3 posts tagged “what plot?”

I just wrote the end. Heh. 600 words, and now I have two points. All that remains is connecting the dots. (ROFL - hyeah right!)

Ok, for those of you wagering, you may still be placing bets that I will/won't finish by 11/30. At this point, I'm a little detached from THAT goal, and have a new one in mind. So they might be sucker bets, which means you might make even more money... or lose more.

This book keeps reinventing itself, or I should say, revealing itself. I keep finding little connections and plans that seem to make sense, maybe in that dream logic where we are flying and then land in high school chemistry class and then have lunchroom hijinx with the Queen. But it seems like it might be good. I dunno.

Last night, instead of amping the word count, which seems to be the ENTIRE thrust of NaNo, I planned and mapped some more, using an exercise from The Plot Thickens. And it really helps make sense of what is going on. There IS A STRUCTURE, and a PLOT. My book isn't really plot-driven (big mistake? the plot is in the blurb basically) but I did discover that it has movement and an "arc" as they say in film. So. Ha.

I also mapped out the conflicts between characters and the affiliations. And I got the Greek chorus of minor characters somewhat in line (in a circle actually). So. Ha ha!

If I don't make the infamous 50K words, whatever. I think I have a pretty good idea here. And will continue working on it in November and beyond. Till it's done. The first is the worst, right?

I am behind, but only by about a day. It's doable if I make time Sat. (maybe at the write-in?) and Sunday, both of which are very very doable right now.

But tonight, I just need some downtime to wash away the worries of the week, and get into MC Paul's head. Or maybe completely shift the POV to Joe for a while.

Paul is dour - a Scot/Norwegian by ethnicity. He feels trapped in Tucson. He's ambitious.

Joe is happy - a native Arizonan by about three generations and a half. He's scrappy, he's resourceful, he's not very ambitious.

Conrad is successful, cagey and very cerebral.

The POV has to be Paul for the "conflict" (one of the four or five C's from high school English, right?)

Meh. Maybe. We'll see.

But it is time to wrap myself in plot advancement AND the MCs' voice. Enough with the mise en scene, the minor characters and the structure. Onward!