Peg Herring's Blog - Posts Tagged "plots"
The Stuff of Life
I get irritated by them: those things I have to do when I would rather be writing. Yesterday it was shopping for home improvement items. In the north woods, where we live, buying large ticket items means a one-hour drive to a town that has stores in it. Yes, I get to eat at the Chinese restaurant (we don't have one of those, either), but it is a wasted day...well, except for the new refrigerator, freezer, bathroom remodeling stuff and five t-shirts I found on sale in a rainbow of colors.
What I mean is, I didn't write a word on my WIP. So it should be chalked up as a wasted work day, right?
Wrong. On the way home, I'm half dozing, half watching the scenery go by (Don't be scared; I was NOT driving.) And suddenly the solution to a plot problem that had been bothering me for a week just appeared in my head. It was exactly like a knot had untied itself and let me go on with my story.
So maybe the stuff of life is there by design. Maybe the brain--at least, my brain--works better when it's on auto-pilot, when the conscious layer is distracted by toilets and energy-saver rebates.
What I mean is, I didn't write a word on my WIP. So it should be chalked up as a wasted work day, right?
Wrong. On the way home, I'm half dozing, half watching the scenery go by (Don't be scared; I was NOT driving.) And suddenly the solution to a plot problem that had been bothering me for a week just appeared in my head. It was exactly like a knot had untied itself and let me go on with my story.
So maybe the stuff of life is there by design. Maybe the brain--at least, my brain--works better when it's on auto-pilot, when the conscious layer is distracted by toilets and energy-saver rebates.
The "So What?" Story
History tells us that people of olden times listened to the same stories over and over. Within the story told around the fireside, there would be lots of repetition of familiar events and names, so each person felt a connection to the story.
With television, movies, and print books teeming through society, we have a situation that is similar, although not the same. Readers seem to have a yen for the same characters, even the same character types. If this season's TV offering has a detective with a personality disorder and it gets good ratings, count on more such characters in the future. Successful published books tend to be repetitious, too: the same plotlines over and over. A seasoned reader/watcher knows from early on what will happen. "Here's where the protag becomes conflicted because his father was undemonstrative and he wants to protect the kid whose father is undemonstrative."
I guess it's all right. We need entertainment, and we don't mind it being run-of-the-mill, at least most of the time, because it's only entertainment. But sometimes I long for classic tales, ones that tell, if not a different story, at least the same story differently. So much of what I read and watch leaves me with a "so what?" feeling. Did anyone change? Nope. They'll be back next week, next book, next sequel with the same story. Of course they'll move the location to Tel Aviv or Rio. People like that.
With television, movies, and print books teeming through society, we have a situation that is similar, although not the same. Readers seem to have a yen for the same characters, even the same character types. If this season's TV offering has a detective with a personality disorder and it gets good ratings, count on more such characters in the future. Successful published books tend to be repetitious, too: the same plotlines over and over. A seasoned reader/watcher knows from early on what will happen. "Here's where the protag becomes conflicted because his father was undemonstrative and he wants to protect the kid whose father is undemonstrative."
I guess it's all right. We need entertainment, and we don't mind it being run-of-the-mill, at least most of the time, because it's only entertainment. But sometimes I long for classic tales, ones that tell, if not a different story, at least the same story differently. So much of what I read and watch leaves me with a "so what?" feeling. Did anyone change? Nope. They'll be back next week, next book, next sequel with the same story. Of course they'll move the location to Tel Aviv or Rio. People like that.
Guest Blogger Lois Winston
Today I welcome Lois Winston, author of the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries. I've certainly HURT myself with a glue gun, but "deadly"? That's her title, and here's her story.
THE FINE ARE OF EAVESDROPPING
By Lois Winston
Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, my latest book and the first book in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries series, came out the beginning of January. Since its release, I’ve had many people ask me how I came up with the characters and plot for the book. Death by glue gun is certainly not an everyday occurrence, even within the world of amateur sleuth mysteries. Having lost count of all the times I’ve burned myself with a glue gun, the idea didn’t seem all that far-fetched to me. However, the questions got me thinking about the various ways I’ve come up with ideas for my books, and I thought I’d share one of them with you today.
Have you ever thought about how much time you spend waiting? Every day. We stand in line at the supermarket, the post office or motor vehicle, waiting to be waited on. We while away countless hours in doctor and dentist waiting rooms, waiting for someone to jab something cold and uncomfortable into our nether regions or perform root canal. And then we sit or lie there waiting for the procedure du jour to end. We freeze our butts off in the bleachers while our kids kick around a soccer ball or toss a football. We hang around the multiplex lobby, waiting for the previous movie to let out, then hunker down in our seats and wait some more for the next feature to begin. We sit like zombies every morning and evening as the train or bus carries us to and from work. We stand around waiting to be seated in restaurants, then wait for the waiter to take our order and bring our food.
I’ve put all that waiting to good use by eavesdropping. Who among us doesn’t love to eavesdrop? Don’t deny it. We all do it. Forget baseball. Eavesdropping is the national pastime. Since the onset of cell phones, we can eavesdrop with abandon. Try going anywhere without hearing someone’s personal phone conversation. You can’t. Whether you’re in a restaurant, on a train, in a hotel lobby, walking down the street, on line at the supermarket, or even in a public restroom, I guarantee there will be somebody nearby carrying on a highly personal phone conversation in a voice loud enough for everyone within a block’s radius to hear. There’s something about cell phones that makes people raise their voices. Conversations that would normally be held in hushed whispers are broadcast wirelessly like sports announcers booming play-by-play.
Over the last few years I have been privy to the most private details of total strangers, thanks to Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, and AT&T. All those conversations become fodder for characters and plots. Some have made their way into the pages of Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun. Some will be in Mop Doll Murders, the next book in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries series. And still more will be in future books. So next time you’re carrying on a personal phone conversation in a public setting, you might want to think about who could be listening. You may wind up in some author’s next book.
***
Lois Winston is an award-winning author and designer as well as an agent with the Ashley Grayson Literary Agency. Visit Lois at http://www.loiswinston.com and Anastasia at the Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog, http://www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com.
Buy Link for Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0738...
THE FINE ARE OF EAVESDROPPING
By Lois Winston
Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, my latest book and the first book in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries series, came out the beginning of January. Since its release, I’ve had many people ask me how I came up with the characters and plot for the book. Death by glue gun is certainly not an everyday occurrence, even within the world of amateur sleuth mysteries. Having lost count of all the times I’ve burned myself with a glue gun, the idea didn’t seem all that far-fetched to me. However, the questions got me thinking about the various ways I’ve come up with ideas for my books, and I thought I’d share one of them with you today.
Have you ever thought about how much time you spend waiting? Every day. We stand in line at the supermarket, the post office or motor vehicle, waiting to be waited on. We while away countless hours in doctor and dentist waiting rooms, waiting for someone to jab something cold and uncomfortable into our nether regions or perform root canal. And then we sit or lie there waiting for the procedure du jour to end. We freeze our butts off in the bleachers while our kids kick around a soccer ball or toss a football. We hang around the multiplex lobby, waiting for the previous movie to let out, then hunker down in our seats and wait some more for the next feature to begin. We sit like zombies every morning and evening as the train or bus carries us to and from work. We stand around waiting to be seated in restaurants, then wait for the waiter to take our order and bring our food.
I’ve put all that waiting to good use by eavesdropping. Who among us doesn’t love to eavesdrop? Don’t deny it. We all do it. Forget baseball. Eavesdropping is the national pastime. Since the onset of cell phones, we can eavesdrop with abandon. Try going anywhere without hearing someone’s personal phone conversation. You can’t. Whether you’re in a restaurant, on a train, in a hotel lobby, walking down the street, on line at the supermarket, or even in a public restroom, I guarantee there will be somebody nearby carrying on a highly personal phone conversation in a voice loud enough for everyone within a block’s radius to hear. There’s something about cell phones that makes people raise their voices. Conversations that would normally be held in hushed whispers are broadcast wirelessly like sports announcers booming play-by-play.
Over the last few years I have been privy to the most private details of total strangers, thanks to Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, and AT&T. All those conversations become fodder for characters and plots. Some have made their way into the pages of Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun. Some will be in Mop Doll Murders, the next book in the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries series. And still more will be in future books. So next time you’re carrying on a personal phone conversation in a public setting, you might want to think about who could be listening. You may wind up in some author’s next book.
***
Lois Winston is an award-winning author and designer as well as an agent with the Ashley Grayson Literary Agency. Visit Lois at http://www.loiswinston.com and Anastasia at the Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog, http://www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com.
Buy Link for Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0738...
Hackneyed Plots and Not So Much
They say there are only twenty or so. Plots can be boiled down to certain themes: coming of age, finding love, restoring justice, etc. The devil, as they say, is in the details.
Mysteries tend to be about restoring--or at least seeking--justice, so the reasons we choose and read certain mysteries will often relate to subthemes. Many like mysteries where they learn about a job, a craft, a way of life. I like some of that, too, but I also want some creativity in the way the protag looks for justice.
I just finished a book that was okay. There was a subtheme about a certain job/lifestyle, and there was lots of interesting info about how people operate in that setting. The mystery, however, was so trite as to be irritating, and the human interest part of the story so predictable that I was thinking, "Okay, in this chapter she's going to fight with her boyfriend again, so I'll just skip to the next one and get back to the story."
It's a problem with genre fiction, and the reason I seldom read romances. The reader knows how the story goes as well as the writer, so there isn't any tension.
On the other hand, there are mysteries (and romances, too) that break the mold and make the old search-for-justice theme new and interesting. Finished with (mostly skimming) the book mentioned above, I began a new book where I was pulled into the story right away. I don't know what's going to happen, but I want to know, because I care about the characters and the author has skillfully led me into their lives. I'm liking it a lot, though I'm only about ten chapters in.
You want to know what it is, don't you? It's called AN UNCERTAIN REFUGE by Carolyn Rose.
Now, I might come back next week and tell you I was disappointed in the ending--don't know, haven't got there yet. But I really won't mind, because I'm getting my money's worth along the way. Plots are indeed limited to certain themes, but a good author takes that theme and makes a worthwhile story of it.
And that's what I'm talking about!
Mysteries tend to be about restoring--or at least seeking--justice, so the reasons we choose and read certain mysteries will often relate to subthemes. Many like mysteries where they learn about a job, a craft, a way of life. I like some of that, too, but I also want some creativity in the way the protag looks for justice.
I just finished a book that was okay. There was a subtheme about a certain job/lifestyle, and there was lots of interesting info about how people operate in that setting. The mystery, however, was so trite as to be irritating, and the human interest part of the story so predictable that I was thinking, "Okay, in this chapter she's going to fight with her boyfriend again, so I'll just skip to the next one and get back to the story."
It's a problem with genre fiction, and the reason I seldom read romances. The reader knows how the story goes as well as the writer, so there isn't any tension.
On the other hand, there are mysteries (and romances, too) that break the mold and make the old search-for-justice theme new and interesting. Finished with (mostly skimming) the book mentioned above, I began a new book where I was pulled into the story right away. I don't know what's going to happen, but I want to know, because I care about the characters and the author has skillfully led me into their lives. I'm liking it a lot, though I'm only about ten chapters in.
You want to know what it is, don't you? It's called AN UNCERTAIN REFUGE by Carolyn Rose.
Now, I might come back next week and tell you I was disappointed in the ending--don't know, haven't got there yet. But I really won't mind, because I'm getting my money's worth along the way. Plots are indeed limited to certain themes, but a good author takes that theme and makes a worthwhile story of it.
And that's what I'm talking about!
