Birth of a Novel: The (Not) Birthday Edition

Last Thursday I was going to write a Birth of a Novel post, and call it the birthday edition. Because January third is my birthday, naturally.

But, life had other plans, and it's a week later. The baby and the husband were both sick, and there was one night where the baby didn't sleep at all. We're talking crying out in his sleep from ten until two when I got him up, to being awake from two until five when he passed out from exhaustion.

Then he woke up at eight in the morning.

Yes. I was miserable. The very limits of my patience were tested and exceeded. Parenting: not for the weak of heart. 

I got him to go back to sleep until eleven, and I spent the day on the couch staring at the TV, counting down to nap time. 

Couple this with being very stuck on my book, and I don't have a lot of progress to report on my word count. I did sit down yesterday, after sleeping great for the last two nights, and hammer out some brainstorming.

See, the thing is, the book has veered wildly off course. I have ideas of characters and plot threads to put into the book, but they're not there yet. Things are very different, and I am having a hard time building up to the climax when the beginning and the middle of the book don't really match up. 

I read this post by Laini Taylor today that made me feel much better. Most of my panic is because I don't know what happens next. It makes me very comfortable. The book feels like it's coming apart at the seams and I have no idea what to build towards.

I have to remember that a lot of writing comes from faith. You have to believe in yourself; in your ability to spin something out of nothing. I made everything up--all the characters, the plot events, the setting. All of it. It came from my brain.

Sometimes, you have to trust your brain to come up with stuff later. You might not have the answer right away, and that's scary. But that's okay. The answer will come.

I'm not sitting and waiting for inspiration. Yesterday's brainstorming session was very productive, so today I am going to try and re-outline the rest of the book. 

If you build it, they will come.

So remember. Trust your brain.

How about you? How's the book coming along? What about the rest of your plans?

Easy Plotting for Pantsers and Plotters Alike

Yesterday my friend Liz posted this helpful template about how to use Dan Wells's 7 Point Plot System in addition to, or instead of, the Save the Cat Beat Sheet for Novels.

The behind the scenes look at that post is Liz and I (or Liz and Liz if I refer to myself in third person) are obsessed with plotting. We'll dissect a favorite movie, book, or TV show for hours on end. I do it because I like analyzing things and I suck at plot, and Liz does it because she sees the structure of a novel first. The end result is we've spent countless hours breaking down the 7 Point Plot System and Save the Cat so you don't have to. 

Liz mentioned in her post using the 7 Point Plot System to hammer out a basic plot before you start writing, and I can tell you it's awesome for that. It's quick and dirty. You just fill in what you think happens in the story and press on with the business of actually writing the darned thing.

Here is a reference guide so you don't have to keep looking at the outline on Liz's post:

The 7 Point Plot System

Hook
The beginning. The mirror image of the end.

Turn 1
Introduces conflict and bridges the gap between the Hook and the Midpoint.

Pinch 1
Something bad happens.

Midpoint
Bridges the gap between the Hook and the Resolution.

Pinch 2
Something even worse happens.

Turn 2
Bridges the gap between Midpoint and End.

Resolution
The climax. Everything in the story leads to this moment.

If like me, you want a short outline before you start writing, you can fill in some vague thoughts and start typing. Or if you're pantsing the entire book from start to finish with nary a character sheet, you can fill in events as you go. The beauty of doing that is you'll start thinking about the next major plot event ahead of time. "Okay, well, I just hit the Midpoint, so the next major event should be Pinch 2: Something Even Worse Happens".

But the fun doesn't stop there! I use the 7 Point Plot System to check the fiddly bits of my plot too, not just the entire kit and caboodle. Let's say you have a romance as a subplot. You can take just the events of your novel that relate to the romance, and use the 7 Point Plot System to check how it progresses. 

The application for this is endless. I've plotted out the relationship between the main character and the antagonist, the love interest, important secondary characters--any character relationships that I needed to see the progression of. I've plugged in just the action bits, the arc that leads to the betrayal, anything I felt would be important to track all the way through my novel. It's especially awesome if you have more than one point of view character. You can track their character arcs and have a quick and simple way of keeping track of what they are doing in the book and when.

Obviously you should only plot out what you feel like you need to know. If doing three separate 7 Point Plot Systems for your character makes you want to curl into the fetal position, uncurl. Take a deep breath. This is simply a tool for you to use as you need. 

I can tell you though, working out the smaller pieces has really helped me see the inner cogs of the plot. If you see that the betrayal, romance, and action parts all share the exact same three events, then you can really amp those scenes up with focused purpose. It can help you spot plot holes a mile away, and also give you a clue how to fix those same holes. 


It also helps with pacing. I've noticed that if all but two of points happen within the first forty pages, I've obviously front loaded the book. Same thing happened with all but one of the event happened after the midpoint.

Another way to approach this is in revision. All the stuff I talked about tracking you can hold off until you're done writing the novel. Rather than trying to read through your manuscript a bajillion (bajillion is a word, I swear) times, you can simply keep track of the important arcs of the story using that nifty guide.

Something else Liz and I discussed was using the 7 Point Plot System for a series. Are you plotting a gigantic epic fantasy series? Of course you are. Who isn't? You can check to see if your entire series is progressing in a coherent fashion by plugging in the important events. Book one might just be the Hook, and book two could cover the first Turn and Pinch.  It would be a handy little reference guide to stick in your series bible, that's for sure.


If you would like specific examples, click on the link to Liz's post at the beginning of this post. Liz plotted out the musical Wicked in both the 7 Point Plot System and Save the Cat beat sheet. She's also linked to Dan Wells's Youtube series explaining the 7 Point Plot System in great detail, as well as uploaded the place you can download the slides from his presentation.

If you have any questions or need clarification on something, don't hesitate to ask. Also, if you find another use for this, let me know! I love finding new ways to plot.  

Five for Friday: Guilty Confessions

I had an AMAZING idea this morning, ZOMG!!!!! So excited!!! *happy dance* It came in the form of a dream, so see? Ideas come to you when you lest expect them too.

I will return you to your regularly scheduled blog series tomorrow. Until then, enjoy Five for Friday.

Time to own up to some things that I like, probably too much:

1. Disaster movies. Wow. I love these movies (and books, but I haven’t found a whole lot of them). Something about wiping away most of the world’s population, and a rag-tag band of heroes are suddenly thrown into a harsh world where the only the strong survive, where everything they took for granted is GONE, BABY GONE really gets my blood going. Don’t know why. And it doesn’t matter how terrible the move is either, I will still watch it. And yes, Zombie movies fall into this category for me.
Examples: Movies: The Day After Tomorrow, Deep Impact, Doomsday, Mad Max Trilogy, Waterworld
Books: The Stand by Stephen King, Cell by Stephen King, The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks
2. 80’s Hair band. I love them. I don’t know why, but every time a hair metal song comes on, I just feel the urge to jump up and sing, even if I am in the grocery store. I LOVE Journey, which may or may not be considered a hair band, but I enjoy even the really cheesy bands. I think it’s the melodrama in the songs…let’s not read too much into what that says about my character, okay? ‘Kay.
Example: Def Leopard (I love all of their songs), Every Rose Has It’s Torn by Poison, Here I Go Again on My Own by Whitesnake, Everybody Have Fun Tonight by Wang Chung, Tarzan Boy by Balitmora, To Be With You by Mr. Big, Radar Love by Golden Earring, Van Halen, Reo Speedwagon (OHHH, especially the Power ballads! I love me some power ballads!)
Disclaimer: While some bands made music during the 80’s, like Meat Load, they were not just popular during the 80’s, so that’s why some awesome bands aren’t on this list.
3. Pop music. Sorta goes with the 80’s music, but it’s different (and shameful enough) to get it’s own space. Now, if you love pop music, please don’t think I am making fun of you, because I am not. After all, I LOVE pop music, but there are some songs that could be…a little deeper, shall we say. Even the really repetitious pop songs don’t bother me. I like Lady Gaga, and grew up on the boy bands so I love most of those, girl bands, Kelly Clarkson, Adam Lambert, yes, there’s even a few Miley Cyrus songs I like. I just love the happy, upbeat nature of most pop songs. I don’t like EVERY pop song, but I like enough of them. Let’s just say I listen to a little bit of everything, for reals: Abba, Disturbed, Def Leopard, Hanson, David Garret, Beethoven, Sarah Brightman, Guns and Roses, and VNV nation are all in my itunes, and loads more.
4. I love to smell and touch my books. I love lining them on the shelf and just run my fingers tips over the spines, breathing in the scent of reading. This brings me great joy; I don’t know why. Especially buying a new book! I love going through the book store, pursing through the aisles, selecting a book (or two), and bringing my finds up to the cashier like a new mom.
5. Blades of Glory. Yes, that comedy with Will Farell and Jon Heder in it, about male figure skaters. Normally, I don’t find movies of the stupid-silly variety funny. It’s just me, you may think they are hilarious. So when it came time to clean the house, I needed a movie to pop in, one that I didn’t have to pay a lot of attention to. It’s mostly a distraction against the utter mindless boredom that which is cleaning. So! I put the movie in (borrowed from my little brother, who LOVES movies like that), and was surprised as to how hard I am laughing. Maybe it’s because I was expecting the movie to suck. Maybe it’s because I was under loads of stress and needed something bright and shiny to take my mind off things. For whatever reason, I really find this movie hysterical, and not just a scene or two. My favorite parts are when Jon Heder has to eat the dirty (not used-dirty, dirty from trash and stuff) toilet paper (so gross it went right past my gag reflex and straight to my funny bone), and when Will Farell says he could never love a human baby more than his horse hair brush. Good times, good times.

Honorary Mention: CHOCOLATE!!!
I was going to include chocolate, but I don’t feel guilty for loving it, so…