{"id":1552,"date":"2021-10-20T09:03:15","date_gmt":"2021-10-20T13:03:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/?p=1552"},"modified":"2021-10-20T09:03:15","modified_gmt":"2021-10-20T13:03:15","slug":"the-pp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gailcarsonlevine.com\/blog\/2021\/10\/20\/the-pp\/","title":{"rendered":"The PP"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On October 19, 2020, Kit Kat Kitty wrote, I was wondering what everyone\u2019s plotting process is like? (For those of us that plot, of course.) I know I\u2019m a plotter (pantsing has never worked out for me), but I haven\u2019t quite figured out my plotting method, and I figured it might help to find out how everyone else does it and test out some different methods.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christie V Powell wrote back, I say this a lot, but I use KM Weiland\u2019s system, which she describes on her blog helpingwritersbecomeauthors. I write down the basic steps that I want, and then use it as an outline. Here\u2019s the brief overview I have (hopefully, my abbreviated version makes sense).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Act 1.A: Set up characters, motivations, world rules, Stakes, potential to win<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hook- inciting question<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Characteristic moment: introduce Main Character (MC)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ends with Inciting Incident: story is set in motion<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Act 1.B: Normal World<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ends with First Major Plot Point- MC commits to act<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Act 2.A:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reaction: MC scrambles to understand obstacles, gains skills and weapons<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

MC punished for Lie, moves closer to Want but further from Need<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ends in First Pinch Point: Reminder of BG, MC gains new clues<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Act 2.B:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ends at Midpoint: MC discovers the Truth, moves to proactive<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Act 2.C:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reactive: MC\u2019s reactions more informed, caught between Truth and Lie.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Truth is blatantly stated.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ends with Second Pinch Point: Reminds MC of Stakes<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Act 2.D:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

False Victory: MC renews attack on BG, seems to win<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ends in Third Plot Point: Low point, forces to confront the Lie, MC chooses Need over Want, death is often symbolized or used outright.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Act 3.A:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assembles characters\/props, Fulfills foreshadowing.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ends with Trigger: Up stakes, MC demonstrates change, caught between Truth and Lie. Subplots tied off.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Act 3.B<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climax: Confrontation between MC and BG. Lie vanquished.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climactic Moment: conflict resolved.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resolution: Tie off loose ends, show change, give preview of new life<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve seen several similar systems. Save the Cat (and Save the Cat Writes a Novel) is a popular one. Story Genius by Lisa Cron is another.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A year later (today\u201410\/4\/21), I asked Christie V Powell to define BG, and she wrote this: I used \u201cBG\u201d to stand for \u201cbad guy\u201d (the antagonist).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t know if this would help or just be overwhelming, but I did just write a new blog post that went into depth about my plotting method. It\u2019ll have more information, and hopefully spell things out a little better:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/thespectrabooks.blogspot.com\/2021\/10\/the-cvp-method-story-structure.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m sure Christie V Powell\u2019s method gives a writer security, which I\u2019d love to have, but I\u2019m part pantser, and we live on the edge. I hope my stories have rising action and a climax and falling action, but I don\u2019t think about those things, or I haven\u2019t so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I start with notes in which I jot down my thoughts about a possible story. Sometimes, just thinking brings me to find a knot I can\u2019t untangle, or can\u2019t untangle yet, so I drop the idea into a deep hole in my mind, where I hope it will simmer and untie itself (can take years). Many of my notes are questions, which I may answer or leave open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I write lists of possibilities for what may happen. Always, I search for an ending, because I can\u2019t start unless I have imagined the finish, which is where I part company with complete pantsers. I was a complete pantser until I got tired of getting horribly lost in book after book. So this is one strategy: We can think about how we want our story to resolve itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my notes, I often write about what my story looks like if I shape it as a quest based on either what my MC wants or needs or what terrible circumstance she\u2019s landed in. The Two Princesses of Bamarre<\/em> is a great example. I had intended to write a novelization of \u201cThe Twelve Dancing Princesses,\u201d but there were mysteries baked into the fairy tale that I couldn’t figure out, like why the dancing princes were enchanted. From somewhere along the way of attempting to write the story, I introduced a terrible disease. Eventually\u2014it didn\u2019t happen instantly\u2014I realized that a quest for its cure could be the heart of the story, which would be an original fairy tale, and I was able to write it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most or maybe all of my fiction can be expressed as a quest. My historical novel Dave at Night<\/em> is a quest for a home. Fairest<\/em> is Aza\u2019s quest for relief from her own dislike of her looks. Ogre Enchanted<\/em>, like Ella Enchanted<\/em>, is a quest for spell release. Sometimes, I don\u2019t see the quest until I finished writing. But we can be more intentional about our quest for a quest. That\u2019s another strategy: Express our plot as a quest and see if that helps it take shape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once we see the goal, we think about the impediments (like BGs) we can put in the way for our MC, and we can also decide what can help her. I bet you (not me) can use this quest structure to set up your rising actions, climaxes, and falling actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can write a one-page summary of our story as we envision it. If it were a fairy tale, we can ask ourselves, how would it go? (We don\u2019t need to be writing fantasy to do this. We\u2019re just going for a story shape.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lately, I write an actual outline, a short one, recording events I want to make happen. I just looked at my outline for Ogre Enchanted<\/em>, which can be called an outline, really, only by a partial pantser. It\u2019s full of questions that often aren\u2019t answered. Once I started writing the book, I mostly forgot about the outline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s another strategy. We can write a short outline reflecting how, at that moment, we want our story to go, but we don\u2019t have to attach ourselves to it with leg irons. Pure outliners, I think, change course too, but they fix the outline along with the story, so they can see how the shift affects everything that\u2019s to come. I rarely do that. Once I start writing, I follow my characters and what they do. Still, a corner of my brain is keeping an eye on the plot and remembering where I want to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Character is super important to me, but plot has primacy. I\u2019m a plot driven, rather than a character-driven writer. Alas, plot is harder for me than character is, which is why I like to use ancient stories\u2014like fairy tale, myth, or history\u2014as frameworks I can hang my plot on. Many writers do this, including Shakespeare!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suppose we want to write a love story, well, we have a trove of fairy tales at our disposal. Or say we want to write about poverty, we can use \u201cHansel and Gretel.\u201d If we want to bring to life the end of a civilization, we can read up on the fall of Rome in history or Troy in mythology. For self-deception, there\u2019s always \u201cThe Emperor\u2019s New Clothes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m hoping that my next novel will be a historical murder mystery about the death of a Jewish moneylender in 13th<\/sup> century England. I\u2019ve just started my research, and the conditions for Jews rich or poor back then were difficult and precarious. The question that I\u2019m asking myself is: What can I balance the sadness with\u2014what hope? what happiness?\u2014that will make this work as a book for kids? The question is an early step in my plotting process\u2014as an example of how I do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are four prompts. You may have seen them coming:<\/p>\n\n\n\n