>>> Item number 34089 from WRITERS LOG9407D --- (85 records) ----- <<<
Date:         Sat, 23 Jul 1994 18:35:02 JST
Reply-To:     WRITERS <WRITERS@NDSUVM1.BITNET>
Sender:       WRITERS <WRITERS@NDSUVM1.BITNET>
From:         Mike Barker <barker@AEGIS.OR.JP>
Subject:      TECH:  Plotting Problems?

A quick list of common plot problems--and hints on how to fix 'em!
[note:  nearly every "problem" listed has also been used as the basis
for a story, so if you are deliberately doing it, be my guest...]

(the list of problems is roughly based on one provided by the SF&F
Writers' group--a snailmail version of a workshop).

1.  So What?
    - is the situation desperate enough (important enough?) to make the
reader care whether or not it is resolved?
    solution:  the situation has to be important to the characters and
the writer to be important to the readers.  raise the stakes, make sure
the character is solidly motivated, and try again.

    - is the situation too easily resolved?
    solution:  typically a problem of following a well-beaten path to
a solution, and not raising the stakes enough on the way to it.  Try
listing 10 unusual solutions--and pick a really strange one for your
story.  Go through the middle of the story and make sure there is plenty
depending on the resolution.

2.  Misunderstanding?
    - if the characters talked to each other, would the situation go away?
    solution:  this indicates that there is really no conflict.  try
listing five goals for each character, and picking ones that conflict.
Now build the situation around this real conflict.

3.  Contrived?
    - does the protagonist do something stupid, something totally
out-of-character, just to make the story happen?  (e.g. the twit has
just been told there's a homicidal maniac out in the swamp, so he
decides to take a midnight stroll through the swamp...without lantern or
other preparation of any sort?)
    solution:  really a failure to provide solid background and
motivation.  your character can do anything--but you have to let the
reader know why they are being so idiotic.  instead of just deciding to
take a stroll, add that Jane, beloved kitten of his mother, has been
staked out in the middle of the swamp by the local nitwit... and then
let him dash out on a quest to save Jane from pneumonia.  Let him carry
a lantern and so on, and lose them on the way.

4.  Missed the Starting Gun?
    - does the story start too late, so that the writer has to pack too
much background in or the reader will be totally lost?
    - does the story start too early, so that the writer provides pages
and pages for the reader to wade through before getting to the story?
    solution:  look for the important "moment of change" that triggers
the rest of the plot and try to start there.

5.  Holes in the Fabric?
    - motivation lacking or not sensible?
    - reactions lacking or not sensible?
    - is the reasoning behind the resolution sensible and satisfying?
    - are the objectives, the situation, reasonable?
    solutions:  darn the missing threads.  fill in motivation,
reactions, etc. and make sure that what is going on is apparent to the
reader.

6.  Forced Solution?
    - does the "deus ex machina" swoop in and fix everything?
    - does the resolution depend on coincidence?  is it unconvincing,
obviously arranged by the author?
    solutions:  shoot the deus ex machina and make your protagonists
stand on their own hands.  get the dice out of the resolution(s) and
plant enough foreshadowing and other background earlier to make it
convincing.

7.  Off-Stage Action?
    - is most of the action "off-stage"?  does the POV character have to
be told most of what's happened?
    solution:  try another POV or move the action on-stage.

8.  Inactive, passive, helpless protagonist
    - does the protagonist do anything?
    solution:  if it ain't moving, shoot it and put it out of its
misery.  then get a protagonist who does something (right or wrong,
without movement it is real hard to write about...)

tink