Requiem for a Control Freak








Several weeks ago, one of my characters woke me up. I had been wrestling with a plot problem in my WIP and this character arrived in my subconscious gloaming with a startling suggestion: Kill her. I immediately dismissed the thought, and tucked her back in. But over the next few days, the seed of that suggestion took root. Several days later, after considerable consternation, I pulled the trigger. Literally. But something else died in the process. My desire for TOTAL CONTROL over my story.


The writing community has developed a name for people like me. We are Plotters (which is a polite name for Control Freaks). We need to see where the story is going before we write it. We start with an end in mind and, come hell or high water, make sure we reach our destination. We pull up at the curb and tell our characters to "Get in, Sit Down, Hold On, and Shut Up." We are the sovereigns over our storyboard, our characters are predestined for the ends of our choosing.


If there is one type of writer I misunderstand, it's the SOTPs (Seat-of-the-Pants writers). These are the folks who have a basic idea and, well, just start writing. It's the equivalent of loading up the van and driving cross-country with no agenda. Who knows where you'll end up? And maybe that's the point. I'm sorry but I'm not going devote tens of thousands of words to a story without an end in sight. That's like a preacher taking the pulpit without notes, relying only on "the Spirit." To me, the SOTP writer's "spontaneity" is really just presumption and intellectual sloth.


Of course, there's some darned good SOTP'ers. Have you heard of Stephen King? In his book On Writing, he adds this to the debate:


I distrust plot for two reasons: first, because our lives are largely plotless, even when we add in all our reasonable precautions and careful planning; and second, because I believe plotting and the spontaneity of real creation aren't compatible. It's best that I be as clear about this as I can — I want you to understand that my basic belief about the making of stories is that they pretty much make themselves.


Ouch. To all us Control Freaks, King's suggestion that "plotting" and "the spontaneity of real creation aren't compatible" smacks of heresy. Is "real creation" only forged by the seat of one's pants? I'm guessing God had a plan BEFORE He started flinging planets into space. Call me a control freak, but before I put the keys in the ignition, I need to know where I am going.


The problem is, my characters are becoming back seat drivers.


In his book Lights! Camera! Fiction!, Alfie Thompson suggests a third category, the SIB: Somewhere in Between writer. This is "a hybrid of the two styles," a writer who gives herself room for spontaneity within the context of a plot. This is the driver who aims for the Ozarks, but allows detours along the way.


As writers, we thrive on "spontaneity" — flashes of inspiration that transcend us. But, for control freaks like me, we need a context, an anvil and workshop to hammer out the crudeness of those raw concepts. Like a campfire, most stories require a Spark as well as tending. Your baby may be an angel, but there will come a day when she needs a whupping. Likewise, this idea of "plotting loosely," I think, blends both of these worlds.


Of course, the Control Freak in me is scared about letting go of my story. What if we drive off a cliff or end up in Timbuktu surrounded by malnourished cannibals? Spontaneity can be dangerous, especially when you allow fictional characters to drive. Nevertheless, good stories have a way of driving themselves. Which means that even the Plotter, at some point, must learn to get out of the way.


So my second novel is almost finished, and so are my days as a Control Freak. Yes, I still have the keys (I'm not giving them up!) and the map is in the glove box. But if another character wakes me up and demands to be executed, this time, I will probably oblige.


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Published on March 28, 2011 07:37
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