THE STORY ARC AND THE EMOTIONAL ARC

Generally, a book has 3 plot points and a resolution. It sounds pretty simple, right? Well, that's not always the case.

Deciding on the definitive markers of a story is very difficult. It’s not unlike a song – you need to have build ups to the climax and to do that, there must be a range of tempo and emotion throughout. It’s all about timing, the right amount of scenes to create the most believable reading, the carefully selected dramatic elements. So much goes into making a plot point stick.

Of course, when I first started writing EMBRACE, I didn’t care about the plot points at all. How could I? The most important thing to do was first discover my characters. So it was a matter of just sitting down and starting to write. I gave myself a general scene and started putting people with names into it. Gradually I dressed them, gave a tone to the dialogue, and quietly as I was writing – the important stuff started to happen. The little quirks. The gestures. The sigh that could give away an inner thought. The glance that betrays a hidden feeling. The cast down eyes that deceived a character’s strength. It is only through writing and putting characters into scenes and conversation that these quirks can be discovered.

None of these original chapters ended up in the story of EMBRACE, but elements of them did and more importantly, it was in these chapters that I discovered Violet, Lincoln, Phoenix, Steph and Violet’s father, James.
Once I had my characters, plotting and research became a focus. So I wrote a general chapter breakdown, which concentrated on the positioning of my main plot points.

Then the real writing began.

About half way through I realized, I was working with more than one plot line. The story arc was there and happening the way I had planned, but what I didn’t realize was that the emotional arc had become just as important to me. It wasn’t just about injecting emotional scenes and circumstances for my characters, but for my heroine, Violet – her emotional story was a complete structure on its own. Sometimes it ran alongside the story arc, but more often than not, it was independent. The emotional arc had its own 3-point stages and resolution and I value it just as much as I value to the story arc. This story would not be anywhere near the same without the emotional plot and the fact that it runs out of line with the main story arc is what, in my opinion, gives more believability; Violet cannot be expected to come to terms with, or make, the big long term decisions at the very moment of the action climax. She can act, but the emotional recognition and devastation at what is happening hits her at different stages. (If that makes sense)

Now, as I have gone on to write more books in the series, the emotional arc has played front and center, its importance always on my mind. I think this is always there for authors of any genre, but I do believe that in YA there is a unique opportunity to focus on the emotional plot line since many coming of age characters are facing first-time questions of the heart, future, independence and of sacrifice. It is why I love YA so much.

As a writer, I will always approach a manuscript with an equal focus on the story arc and emotional arc. The two rely on each other too much to let one, or the other, slide.

I'm interested to see what everyone else thinks. Is the emotional arc as important to you as the story arc?