Fiction Fundamentals

I’ve never attempted to set up a domino trick. However, I did watch the movie Robots, in which Mel Brooks’ character BigWeld is obsessed with them. Dominoes must be set up carefully in order for the trick to work. If one is slightly out of place, or if there is a gap, the dominoes will cease to fall at that point.

Writing a novel is a lot like stacking dominoes. Whether you’re a SOTP (seat of the pants) writer or a planner, your scenes (dominoes) must be placed precisely to avoid gaps that can disrupt the story. Some writers prefer to write fast, edit slow, while others plan scene by scene before putting one word in the .doc file. Either way is fine, but it’s a “pay me now or pay me later” situation–you have to stack the scenes.

A plot is nothing more than a sequence of events that form a story. Like walking across the room, putting one foot in front of the other, the scenes of the plot are the steps that move it forward toward the character’s story goal. Each scene contains its own goal by asking (usually not directly) and answering a question. (See my article “Answering the Scene Question.) These answers lead to yet another question, thus placing your scenes perfectly, just like dominoes.

Master writing teacher Dwight Swain’s suggestions of “yes, but” and “no, and furthermore,” build conflict as the character strives to reach his goal. And when you answer each of those, it easily sets up the next scene question. In many action movie scenes, the question is “Will the hero make it out alive?” The answer is usually “yes, but,” and the hero is immediately faced with yet another life- or world-threatening challenge. Facing that next challenge is the next logical move, thus moving the plot forward another step.

In his book Plot & Structure, James Scott Bell cautions writers against picking the easy, clichéd answer to the scene question. Instead of just asking yourself “and then what?” during your plot planning, ask “what if?” Give yourself several possible directions that head away from each scene, kind of like those “Choose Your Own Adventure” books. Pick the best one and head thataway.

Until Wednesday,
Happy writing!