A character, a plot, a story – where do they come from?

Driving today. Stopped at traffic signal. Black vehicle eased up behind me then slid to the left and drew alongside.

This car wasn’t spiffed up and pimped out to look like hot wheels from the hood. It was stripped bare of all identification. No model, no make, no dealer identification. Even the hubcaps had been bared of a manufacturer’s imprint.

“Now there’s a creative fellow,” I said to myself. I was assuming the driver was male because this was definitely a masculine vehicle.

And that’s how an entire conversation began in my head … one that is now the outline for a novel.

By the time I pulled into my driveway, the entire story evolved.

It’s a cliché, I know, but the owner of this car certainly was thinking outside the box when he customized his vehicle. And that’s how characters, plots, and stories begin for me. It’s not likely I’ll ever see this car again on the streets of Las Vegas but I’ll be seeing it quite a bit in my head as I put the words in print.

I’m no longer surprised by the fact that any everyday occurrence can turn into a piece of fiction.

A new use for an old word

Sunday evening, after dinner with friends, I learned a new word. Actually, I knew the definition before I knew the word it to which it belonged. We were discussing how people in groups interact with each other and I wondered how we might interact with a person in our own group who recently had fallen into our disfavor. One of my friends suggested that our next get-together, I should use the sociogram to see how the evening plays out.

(By the way, I’m not the only entity that didn’t recognize the word sociogram. Microsoft Word noted it as a mistake but couldn’t find an alternate suggestion.)

I thought this might be an interesting experiment.

Take all the characters in your manuscript. Without regard to seating arrangements and without your own preference, put them at a table. Then see who focuses on whom, who speaks to whom and who seems to float alone without interaction.

I think this might point to some better plotting and character development and might point out some flaws in your writing.

Then I thought of taking the experiment to the next step – rearranging the seating according to how the characters actually interact in the manuscript. Who would choose to sit with whom (and why)? Who would avoid whom (and why)? Who might eventually stand up and exchange his or her seat (and why)? And who might not even belong at the dinner (and why)?

(It's rather pricey, but here's a book that goes into great detail about the

sociogram. It might be useful to writers.)

I have a feeling these two experiments will prove useful. Any thoughts?

Where is your plot going?

Some writers start their work without knowing how it will end. Others have a structure in mind that includes a beginning and an ending, sometimes jotting that structure into a notepad or word processor or on index cards. Really organized writers (I’m not one of them.) create outlines that include some or much of their entire novel – plot, transitions, characters, asides, scenes – then write within that framework.

Maybe I should ask: Where is your peacock going?

I usually know how my novel will end before I know how it will begin – no outlines, no character studies, no time lines. I don’t recommend this method to others because it usually requires quite a bit of rewrite and edit. But it works for me because once the words start bouncing around in my head, they don’t stop until I’m too tired to type them.

My friend BettyJean Steinshouer introduced me to this year’s NaNoWriMo challenge – 50,000 words in 30 days, and because I write fast, I had no trouble finishing withing the time limit. I bring this up because during the contest, I trolled around the site, checked out some blogs, read some posts, answered some questions, and somehow (don’t’ remember how) came upon the Paperback Writer's Fiction Blog. Eventually, I came across this plotting post for novels.

It’s something to think about … maybe it will help your peacock figure out where she’s going.

Character building, part deux

Okay, if you read my earlier post about character development and haven’t blown me off as a dope, thanks.

Years after that lovely rejection, I started writing a novel. One of the characters in the novel was an unlikable, devious woman with no redeeming qualities. After I finished the novel, I read it over and realized I’d created almost the same character I’d written about back when I challenged myself to write a romance novel. She was wooden, lifeless.

For weeks, I wondered: How could I make her real?

Then, one morning as I got ready for work, I got a call from an old classmate. We started reminiscing about people we knew in the past, and it was at that point I realized how I could put life into my character.

Basically, I thought about a member of my church I didn’t like. She was a snooty woman, outspoken and sometimes loud and very critical of everyone and everybody. She had some good qualities, though. She was educated, a superb seamstress, and in the choir, she sang like a pro.

This whole memory segued into a writing exercise. I gave the woman a new name and wrote 2,123 words about her. In the process, I finally had a character with dimension, someone you loved to hate but could also admire a bit.

Now, when I introduce a character, do the same exercise. I use bits and pieces in my exposition as well as in dialogue.

It works for me; it might work for you.