Plot Arc

Ideas, characters, scenes, all these things come fairly easily when I'm sitting down to write up an idea, but I struggle with plotting. Kind of problematic when you want to write a book.

I've already mentioned that I've been taking James Patterson's Master Class, finished it in fact, and my favorite section was the one on outlining. His outlines are so detailed that the book is basically done before he starts writing the novel. 

How I wish I would have have outlined the middle grade novel I've been toiling over before I ever started writing it. I'm quickly becoming an outline convert. I should have known better. After all, my background is in public relations and we usually draw up a plan before we start implementing any of the ideas. But like so much of the past, I failed to learn from it.

I've been trying to school myself on outlining and plotting. I not necessarily a perfectionist but I am competitive with myself. I don't like to have a weakness in an area that is important to me. 

I did find three short and helpful videos. The one at the top has seven little nuggets of plotting wisdom. Number seven spoke to me loudest. Basically, if at the end of your chapter, the story hasn't moved the MC's quest forward, then the chapter is a waste of space.

The one directly above is about cluster plotting. It's geared fro NaNoWriMo but still helpful all year long. I liked the "delicious bubbles" because it's a quick way to get your thoughts in an order and see them played out in one giant picture--like a storyboard for a movie. 

And the last video is about outlining in general--the why and a little of the how. 

If anyone else struggles with this, I hope something will help. If anyone else has good outlining tips also, please feel free to suggest them in the comments. And have a great weekend.

Rebuilding the Arc

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Freytags_pyramid.svg

I read an interesting post today about atypical story arcs, by Joyce Audy Zarins. Instead of the usual rise and fall (pictured above), some story arcs take on less traditional patterns, like the "X" shape arc in Bridge to Terabithia where Jesse and Leslie switch roles by the end. 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Heroesjourney.svg

I tend to follow the heroes journey arc the most, but I'm intrigued with the idea of using an arc as an integral part of the story rather than a plot mapping tool.

Joyce also mentioned the cyclical arc of Holes, by Louis Sachar, and how fitting that is to the title and development of the main character.

I started looking around for other ideas about arcs and ran across a lecture by Brandon Sanderson. He briefly talks about non-traditional arcs but then answers a student's question about collaboration, also an interesting topic and pertinent to a discussion on arcs. 

I'll leave this here for now. More on arcs later as I churn up additional research, but I'm currently enrolled in two writing courses that are keeping me busy, Mira Resiberg's The Craft and Business of Writing Children's Picture Books and Julie Hedlund's soon-to-be-released course on marketing for the authorpreneur. More on both of those later. 

I'm also churning away at my middle grade novel and revising a handful of picture book ideas I think have the most potential.  Between all that, I'm organizing a children's lit group in my new home as I did in my previous home. There is no SCBWI chapter here, but I'm trying to lay the ground work for establishing one. It's been a busy but fruitful transition. Hopefully I'll have more good news to share in the near future.

Happy writing.