Fiction 101 - the Art of Plot Line Q & A

     Recently, I started watching the TV show Terra Nova on Netflix. It follows a futuristic family (22nd century) who are among many to travel back in time and establish a colony in the 'prehistoric' past. The show, though only one season long, has so far proven to be full of suspense, plot twists and dazzling eye candy shots of a beautiful world - and lots of dinosaurs (which is where it really gets fun).
   

   
     Now, this post isn't about the show or its actors or even the fact that I haven't noticed any plot holes thus far (a great discovery in this era of action-only-ditch-the-good-plot-part movies). It's about the main frustration I've felt in watching this show, one that I've noticed I also tend to feel in a lot of novels for teens and kids. And that frustration is simple: faulty plot line Q & A.

     What is Plot Line Q & A, you may ask? That, my friend, is the element of a novel that makes the reader HAVE to turn the next page, HAVE to read the next chapter, HAVE to finish the book tonight. It's not that difficult to incorporate, either. In fact, as most stories invent themselves in a writer's head (for those of you who aren't writers, stories have a tendency to do that) they develop their own system of Plot Line Q & A.

     This is because all good stories are based not on action but on a question - how is the main character going to fight this/survive/win the girl/figure this out/etc. The subsequent development of both character and plot are meant to advance that question to a definite and satisfying answer. How a writer develops the SUB questions, however (the questions that underlie the big, easy-to-see-one), is what will make the reader continue reading.

     In Terra Nova, the writers did an excellent job of asking lots of questions. How is the dad going to travel back with them? What is this Commander Taylor guy really doing here? Where did these strange markings come from? Who are the Sixers?

     The trouble was with answering them - or rather, with not answering them. The point to asking somebody a question and then giving a dramatic pause is to make them REALLY want to know what the answer is. Usually they start guessing; then they start to get antsy. Finally, they get impatient - and that's when you know you've waited too long. In Terra Nova, the writers didn't give the audience a chance to get to the antsy stage. In fact, I myself barely got to the guessing stage. They asked the questions in one episode and then answered them at the end or in the next episode. And it was really, REALLY disappointing not to get to guess the answers myself or be made to HAVE to watch the next episode so I could find out.

     Again, the questions were good ones, and they were asked subtly enough. To add to that, the action and drama surrounding the questions were such a good distraction that the audience could have gone on for several episodes being asked new questions without getting to the impatient stage about the first ones. But the writers didn't do that. They went ahead and answered them - through some rather cheesy plot exposition dialogue, too, I might add. And that's what spoiled it for me.

     So how do you get the Plot Line Q & A right without either disappointing your audience (answering too quickly) or driving them nuts (making them wade through 25 episodes of junk to find the answers)?

     That part just takes practice. And a little keen observation as you read books and watch TV. (Yes, believe it or not, TV and movies are an EXCELLENT way to learn how to and how not to develop plot line, characters, etc.)

     One good way to gauge how well you're doing with Q & A is to sit next to somebody while they read your manuscript and have them give you their honest opinion about it. (You can just have them read it and report back to you, but it's much funnier when you're sitting next to them.) When my sister-in-law was reading through my most recent manuscript for critiquing purposes, she did this part really well. Once every chapter at least, she'd look at me and say, "Wait - why is such and such happening?" Then (without fail) two or three sentences later, she'd go "Oooohhhh, I get it." At the end, she told me that she had noticed I had done a good job of asking a question and making the audience wait just the right amount of time before answering it - all while adding new questions to the pile.

     No, in case you're wondering, this is not another plug for my book or my own personal writing skills. It's simply that I thought of that incident as I was watching this TV show because I realized just how important it is to ask and answer the right questions at the right moments for the ultimate experience of suspense and intrigue.

     My litmus test for good Plot Line Q & A? Look at your manuscript and ask yourself the following questions. (The answers should be written down somewhere for you to look over as your edit.)

     1) Am I immediately answering all questions as I get to them, or am I leaving a few answers at least until later?

     2) Am I asking my questions directly (as in through dialogue or narrative) or am I just sort of leaving a situation unexplained, in which case the audience is asking the questions? (A good combination of both makes the audience feel like they're not being taken advantage of or having all the work done for them.)

     3) How many times have I asked this question, and do I need to take out a few references to it so the audience doesn't get tired of being asked and shut the book?

     4) Contrarily, has the audience been so distracted by subplots that they've already forgotten I asked this question, in which case do I need to a) ask it again or b) take out some distraction?

     5) Am I rushing to explain situations by having other characters talk about them early on (plot exposition dumps are REALLY annoying to a reader), or am I letting the situations explain themselves as the pieces of the puzzle start to come together?

     In the end, how you ask and answer questions is something only you have control over. But remember always - an audience appreciates good suspense, and Plot Line Q & A (done right) is how you get that. My challenge to you is to look over whatever you're writing now (seriously, take a break from the internet and look over that huge document sitting in the Microsoft Word file) and ask the questions listed. Then keep those questions in mind as you continue writing and see how it turns out. Have fun! And good luck.

     Sincerely,

          Yours Truly

Author's Bio 101

     Today I had to write an author's bio for the back of my book. I also had to take a picture to be sent in, which isn't an easy thing to do given that I am currently four months pregnant and starting to really look it. I'm all in the groove for writing at the moment, and decided that while in this groove I might as well write a blog post. And this is what I have to write about.
      Most people think an author's bio would be the least of their worries when it comes time to publish. Au contraire, mom ami! An author's bio is what they will live up to for the rest of their known life! It is that small glimpse into our world people all over the globe may read. And if it doesn't sound just right, it doesn't sound professional. Too long? Unprofessional. Too short? Why did you put it in there?! Too trite? You sound like a fourth-grader writing up an "all about me" paper for school.
     See? Not so simple after all.
     The best tip I can give is this: READ AUTHOR BIOS FROM NEW YORK BEST SELLERS! The answer to most questions of professional quality is simply to see how the professionals do it. And this is exactly what I did. The results were comforting. I can add in some personal, non-writing-related interests; and I don't have to put down the name of the city that I live in given that it might be changing soon. All in all, a very gratifying tour of the professional world, and one that makes me feel incredibly professional myself.
     How did it turn out? Well, buy the book when it comes out and you'll see!...Okay, maybe I just wrote this post to promote my book. Can you blame me?
     As always, I remain sincerely,
                                           Yours Truly

How to Get Your Audience Back in 5 Easy Steps

     My first novella is finished (as in actually, literally finished; no more writing on it allowed!) so I have naturally moved on to the next project. And this one will be considerably more involved than the last. Mainly because the original 'finished' version was well over 100,000 words instead of a mere 25,000. But it is also because there are a lot of important characters, complex backgrounds and interwoven subplots that are vital to the story. So this novel is, as I said, more involved. It will also, however, be more exciting as I begin the process of making it an interesting novel instead of just a mediocre novel, as it is now.
     I'm going to relay to you some of the fascinating things that I discovered as I reread the material and began outlining the changes I wanted to make in this new version. And these are things that I believe every writer should look at as they prepare to do any kind of rewrite.

1. Cut to the Chase
     The first chapter of the original version took my character from Scene 1 to Scene 2 in about 2,000+ words - the amount of words I now use to cover an entire first chapter, and it wasn't anywhere near done yet. It used up 1,000 of those words just to get around to introducing another character and including actual dialogue. And all of those 1,000 words were used to explain the situation the character found herself in.
     In the new version, my character broods for a grand 520 words (literally half that of the original) and spends less time explaining so that the audience, instead of being bored, has their curiosity aroused. Contrarily, I added over 100 words to the dialogue sequence - a part of the narrative that the audience actually would find interesting. My goal in this destroy-and-add-words binge? To skip all the gobblety-gook (as my grandmother would put it) and just tell the story.

2. Cut to the Important Characters
     Let's talk reality here. In real life, we meet up with dozens (even hundreds) of people that we'll never meet more than once or twice. We might politely exchange names; we might chat about school, work, the weather, even politics; we might say "see y'all soon". But we'll never actually see those people again. It's just how life works. So it makes sense to assume that to make a novel reflect real life, we have to have our main characters intermingle with at least a few nonessential characters here and there. The more, the merrier, right?
     Eh, WRONG! While unnamed nonessential characters do add a sense of reality to the novel (something important in a fantasy), they can become "those characters" that annoy the reader because we read about them once and never read about them again - especially if you already have two dozen essential characters floating around. The audience will never know whom they're supposed to keep track of. (And a well-laid-out glossary does NOT help in these instances!)
     The first step in this second step (pardon the repetition) is simple. Replace all nonessential personnel (particularly the named ones) with the minor characters your story is filled with. And voila! Your audience is instantly introduced to people they actually do have to keep track of, and they will inherently care more about what is going on in the story. If and when a nonessential could help you out a little (such as a random villager yelling "fire" or a bank teller being obnoxious), simply remember to keep them unnamed and their part in the story brief.

3. Cut the Narrative
     While briefly telling the audience what happened is important so we don't spend the whole six years in the dungeons, it can equally be frustrating if that's all the audience ever reads. For example, the first half of the original version of my novel spent well over 80% telling the audience what happened rather than letting them find out as the characters experienced it. It seemed important at the time; after all, nothing of significance was happening. Then I thought of something - if nothing of significance was happening, why am I boring my audience with this section?
     Easy way out - tell the audience. Challenging way - SHOW the audience. In this instance, it seems best if I try the challenging way so that my audience will actually want to get past the boring section of story to where the adventure REALLY begins. And that leads to Number Four...

4. Cut the In Between
     So the guy has to spend four years in college to get him to that final road trip across Europe. So what? Everybody has a dry spell in their life wherein nothing of importance happens. If we have to live through those spells, what makes us think we'd want to read about those spells? A writer's first instinct is often to "shorten" the boring sections by narrating what happens briefly. But if the time that elapses is long in any way, shape or form, the audience is going to fall asleep by paragraph two. We aren't being paid by the word like Charles Dickens, people! We can afford to - gasp - skip over the boring parts and launch right into the important stuff.
     "But what happens in the middle is what sets up the character for that road trip! It's essential to the story." Our whole lives are about us being set up for what takes place next. If we used that excuse every time, we never would get around to the actual ending, would we? The way to find a balance between not telling enough and telling way too much is to focus on the main conflict and its resolution. Not EVERYTHING that happened to this guy set him up for that road trip.
     Pick out the biggest, most memorable things that happened (even if he doesn't get how they all connect yet; let the audience figure that one out and they'll love you for the intrigue). Let the character experience them through dialogue and action rather than narrative. And go through it as briefly as possible.

5. Cut the Insights
     Speaking of the things that will happen to our characters...Our audience will know from the moment they pick up the book that something is going to happen to this character. So why bother them the whole way through by giving those "insights" that something is going to happen? They came for a surprise, not a teaser trailer!
     Sentences like "Little did she know what was inside" or "If he could only have known what was about to happen next" or (heaven help us) "this was going to change his life forever" have their place. Used sparsely (read: ONCE) they can add a hint of intrigue. It's when you use them at the end of every chapter (read: more than once) that the audience tires of them.
     Instead, make the audience ask the questions themselves throughout. And that will build up their curiosity. Answering those questions in a timely fashion will serve you much better than FINALLY telling the audience whatever it was that the character (duh!) didn't know.

     Well, that's it, folks - my five-steps-to-getting-your-audience-back lecture. I'll be using it a LOT as I write a new version of this old story. I hope you do, too, as you go through your own rewrites. Remember, your audience is a lot smarter than we authors give them credit for. Don't push them away by being boring and trite. Give them something that will make them share it with their friends (and pay good money to read the next one).

     Sincerely,
          Yours Truly