Seventh weekend with
"Weekend Novelist Writes a Mystery".
This weekend is a plot picture-diagram.
Two things the authors mentioned this time that should have come up before:
Name your scene cards. By naming each scene you'll be able to more easily call up the package of people, revelations, objects, emotions, the scene contains. This will be a big help to you when you're trying to get an overall sense of the flow of scenes or when you shuffle them about trying to see where a scene works best. The authors suggest having fun with the names, to create vivid connections between the title and the scene. The more vivid the title, the stronger the connection and picture it will call up for you.
Act length. Acts 1 and 3 are about the same length. Act 2 is about twice as long. Since Act 2 is divided by the midpoint, Act 1, Act 2 first part, Act 2 second part and Act 3 are all about the same length. If the book is about 300 pages, Act 1 will end around page 75, the midpoint will be page 150 and the beginning of Act 3 will be around page 225. At the moment this is important, but when you start writing, if you find yourself on page 120 with no sign of the plot point that should end Act 1, that will give you a clue that things need tightened up there during your first rewrite.
Plot PicturesSo far you've generated scenes that need to be in the story, stuff that there won't be a murder mystery without: discovering the body, confronting the killer, climaxes/crises to raise the drama and so on. You also have a cast of characters who need to enter and exit the book at various points. A plot picture can help you see if characters might be tripping over each other in the beginning and no where to be seen in the middle, or that an important clue doesn't get mentioned until the end of Act 2.
Draw a rising line across the page. This represents rising drama. Divide it into 4 equal parts: Act 1, Act 2 first part, Act 2 second part, Act 3. Label it with the vivid names that you came up with for the 6 key scenes: opening, plot point 1, midpoint, plot point 2, climax, and wrap-up.
Ed, a reader who is following along, shared this from the book. (Which is way more useful, though not as cute, as the rising line of cats ;-)
(click to enlarge)
Now indicate approximately where the major characters (killer, victim, sleuth, catalyst) enter for the first time (called "onstage"). This is where you will create a defining picture of each. Also note where they exit. (From their description it sounds like the authors mean exit a scene, but in their diagram they note when characters make permanent exits from the book, eg, die.)
Note, as each character enters, they bring with them their own agenda to the story. They each have something they want that may clash with what the sleuth wants or what other characters want. So, as each character enters, this is the chance for a new scene. A scene is where the immediate goal, the point of what ensues changes. That is, the sleuth may be finding out about the movements of the murder victim and then the murder victim's mother enters with her own agenda. That can signal a shift in the point of what follows. Create a vivid name for each of these scenes.
Then attach any minor characters you've created.
If time in the story is important, note that. Show the passage of hours, days, weeks, months, years. Whatever pace it is your story is unfolding in. If your sleuth is injured on day 1, you'll have a visual cue of how far into your story that will still be a factor.
If there's a particular object that's key to solving the murder, the authors suggest noting along the plot line where it surfaces (physically or in someone's recollections) throughout the story. Since their diagram was crowded, they put notes across the bottom, each lining up with the point where they will occur during the story.
Generating ScenesIf the diagram has gotten too full, the authors suggest creating a second one. Put the character entrances on and then note the scenes, with their vivid names, along the rising action line.
Make a scene card for each new scene you've created. Add any new information, such as how one scene connects to another, to any scene cards you created previously.
You're afraid that your name and personality just don't fit your writing style. To help sell your work, come up with a pseudonym and an alter ego for it.
Start with any movie title.
Replace one of the words with poop.
Yes, it's juvenile.
Yes, it's a lot of fun! :-)
Some examples:
These are real movie titles. Come up with a blurb for as many as time will allow.
According to the Chinese zodiac, Sunday began the Year of the Pig. Down below are the Chinese words for the 12 animals of the zodiac. Write a 12 line poem that tells what each animal is doing right this moment. You can begin each line with "At this moment ..." which can give it a chanting rhythm or just the first line. (Or, of course, whatever inspires you.)
Section I: Overused Plots and Storylines
Use the following words in a writing piece (prose or poetry). They're all real words but use them however you wish.
Write a love letter containing one or more of the following. Is the sender serious and think his compliments will be well received? Does the recipient appreciate them?
The challenge was for people to sum up their plots for their NaNoWriMo novels in one sentence. Here's a selection from "Return of the One Sentence Plot" folder at NaNoWriMo for those times when you want to write but need a jumpstart to get the ideas flowing.
Sixth weekend with "Weekend Novelist Writes a Mystery".
Use as many of the following words as you can to describe a feast. It could be fun to turn it into a fight. It could be a challenge to *not* make it a fight.
Choose one of the following as a writing prompt for a news story. (They're all real headlines gaffes.)
My fantasy characters often resort to saying "Gods" instead of "God" when they're frustrated. Yeah, it's lame. ;-) It's just substituting one word for another (and not a particularly clever word!) I always intend to find something better.
by R. V. Branham. Where else can you find how to say dumbass in Croatian (glup) or Mongolian (teneg)? The format is a bit odd -- the definitions of words are footnotes at the end of each entry -- but it's an even greater wealth of information than the Alternative Dictionaries (below). The footnotes can often be more interesting since there are several creative ways of expressing something straightforward, such as an uncircumcised penis is referred to as "Farmer's cock", "Cock with a turtleneck", and "Skin flute." The book is unabashedly NC-17.
Fifth weekend with The Weekend Novelist Writes a Mystery: The backstory.
List your five favorite comfort foods.
Except they're really from 2005 since apparently the City Newstand list is on hiatus. Fortunately, unlike newspaper news, tabloid news is practically timeless!
