Theme, Plot & Structure
The main reason why most first drafts of novels flounder is usually the
lack of planning and preparation before the writer gets down to work. In the
first session we looked at identifying the readership and publishers likely to
be interested in your novel, and the 150 word ‘blurb’ will have given the
outline of the plot but now we need to take this a step forward.
Theme:
The ‘theme’ gives the story its tone, its subject matter, its ‘reader
identity/empathy’ and can often be summed up in a single word: jealousy,
revenge, ambition, deliverance, self-discovery, flight, fight, etc. The theme
is the core of the story – the plot development can be thought of as layers of
an onion. The Polti theory maintains that there are only 36 dramatic
situations on which the writer of fiction can draw. By using single situations
or several combinations, the basic theme of every story (long or short) ever
told, written or devised, can be summed up in the following list:
Supplication : Deliverance: Crime pursued by vengeance : Vengeance taken
for kindred upon kindred : Pursuit : Disaster: Falling prey to cruelty or
misfortune : Revolt: Daring Enterprise: Abduction : The Enigma: Obtaining :
Enmity of kinsmen: Rivalry of kinsmen: Murderous adultery : Madness : Fatal
imprudence : Involuntary crimes of love: Slaying of a kinsman unrecognised :
Self sacrifice for an ideal : Self sacrifice for kindred: All sacrificed for
passion : Necessity of sacrificing loved ones :Rivalry of superior and
inferior: Adultery Crimes of love : Discovery of the dishonour of a loved one :
Obstacles to love : An enemy loved: Ambition : Conflict with God : Mistaken
jealousy : Erroneous judgement: Remorse : Recovery of a lost one: Loss of a
loved one.
For the novel to work, the reader must be convinced that the
principal character has good reason/motivation/ability to follow the course of
action needed to carry the plot along. Simply, if the character is
unconvincing, no amount of clever plotting will compensate for that lack of
credibility, because readers identify with the course of action and if it
doesn’t convince them that they would act in the same manner, the
interest will be lost.
Plot & Sub-Plot:
The ‘plot’ refers to the story-line that drives the characters into behaving
the way they do and is concerned with precisely how the theme is put into
effect. And the first question we should ask ourselves is: Will the story be
strong enough to hold the reader’s attention for 80,000+ words? It is
pointless starting with a good idea for an opening and not giving any further
thought to how the story will develop — travelling hopefully is not the best
way to begin a novel!
Regardless of the type of story we are writing, there needs to be plenty
of tension and drama – even for romance. These elements provide the barriers
that everyone must overcome in order to resolve the ‘problem’ that is at the
root of the plot. They are also useful tools to provide the antagonism between
the various characters because drama does not arrive in a story unbidden …
something has to create it and the reader must be convinced by it.
Another point to consider at this stage is that very few novels are able
to sustain reader interest without there being some form of sub-plot. This can
be a mystery/ misunderstanding running parallel to the main plot; it can be
developed to involve one of the other characters while only superficially
imposing on the storyline; it can provide a useful red herring; it can be
anything you like providing it adds breadth and dimension to your novel.
The plot will also be governed by the time-span of the story and it is a
good idea to decide, right from the start, when the story will begin and
end. We all know that a story should begin with a point of high drama in
order to hook the reader’s attention but for how long a period of time are we
going to spin the story out? If the story is planned to unfold in, say, the
period of a week, then all the necessary background information can be
revealed by means of conversation or flashback.
When structuring the plot for The Wild Horseman, the author found
it necessary to compress the entire story into 18 days and the characters were
slowly revealed through the use of dialogue and personal reflection. The
opening and closing chapters acted as a bridge between past and present, so
there was no need for any long, convoluted introductions of who, why and what.
This time element can be an extremely useful device in creating drama
because the characters come to the action primed and ready to participate. It
plunges the reader straight into the action and any relevant background details
can be introduced later.
Structure:
Whether the novel is character-or plot-driven, whether we are writing
crime, literary fiction, science fiction, fantasy, or in any other genre, the
setting we choose for the story should play an integral part of our
novel. The setting provides a backdrop against which the story takes place,
while painting a visual picture and adding authenticity: without a credible
setting, the characters would be acting out their parts on a bare stage.
Exotic and/or original locations can give a story an extra boost.
Colin Dexter, creator of Inspector Morse, introduced us to the esoteric
world of academe by casting his plots among the traditions and dreamy
spires of Oxford university life, while Simon Raven did the same for
Cambridge. Dick Francis came up with his own original formula set amongst the
racing fraternity where wealth frequently rubs shoulders with the lower
echelons of society. Jilly Cooper opened up the world of show jumping and polo,
before turning her attentions on the members of an international orchestra.
Ellis Peters chose medieval Britain
Having a firm idea of where the novel is set will help considerably
when it comes down to structuring a provision mind-map of chapters and action
because the setting will help to dictate where the action takes place.
Novelists have all sorts of methods of structuring a novel some use blank
cards, other use computer spread-sheets, some even use lining paper from the
DIY store. It really doesn’t matter because we all approach novel writing in
different ways, so find something with which you feel comfortable and start
planning.
Novels in a similar genre will give a rough idea of the number of
chapters we should be aiming for. For example, a crime thriller may run to 24+
long chapters because of the constant shift of perception and viewpoint; while
a more personalised human story like Elsie Burch Donald’s A Rope of Sand contained
22 short chapters. For The Wild Horseman, the author used a chapter per
day plus an opening and close.
The initial choice for the number of chapters isn’t cast in stone but
it does give a firm starting point on which to structure the complete novel. If
we go for the short time span, it means there needs to be a lot happening in a
short space of time; a wide time span will need to be carefully divided so that
the story doesn’t become unevenly time-bound in one period. Start with a
card or separate sheet for each chapter and begin to map out the point of
introduction of your characters and the relevant action involving each of
them. Don’t worry too much if they stat to take on a life of their own,
this is normal and often produces some interesting results.
Remember that structure is merely a guide to
show where the story needs its peaks and troughs. All novels have the
occasional slow periods, to allow the reader to catch their breath before
charging off for another piece of action.
For commissioning editor appeal, all fiction needs a credible plot, a
plausible theme, an original location and principal characters who, whilst
being sharp, intelligent and ‘successful’, to need possess a few faults and
foibles to give them added dimension.
At ‘Kick-Starting the Novel’ workshops, the most frequent comment in
response to all this advice, is that the participants sometimes feel such
preparation to be stifling the creative urge of writing. Many see
planning as being restrictive and prefer for allow the words to ‘just flow’.
That’s fine, but the majority of today’s novel writing is a potentially
commercial enterprise and most typescripts we see at these workshops are a long
way from being the finished product the authors believe them to be.
Successful novel writing requires a lot more discipline if we’re going to get
it right this time.
Exercises: Session 2
- Describe the nature of the theme of your
novel.
- Drawing on the 150 word ‘blurb’ from the
last session, suggest a couple of ideas that might provide a convincing
sub-plot; or describe an existing sub-plot.
- What period and time span will the novel
cover … and why?
- Taking this session into account, have
you any further observations on why your novel became bogged down. Can you
see where it started to go wrong?
- Create a structure breakdown for the
first five chapters, showing where you intend to introduce the characters
and ‘action’.
No comments:
Post a Comment