Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Day 26 - Plot Noodling

....or "Novel Writing - the Fun Bits."

Although I have a plot and a plan in mind, what I'm really doing for this dare is writing all the fun parts, and just letting them take me where they may. When it comes down to it, this is a story about four people - George, his girlfriend Gwen, Karla and the Chief of Police who is sort of Karla's uncle.

The mystery part of this story is very much a MacGuffin, but like any good MacGuffin, it has a strong gravitational pull that yanks these characters out of their lives and smashes them into each other as they swirl round and round. And as a result I'm neglecting the MacGuffin right now. I am just filling my bowl with the best material, and then when this dare is over, I plan to sit down with a print out and start retyping this from scratch - weaving it all in as I go.

However, as I discover all the possibilities of each twist, it's necessary to sit down and figure out what is the most satisfying ending for each character (minor and major) and each thread of the story. And that's what I did today instead of sketching. I thought about the little points that these fun bits are raising - where the tension is - and came up with a good resolution for each.

For the moment I am still leaving the fate of the villain(s) up in the air. Is it death? Arrest? Or punishment at the hands of other forces? And how to work it so that various characters don't get in trouble - which relates to today's work on what would be satisfying for each character.

Which relates back to the fun bits.

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