Sorry, it took me a few days to get back to this. Plot outline: what I think you're doing is misunderstanding plot - or rather interpreting it in the way most people do - while sitting on pale pre-dawn of the RIGHT way to plot. Well, in my biased opinion ;-). To most wannabe writers plot is a series of incidents. If they're really moving up in the plotting world, it is a series of incidents and then soltions -- ways through those incidents. If they're heading to being writers the incidents will affect the characters and make them develop. There are dozens of books with frameworks of 'plots' of various kinds... and you can join the dots and do some pretty good imitation of a story.
Then there is my interpretation of plot. A plot is shaped around an obstacle or situation. It is firstly WHY your character gets around it, from which HOW naturally flows. And yes, characters develop and grow because of situations: but they would not be able to do so if it were not for the intrinsic character underlying. My method - which may not work for you at all - but I see traces of similarity in your working - is to write a short section -usually a start, and understand and feel that lead POV character. To put flesh and mind on the bones of the idea. Once I HAVE them - I put THEM in the situation or with the obstacle and work out what they would do - according to their internal logic. Work out why they would do things and what they would do follows. Sometimes when I come to write the novel/short the character gets more complicated or changes and the story does too OR I go back and change and add to the charcter. But my 'plotting' is based on several pages of 'why' (and some how, what which and who :-)) The process is a proactive 'game' between me and my characters. I know more or less where i am going. I know more or less who I have (and what they are like, and would do, and why). I then take my situations and the characters... and work out how that can lead to my end point. Sometimes I shift that end. Sometimes I change the obstacles. Sometimes (last choice!) I change the character. The end result is a 'plot'which 'feels' not only plausible but probable (so plot isn't this klunky set of mechanistic orchestration) it's just... there. Good plotting is near invisble ;-).
Not saying this will work for you, but it may help.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2008-10-11 01:30 pm (UTC)Then there is my interpretation of plot. A plot is shaped around an obstacle or situation. It is firstly WHY your character gets around it, from which HOW naturally flows. And yes, characters develop and grow because of situations: but they would not be able to do so if it were not for the intrinsic character underlying. My method - which may not work for you at all - but I see traces of similarity in your working - is to write a short section -usually a start, and understand and feel that lead POV character. To put flesh and mind on the bones of the idea. Once I HAVE them - I put THEM in the situation or with the obstacle and work out what they would do - according to their internal logic. Work out why they would do things and what they would do follows. Sometimes when I come to write the novel/short the character gets more complicated or changes and the story does too OR I go back and change and add to the charcter. But my 'plotting' is based on several pages of 'why' (and some how, what which and who :-)) The process is a proactive 'game' between me and my characters. I know more or less where i am going. I know more or less who I have (and what they are like, and would do, and why). I then take my situations and the characters... and work out how that can lead to my end point. Sometimes I shift that end. Sometimes I change the obstacles. Sometimes (last choice!) I change the character. The end result is a 'plot'which 'feels' not only plausible but probable (so plot isn't this klunky set of mechanistic orchestration) it's just... there. Good plotting is near invisble ;-).
Not saying this will work for you, but it may help.