The White Lily (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thewhitelily) wrote2007-04-15 03:27 pm
thewhitelily) wrote2007-04-15 03:27 pm
Entry tags:
Plot Conundrum
I'm still having trouble writing, so rather than indulging in another session of incoherent sobbing, let me think out loud for a moment.
I have two possible courses of action that will affect three different plot threads, and I really need to stop delaying the moment I choose one. (The fourth plot thread continues to meander around on the other side of the desert without reference to any of the rest.) Reaching the half-way point of a 50K story having only just finished the character and problem introductions was not so bad; reaching the half way point of a 75K story still without having really moved on from there is not so good. Don't worry: they're proper, plotty character introductions, where Important Stuff Happens and People Try To Reach Their Overall Goals, not finishing five character biographies of enormousness and then pondering the start of the actual story. Introductions probably isn't the right word, but I'm having trouble describing the feeling of From Now On (Or More Likely About Ten Thousand Words Ago) It Must Engage A Higher Gear.
In any case, I think this is the root of the problems I've been having, so it's time for me to make a choice.
Plot possibility 1: character A gets so angry at group B for creating obstacle O that they destroy them, leaving characters C, D, and E to fend for themselves outside the double-edged protection of group B.
Pros:
1) gets character A established as Bad Beyond Hope Of Sympathy.
2) shuts down two of the too-rapidly expanding plot threads of doom.
3) was my intention right from the very beginning.
4) ties plot threads P and Q together again and gets one of them moving.
5) forges a bond between characters C, D, and E by having them escape death together and unites them against a common foe.
Cons:
1) gets character A established as Bad Beyond Hope Of Sympathy.
2) shuts down two of my most promising political plot threads, pushing the plot back towards action/adventure rather than intrigue.
3) does not seem likely given the resources at character A's disposal, or their methods.
4) character A rules out all possibility of using group B to overcome obstacle O.
5) character A's position becomes much more precarious in enlisting the aid of people they need to be a proper contribution to the rest of the story.
Plot possibility 2: character C decides he doesn't like group B and escapes their clutches with the help of characters D and E.
Pros:
1) doesn't need character A to destroy group B and thus does not have any of possiblilty 1's cons.
2) leaves characters C, D, and E fending for themselves against the obstacles presented by both character A and group B.
3) lets the resentment between character A and group B continue simmering until much later in the story.
4) allows exploration of the unexpectedly fascinating potential raised by the rules group B follow.
5) generally opens up possibilities rather than closing them.
Cons:
1) I don't have a reason for character C to come to this epiphany - although they're quite flat at the moment, so perhaps I can find a way to simultaneously add depth and address this.
2) I don't have a way for characters D and E to become aware of this epiphany apart from Oh What A Coincidence I Was Going For A Walk In The Middle Of The Night And Noticed An Argument.
3) leaves characters C, D, and E following the same course for very different reasons, without any particular common goal or bond - which might actually be fun, now I think about it, although it would be a very different group dynamic to what I'd envisiged.
4) gets plot thread P moving, but does not provide any crossover with or extra material from Q or R.
5) removes the 'hobble' I'd placed on character E, who might otherwise solve problems too easily - unless I can solve con 1 in a way that combines this.
Which makes things rather obvious, all in all. The only reasons I'm avoiding possibility number two are that I don't know how to make it happen, and the reasons against possibility number one are much more deeply story related. Possibility two it is, then. Best thing about writing, really: although I've been writing this story in order to date, I don't actually need to keep doing so, as long as I'm sure where I'm taking it is the right direction.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for helping me out on that one.
Edit: I did mention that, right? I'm at the half way point? I've actually just passed 40,000 words pretty much exactly one day ahead of schedule. Whoooooo! *showers self in confetti*
I have two possible courses of action that will affect three different plot threads, and I really need to stop delaying the moment I choose one. (The fourth plot thread continues to meander around on the other side of the desert without reference to any of the rest.) Reaching the half-way point of a 50K story having only just finished the character and problem introductions was not so bad; reaching the half way point of a 75K story still without having really moved on from there is not so good. Don't worry: they're proper, plotty character introductions, where Important Stuff Happens and People Try To Reach Their Overall Goals, not finishing five character biographies of enormousness and then pondering the start of the actual story. Introductions probably isn't the right word, but I'm having trouble describing the feeling of From Now On (Or More Likely About Ten Thousand Words Ago) It Must Engage A Higher Gear.
In any case, I think this is the root of the problems I've been having, so it's time for me to make a choice.
Plot possibility 1: character A gets so angry at group B for creating obstacle O that they destroy them, leaving characters C, D, and E to fend for themselves outside the double-edged protection of group B.
Pros:
1) gets character A established as Bad Beyond Hope Of Sympathy.
2) shuts down two of the too-rapidly expanding plot threads of doom.
3) was my intention right from the very beginning.
4) ties plot threads P and Q together again and gets one of them moving.
5) forges a bond between characters C, D, and E by having them escape death together and unites them against a common foe.
Cons:
1) gets character A established as Bad Beyond Hope Of Sympathy.
2) shuts down two of my most promising political plot threads, pushing the plot back towards action/adventure rather than intrigue.
3) does not seem likely given the resources at character A's disposal, or their methods.
4) character A rules out all possibility of using group B to overcome obstacle O.
5) character A's position becomes much more precarious in enlisting the aid of people they need to be a proper contribution to the rest of the story.
Plot possibility 2: character C decides he doesn't like group B and escapes their clutches with the help of characters D and E.
Pros:
1) doesn't need character A to destroy group B and thus does not have any of possiblilty 1's cons.
2) leaves characters C, D, and E fending for themselves against the obstacles presented by both character A and group B.
3) lets the resentment between character A and group B continue simmering until much later in the story.
4) allows exploration of the unexpectedly fascinating potential raised by the rules group B follow.
5) generally opens up possibilities rather than closing them.
Cons:
1) I don't have a reason for character C to come to this epiphany - although they're quite flat at the moment, so perhaps I can find a way to simultaneously add depth and address this.
2) I don't have a way for characters D and E to become aware of this epiphany apart from Oh What A Coincidence I Was Going For A Walk In The Middle Of The Night And Noticed An Argument.
3) leaves characters C, D, and E following the same course for very different reasons, without any particular common goal or bond - which might actually be fun, now I think about it, although it would be a very different group dynamic to what I'd envisiged.
4) gets plot thread P moving, but does not provide any crossover with or extra material from Q or R.
5) removes the 'hobble' I'd placed on character E, who might otherwise solve problems too easily - unless I can solve con 1 in a way that combines this.
Which makes things rather obvious, all in all. The only reasons I'm avoiding possibility number two are that I don't know how to make it happen, and the reasons against possibility number one are much more deeply story related. Possibility two it is, then. Best thing about writing, really: although I've been writing this story in order to date, I don't actually need to keep doing so, as long as I'm sure where I'm taking it is the right direction.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for helping me out on that one.
Edit: I did mention that, right? I'm at the half way point? I've actually just passed 40,000 words pretty much exactly one day ahead of schedule. Whoooooo! *showers self in confetti*