So…story structure.
This is a topic that has been much on my mind as I tackle the second volume in my ridiculously huge saga of ginormous proportions and an unwieldy number of characters (otherwise known as THE DRAGON’S LEGACY volume 2: THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM).
How does one tackle a project of this scope and insanity?
Well, of course with whiskey; that’s obvious, thank you. But what else?
I have heard that perhaps George RR Martin writes organically, that he’s one of those gifted souls who writes without an outline or a detailed road map or plan or anything.
Okay, yeah, Divines bless the man if this is true, but if I tried a stunt like that I’d end up like that young dude who gave up all his money and headed forth to go live in the wilderness of Alaska without a plan or a map or, you know, food.
Time was, I wanted to be a seat-of-my-pants writer. I wanted stories to pour forth from my heart like the moon puking up the Milky Way, to splash my sparkling words across the sky and watch them form amazing patterns before my eyes.
Then I started to take this shit seriously.
I am in no way denigrating ‘pantsers’. Dude, if you can write a brilliant book I don’t give a flying fuck if your method involves hanging upside down inside your closet while singing “Hallelujah” in a snide falsetto; you do you. But if *I* attempt to write anything longer than a dirty limerick without a blueprint, well:
I’m sure it’s art, but I don’t understand it.
I wish I’d known more about story structure when I began writing THE DRAGON’S LEGACY. It certainly would have been finished in less time, and the first draft would have been more gorgeous and less goatfuckery, for sure. But the second time round, when I was planning SPLIT FEATHER, I’d begun to see the light.
SPLIT FEATHER is a more straightforward story than THE DRAGON’S LEGACY, in pretty much every way. There’s a definite Hero’s Journey, a single POV, and nowhere near a fucktillion subplots. So it was a good story to practice laying out against a clear structure. While fleshing out chapters and scenes and all those things that make a garden grow, I found articles and books and videos about the Seven Point Story Structure of particular interest.
You can read about Dan Wells’s Seven Point Story Structure here:
Dan Wells’s Seven Point Story Structure
Or, like, a million other places on the web. Which you can find here:
Ta daaaaah! Don’t get distracted by cat videos, though.
Seriously. Cute little fuckers. Also, that octopus with a coconut shell, right?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvzOAnfzR90
*ahem*
And now you can see why I need an outline…
AAAAAANYWAY.
Where was I? Introducing a thirty-fifth POV character?
No, I was not…because I have an outline.
As I was trying to fully and dutifully absorb every slender nuance of meaning that could possibly be found in discussions of this story structure—and maybe procrastinating a little, because starting a new book is scarier than that clown doll that I’m pretty sure is hiding under my bed—I was mentally using what I’d learned to break down THE HOBBIT into a seven point outline. I chose that particular book because I’ve read it well over a hundred times and know that story so well I can hold it in my mind and look at it from every angle.
Now. One of the things I love so much about THE HOBBIT is the writing. That story is my safe haven, even though every time I read it I end up eating so much bacon and cheese I gain like five pounds. I adore Tolkien’s storytelling voice, the way in which he speaks directly to the audience, and o! The lovely quotes! I ran across one particular quote, which seemed to fully describe a plot point.
Specifically, this was Plot Point One, the point in our story at which something within the protagonist responds to the Call to Adventure (pardon me whilst I mix and match my story structures, kiddos), and the quote was:
“As they sang the hobbit felt the love of beautiful things made by hands and by cunning and by magic moving through him, a fierce and jealous love, the desire of the hearts of the dwarves. Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking-stick.” ~JRR Tolkien, THE HOBBIT
And then something bookish woke up inside me, and I wondered whether I could find a quote that I felt best exemplified every beat in the story structure I was studying. This turned out to be surprisingly easy to do (even though I admit to having been so smitten with Tolkien’s words, once again, that I sat down with a plate of crisp bacon and sharp cheddar, and read the whole thing through again).
When I was finished, I thought the resultant outline was harmonious and elegant; better yet, if you read the selected quotes in order, they do a pretty good job of telling the heart of the story. My seven point breakdown of THE HOBBIT, using quotes from the book, ended up looking like this:
THE HOBBIT
Seven Point Plot Quotes
HOOK: “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.”
KEY EVENT: “Sorry! I don’t want any adventures, thank you. Not Today. Good morning! But please come to tea – any time you like! Why not tomorrow? Good bye!”
PLOT POINT 1: “Let’s have no more argument. I have chosen Mr. Baggins and that ought to be enough for all of you. If I say he is a Burglar, a Burglar he is, or will be when the time comes. There is a lot more in him than you guess, and a deal more than he has any idea of himself. You may (possibly) all live to thank me yet.”
PLOT POINT 1 (alternate): “As they sang the hobbit felt the love of beautiful things made by hands and by cunning and by magic moving through him, a fierce and jealous love, the desire of the hearts of the dwarves. Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking-stick.”
PINCH POINT 1: “Fly, you fools!”
MIDPOINT: “It was at this point that Bilbo stopped. Going on from there was the bravest thing he ever did. The tremendous things that happened afterwards were as nothing compared to it. He fought the real battle in the tunnel alone, before he ever saw the vast danger that lay in wait.”
PINCH POINT 2: “By the beard of Durin! I wish I had Gandalf here! Curse him for his choice of you! May his beard wither! As for you I will throw you to the rocks!” he cried and lifted Bilbo in his arms.”
PLOT POINT 2: “I go now to the halls of waiting to sit beside my fathers, until the world is renewed. Since I leave now all gold and silver, and go where it is of little worth, I wish to part in friendship from you, and I would take back my words and deeds at the Gate.”
RESOLUTION: “So ended the adventures of the Misty Mountains. Soon Bilbo’s stomach was feeling full and comfortable again, and he felt he could sleep contentedly, though really he would have liked a loaf and butter better than bits of meat toasted on sticks. He slept curled up on the hard rock more soundly than ever he had done on his feather-bed in his own little hole at home. But all night he dreamed of his own house and wandered in his sleep into all his different rooms looking for something that he could not find nor remember what it looked like.”
RETURN: “Indeed Bilbo found he had lost more than spoons – he had lost his reputation. It is true that for ever after he remained an elf-friend, and had the honour of dwarves, wizards, and all such folk as ever passed that way; but he was no longer quite respectable. He was in fact held by all the hobbits of the neighbourhood to be “queer” – except by his nephews and nieces on the Took side, but even they were not encouraged in their friendship by their elders.
“I am sorry to say he did not mind. He was quite content; and the sound of the kettle on his hearth was ever after more musical than it had been even in the quiet days before the Unexpected Party.”
~JRR Tolkien, THE HOBBIT
Notice, if you will, that for Plot Point 1 I identified two quotes that I thought might showcase the Call to Adventure. This is true of every plot point; indeed, as I studied and thought about it, the quotes and points I chose might shift a scene or two. In this way I began to better understand this particular method of structuring a story.
AND THEN a thought occurred to me. One of the things I long to do is write beautifully. I wondered whether I could plan out a seven point story outline by thinking up quotes for my own story—ahead of writing any of it—and so build a blueprint not only of the actions and reactions I needed to lead Siggy from the darkness I’d dropped her into (that’s not a spoiler. I torment all my characters and always will.) and down the even darker path I’d chosen (I told you. Torment and wickedness.).
I can’t share the result here because SPOILERS, but the answer was a definitive fuck yeah. Not only did I have waypoints to keep me on track as I was writing, but I now had images and emotions and in some cases entire paragraphs or scenes to use as stepping-stones. Probably three quarters of the quotes I thought up using this weird method made it into the story, and the rest didn’t wander far from the trail.
I can’t ever show you the first novel I wrote–without an outline–because I burned that fucker with prejudice, but I can assure you that SPLIT FEATHER was a whole hell of a lot better as far as structure. For one thing…it HAS a structure. And it even tells the story I set out wanting to tell.
And that’s the whole point of this journey, innit?
Anyhow, yeah, that’s one of the weird methods I use when I’m planning and outlining and all that good stuff.
Procrastination is another huge part of my process.
…just sayin’.
I hope someone out there in the Nethersphere finds this moderately weird and maybe a little bit useful. For myself, I’m going to go think up some snarky, funny, depressing, devastating quotes and passages for my next book, THE FORBIDDEN CITY.
Since you’re reading this, I can reasonably infer that you are probably procrastinating, as well. My next bit of advice?
Get off the fucking Internet and go write, knucklehead.
Jai tu wai!
~Debi
Deborah A. Wolf is a weaver of tales, a lifelong student of pretty much everything, and sworn to slay the dreaded Grammarwocky.
Is there a book in you?
Many of the people I know, or meet, are aspiring writers. A lot of them are working on their book, or thinking about it, or dreaming about it, or cleaning house in a desperate attempt to avoid THE BOOK. Seriously, everyone I meet seems to think they have a book in them. And some of them really do:
Do you have a book in you? This guy did!
When these folks find out that I
found the holy grailsigned with a literary agent–and not just any literary agent, mind you, but a SFF rock star–I am immediately inundated with questions. Which I do not mind at all; I’m so new to this game that my first book (sold by said rock star agent) won’t be released till next year. A very short while ago, I was one of those round-eyed aspiring writers. I’d drive down the road practicing my “Yes, I would be delighted to have you represent my book” phone conversation.It was a good thing I did that, by the way; when I first spoke to my agent by phone, I was calm and professional. The moment I hung up, however, I lost my shit. Seriously, I called my first reader to tell her the news and she didn’t even recognize my voice.
Most of the questions I hear are along the lines of:
Question #1: “Are you rich yet?”
Question #2: “How do I get an agent and sell my book?”
Answer #1: Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaa *gasp* hahahahahahahahaaaa. snort. giggle. heh. Nope. I’m pleased with the advance I received from Titan Books; it was enough to replace the clutch in my old car, replace the appliances that quit working because I had money coming in, pay some bills, and buy a bottle of good whiskey. Median advances for a debut fantasy novel are in the $7k range, folks; that’s not going to buy a castle in Scotland. But it does show that my publisher has faith in my book’s potential, which makes me happy, and pays a bit of rent, which makes my landlord happy.
Answer #2: Have you finished writing your book? I know, because I’ve been you, that this is not the non-answer you really want to hear. And you’re not alone:
You want to pick up the phone, describe your awesome story to the world’s greatest agent, who was sitting by the phone hoping you’d call so he could send the gold-plated contract that’s been sitting on his desk forever just waiting for your signature. Oh, and he’s got a dozen Big 5 editors ready to bid against one another for the chance to publish your book in a special gold-plated edition bound in human skin.
I feel your pain, I really do. But that’s not how this works. No agent is going to want to represent that book if it’s still in you, covered in your guts and mucus and DNA goo. You’re going to have to get that bitch out into the fresh air, and clean the slime off so it’s all shiny and pretty. It’s going to hurt, it’s going to drive you crazy, and it’s going to take more effort and commitment and sheer cussedness than you think you can take. I gave birth four times, without drugs, to babies who weighed in at just under ten pounds each. And that was nothing compared to writing my first book.
I didn’t think I could do it.
I did it.
And you can do it, too.
Now, I have some good news for you: writing a book isn’t all talent and inspiration and serendipity. As a matter of fact, if I were to make a pie chart called Writing a Book and demonstrate the percentages of talent/inspiration/dreamy shit versus time spent banging your head on a brick wall, tenacity, tendonitis, and building your skill set as a writer, the happy-skippy-muse stuff would be a smear of whipped cream on the bottom of the pie plate. Talent and inspiration and all that are wonderful if and when you have them, but most of the work of writing a book can be accomplished by SITTING YOUR ASS DOWN AND WRITING. And your writing skills can be acquired, built upon, and honed.
The bad news? Bullshit excuses won’t get your book written, and frankly nobody wants to hear them.
RECAP:
1: If you’re human, there’s a good possibility that you want to write a book.
2: You’re not going to get an agent or sell your book until you write the damn thing.
3: You’re probably not going to get rich selling your book, but what the hell, it’s still awesome.
4: It’s possible for you to write that book you’ve been dreaming of and get it published–or publish it yourself.
5: I don’t want to hear your bullshit excuses for not finishing your book, and neither does anyone else.
For those of you who keep your ass in the chair long enough to get this thing done, I’ll be writing about how I went about finding my rock star agent, and why he agreed to work with me.
Also…as great as you think it might be to finish that book, get an agent, and get published? You’re wrong. It’s so much better than that.
Jai tu wai,
Debi
Follow on Twitter
Connect on Facebook
Visit website