On March 8, 2012, Lynn Weide wrote, In my novel, the same tropes/situations seem to come up all the time. For example, I have at least two instances of each of these: where the MC is listening in on someone else’s conversation to learn something crucial, or where she is chased by a “bad” guy, or where a character uses incriminating language to get someone else to confess something…You get my drift. These scenes feel so important and are good ways of advancing the plot, but I was wondering how much repetition of *basic* plot elements a reader is willing to accept and/or notice. Sometimes it feels almost impossible to make every situation unique in every way. Do you have any thoughts about this?
I’m guessing, but I imagine Lynn Weide’s repetitions happen in suspense stories with a mystery element. I’ve been grappling with the same problem in my mysteries, and I used the overhearing device in Beloved Elodie. In Elodie’s case she drinks a potion that enhances her senses of sight, hearing, and smell.
It’s hard to keep coming up with new ideas! For example, our hero, Mack, is in trouble. We may know Carmella is the villain and exactly what she’s plotting, but we can’t lay her plan bare or the fun will be over. Or we may not know, and we’re discovering along with Mack, and we have only the same means of investigation that he has, and they seem pitifully few. This is generally my plight; I’m in the dark along with my characters.
I’ve been watching the television series The Wire, definitely high school and above, excellent for the writing, the character development, the exploration of the effects of poverty. Anyway, the police unit the viewer cares about relies a lot on the use of wiretaps, hence the title of the series. When the detectives don’t have a wire they have to scramble for other ways to get information, and it isn’t easy. The poor writer is in the same bind as the police.
In fantasy although we can’t wiretap a phone, since there probably are no phones and no wires either, we can invent an equivalent. Terry Pratchett in his Discworld series (upper elementary, I’d guess, but check with a librarian) is a genius at coming up with nontechnological equivalents of our high-tech gizmos. So that’s one approach. For instance, Mack doesn’t have to overhear a conversation. He can find out from his pal, Prunella, the telepath. If you’re not writing fantasy, you can consider other ways of getting information; for example, your main can do an online search in newspaper archives.
Whenever you are on the verge of repeating a technique you’ve used before, try what I do: switch over to notes and list ten other ways your main can find out what he needs to know. For example, you might consider who else is likely to be privy to the info or where physically the answer might be discovered. Your ideas, of course, will be shaped by the conditions established in your story. In A Tale of Two Castles Elodie has to find out who poisoned the king. To help her I used story elements I’d already set up: she grew up on a farm and she loves to act and knows all the major plays in her world. The farm acquaints her with the common poisons and the tragedies with the exotic, expensive ones. She’s familiar with the symptoms of each and how quickly the poisons take effect.
I don’t feel like a master of the mystery, having written only two, but here are some devices I’ve either used or can think of to unravel a mystery. Please feel free to post your own suggestions on the blog.
∙ We can switch points of view. One character knows a little piece of the puzzle; another knows something else. Or Carmela can do some of the talking from her POV, and we can tantalize the reader with tidbits from her.
∙ The nature of the crime itself can lead to the criminal. If it involved great physical strength or, going the other way, tinyness, some suspects will be eliminated. (Or clever Carmela may use these limits sneakily to direct the investigation away from her.)
∙ We can give Mack particular abilities that help him figure things out, tailored to the situation of the story. And we can also handicap him in some ways to heighten tension.
∙ The nature of the victim can also lead to the perp. This is the obvious question asked by detectives: Who benefits? But there are more questions. Who hates this character? What made her be a victim? In A Tale of Two Castles the king is odious, but he’s most awful for one character in particular.
∙ Physical evidence of course, which we, in our wisdom, can plant. But we don’t want to make Mack’s job too easy.
As for readers, if we do recycle our methods, some may notice the repetition, some may not. But if we notice, we’ll probably feel more confident if we can expand our repertoire.
Regardless, we can comfort ourselves that there are other virtues beyond ingenuity. If the reader cares about our characters, if the writing is well-crafted, if the action zips along, if her emotions are captured, then she is likely to forgive a little repetition.
Lynn Weide’s instances of repetition seem significant. Overhearing is in a way what we do when we get lost in a story. We overhear events we’re not party to. And overhearing’s brother is self-incrimination. People reveal themselves without meaning to and without wanting to be found out, and we overhear their inadvertent admissions.
And the chase! The stuff of a zillion nightmares, possibly rising right out of the primordial soup, when we were chased by mastodons and saber-tooth tigers, oh, my! Naturally there’s power there and plenty of force to advance a plot.
Here are three prompts:
∙ Mack’s poodle has been kidnapped while Mack was at school and his parents were at work. The house has an alarm system which was not set off. A ransom note was left on the kitchen table. Write the investigation.
∙ I haven’t read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, but let’s invent our own take-off on Jane Austen’s masterpiece. Elizabeth’s sister Mary (the studious, pompous one) is found murdered. This is during Mr. Collins’s visit, so you have an additional character. The killer is one of Austen’s characters, and the detective is, naturally, Elizabeth. Write the scene in which Mary is discovered and plant a clue. If you like, keep writing.
∙ Veering wildly from Little Women, Beth, home alone, hears noises. Mack, now an escaped slave on the underground railroad has taken refuge in the house, and his slave owner, improbably named Carmela, of course, is on the way. Write what happens, and if a chase ensues, write it.
Have fun, and save what you write!
gailcarsonlevine says:
From the website: Hey, Gail! Great timing – I'm just embarking on a new novel that has mystery-ish tones to it, and I'm terrified I'll make the traditional clichés with it. I'm new to writing that type of story, so this post should help – a lot. I just bought WRITING MAGIC and can't wait to read it! (Another book, a lot like WRITING MAGIC (I've already read this one) is SPILLING INK, by Ann Mazer and Ellen Potter.) So, my question for today is how do you craft your fairy tale retellings to be so original? I mean, there's obviously strains of the old story in ELLA and FAIREST, but they don't whack you per the head screaming "I'M SNOW WHITE!" or "I'M CINDERELLA!" You have a way of adding your own plot and ideas to the traditional tale that makes it fully your own, and not predictable as to how Ella or Aza will save themselves. I'm having a lot of trouble with that in a lot of my stories. Also, what with school coming up and all (this is to everyone) how do I possibly juggle writing? I know I've done it before, but never all that well. I want serious progress in my novels, and I'm a little worried whether or not I'll be able to do that this year.
-Onceuponatime
E.S. Ivy says:
My daughters and I love the Olivia Kidney series by Potter – I'm going to order Spilling Ink! Thanks for the tip Onceuponatime.
Lark says:
I ABSOLUTELY love Spilling Ink!! I've found it to be one of the most helpful writing books I've read (aside from Writing Magic, of course 🙂 ).
gailcarsonlevine says:
Onceuponatime–I look for the parts in a fairy tale that don't make sense and expand and explain them. For example, in "Cinderella" it was why is she so obedient. In "Snow White" it was how crazy it is that the queen is concentrating on how her unborn child will look, and that skin as white as slow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as ebony are not attractive.
writeforfun says:
This post came at a really helpful time. My current book is sort of like one giant spy mission, with lots of mini-climaxes, and they were starting to repeat themselves. Thanks to your advice, I've already figured out how to fix some of them.
Unfortunately, I'm almost at the end, the final climax, and I don't know what to do. I had one idea, but even my extremely supportive brother said that it was too far out there. I've arrived at the part where I'd like to drop a bomb on all of my characters and end the book in simple, albeit unsatisfying, nuclear holocaust. Oh dear.
Onceuponatime – About juggling writing with school – sadly, I don't have an answer, but I can certainly commiserate. When I'm busy, half a page per week is really good for me. Finding time to write along with everything else can be a real challenge.
E.S. Ivy says:
A spy book sounds great! My son loves them but there aren't many for girls.
Not sure if this will help with the ending, but I have noticed (and probably seen in plot books) that often the final climax is a one on one confrontation between the villain and the hero, where the villain almost wins. (Often it seems he looses because he brags too much, giving the hero time to do something. :))
Amber Dawn says:
Mystery is so fun and unique! Thanks for the post.
Onceuponatime~ Thanks of the Spilling Ink! There is a book you might like reading. Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George. It has the same feel as Gail's books where it doesn't throw the fairy tale in your face!
As for writing while in school… I had the most challenging time with that. I still have it now that I am out of school. Most methods are un-recommended… 🙂 During NaNo some people push to the limits. (Just read the boards.) Any free time that isn't spent in homework is a great chance to at least jot down ideas. Recess, on the bus, lunch break, then in the evening if you can spare ten minutes in just free writing or journaling it is better than nothing. If you can't it isn't worth beating one's self up about it. Whatever can be spared is worth the effort. I'd suggest a mini-notebook or even little post-its!
My WIP was built on a series of scenes I wrote in my spare time at work. Lunch-breaks and such. They weren't written in order or anything. It was like I'd suddenly get a glimps of something from the tale and jot away until I couldn't anymore. This summer I've had some time off and have been typing like crazy! It is so neat to put everything together in order. Some of the detail is so condensed from my short periods of time that it is easy to expand. Making it a much better read.
I was homeschooled since my second year of second grade. I'd ask my mom one year and she let us do a writing course for English. That was incredible fun for me… For her… well let's just say she isn't a big fan of writing or ummm… reading over everything! 😀 I got some unique responses from her that could only better my writing though. It was totally worth it!
Writeforfun~ Spy stories are so great! Quite a challenge for me… I have one half written… Beginning and ending… Giant gap where the middle is supposed to be. Right now I shelved it but after my current WIP is finished it's rewrite, I plan to visit it again. It totally needed something I didn't have and I wanted to find me a deep whole to bury the whole thing in… Unfortunately that would have included the section of my brain where the story was still trying to develop. Thus the shelf and the idea went on a very far back corner of the burners where it couldn't interrupt my current flow!
It is super nice to have a supportive sibling to share struggles with… I have to lend mine out sometimes. :)My favorite move with a spy is when they have a partner who distracts the villain or whomever while the spy goes for the stuff they need. Or vise-versa. The suspense is grand!
writeforfun says:
Great advice about writing with a busy schedule!
E.S. Ivy says:
I'm looking for tips on mysteries so this is good timing. I split my original book into three and am now working on the second where there is a mystery. As I go back and make the original "middle" into a complete story arch I want to improve the mystery component, so I hope to put these tips to good use!
marveloustales says:
Very interesting tips here! Sometimes I think repetition can be used deliberately too. I particularly got caught on the idea that the MC learns information by eavesdropping. That makes me ask–is that in character? Is the MC someone who likes to lurk around trying to listen in on others? If so, maybe it shouldn't be twice, but three or four or five times, and sometimes she doesn't hear anything useful and another time she gets caught, and a couple of times she does hear something (but maybe she doesn't entirely trust it, because she hasn't heard helpful things before…) I suppose my point is that as long as the repetition has a purpose and is varied enough to keep it interesting, then it can be made effective.
writeforfun says:
Amber Dawn – thanks! And I love the whole distracting the villain while the hero works idea. I hope you don't mind if I use it!
E.S. Ivy – thanks for the advice! I may be able to do something like that with the ending, perhaps…I'll see what I can work out:) Definitely thanks for the suggestion!
Oh, and P.S., what kind of spy books does he like? I've tried to find some to read, but the few I could find on the internet were either for younger audiences or not at my library.
E.S. Ivy says:
The one I can remember is the IQ series by Roland Smith. It seems there's another one; I'll have to ask him.
Oh! The other one is Alex Rider. (If you ever doubt that covers are important… all I could remember about this was a couple of covers and that one was a crocodile or alligator. So I searched for "crocodile" on Amazon. Sure enough, one of the books is titled "Crocodile Tears"!)
writeforfun says:
Thanks!