does or does not compare to your own thoughts on the subject.

Asimov, Issac. “Writing.” n.d. Quotegarden.com. 10 February 2011  <http://www.quotegarden.com/writing.html>.

Bulloc, Hilaire. “Writing and Writers.” The Merriam-Webster Dictionary of Quotations. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 1992.

Christensen, Patti. “Patti's Favorite Storytelling Quotes.” 2004. PattiStory.com. 18 Jan. 2007 <http://www.pattistory.com/54-
               Quotes.htm>. 

---. “Sonnet XVIII.” 100 Best-Loved Poems. Ed. Philip Smith. New York: Dover, 1995.

Welty, Eudora.  On Writing. New York: The Modern Library, 2002.

A special thanks to the ever-talented Anastasia Morozova, who painted my above writer’s portrait. I hire her often for my artistic needs, including the illustrations for an upcoming children’s book. Please let me know if you need a portrait or any other work from her.

10 Writers I Suggest You Experience in Your Lifetime

1)       Ernest Hemingway (novels, short stories)

2)       Gerard Manley Hopkins (poetry)

3)       Carol King (songs)

4)       Sandra Boynton (children’s books—Jack’s favorite)

5)       Jaclyn Moriarty (young adult novels)

6)       Shakespeare (sonnets, though “the play’s the thing”)

7)       e e cummings (poetry)

8)       Kate DiCamillo (young adult novels)

9)       Willa Cather (novels)

10)    C. S. Lewis (novels, non-fiction)

Inspiration: Finding Your Muse

You can't wait for inspiration.  You have to go after it with a club.  

~ Jack London

Find your clubs. Dust them off. It’s time to go on a Muse hunt.

The inspiration of the arts, Greek Mythology’s Muses were the nine daughter’s of Zeus.  The term Muse has become forever linked with the idea of inspiration. Some writers have a specific Muse, something or someone who ever inspires their writing. Fellow writers have identified their Muses to me as places, other writers, mundane items or daily tasks, fictional characters, and particular people.

Muses can change from project to project, or they can remain the inspiration for a writer throughout many works, or perhaps throughout life.

As Jack London states, a writer simply cannot use the excuse of writer’s block, or a lack of inspiration, as an excuse to delay creating. Sometimes we have to be more proactive about searching out a Muse.  The overly-used statement that inspiration is everywhere is true, but it doesn’t mean that the same things will inspire the same people.  And even if a fellow writer and I view the same object, or visit the same place, or love the same person, it doesn’t mean that our interpretations will be the same about this object, place, or person.

Actively experience your world this week. What do you find beautiful? What repulses you? What brings you bliss? What breaks your heart? Both positive and negative emotions can lead you to a Muse. Compelling writing is not driven solely by pleasantries.

Don’t wait for your Muse to find you. And once you obtain your Muse, be prepared to write with more truth, more confidence, and more hope because you will never again be writing alone.

Possible Writing Challenges

1)   Identify your Muse and write a poem directed to him, her, or it.

2)   What are three of your inspirations? Write a paragraph about each, explaining what these inspirations do for you or what you take from them.

London, Jack. “Imagination.” n.d. Quotegarden.com. 6 February 2011 <http://www..quotegarden.com/imagination.html>. 

10 of My Muses
1) False Hope
2) Temptation
3) Trees
4) Water
5) What If
6) Unrequited Love
7) Other Talent Writers
8) Conversation
9) Another's Personality
10) Words

The Story Wheel

A couple of years ago, I designed The Story Wheel: a circle of aspects important for any writer to consider. Mostly The Story Wheel connects to those creating fiction, but elements can be used by any writer. I have used the wheel as a basic outline for my Composition I courses in the past. The next several posts will look at each element of The Story Wheel.

I would like to specifically thank Melissa Henson for creating this image of the wheel. Her visual looks far better than the version I made a while ago in Paint.

Introduction

     The fear of writing seems to stem from three major areas: no inspiration (What do I write about?), no method (How do I write about it?), no clarity (How can I make sure I am understood?).

     But somehow, the answers to these questions can make matters even worse.

1)  Inspiration is everywhere.

2)   Methods range depending on writing style.

3)  Clarity is often the fine line between explaining what you mean and insinuating that your audience is stupid.

     Writing inside the box means gaining the knowledge and skills that can help you overcome these three fears and make sense of the seemingly overwhelming answers. This growth means trial and error. It means getting to know yourself and your voice. It means accepting critique—knowing when to defend your writing and when to edit. It means wrangling the everywhere inspiration, the ranging methods, and the clarity conundrum into your personal writing style.

     For some of us, thinking outside the box is a non-issue. In fact, we haven’t seen the box in so long we’ve completely forgotten what it even looks like, or where we left it. Find it. Think outside; then write inside. Be creative; then know how to apply and play with the rules of grammar. Brainstorm; then sketch out your ideas or outline.

     Most of us don’t want to be contained, yet few want to read a nonsensical ranting. Writers have to learn the balance of the creative with the critical, the imaginative with the essential.

     John Steinbeck described East of Eden as a box filled with “pain and excitement…feeling good or bad and evil thoughts and good thoughts—the pleasure of design and some despair and the indescribable joy of creation…and still the box is not full” (dedication). If we want to communicate those complete ranges of life, we have to learn to collect our big ideas into a box.

      The intent of this blog is to share the tools and tricks I’ve learned in my seven years tutoring and teaching writing, and from my twenty-something years writing. Each entry I will explore a topic, some broad and some quite specific, that I have found indispensable in my teaching and personal writing endeavors. I don’t have all the answers. My goal is to point you in a direction, make you consider the possibilities, and lead you on a path to discovering your voice by writing inside the box.  

Steinbeck, John. East of Eden. New York: Penguin, 2002. Print.