Choose Your Camp: How to Survive Plot Creation

Camp NaNoWriMo begins in April! In the spirit of friendly camp competition (and inspired by one of our favorite scenes in Scott Westerfeld’s Afterworlds), we asked our friends to Choose Your Camp. Lamar Giles, author of 2015 Edgar Award Nominee Fake ID, and Endangered, explains how to survive Camp Plot:

Hey there, campers! Gather ‘round the fire and admire this view of the stars. I’m Lamar, one of your Camp Plot Counselors and I’m going to walk you through how we do things here in PC. First, one really important housekeeping tip: If you see a big, moldy, zombie-ish dude with a machete and a totally out of place sports mask, you should run. Fast.

Just kidding.

Running won’t matter.

For those of you who stick with the group and don’t wander off into the woods never to be seen or heard from again, you’re going to learn about ways to plot, Camp NaNo style!

For me, plot comes first. Before character—because I get to know my characters as I write. Before setting—because, in a way, I like my setting to be a character I get to know, too. I write fast-paced stuff in a bunch of genres and I’m all about energy. Propulsion. Like those race cars that are part rocket and need a sideways parachute to slow ‘em down so they don’t break the space-time continuum. Except, screw that parachute.

On the subject of plot, John Irving says, “Know the story—as much of the story as you can possibly know, if not the whole story—before you commit yourself to the first paragraph.” 

On the flipside, one of my favorite writers that I stalk/admire, Stephen King, believes, “plotting and the spontaneity of real creation aren’t compatible.” 

I fall squarely in the middle of those two philosophies. If you’re interested in how that looks, here you go…

Know how to start your story

A loose concept will do. In my new book, Endangered, all I knew was that it started with a character looking at an enemy through a scope like a sniper. As I wrote the scene, I realized it wasn’t really a rifle scope, but a camera lens. And, even though it was a camera, not a gun, an assassination of sorts was still taking place. With much pain and effort, the rest of my photo vigilante thriller unspooled from there.

Know how to end your story

I rarely know anything about the middle of my books before I get there, but I typically have a rough idea of how I want the story to end—what I want to say. If you can recognize your finish line in the distance, then you can…

Get there in the most twisted way possible

It doesn’t matter if you start with something as familiar as boy meets girl and end with happily ever after, you can create something fresh, something subversive, something mind blowing by simply going off-road to get from beginning to end. 

Ignore the most obvious plot turns—which means you might toss your first, second, and third ideas at every point during the process. If that feels hard—almost impossible—you’re probably doing it right.

Embrace surprises

As you write that mysterious middle, revelations will come, and those revelations may lead you to alter that starting concept, or go to a different ending. It’s okay. Your story is probably better for it. Remember, screw that parachute.

That’s it for tonight Campers! There’s more, but, remember that machete guy I told you about, and that advice I gave about running?  

Well, I see him shambling right behind you. And I’m a lead-by-example kind of counselor. So, I’ll pick this up later with those of you who make it.
Write on!

Lamar Giles writes novels and short stories for teens and adults. He is the author of 2015 Edgar Award Nominee Fake ID, Endangered, and a third, currently untitled YA novel from HarperCollins, as well as the upcoming YA novel Overturned from Scholastic Press. Lamar Giles is a founding member of We Need Diverse Books. He resides in Virginia with his wife. Follow @LRGiles on Twitter.

Top photo background by Flickr user amalakar.