Category Archives: plot

Recycling Works

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It’s a tried and tested technique: take an old, familiar storyline and recycle it for today’s audiences. Sondheim and Bernstein did it with West Side Story, inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet; Helen Fielding based Bridget Jones’ Diary on Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. So we’re in good company.

If imagination fails, old publications are great places to find inspiration. I work for the History of Advertising trust where we have large collections of vintage magazines; a quick browse reveals a storehouse of letters, problems and stories waiting to be recycled. There’s no copyright on ideas, so there’s no problem retelling an old tale, updating the setting and changing the characters.

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Word Association Football

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What are your favourite words?  What makes them favourites? Do they have a particular feel on the tongue, or sound in the ear?

Some of my particular favourites: –

Serendipity; Bliss; Sandwich; Wimple; Shiver; Cornucopia; Jelly; Flatulence; Fabulous; Thimble; Blether; Lollipop; Bishibarnibee  (that’s a ladybird, or ladybug in this part of the world); Fluorescence; Blancmange; Doodle; Bowling; Scribble; Bubblewrap.

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Stuck in a creative vacuum?

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Writer’s block? Or just having a blank moment? Bring out the Five Ws and One H.

Say what?? Rudyard Kipling immortalised the concept in the opening of  ‘The Elephant’s Child’, a poem that accompanied one of his Just So Stories, written in 1902:

I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.

Used widely in journalism, interrogative pronouns are basic tools for gathering information. Continue reading →

Storytelling

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Every culture has a storytelling tradition; it helps us interpret the past and shape the future. For centuries, the description of events in words has been a way of entertaining and educating, and a means of preserving customs and beliefs.

Today, when we commit stories to print we share our limited knowledge and understanding of the world with others, in the hope that they will recognise the fictional universe we have created.

For a story to succeed it should contain cultural references that the reader understands; it needs some memorable characters, some conflict and a strong, plausible plot. A satisfying payoff is crucial though unlikely coincidences are to be avoided at all costs. How we decide to tell our story – in the past, present or future, and whose voice we choose to relate events will all have an effect on the narrative.

In the end, it all sounds deceptively simple. Surely we can produce an engaging tale that will give our readers pause; with a storyline that’s filled with twists and turns and a conclusion that will take them completely by surprise?

Reading and Writing

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They’re in constant competition. Sofa, cup of tea, book, is my default position. I already get up an hour earlier to shoehorn some more reading time into my day and I often sit up with a book late into the night. But a serious writing addiction requires serious amounts of time and commitment, and it’s a daily struggle to achieve a balance. Lunch hours become ten minute breaks, the rest of the time spent scribbling plotlines or mulling over new characters.

I snatch odd minutes here and there in the evenings. It’s true what everyone says: foregoing an hour of television every night means I’ll have a substantial piece of work by the end of the year. It’s not easy, summoning the muse when the moment dictates, but it’s a skill I’m learning. If I’m not making any progress with the novel I’ll spend the time exercising my writing muscles in a different direction, like a short story.

But back to the conundrum: we writers must read, read, read to hone our skills. How can we hope to write with style, elegance and panache if we haven’t studied the masters of the craft?

Day Eighteen

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Word Count:  34,516

A good day’s writing today. Words flowed, the plot thickened. But I eventually found myself in a blind alley with nowhere to go. I had to retrace my steps and find the place where the story veered off so madly, pick up the thread and start writing in a different direction.

Nothing’s wasted, though. The exercise has given me some fresh ideas for developing the storyline in the next chapters. I should listen to my characters more often; they know more about the plot than I do.

Day Sixteen

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Word Count: 32,277

Things flowed quite well today. A couple of new characters introduced themselves but I don’t know if I’m going to let them stick around yet. They’re rather peripheral at the moment, but things could develop. This means the plot will veer off at a completely new tangent, but hey, this was always going to be a voyage of discovery.

Day Six

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Word Count: 13,091

Long old haul today, but satisfied that I’m still on target.

A new situation has appeared in the plot – remember I mentioned this phenomenon – where one of my main protagonists reveals a surprising new aspect to his character. It’s not ideal, and it may only lead up another blind alley, but I have to follow him. It’s quite an exciting development, so I’ll stay with it for a while.

Day Five

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Word Count: 10,755

Lots of writing today in many unexpected directions. Where did that drunken confession come from? And what is the relevance of the silver bangles on  page18? Maybe they’ll turn out to be completely superfluous to the plot, but one thing’s certain; I’ll have to keep plugging away to find out, because I don’t know yet.

Day Three

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Word count: 5761 – a little over 10%.

Sounds impressive, but there’s a moment of panic. I don’t want to be running out of plot before I reach the finish line, so I quickly check over the storyline to make sure I’m not getting ahead of myself.

I’ve written a lot of much shorter pieces that really gobble up plot lines – this huge daily word count requires a completely different discipline. Rather than just galloping along, I have to slow down, stopping sometimes to look around, check out the scenery and interpret what I see from my characters’ perspectives. I’ve given them lives; I want to see them in their environment.