Archive for the tag 'plot'

Finally, A Decision

amber September 23rd, 2008

I’ve been working on character sketches (before working on the full-blown character profile worksheets) for the last few days, having finally come to a decision on a plot. Which plot did I choose, you ask? Well, actually, neither of the previous post’s choices, because I’m irritating like that.

No.34 wrote Oct 2 2007:

A person is found dead; amongst his/her belongings a letter is found which says that if they are ever killed, suspect Main Character, who also happens to be this person’s worst enemy. The main character, however, definitely did not kill this person, despite numerous pieces of evidence to the contrary. See, the person committed suicide as a final act of revenge against the main character, and now it’s up to him, under constant scrutiny by the authorities, to exonerate himself.

Now, I’m not truly following this letter-for-letter, but I’ve got it in my head that I need to do a pretty much straight-up Mystery/Thriller this year… for the life of me, though, I can’t figure out why I feel this need. Mysteries need full-blown plotting and outlining done to really make them work, which I’ve got a bad track record with. I tend to be a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants writer, especially when it comes to Nano, but I want to try this, and want to make it worthwhile.

So, I’m working on these character sketches. I’ve got my four main characters (Hero, Heroine, Main Antagonist, and Antagonist/Catalyst - i.e., Dead Gal) with a paragraph for each so far, and I’ve got my basic setting. Once I get the character worksheets completed, I’ll start playing around with Holly Lisle’s Notecarding: Plotting Under Pressure to get my brain wrapped around what I want to happen, then I’ll try working out a pseudo-snowflake method to finish it up. I’m probably over-complicating this process, but I figure more Pre-Nano work the better if I want this to be anything remotely readable at the end of this.

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Trying to figure out a plot

amber September 14th, 2008

Consider this my inaugural Nano 2008 post. I probably should use this blog for all of my writing forays, but I tend to forget about it completely until around this time of year.

So, I’m having some serious issues figuring out a decent plot to use for Nano this year. I think I’ve gotten it down to two possible plots, thanks to the Adopt-A-Plot section of the Nanowrimo Forums, but I’m having a hard time choosing between them. Want to help me out?

Plot #1 - thanks to Mad_Hatter:

Wings. Takes place in modern day wherever. I was thinking a European city somewhere. A child is born with a pair of fabulous white wings. No explanation. Both parents are human. The catch? He can’t fly. They’re just… there. Fully movable and everything just… he can’t fly. As he grows, he’s never had to fend for himself, because really, who would turn away an angel? At least that’s what people perceive him to be. Ironically, I’d make him an atheist, probably pretty pessimistic, too. He just kind of wanders around. What kind of stories would he have? Maybe the book would end on a cliffhanger, literally, as he takes a leap of… faith? off a cliff. Does he finally fly?

and

Plot #2 - thanks to Meepster:

As a psychological study, a young psychologist puts an add in the paper saying he wants to form a “Superhero Team” (or something like that) for people who have special powers. His plan was to do tests on them- he figures anyone who responds will be crazy. So he is not prepared when a bunch of lonely people with some very special powers indeed show up at his door, wanting to be part of a team.

Can you see my conundrum? I really like both of the plots, and they’re really on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to writing. Which one do you think I should use?

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