So, what do Frances, a golden retriever, Scout, a Maine coon cat, Sarge, an African Gray parrot, Vanessa, their owner, and a blessing of the animals ceremony have in common? Right now, I don’t really know. But when I volunteered to contribute a short story to our holiday offerings on Writers Who Kill, the five of them popped in my mind asking to be used in connection with a mystery.
Frances is insisting on being the point of view character so far; Scout and Sarge are happy to let her do the heavy lifting, and quite frankly, Vanessa would just prefer to ignore the whole thing. I am casting around for a suitable mystery for these four characters and the Christmas season. Maybe one of the trees the church uses to decorate disappears under mysterious circumstances along with sundry ornaments?
In addition to figuring out a mystery that fits with my characters, I also have to figure out the antagonist and how to come up with the (for me) obligatory happy ending. I really like happy endings. Not everyone does, and not every story calls for one, but it’s my story until the characters completely take over, and I’m going to try to convince everyone about the need for a happy ending.
I’m also hoping I inject some humor into the concoction. One of my favorite things to do is make people laugh.
Now is the point in plotting where I send everything to my subconscious to work on while I do other things. Usually (sometimes?) (maybe?) what pops out is at least the rudiments of the story I want to write. Unless my subconscious decides to chuck all of them and make me work on something else….
How do you go about plotting your novels and stories?
By the seat of my pants (and I also use the subconscious method).
ReplyDeleteI'm anxious to see what you come up with. Sounds like fun!
ReplyDeleteI do a much more detailed outline for novels than for short fiction. With short stories, I start with a premise and then just let the characters have their way with the story.
ReplyDeleteLet the characters "talk" to you. They are going to do what they want anyhow, so you may as well let them work on it themselves.
ReplyDeleteThe Christmas stories are fun!
Can't wait to read the final result!
ReplyDeleteMy novels are sort of plotted. I have my key points and bullet points for most of the chapters. I like to leave room for the characters to take over and surprise me. They're actually much better writers than I am. As for shorts - it's premise and stream of consciousness after that. Sometimes, it even works.
That sounds like it will be a fun story! For me, I first figure out the basics: who, how, where. Find characters. Figure out the possible motivations of all the other characters and whoever has the best one gets to be the perpetrator. Then write a sketchy plot.
ReplyDeleteI'll plot the major plot points of each act, then let it flow. What I want to see is how you differentiate the cat and parrot as secondary characters. Making secondary characters distinctive for me is a challenge.
ReplyDeleteGood luck, Nancy. I admire your ability to come up with ideas for short stories. My will is empty.
ReplyDeleteNancy,
ReplyDeleteI love all the elements of your possible story. I think we train our brains to come up with plot ideas. At least that's what usually happens when I'm writing.
I start with an a character in trouble and let the story work itself out one keystroke at a time. Then I figure out what plot structure I'll use to tell the story.
ReplyDelete