Idea or Story

When I was on my MA there was a Royal Literary Fund Fellow attached to the department who could be consulted about writing matters.* Our RLF Fellow was an experienced novelist and I went to see her about the novel I was hoping to write while on the MA.

I outlined my idea: a group of university friends who go out to Kenya for the wedding of one of them. The novel would be about their relationships and shifting friendships. The RLF Fellow didn't look impressed. 'That's an idea, not a novel,' she said dismissively. 'Have you got anything else?'

Put on the spot I dragged up an idea from the back of my brain. 'I was thinking about a woman who has an affair, then ends it, and her former lover blackmails her,' I blurted out.

'Ah,' the RLF Fellow said. 'Now that's a novel.' The novel attracted questions: who was the woman, why was she tempted to have an affair, who was the lover, why did she end the affair, and so on. In answering them I would discover my novel, and the process of writing Adultery for Beginners was certainly easier as a result. Now, when I start writing a novel I play around with characters and situation until I find the questions. And then I answer them.

* The RLF Fellowship scheme has changed since then and concentrates on helping all students with literacy rather than literary endeavours.

Object Impossible

I settled down to watch Mission Impossible III with my son the other day, thinking it would be a nice bonding sort of thing to do. OK, so I haven't watched MI I or II but I hoped it wouldn't be too hard to keep up. I needn't have worried because There Is No Plot.

Somebody has taken an object called The Rabbit's Foot. It's never established what it is, why anyone wants it, who the baddies are or what they're going to do with it should they get their filthy mitts on it, but hey that didn't bother the film makers. Instead there's an awful lot of running around waving guns, gadgets, explosions, people looking at computer screens with narrowed eyes, fast cars and slinky women in dresses with no backs, but - Oops, they forgot the plot.

Well, actually they didn't. At the very end, someone says cheerfully, oh yes, what is it we were trying to do? and some one else equally cheerfully says, it doesn't matter and they all go off and live happily ever after. So the film makers knew all along there wasn't a plot and didn't care, even pointing it out in a post-modern ironic sort of way. Something similar happened in the most recent James Bond film: lots of big bangs, oil tankers going whoosh, Daniel Craig without a shirt, the usual - but there wasn't a story.

Stories are not collections of random events, they are linked and have meaning for the characters. Cinderella searches for love, and finds it. King Arthur learns that even the best can be betrayed by those closest to them. The third little pig learns that persistence and diligence pay off, and the first and second little pigs learn not to laugh at others. The Big Bad Wolf doesn't learn, and gets roasted down the chimney as a result.

When writing always go back to two questions - what does my character learn from these events, and how have things changed for them? That's your story.

Torture for Writers Part II

The thing of delight and enchantment that is your synopsis should be written after you have finished and polished your novel to the point where it will glitter in the slush pile like the Koh-i-Nor in gravel. There are three reasons for this:

First, you're hoping an agent will demand to see the rest on the strength of your initial submission so why start your relationship by disappointing them? (Especially when there's plenty of time to do that later on.)

Secondly, your novel is bound to change and evolve in the process of writing it, but should by some incredible chance you be taken on on the strength of the sample chapters and synopsis you're stuck with that story. It'll be like writing the rest in a straitjacket.

Thirdly, you (and they) need to know you have the stamina and discipline to write a whole novel. Unless you're a celebrity, of course, in which case the publishing pixies will be called out to assist your stumbling process. But that's another story.

So, you've written the novel. You are now going to write out the plot of your novel. This stage has three rules:

1 - It must be done from memory with NO consulting the mighty tome.
2 - Each sentence you write must start on a new line.
3 - Each sentence must start with the words 'And then...'

Following the three rules forces you to stick to the plot. You can't divert yourself into all the intricacies of the background or the setting because the sentences have to start with 'And then...' And because it's done by memory, and it's impossible for even the author to hold every twist and turn in their heads, you will concentrate on the more important plot points. And then...

And then, when you've done all that hard work, pick up a highlighter and mark out those key scenes which are the most important to the story. Mr Darcy's proposal to Elizabeth Bennett would be one, the Netherfield ball wouldn't. Frodo accepting the ring quest is, Shelob isn't, nor is Galadriel. It's tough playing Sophie's Choice with scenes but it has to be done.

And then, when you've done all that, your plot should be clearly defined. This, along with the work on theme and character, will be the basis for writing your synopsis into a wonderful piece of selling prose...tomorrow.