tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post6589456412009941062..comments2024-03-28T05:23:34.861-05:00Comments on Pretentious Title: Writing Wednesdays: Common Plot Fails (and How We Can Fix Them)Rachel Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13917123007610750274noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post-17579705718122143112018-04-02T09:44:41.001-05:002018-04-02T09:44:41.001-05:00Would love to see a post on how to fix an Everythi...Would love to see a post on how to fix an Everything But the Kitchen Sink plot (via trying to cleverly connect it all).Danicanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post-36312290348873799522015-09-23T13:31:17.345-05:002015-09-23T13:31:17.345-05:00Nice list! Really helpful. Plotting was one of my ...Nice list! Really helpful. Plotting was one of my weakest parts of writing, so I've applied myself to learning a lot about satisfying structure. Before that? I would make up fantastic characters who spoke clever dialogue and...never did anything significant. Complete meandering. I posted one online a while ago and had a reader ask "is this story actually going anywhere?" Comes from the background in play by post role-playing! :-p<br /><br />Another fail? Not having the protagonist actually in the climax or solving their own problem. Just recently did this one because I had a pushy supporting character who managed to nudge their way in and take over! And I didn't want the pushy character as the protag, so I had to give my protag more muchness and tweak a few things.Janeen Ippolitohttp://www.janeenippolito.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post-36846466101680676512015-09-10T16:36:05.007-05:002015-09-10T16:36:05.007-05:00@Nick Green
Better Deus Ex Machina: Peter F. Hami...@Nick Green <br />Better Deus Ex Machina: Peter F. Hamilton, The Naked God. <br />Ok, it was somewhat announced at the end of volume 2, but a singularity fixing everything?? In 'The Naked God', you know they search something, but you keep on believing they have to come up with a solution. But no, not needed. Here comes the Naked God. Story Ends.B. Malengierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15312811341149887545noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post-64068327294782944652015-09-10T09:52:27.626-05:002015-09-10T09:52:27.626-05:00@Veronica - yes, it's perfectly okay for anyon...@Veronica - yes, it's perfectly okay for anyone to say they don't enjoy a particular book (for the record, I was pretty 'meh' about WOTW myself, much as I love the delightfully camp Jeff Wayne version). I don't count myself a Wells fan as such. I'm just emphasising that it's not a good example of a bad use of Deus Ex Machina, because a bad usage (by definition) is one where the author couldn't think of another way to do it, or was just lazy. Neither of which could be the case in this instance. Wells certainly wasn't infallible, but neither was he capable of messing up on that kind of scale.<br /><br />Here's a challenge: we need a better example of Deus Ex Machina. I've tried to think of one but I have to go now...Nick Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08191176209084540085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post-90621499209444012932015-09-10T09:18:21.703-05:002015-09-10T09:18:21.703-05:00@Nick: I'm not claiming Wells had no talent or...@Nick: I'm not claiming Wells had no talent or no idea what he was doing. I'm just saying the ending of WOTW was lacking for me, despite its deep philosophical lesson that we're as much victims to chance as we are to superior alien invaders. I just don't derive as much enjoyment from fiction that aims to exemplify fatalism, as I do from fiction that exemplifies the things we <i>can</i> achieve if we make the right choices, and the elements we <i>have</i> power over if we better ourselves.<br /><br />And just as a side note, brilliant authors--even universally acclaimed ones--are not infallible.Veronica Sicoehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03741318844378921184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post-89359008598578896532015-09-10T08:10:38.117-05:002015-09-10T08:10:38.117-05:00Hey, Crazy plot can be great! Or don't you lik...Hey, Crazy plot can be great! Or don't you like 'From_Dusk_till_Dawn'?B. Malengierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15312811341149887545noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post-28019474071631183262015-09-10T04:37:01.934-05:002015-09-10T04:37:01.934-05:00@Veronica, surely the lesson to take from WOTW is ...@Veronica, surely the lesson to take from WOTW is that sometimes seemingly obvious rules (like 'no Deus Ex Machina' can be bent or broken if the writer is skilled enough. H G Wells is the grandfather of science fiction, alongside Jules Verne - I think it's a bit unwise of us to dismiss his ending by saying 'it sucked' without asking why he wrote it that way.<br /><br />He wasn't some novice, he wasn't an unskilled writer (though there have been better), and he was obviously very well read. Are we meant to suppose he didn't know what he was doing? That he couldn't have invented another way to end his book? A 'humans save the day!' climax? Of course a man of his imagination could have come up with a thousand such plots.<br /><br />But he chose not to. And that decision not to go with that plot is significant. Because it tells us something very important. Which is: sometimes you're not in control. Sometimes there is no way. Sometimes it's just blind luck. And if it can happen to the Martians, it can happen to us.<br /><br />WOTW remains a parable for any age - these days, you could read it as a warning of climate change, or terrorism, or any threat we can't control. <br /><br />Make no mistake, I do agree with the basic point that novice writers need to avoid destroying tension by resolving plots by lucky accidents. But I don't agree H G Wells is a good example to cite. If he wrote it that way it was for a reason.Nick Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08191176209084540085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post-39495341470476103512015-09-10T02:41:07.746-05:002015-09-10T02:41:07.746-05:00Oh lovely post. I used to put waaay to many ideas ...Oh lovely post. I used to put waaay to many ideas into a single book when I started. Nowadays I'm way more relaxed. There's plenty of books. The first book isn't (and wasn't) the Holy Grail. Not everything needs to go into that single book. :)Jimneynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post-23086799807028132392015-09-10T01:32:51.449-05:002015-09-10T01:32:51.449-05:00Even if it was the most awesome metaphor for somet...Even if it was the most awesome metaphor for something or other, the ending of WOTW sucked from a tension point of view. It felt clever, but not rewarding. "Clever" isn't always smart.<br /><br />I love the post, Rachel! I'd like you to expand on ALL of those problems. :D AND on the three act structure. And on how to outline a story by bringing together the character arc with the actual plot (events happening in logical order). *grin*Veronica Sicoehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03741318844378921184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post-11389960373146952722015-09-09T11:37:47.815-05:002015-09-09T11:37:47.815-05:00I think you do H G Wells a disservice there. With ...I think you do H G Wells a disservice there. With the end of WOTW he is making a very calculated reference to colonialism and the hubris of European civilisation. Just as our bacteria wiped out much of America's native peoples, so might another invisible, unforeseen threat destroy us. WE are the Martians in that book. It's a parable about ourselves, a warning against believing we are all powerful. That's what that ending means.<br /><br />Oooo-laaaaa!Nick Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08191176209084540085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7467549889510324132.post-70561815565880299392015-09-09T10:48:22.086-05:002015-09-09T10:48:22.086-05:00Yep. Seen all those. Paid money for some, and shre...Yep. Seen all those. Paid money for some, and shredded others mercilessly in various critique groups (and had mine shredded in return!) This is why I think all writers should start out in fan fiction, to get the horrible cliches and Mary Sues out of their systems. I see lots of debut authors doing things that newbie fanfic authors do (she's a Mary Sue but she's terribly clumsy! That's her flaw!)<br /><br />On stupid characters, another of my pet peeves are when a minor character is jumping up and down going, "Oh! Oh! I know where the monster's lair is!" And the heroes go, "Shut up, kid, we have a plot to do here."Kessiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15019626781634777336noreply@blogger.com