Date: Fri, 20 Mar 1998 16:38:04 EST From: "as the meeting turns..." Subject: EXERCISE: Finishing Up: 20 Master Plots Based on the book "20 Master Plots (And How to Build Them)" by Ronald B. Tobias. ISBN 0-89879-595-8. Twenty plots. Some people will read through them and toss the whole thing aside. Others will try to use them as recipes. (p. 228) "As you fashion your plot, ask yourself how you want to go about it. There are two main ways that I know of. The first is to bulldoze your way through the work without ever looking back. _Get to the end and then worry whether or not you got it right_. Don't let intellectual concerns about plot get in the way of the emotional thrust of writing a book. Lots of writers work that way. They put full stock in the power of rewriting. Write it first and then figure out what's wrong with it...." "...This school says, _Know along the way what you're doing and where you're going_. ..." "Ask yourself which approach you would feel comfortable with. If you think that constantly applying the elements of plot will stunt your expression of ideas, just get it all on paper. If you know which plot you want (and that may change in the middle of writing your story as you become aware of other possibilities), read over the guidelines and see if they stick in the back of your mind while you write...." A final checklist: 1. In fifty words, what is the basic idea for your story? 2. What is the central aim of the story? State your answer as a question. For example, "Will Othello believe Iago about his wife?" 3. What is your protagonist's intent? (What does she want?) 4. What is your protagonist's motivation? (Why does she want what she is seeking?) 5. Who and/or what stands in the way of your protagonist? 6. What is your protagonist's plan of action to accomplish her intent? 7. What is the story's main conflict? Internal? External? 8. What is the nature of your protagonist's change during the course of the story? 9. Is your plot character-driven or action-driven? 10. What is the point of attack of the story? Where will you begin? 11. How do you plan to maintain tension throughout the story? 12. How does your protagonist complete the climax of the story? Okay? That's the end of Tobias' book, but it should be just the beginning of yours. Take a deep breath, and think about...a number from one to six? 1. "Writing has laws of perspective, of light and shade, just as painting does, or music. If you are born knowing them, fine. If not, learn them. Then rearrange the rules to suit yourself." Truman Capote, Interview, Writers at Work: First Series (1958) 2. "If a book comes from the heart, it will contrive to reach other hearts; all art and authorcraft are of small amount to that." Thomas Carlyle, On Heroes, Hero-Worship and the Heroic in History (1841), 2. 3. "The writer who loses his self-doubt, who gives way as he grows old to a sudden euphoria, to prolixity, should stop writing immediately: the time has come for him to lay aside his pen." Colette, "Lady of Letters," Earthly Paradise (1966), 4, ed. Robert Phelps 4. "Great authors are admirable in this respect: in every generation they make for disagreement. Through them we become aware of our differences." Andre Gide, "Third Imaginary Interview," Pretexts (1903), tr. Angelo P. Bertocci and others 5. "The last thing one settles in writing a book is what one should put in first." Pascal, Pensees (1670), 19, tr. W.F. Trotter 6. "There is no royal path to good writing; and such paths as do exist do not lead through neat critical gardens, various as they are, but through the jungles of self, the world, and of craft." Jessamyn West, Saturday Review, Sept. 21, 1957 [Quotes from The International Thesaurus of Quotations by Rhoda Thomas Tripp, ISBN 0-06-091382-7] A quote about writing, a checklist, and a longer series of exercises concerning the twenty plots... Still nothing comes to mind? Okay, pick a character, any character, just pick one that feels right to you. Call this one the protagonist. (Yes, write PRO at the top of the sheet.) Underneath that, make a list of five characteristics about this character. Their favorite color, whether they shave their underarms or not, their goal in life, whatever five things you think someone might want to know about this person. Go ahead and make your list, we'll wait. All done? Good, now do the same for the antagonist. Write ANT at the top, then list five things about that rascal, that scallion in a black hat, that...did I just say your character was an onion? nah, I meant rapscallion (onions from downtown?) Got that? Five things, we'll wait... Okay, you have a protagonist and an antagonist, each with five little characteristics listed, right? Add in the goal. Write down five things about that! Now, take your lists and consider a moment. What relationship does the first characteristic of the antagonist have to either the goal or the protagonist? Second? Keep going, making notes about how they complement or conflict... Focus on the conflict. That's almost always where a story lies. Can you imagine some way to show us the conflict? Then to show us what happens when... Let the little grey cells cogitate. Then WRITE! tink