The Review Club Forum Run away chrachters and runawa..

Anthony	Run away chrachters and runaway plots 17 Years Ago Right now I'm working on a chapter. What started out as a little 1500 word sidetrack in a chapter has blossomed to nearly 3k and it is still going. I've just come to the realization that if I don't stop now this chapter will come in at hefty 7000 words. I'm pushing well over 5000 now. My question is how do you avoid these sand traps of needless writing? How do you recognize these runaway characters and plots? How do you stop it before it begins? I know you guys have been as quite as church mice this week but if anyone is lurking and has some suggestions please share.
C C Holtman	[no subject] 17 Years Ago Anthony, I've been meaning to respond to this FOREVER, but, you know, family in town, had to dress up like Harry Potter, dodge embarrassing questions about why I don't have a lawyer job yet, crap like that distracting me. I had a HUGE problem with this, especially with plot, for a long time. I always wanted to chase every idea and ended up with too much plot and far too little focus... and consequently some BAD novels. Sometimes I don't have the problem, which isn't a very helpful answer, I know. I guess some stories just have a logical progression to me and I get so zeroed in on that I don't get distracted. When I do have the problem, I try to focus on what happens when I don't have the problem. That is, try to get back that focus on a goal, which usualy involves some soul searching about the structure of the plot. I guess my steps are: (1) figure out what I want the main plot to be, what the main conflict of that plot is; (2) repeat step one for sub-plots, with a limit on 3-4 subplots; (3) make a plot arc for the main plot and then incorporate the main points of the subplots. By the time I've trudged through all that, I've figured out what I'm doing and can make decisions with chapters and plot points that (hopefully) keep me away from tangents. Does that help? Does it even make sense? It's late.... --cc
Cdnsurfer	[no subject] 17 Years Ago Quote: Originally posted by C C Holtman Anthony, I've been meaning to respond to this FOREVER, but, you know, family in town, had to dress up like Harry Potter, dodge embarrassing questions about why I don't have a lawyer job yet, crap like that distracting me. I had a HUGE problem with this, especially with plot, for a long time. I always wanted to chase every idea and ended up with too much plot and far too little focus... and consequently some BAD novels. Sometimes I don't have the problem, which isn't a very helpful answer, I know. I guess some stories just have a logical progression to me and I get so zeroed in on that I don't get distracted. When I do have the problem, I try to focus on what happens when I don't have the problem. That is, try to get back that focus on a goal, which usualy involves some soul searching about the structure of the plot. I guess my steps are: (1) figure out what I want the main plot to be, what the main conflict of that plot is; (2) repeat step one for sub-plots, with a limit on 3-4 subplots; (3) make a plot arc for the main plot and then incorporate the main points of the subplots. By the time I've trudged through all that, I've figured out what I'm doing and can make decisions with chapters and plot points that (hopefully) keep me away from tangents. Does that help? Does it even make sense? It's late.... --cc This I can definitely learn from. I never seem to sit down and sketch out the story, although I've heard it's a good idea. I have a concept in my head and way to structure it in my head and then I just go. I should start. There's a great scene in Yann Martel's Self about recipe cards all over the walls. Maybe that's the trick. Cheers! Rob
Cameron Probert	[no subject] 17 Years Ago Quote: This I can definitely learn from. I never seem to sit down and sketch out the story, although I've heard it's a good idea. I have a concept in my head and way to structure it in my head and then I just go. I should start. There's a great scene in Yann Martel's Self about recipe cards all over the walls. Maybe that's the trick. Honestly I end up sketching out chapters and then when I run out of plot I write what I got until I get to the end of it and then either some new complication hits me and then I start writing again. Or I get stuck for a couple of days. But I've heard a lot of great ideas on that one, kind of like using recipe cards. Or using index cards writing out the major plot points and then filling in the space between them.
C C Holtman	[no subject] 17 Years Ago I tend to physically draw out a plot arc, sort of like a timeline following the asymetrical traditional plot arc shape (or whatever shape I want the tension to follow) and color code the event spokes coming off of it for main plot and subplots, but I'm more of a linear thinker, so I can see how the more three dimensional option of index cards on a wall would work for a lot of people, especially us creative types. -cc