tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post3771138106775825092..comments2024-03-25T09:56:16.164+00:00Comments on An Awfully Big Blog Adventure: What versus How: chicken & egg or plotting duet? - by Rowena HouseUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-15414007240707710072022-08-02T16:25:34.341+01:002022-08-02T16:25:34.341+01:00Two years later (!) I've come to a different c...Two years later (!) I've come to a different conclusion. Rather than imposing a structure on the story as the author, consciously entertaining a reader, which led me up all sorts of convoluted paths, I've gone back to the basics of character-plot dynamics, letting my two protagonists' desires and personalities dictate how the story unfolds. I didn't know enough about them two years ago to 'trust' them with the story, so I tried plotting it apart from them. Now, plot seems less a what/how connundrum and more a question of who/how/why. It's taken time, research and experimentation to reach a decision, and it might not be as radical or imaginative a solution as it could be, but for now that's the story I'm going to write. Rowena Housenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-22011708859956345212020-07-20T09:45:01.912+01:002020-07-20T09:45:01.912+01:00Just wanted to add my thanks to Lucy Van Smit who ...Just wanted to add my thanks to Lucy Van Smit who recommended Linda Aronson's 21st Century Screenwriting in response to the structural issues I raised in this post. Excellent suggestions about how to make logical thinking about Act Turning Points work with subconscious (lateral) creative processes. Only a third of the way into it & already energised and happily focused. Rowena Househttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11548957772863528477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-45495092217720370702020-07-15T18:19:01.449+01:002020-07-15T18:19:01.449+01:00Oh, sounds good. Will get ordering, Ally.Oh, sounds good. Will get ordering, Ally.Rowena Househttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11548957772863528477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-55941889987422207422020-07-15T18:11:07.066+01:002020-07-15T18:11:07.066+01:00Did you read 'The Poison Bed' by Elizabeth...Did you read 'The Poison Bed' by Elizabeth Fremantle? I think she handles the inner life v. the (literal) unravelling of a thrilling plot (which also happens to be set during the 17th century) very well : ) Food for thought if you haven't read it yet??Ally Sherrickhttp://www.allysherrick.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-12258753107318317232020-07-15T13:15:25.005+01:002020-07-15T13:15:25.005+01:00Thanks, Sue & Abbey. I don't like flashbac...Thanks, Sue & Abbey. I don't like flashbacks on the whole so I was surprised the new structure appealed. Not convinced but will write a detailed synopsis to test it out.<br /><br />And good old Aristotle. Amazing how embedded his ideas are in our craft.Rowena Househttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11548957772863528477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-42759499887345874602020-07-15T11:15:10.613+01:002020-07-15T11:15:10.613+01:00Your story structure would be very close to follow...Your story structure would be very close to following Aristotle's 3 unities of time, place and action (as per the Poetics) - with what occurs 'on stage' happening in 'real' time and events leading up to it told as explanations (or to a degree, flashbacks). So not a mad idea at all and, as often the case, the Ancient Greeks were there before us!Abbeybufohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09943340447141277258noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-71027936164958550602020-07-15T10:10:36.748+01:002020-07-15T10:10:36.748+01:00Interesting. I had in mind a structure very simila...Interesting. I had in mind a structure very similar to the one your subconscious has suggested to you for a book I wrote some years ago. It was to start quite close to the climactic point, and the rest of the story was to be told in flashbacks. I wrote the book, but the publisher really didn't like the flashbacks.<br /><br />I think I still prefer my original structure. But I'm not sure if I'm right or not. Maybe it would have been too confusing for young readers - or maybe the idea was okay, but I didn't write it well enough. And the second way did have advantages; it allowed me to be more expansive in writing about the lead-up to the main event.<br /><br />But as to your general point - generally speaking, I trust those flashes of intuition. They generally work far better for me than any amount of theorising. Then again - maybe you have to do the theorising to provide fertile ground for the intuition!Sue Purkisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09084528571944803477noreply@blogger.com