 Drama: January 10, 2018 Issue [#8690] |
  Drama
This week: Keep That Plot Moving Edited by: Joy  
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“Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations.”
― Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing
“Writing fiction is the act of weaving a series of lies to arrive at a greater truth.”
― Khaled Hosseini
“Some days I feel more like a scribe than a creator. I will have the major points fleshed out, but there is always a turn or two that I didn't see coming, or which came earlier than I expected it to, or not at all...”
― J. Neven-Pugh
“A deus ex machina will never appear in real life so you best make other arrangements.”
― Marisha Pessl, Special Topics in Calamity Physics
“What if Cinderella had been sent to kill the prince?"
― J.C. Morrows, A Reluctant Assassin
Hello, I am Joy , this week's drama editor. This issue is about improving our stories through moving the plot along wisely.
Thank you for reading our newsletters and for supplying the editors with feedback and encouragement.
Note: In the editorial, I refer to third person singular as he, to also mean the female gender, because I don't like to use they or he/she.
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Welcome to the Drama newsletter
What do you think it means when people tell you to move the plot? Is moving the plot changing the plot or is it thickening the plot?
The way I see it, if you change the plot, you change the story you wanted to tell in the first place. The phrase ‘thickening the plot,’ on the other hand, may mean trying to make the plot more complicated; therefore, that isn’t the entire solution because some wonderful stories exist with the simplest of plots, some of which are award winners.
I think, it may be a bit of both. Still, I would not go for too much of either, if I have a decent premise and possibly a good outline.
Moving the plot, to me, has to do with the scenes since scenes are the components that make up the plot. This means we need to make the scenes as interesting and dramatic as possible and not get too hung-up on exposition.
One way to determine if a scene is working or not is to look at its structure. Does the scene have a central character, a beginning, a middle, and an end, which flows smoothly into the following scene?
After that, the next question to ask can be, is the goal or the conflict missing in this scene? Each scene should have the conflict or the goal of the story in its center or, at least, should refer to it in some way. This not only progresses the plot but also adds a unity to the story.
If you are writing a one-or-two-scene story, the questions to ask of the scenes can be:
1. What is main character trying to do?
2. What is keeping him from doing that or what is helping him along?
3. What happens if he fails or wins?
These three questions might be asked when putting together a premise for a larger work, also.
Then, if you are writing a novel, which usually has numerous scenes, it is a good idea to jot down a few points, for your own information, before you even put down the first word. This will give you a chart to navigate by and it will also give you enough leeway to change things a bit as you go along.
• detailed character sketches of the primary characters and the changes that will happen to them or in them as all characters need problems and reasons to solve them
• when or where to create the conflict and show the characters’ motivations
• the ins and outs of the main plot and the subplots
• the backstory
Other ideas that make the story exciting and dramatic are:
• Don’t start with the backstory or a long exposition. An exception to this is when you are writing a fantasy or sci-fi story and you want to introduce that imaginary world to the readers first. Even then, insert action and dialogue in the backstory or introduction.
• Start a novel with something meaningful that happens, which points to or mentions the central problem or the conflict in the plot.
• Always show motivation and make the characters fight for their goals. Just don’t make it easy for them to achieve those goals.
• If you can, just before the climax, make things impossible or very difficult for the protagonist.
• Interspace intensely dramatic scenes with quieter ones.
While making sure of all of the above, to attach more momentum and tension to an otherwise slow story, a few strategic ideas to add interest to a story may be:
1. Include a daring and impulsive trip, trek, or voyage.
2. Have a character rebel against fundamental cultural rules.
3. Have a character experience shame.
4. Give a character charge over a big and difficult undertaking and pressure him to not mess up.
5. Add an abuse of an innocent character who turns to acts of revenge.
6. Have a character, out of arrogance or stupidity, destroy something of value with dire consequences.
7. Have a character breach a confidence or cover up a mistake or a crime.
8. Make a wish come true.
9. Add a sage as another 'helping' character that may be sassy or wise like Yoda or Obi-Wan Kenobi who speaks his mind.
10. Add a betrayal, as in a marriage or any kind of relationship, a business scam, or a deception.
11. Have an accident, a house fire, a plane or shipwreck, or a great loss of something that can’t be won back.
12. Torment a character’s conscience and delay his salvation.
13. Have someone sell out his integrity, his worldly goods, or his love of another person or persons while trying to suppress his conscience.
14. Create a ghost, something supernatural, or out of the ordinary.
15. Have someone suffer as he tries to justify his loyalty to another person of a shady character who doesn’t deserve that loyalty.
Wishing you much success for all your stories in every way in 2018 and always…
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 This Issue's Tip: Give your character a social mask that isn't the same as his or her genuine self.
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Feedback for "Writing Solid Descriptions That Deliver"
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THANKFUL SONALI Library Class! 
I have trouble with descriptions, particularly the physical descriptions of people. My reviewers invariably wind up asking me -- what did he / she look like?
This newsletter is going to help me in my future writing!
Thank you.
Thanks for the feedback. I am glad the NL can help.
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Quick-Quill 
This is a very good NL. Today's readers aren't the readers of yesteryear where books were the only way people were able to travel outside their own circle. 2 hour movies and 1 hour TV shows are all action and character development so the watcher will tune in again to watch what happens next. Using setting and description as part of the moving story grabs the reader so they see and feel what the character does at the same time. Great work.
Thank you.
That is exactly why some of us prefer reading books to movies and TV.
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