tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4864423579966406496.post1038508146375206341..comments2024-02-17T13:12:02.048-06:00Comments on Rockets and Dragons: Wasted Potential: Walk the WalkStephanie Barrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17772217449161603561noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4864423579966406496.post-55905104709922995382011-06-30T19:01:05.308-05:002011-06-30T19:01:05.308-05:00OK, Relax Max, you do that.
And I'll keep do...OK, Relax Max, you do that. <br /><br />And I'll keep doing what I do 'cause I like the results.Stephanie Barrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17772217449161603561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4864423579966406496.post-9344060624818571042011-06-30T18:28:45.552-05:002011-06-30T18:28:45.552-05:00Well, I couldn't outline it either. But I woul...Well, I couldn't outline it either. But I would want to decide ahead of time if I want to write about Abraham Lincoln's love life or the plight of polar bears. So... you just take a character and think up attributes and things for him to do, and if he winds up being Abraham Lincoln's barber, that's just a cool surprise? That makes me dizzy with the potential futility. Must get more therapy before I continue.Relax Maxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01051381168322495999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4864423579966406496.post-30006076896588950472011-06-27T18:03:41.670-05:002011-06-27T18:03:41.670-05:00Plot: Man and woman see two other women giving bir...Plot: Man and woman see two other women giving birth. Man says something, woman says something, man says something.<br /><br />Story: Confirmed bachelor and his sister visit her two BFFs in the hospital, both giving birth at the same time. Man says, "I sense a lot of pain coming." Sister says, "How you would know how painful childbirth is?" Man says, "Not the childbirth... the girls don't yet know that both kids are mine!"<br /><br />Mike HawthorneAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4864423579966406496.post-70211880157862148252011-06-26T22:41:08.313-05:002011-06-26T22:41:08.313-05:00To my way of thinking the story is the whole: prem...To my way of thinking the story is the whole: premise, setting, characters, plot. The plot, by itself, is just what happens.<br /><br />Others may see it differently. <br /><br />As for plotting out the story ahead of time, some people definitely do that. I do not. Sometimes I know how it ends beforehand and/or key scenes along the way, but not what happens in between. Sometimes, I don't even know that. <br /><br />Oftentimes, the less I consciously know before I get started, the better I like the finished product. Both of my favorite short stories I had no idea what I was going to do when I sat down. <br /><br />But that's a personal weirdness. Writers come in all flavors and some meticulously outline and plot out the story, taking notes and making careful adjustments to their background stuff as they go. Others are seat-of-the-pants writers like me. Takes all kinds.Stephanie Barrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17772217449161603561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4864423579966406496.post-47027735478645612292011-06-26T20:55:14.724-05:002011-06-26T20:55:14.724-05:00You are so far ahead of me. Tell me again the diff...You are so far ahead of me. Tell me again the difference between a story and a plot, would you? I think I'm lost. I thought the plot was the story.<br /><br />I do understand how much you enjoy character development, but don't you have to know what your story is before you start to write it?Relax Maxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01051381168322495999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4864423579966406496.post-11970210674576451932011-06-24T14:42:33.651-05:002011-06-24T14:42:33.651-05:00Thanks, Jeff.
Shakespeare, you know how I love c...Thanks, Jeff. <br /><br />Shakespeare, you know how I love character development and I can't say I don't have bits and pieces here and there that do nothing but develop characters or shape worlds; however, as you said, it's best if you do all three and many favorite scenes have been axed because I could better do the development as part of the story (or it was more than I needed to develop the character).<br /><br />What I do hate is a side character or side story, set up all nice and juicy, only to be abandoned. As a writer, I try to avoid those. Even those bits that are setups for sequels I like to make as much use of as possible within the context of the current story arc and leave them, if not resolved, also not hanging off a cliff.Stephanie Barrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17772217449161603561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4864423579966406496.post-77144427128630188042011-06-24T14:36:32.220-05:002011-06-24T14:36:32.220-05:00I'm not sure I'd agree in calling what Pro...I'm not sure I'd agree in calling what Project Savior described a "tease." More like "rising action," where each step, whether by chance or choice, leads him closer and closer to his final act. It's a great point, though--the action should build on the past and move everything further. Even with combat, each battle should lead us forward, either in meaning or in goal. Otherwise we are just following along on a horizontal line, with no emotional build-up. <br /><br />As to dead ends, they only exist if there is no future for them in a sequel... but I DETEST characters and plot elements that have nothing to do with the overall sweep of the novel, or develop the characters (also a very valid reason for a sidebar), or shape the nature of the world in which they live. Best, though, when each element accomplishes all three.Dr. Cheryl Carvajalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15323455180953109460noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4864423579966406496.post-25514637029570776872011-06-23T21:02:05.775-05:002011-06-23T21:02:05.775-05:00I did enjoy it... I don't plot, but hopefully ...I did enjoy it... I don't plot, but hopefully it is there naturally. I think any good story has natural plot weaved into it.<br /><br />Now sharpening and focusing those plot points are key on later revisions.<br /><br />As far as input: I have none.<br /><br />ThxJeff Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00667419764890599092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4864423579966406496.post-56236596485604952682011-06-23T18:33:35.353-05:002011-06-23T18:33:35.353-05:00By all means, I welcome comments from plot-oriente...By all means, I welcome comments from plot-oriented people on all the things I don't think about. My plots, as many will attest, often come across as just incidental adventures for interesting people.<br /><br />I probably left out several important things, so thanks for noting one of them. There's definitely something to be said for little details that take on significance later in the story. I even frequently have them. In my case, I don't plan them - they just happen - but there's certainly nothing wrong with planning them. :)Stephanie Barrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17772217449161603561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4864423579966406496.post-17562368819687055382011-06-23T18:28:05.891-05:002011-06-23T18:28:05.891-05:00I certainly enjoyed it.
As a plot writer I think y...I certainly enjoyed it.<br />As a plot writer I think you left out one important thing in plots, and that's the tease. Your characters are moving towards some goal. They are either striving for something or working to defeat something.<br />If it is known in advance and you've identified the good guy who everyone knows is going to live there's not much plot there.<br />Luke didn't know he was going to destroy the Death Star because they couldn't be bothered to put a sheet of plywood over the one weak spot. It was slowly teased out, he said he was a good pilot, he gets some robots with a hidden message, he agrees to help old ben...<br />At each decision point for Luke their is a tease of bigger things to come. Without the tease, all you have is a farmer who takes advantage of a major design flaw in a complicated machine.Darrell B. Nelsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02851443183217238218noreply@blogger.com