The Scene-ic Route

Before I start, you may not know this but June is National Audio Book Month. It’s also forty-two Other-Things Month, like Accordion Awareness, Turkey Lovers, Papaya (also September – greedy papaya people), Dairy, and, weirdly, Dairy Alternative. My favorite is Bathroom Reading. Really! Here’s the link: http://womeninbusiness.about.com/od/diversityeventcalendars/a/nat-month-june.htm. See for yourself.

Back to National Audio Book Month, Random House is releasing a CD audio book of Dave at Night, and I was interviewed to promote the release. If you go to my website and click on videos, you can watch it. I like the interview and I’m thrilled about the release. Dave at Night is probably my least known novel and possibly my favorite. The reading is also my favorite of all my book recordings, so I hope the audio book finds lots of listeners.

Also, I missed an opportunity in last week’s post. I made up this passage: Marisette gizoxed down the previo at zyonga speed. If the ashymi didn’t boosheg, she’d find herself and the precious kizage in the boiling svik and all would be owped. But I didn’t think of mentioning “Jabberwocky,” Lewis Carroll’s amazing nonsense poem from Through the Looking Glass. The poem is full of action that’s understandable and exciting and words that either have no meaning or an elusive meaning that we can almost grasp but not quite. If you don’t know the poem, I recommend it and recommend that you read it aloud after you’ve read it to yourself a few times. Here’s the second stanza:

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”

Now for the main post. On April 1, 2011, bluekiwii wrote, …I don’t have a problem with linking a few scenes together, but instead, have a problem with how the scenes fit in the grand scheme of things–in the overall storyline. I would have no problem linking two scenes together, but linking 4 or more scenes together that are very different from each other to form a cohesive story–an overall theme–is far more difficult. Still the entry gave me some food for thought. Should writers have a clear picture of what the story will be about or should you flesh out each scene, edit them to form a cohesive whole, and think of possibilities as it goes along? Personally, I want to have a good picture of what type of story I want to create, instead of spontaneously making random scenes with the same characters.

No two writers write alike, and the only wrong way to write is not to write.

I write consecutively for the most part, start to finish. Occasionally I’ll see a scene glimmering in the near distance and write it. But even though I write in order, I don’t have a clear picture of the story as a whole. In the case of the mystery I’m struggling through right now, I know the it will be solved but have no clue as to how, nor have I figured out who the villain is. But I have a detailed image of a moment at the end that will put the source of the story problem away forever.

Does this murkiness make me worry? Yes.

Some of my books have been easier to steer through than others, but my process is generally to hack my way across a plot jungle. Occasionally I climb to higher ground, but – murdering the metaphor – usually I can’t see the forest for the trees.

Meanwhile, I’m writing tons of notes, asking myself plot questions, sometimes confusing myself even more, sometimes gaining understanding.

I’ve recently been able to frame the new mystery, Beloved Elodie (although this no longer seems a fitting title), in my mind as a quest, a simple story shape that I’ve used many times and that I’m hoping will help me now. Elodie’s quest is to discover a thief, and my job alternates between throwing up obstacles and helping her out.

If you can see your story this way, as a quest, my strategy may help you too. You may not know what the obstacles will be, but you don’t have to, you only have to know that you’ll need to create them and then solve them.

I read somewhere that if you can’t express your plot in a few sentences it’s not working. I don’t know if that’s true, but I’m sure that a simple story shape is easier to work with. I love simple story shapes, which may be why I go to fairytales for inspiration. The charm of a simple plot is that you can fool around, embroider, have a great time, and still rely on a straight course from start to finish. The occasions when I’ve understood the simplicity of my form have been my happiest writing experiences.

A quest is simple. Here’s another simple idea: Two characters hate each other, and the story is about their enmity and each one’s attempts to destroy the other. Maybe one character is bad and the other good, or maybe they’re both good or bad, or they’re both an ordinary complicated assortment of qualities. Three possibilities suggest themselves: one will defeat the other (a suspense story); both will be vanquished (a tragedy); they’ll come together and both triumph (a love story). Maybe this is a quest tale too, a double quest, one for each protagonist.

See if you can come up with simple story shapes you can use. Think of books you love and search for the simplicity. Hamlet can be seen as a quest for understanding, Pride and Prejudice a quest for balance. You can take these frameworks and adapt them. Probably you won’t have your hero addressed by his father’s ghost, but he could receive a mysterious communication about the death of a loved one. You can bring in false friends and true and a dastardly deed by characters who seem above reproach.

However, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the scene approach bluekiwii asks about. I like books of linked short stories, the same characters, more or less, appearing in each story. Some characters grow and change, some remain the same. There’s no overall climax but there’s drama in each story. I come to care about the important characters. The end doesn’t have to nail everything down, just has to make me feel I’ve traveled with these people and we’ve had an interesting time together.

There may be another way to look at your scenes, other than as linked short stories. If you have a bunch of scenes that don’t line up, hunt for common themes. See if the conflicts repeat. Consider what your characters want. Is there conflict in their desires? If Quinn gets what he wants, will Wendy lose out? Who from all the scenes can be your main characters?

Try writing a short summary of each scene on an index card then spread them out somewhere. Move them around. Do they fall into a natural order? Does one suggest itself as a beginning? One as the end or, if not the absolute end, as coming late in the overall story? When you think about the characters, do you see threads? Can you find a simple story shape?

You can even bring in scenes from some of your other stories that haven’t worked out but seem like they might connect thematically to the new one. Edgar in your old story can turn into Quinn with a few personality adjustments.

Not that I’ve tried it, but this seems like a wonderful way to write a book.

Some prompts courtesy of Lewis Carroll:

∙    Alice In Wonderland is beloved by many but not me, and if you adore it this prompt may not be for you. In my opinion, Alice’s actions are random. She’s curious but never concerned. She has no skin in the game, which I believe makes it a book with plot problems. So write a scene for Alice, could be a new beginning for the novel or come from a later point, that gives her a problem and a reason to do what she does. Or choose another character and make him or her the main character of a story or a novel.

∙    Reread “Jabberwocky.” There’s a simple story shape if I’ve ever seen one. Flesh it out with detail. What’s the relationship between the narrator and his (her?) son? What’s at stake in the battle? Develop other characters. Turn it into a novel if you like.

∙    From last week, incorporate nonsense words into a paragraph or a poem. Max out on the made-up words while still letting the reader gain a sense of what’s going on. If you try a poem, remember that rhyming is a snap with nonsense words. Then, if you feel like it, post your results here. I’d love to see them.

Have fun and save what you write!

22 Responses on “The Scene-ic Route”

  1. Grace says:

    The last prompt sounds fun, I might have to try it. I am in awe of Dr. Seuss. He is positively great with making up nonsense words, and made-up things and places and somehow making them all rhyme and all make sense- the man was a genius. 🙂

    When I get an idea it often doesn't fall into place in order. I almost always come up with the end and the beginning first with no idea how to connect them. It takes a lot of time and imagining until I can get a plot coherent enough to begin sorting out, but I guess that's just how my mind works. 🙂

    I heard somewhere once that there are no completely original plots in the world. That each story told always has similarities or a basic plot structure/form that follows another story already out there. And I guess that's kinda true, people have been telling stories for thousands of years, and some ideas have been repeated. But I guess the reason that the ocean of stories never runs dry is because each writer has unique thoughts, style, ideas, and outlooks on the world…

    Thanks for the post, Ms. Levine. 🙂

  2. Sophie says:

    "When she heard the boren cry, Xalina yanked the graith and her laedran kicked into the air with a hreeming shriek. 'Twas sheer akina to be up here again, with the nakren winds in her hair, far above datahl and free of all hurreki."

    I didn't want to take up too much space (I needed to leave some room for raving about this post), so I put the rest of what I have on my “C’est La Vie” if anyone wants to see it.

    But what a great post! Writing and arranging scenes is one of my favorite parts of writing itself. I like to think of it as arranging scenes in film, though thankfully writers can just create more “footage” if we find ourselves lacking.

    I’m a big fan of the notion that there’s one great body of story that all other stories draw from, but my all-time favorite metaphor must be J.R.R. Tolkien’s. He compared story-writing to a huge soup pot, where all sorts of “ingredients” (experience, old tales, facts, discoveries) get tossed in and then bubble to the top in innumerable combinations, and no two combinations are alike.

    So much for “not too much space.” But thanks for the post, Ms. Levine!

  3. marveloustales says:

    I love thinking about whether a novel is better as one continuous story, or a series of stories. I've definitely loved books of both kinds. The novel I'm working on is something in between–definitely a series of stories, but they do build toward an eventual climax.

    I also like the idea of viewing it as a quest–and as an author, alternately helping or hindering. I love all the great metaphors on this blog that help make sense of the writing process! 🙂

  5. Clara Warford says:

    Corlina garzumbled through the morple woods on her fruugal, with the fearfous jurlinka jimmliking after her. If she didn't rexrenzious to the outer durkria, she would be sold to the Krinian King of Hanluka, who took people and wonxpitted them.

  7. welliewalks says:

    Thanks so much for this post- the beginning especially. It pretty much was an answer the my question from the last post. Thanks so much for that. I love the index card idea. It sounds really appealing because it's easy to change the scenes around and see how the fit in different places. Thanks!
    @Grace- I often know a glimmer of the end and beginning but have no idea how to connect them. I'm dealing with that now and it has been slightly annoying but interesting too.
    @ Clara and Sophie- Love them!

  8. maybeawriter says:

    What's driving me nutty is that I barely have any scenes for my main story, and the one or two I have are no longer completely relevant to my story. I think my problem is that my storyline keeps changing in notes, conversations and deep thoughts. Not that a changing storyline is a problem, but it’s almost changing too fast. And now I had this new, completely story-changing idea. And now my story is shattered and I have no idea how to put it back together and make something from it, something that makes sense and somehow involves my oldest ideas. Maybe I just have trouble letting go of my old storyline. And maybe I fear the blank nothingness of the unknown, of the ever-changing story where nothing is sure, nothing set in stone, nothing to keep this story, well, this story. If I change too much, is it still the same story, or something new and unfamiliar?

  9. April says:

    maybeawriter, sounds like a good ol' *cough*nasty*cough* case of "start over." Keep your notes and/or what you've written so far of the old storyline, but start over with your new ideas. That way you can go back to the old if you want, but your new idea has a chance to grow its own identity.

    Gail, as for your last prompt, it reminded me of a poem I wrote for a poetry class I took about five years ago. I'd write it a little differently now, but here it is as I wrote it then. The nonsense words we were required to use (but in any context we could imagine) were: Vabby, norntic, glessed, strape, and arnge.

    “As if I haven’t vabbied enough,” said the man
    with the red beard and the head of white hair.
    “The norntic way these young hoodlums can
    play is as glessed as a newborn’s bum.”
    He snorted into his sleeve
    as he leaned back into his chair.
    “I oughta take some strape to ‘em,” he heaved
    before settling down. He searched for gum
    in his flannel pockets to no luck before
    he cursed: “Arnge!” and then “What do I care?”
    and cocked his head back to snore.

  11. gailcarsonlevine says:

    From Maddie on my website–Hello again!!! 😀 I can't figure out how 2 post on your blog,so I'm posting here!! 😉

    With a zop & zang from the oodledang,
    Herisha's julut went gat-zlut.
    "Oh dear" she yelled with utter felled
    "My shwuld is gone for good."
    :-D;-):-P
    In other matters,I keep on getting very vivid "glimpses" of stories,but I don't know anything about the characters or plot,besides what is in the "glimpses". Can you help me with this? I think that I can probaly start working on a story if I can get past this.
    Also,I had a dream a few months ago,& since I wrote it down,I'm thinking about baseing a story off it. Do you have any suggestions?
    Thanks again!!! 😀

    Maddie–Fun poem! I'm adding your question to my list, but it will take me a while to get to it, so please be patient.

    Maybeawriter–I'm adding your question too.

  12. welliewalks says:

    @Maddie- It may be a good idea to write your glimpses out and then, if you feel inspired, write from there. Or just write whatever comes to mind after writing your glimpses. Hope this helps!

  13. Sophie says:

    @Maddie: If your dream had anything weird in it, you could try to generate a story by writing out the dream and then asking yourself questions about it, like why someone did this, or why people were standing where they were. This actually also might work with your "glimpses", or with times when you might have an interesting first line but nothing after.

  14. Agnes says:

    When I write a story it the writing process goes like this. I have an idea, so I think about it and act it out until my plot has a basic shape. Then I start writing it down , my problem is that my descriptions get way too long . How can I stop this?

  16. gailcarsonlevine says:

    From Savanna on my website: dear Mrs.Levine

    i know that this is going to sound a bit strange but i wanted to get a writers opinion and you have more imagination then any other adult i know.
    you see i saw one of my old friends at a reunion and look back into elementary school i realized that i have lost some of that since of imagination and that i miss that feeling. again i know it sounds crazy but i want to know how do you keep your wonder of imagination going. please let me know what you think this has made me realize that i stopped writing my favorite novel (that has been going on since the 6th grade), in over 6 months.

    Savanna–Interesting question. I'm adding it to my list.

  17. bluekiwii says:

    thanks miss levine! this post has been really helpful.

    I've been having trouble posting. Can anyone write the link to where else you can post the questions? I forgot where Ms. Levine wrote it.

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