Barbara Eberhard's Blog - Posts Tagged "plot"
Getting Back To It
I was on vacation last weekend, and I didn't get a chance to write at all. And yesterday, although Saturday, was a working day (today, too, in part, but that's a whole other blog). So, today - Sunday - as I wrote again, I had to remind myself where I was.
And I had to revisit a decision - now that I'm getting toward the end of writing - that I had made 2-1/2 books ago.
That's the thing about taking a day or two away. It gives you some new perspective. I had been pushing the story toward the direction I had set almost three years ago when I started writing.
But things had happened along the way. And some of that ending no longer made sense. It had been bothering me for a while. But I couldn't see what to do.
Until I had some time away. And I realized that there was another way to get to the same conclusion - getting the additional complication into the mix in a slightly different way, but a way that is in keeping with what has happened.
I could have continued down my original path. I could have made it work. But it would have been forcing the plot. I would have had to do one of the things I like least in writing - change one of the basic parameters under which I had been writing. And the "rules" of my fantasy world. That's what I had been struggling with. I was trying to find a way to keep my original idea in without violating any of the rules or subsequent plot points. And I just wasn't finding a way.
Until I abandoned that original plot point for another one. It accomplishes the same goal. But in a more elegant, less forced way.
Getting back to it - and revisiting it. Perspective gained.
And I had to revisit a decision - now that I'm getting toward the end of writing - that I had made 2-1/2 books ago.
That's the thing about taking a day or two away. It gives you some new perspective. I had been pushing the story toward the direction I had set almost three years ago when I started writing.
But things had happened along the way. And some of that ending no longer made sense. It had been bothering me for a while. But I couldn't see what to do.
Until I had some time away. And I realized that there was another way to get to the same conclusion - getting the additional complication into the mix in a slightly different way, but a way that is in keeping with what has happened.
I could have continued down my original path. I could have made it work. But it would have been forcing the plot. I would have had to do one of the things I like least in writing - change one of the basic parameters under which I had been writing. And the "rules" of my fantasy world. That's what I had been struggling with. I was trying to find a way to keep my original idea in without violating any of the rules or subsequent plot points. And I just wasn't finding a way.
Until I abandoned that original plot point for another one. It accomplishes the same goal. But in a more elegant, less forced way.
Getting back to it - and revisiting it. Perspective gained.
Book Length
Generally, speaking, I try get my book lengths to about 300-350 pages.
I'm not sure why that length appeals to me so, but it does. It makes a book feel like a book.
It's also not so long that people will be intimidated to read it. My first book is closer to 600 pages, and it's a commitment to read it. It's written in three parts, that makes it a little more digestible. But still, 600 pages is a lot.
I have a couple of shorter books, coming in around 200-250 pages. Those seem almost too short, to me. Part of the reason for that is that the software that we use to publish books on KDP doesn't like to put a spine on a skinny book. And a book without a spine just seems wrong.
My current novel crossed 100 pages today. That's great!
However, according to the outline, we're about halfway through. I just finished writing Chapter 13 of 25. So, if you extrapolate, that would mean this book would be in the 200-250 range.
That thought has been bugging me. As I said at the outset, I prefer my books to be 300-350 pages.
But I also know me. I've changed the original outline a couple of times already. So, it's entirely likely that the next 12 chapters will expand to 24. Or I'll go back and add a few more chapters in an earlier part of the book.
I'm sure it'll get to 300 pages in the end. But still, I can't help but be a little concerned.
The truly silly part of all this is that, of course, I'm writing the darned thing. I can change the writing to fit my needs, right? Well, mostly. I still have a vision of the characters and the plot. And I'm not going to distort that just to get to a certain page length.
So, let's hope the plot expands a bit, or I think of something to add earlier. Bound to happen.
I'm not sure why that length appeals to me so, but it does. It makes a book feel like a book.
It's also not so long that people will be intimidated to read it. My first book is closer to 600 pages, and it's a commitment to read it. It's written in three parts, that makes it a little more digestible. But still, 600 pages is a lot.
I have a couple of shorter books, coming in around 200-250 pages. Those seem almost too short, to me. Part of the reason for that is that the software that we use to publish books on KDP doesn't like to put a spine on a skinny book. And a book without a spine just seems wrong.
My current novel crossed 100 pages today. That's great!
However, according to the outline, we're about halfway through. I just finished writing Chapter 13 of 25. So, if you extrapolate, that would mean this book would be in the 200-250 range.
That thought has been bugging me. As I said at the outset, I prefer my books to be 300-350 pages.
But I also know me. I've changed the original outline a couple of times already. So, it's entirely likely that the next 12 chapters will expand to 24. Or I'll go back and add a few more chapters in an earlier part of the book.
I'm sure it'll get to 300 pages in the end. But still, I can't help but be a little concerned.
The truly silly part of all this is that, of course, I'm writing the darned thing. I can change the writing to fit my needs, right? Well, mostly. I still have a vision of the characters and the plot. And I'm not going to distort that just to get to a certain page length.
So, let's hope the plot expands a bit, or I think of something to add earlier. Bound to happen.
Changing Plot Lines?
I had my original vision for Rich People's Problems. I had had a dream, and I woke up with this idea.
And then as I was writing, things morphed, as they usually do.
But in this case, the morphing seems to have changed the original premise of the book.
The problem stems from the relationship between Anna and Andrew. As teenagers, they'd been attracted to each other. Bad things happened. They fell apart.
20 years later, Anna - who has been living a quiet life in NYC - is outed as a famous author and philanthropist. Her quiet life implodes. And she retreats to CO, where she grew up.
All good.
In the original outline, Anna goes to CO not only to get away from the craziness that has become her life in NYC, but also because Andrew has been famous his whole life. She wants to learn from him how to cope. Andrew grew up rich; he's always been in the public eye because of that. Though he lives on a ranch outside of Denver, his family often socializes in Denver. When Andrew was engaged in his 20s, it made all the papers. Then, after breaking off that engagement, he'd spent some time in Hollywood as a stuntman originally and then a small-time star. The papers loved his story, and he'd been on the cover of many magazines. Till it all became too much. And he left to go back to CO, to a quieter life again.
All good.
But in the morphed outline, Anna goes to CO and the ranch. But because of the thing that happened when they were teenagers, she doesn't want to see Andrew. In fact, she only goes to the ranch because he and his family aren't there. She goes to see Cecelia, her second mother, to be comforted - Anna's own mother is more practical than maternal.
Then the papers, who have been following Anna, find out about her being on the ranch, about her teenage passion with Andrew, about the rumors of her mother and the ranch owner - Andrew's father - having been a thing. And things just go from bad to worse.
Making these even harder is Anna's biological father - who never wanted much to do with Anna or her mother, but now does because she's rich. And he comes to the ranch, and he keeps the story alive, even while Anna, her mother Jennifer, Andrew, and his father Mitchell, are all trying to either let the story die or tell the truth.
The problem with all this animosity is that it's taking away from the original storyline of Anna going to see Andrew to learn how to be in the public eye. Maybe that's okay? I haven't quite figured it out yet.
And then as I was writing, things morphed, as they usually do.
But in this case, the morphing seems to have changed the original premise of the book.
The problem stems from the relationship between Anna and Andrew. As teenagers, they'd been attracted to each other. Bad things happened. They fell apart.
20 years later, Anna - who has been living a quiet life in NYC - is outed as a famous author and philanthropist. Her quiet life implodes. And she retreats to CO, where she grew up.
All good.
In the original outline, Anna goes to CO not only to get away from the craziness that has become her life in NYC, but also because Andrew has been famous his whole life. She wants to learn from him how to cope. Andrew grew up rich; he's always been in the public eye because of that. Though he lives on a ranch outside of Denver, his family often socializes in Denver. When Andrew was engaged in his 20s, it made all the papers. Then, after breaking off that engagement, he'd spent some time in Hollywood as a stuntman originally and then a small-time star. The papers loved his story, and he'd been on the cover of many magazines. Till it all became too much. And he left to go back to CO, to a quieter life again.
All good.
But in the morphed outline, Anna goes to CO and the ranch. But because of the thing that happened when they were teenagers, she doesn't want to see Andrew. In fact, she only goes to the ranch because he and his family aren't there. She goes to see Cecelia, her second mother, to be comforted - Anna's own mother is more practical than maternal.
Then the papers, who have been following Anna, find out about her being on the ranch, about her teenage passion with Andrew, about the rumors of her mother and the ranch owner - Andrew's father - having been a thing. And things just go from bad to worse.
Making these even harder is Anna's biological father - who never wanted much to do with Anna or her mother, but now does because she's rich. And he comes to the ranch, and he keeps the story alive, even while Anna, her mother Jennifer, Andrew, and his father Mitchell, are all trying to either let the story die or tell the truth.
The problem with all this animosity is that it's taking away from the original storyline of Anna going to see Andrew to learn how to be in the public eye. Maybe that's okay? I haven't quite figured it out yet.
Picking Up the Pieces
I spent the past couple of weeks focused on wrapping up the biography of my dad. I'm still waiting for comments from some of the folks I interviewed. But having heard from some of them, with no inputs, I'm guessing the others will likely do the same. So, I edited and put the finishing touches on that book. To be published in July.
This weekend, instead, I turned my attention back to my novel, Rich People's Problems.
When last I'd written in it, almost a month ago, I had realized that the major climax was happening on page 100. Much too early. I had gone back to several of the chapters and broken them up, with the intention of adding content to the earlier parts of the book, pushing the climax to later in the page count.
This three-day weekend has been full of doing just that. And I'm pleased to report that - finally! - the storyline is flowing more easily. Ironically, I wrote about the novelist protagonist having problems writing. Not so ironic, I guess, though she's nothing like I am, in real life. Fodder is fodder, after all.
Anyway, one of the main issues had been that, in my original dream, the relationship between Anna and Andrew, while distant in the recent past, had never been contentious. In my drafting of the novel, though, I had created a tension between them. Based on the Raggedy Ann taunt one of Andrew's friends had made when they were teenagers. It had been bothering me that I changed this crucial plot point from the situation in my dream, where Anna goes to Andrew specifically because she knows he can sympathize with negative publicity, having experienced it himself.
But when I was writing, and having come up with a title for the book, it just made more sense for Anna and Andrew to be at odds. And the childhood taunt also made sense, Anna being much poorer than the Johnsons and their friends.
But it was bugging me. It's not often that I have changed such a major part of the plot.
But today, the writing came together. And I like the new direction. So, whew.
And I added about 20 pages to the beginning of the book. Not sure the climax is far enough along yet. But things are better than they were.
This weekend, instead, I turned my attention back to my novel, Rich People's Problems.
When last I'd written in it, almost a month ago, I had realized that the major climax was happening on page 100. Much too early. I had gone back to several of the chapters and broken them up, with the intention of adding content to the earlier parts of the book, pushing the climax to later in the page count.
This three-day weekend has been full of doing just that. And I'm pleased to report that - finally! - the storyline is flowing more easily. Ironically, I wrote about the novelist protagonist having problems writing. Not so ironic, I guess, though she's nothing like I am, in real life. Fodder is fodder, after all.
Anyway, one of the main issues had been that, in my original dream, the relationship between Anna and Andrew, while distant in the recent past, had never been contentious. In my drafting of the novel, though, I had created a tension between them. Based on the Raggedy Ann taunt one of Andrew's friends had made when they were teenagers. It had been bothering me that I changed this crucial plot point from the situation in my dream, where Anna goes to Andrew specifically because she knows he can sympathize with negative publicity, having experienced it himself.
But when I was writing, and having come up with a title for the book, it just made more sense for Anna and Andrew to be at odds. And the childhood taunt also made sense, Anna being much poorer than the Johnsons and their friends.
But it was bugging me. It's not often that I have changed such a major part of the plot.
But today, the writing came together. And I like the new direction. So, whew.
And I added about 20 pages to the beginning of the book. Not sure the climax is far enough along yet. But things are better than they were.
Back to Fiction
Now that I'm only writing one book at a time, it's been going a little smoother. At least it did today.
Last night, as I was settling into sleep, I had an idea. Or rather a series of ideas about a fight between my two main characters in Rich People's Problems and how the resolution of it would bring them to resolving all the underlying tension they've had between them the whole book. It felt like resolution of my challenges, as well.
It also would solidify the book's subtitle: The Story of Raggedy Ann and Andy. I wanted that subtitle to end up with a positive spin. And up to this point, it's been a source of contention.
I don't want to spoil the book by giving away too much. But suffice it to say, Anna and Andrew find their way to each other. As one would hope in this kind of novel.
Last night, as I was settling into sleep, I had an idea. Or rather a series of ideas about a fight between my two main characters in Rich People's Problems and how the resolution of it would bring them to resolving all the underlying tension they've had between them the whole book. It felt like resolution of my challenges, as well.
It also would solidify the book's subtitle: The Story of Raggedy Ann and Andy. I wanted that subtitle to end up with a positive spin. And up to this point, it's been a source of contention.
I don't want to spoil the book by giving away too much. But suffice it to say, Anna and Andrew find their way to each other. As one would hope in this kind of novel.
Resolution Begins
Today's writing starts the reconciliation of Anna and Andrew. They're finding their way to being together in the real world.
And that begins the resolution of the tensions of the book. The protagonists are talking to each other, rather than past each other.
It took some doing to get them to this point. I try to think about the hard conversations I would have had to have with my husband if we had been in similar circumstances. These two have a history that's fraught with complications. They lust after each other, sure. But that's not enough to build a solid foundation on, regardless of what the rom-coms like to portray.
In this case, there have been past mistakes that needed to be resolved. There were conversations that had happened that needed to be rewound or unwound, to get to the real truth behind the quips.
And the two protagonists had to see each other as the fully fledged people they are now, versus the children they had been.
They've had those hard conversations now. They've acknowledged their past pain. And they've started to figure out what the future would bring and the challenges they will face to make it reality.
Though there's one more complication before we have our happy ending.
And that begins the resolution of the tensions of the book. The protagonists are talking to each other, rather than past each other.
It took some doing to get them to this point. I try to think about the hard conversations I would have had to have with my husband if we had been in similar circumstances. These two have a history that's fraught with complications. They lust after each other, sure. But that's not enough to build a solid foundation on, regardless of what the rom-coms like to portray.
In this case, there have been past mistakes that needed to be resolved. There were conversations that had happened that needed to be rewound or unwound, to get to the real truth behind the quips.
And the two protagonists had to see each other as the fully fledged people they are now, versus the children they had been.
They've had those hard conversations now. They've acknowledged their past pain. And they've started to figure out what the future would bring and the challenges they will face to make it reality.
Though there's one more complication before we have our happy ending.
Day-To-Day Life
Novels aren't exactly about real day-to-day life. After all, real life can be pretty mundane.
But, in the course of any novel about people finding love and deciding to make a life together, I think it's important that they trying to get past the romance of new love, when we behave and do things we might not otherwise do, and get to the point of being truly themselves in a more "routine" life. So, that's what I'm trying to establish with my characters in today's chapter.
However, these are not people with ordinary lives - she's a world-famous author and he owns a beef ranch - and they don't live in the same place. Which means, by necessity, one of them is not going to "at home" wherever they are.
Most of the novel to this point has taken place on the Colorado ranch. That's where Andrew lives, grew up, and what he does for a living now that he's an adult.
This chapter moved the action back to New York City, which is where Anna is a novelist. She didn't grow up in NYC, but she has an apartment there and enjoys the energy of the city. She had been anonymous until the start of the novel, when her pseudonym was revealed to the world. So, back in New York, she has to get used to being recognized. And Andrew has to figure out how to just live vs. visiting NYC like a tourist.
Anna's got a lot going on with her books and other things. Andrew runs the ranch remotely, but also has some other things going on.
But it's the mundane living together that we get to see a bit more of, to convince us - and them - that there's a future.
But, in the course of any novel about people finding love and deciding to make a life together, I think it's important that they trying to get past the romance of new love, when we behave and do things we might not otherwise do, and get to the point of being truly themselves in a more "routine" life. So, that's what I'm trying to establish with my characters in today's chapter.
However, these are not people with ordinary lives - she's a world-famous author and he owns a beef ranch - and they don't live in the same place. Which means, by necessity, one of them is not going to "at home" wherever they are.
Most of the novel to this point has taken place on the Colorado ranch. That's where Andrew lives, grew up, and what he does for a living now that he's an adult.
This chapter moved the action back to New York City, which is where Anna is a novelist. She didn't grow up in NYC, but she has an apartment there and enjoys the energy of the city. She had been anonymous until the start of the novel, when her pseudonym was revealed to the world. So, back in New York, she has to get used to being recognized. And Andrew has to figure out how to just live vs. visiting NYC like a tourist.
Anna's got a lot going on with her books and other things. Andrew runs the ranch remotely, but also has some other things going on.
But it's the mundane living together that we get to see a bit more of, to convince us - and them - that there's a future.
