| |
| |
|
Writing Information |
|
|
|
The One-Plot Wonder
Back in the mid to late 1980s I was a security guard. The pay was lousy, but it gave me many hours in seclusion to write short stories and novels. However, I usually worked over 80 hours a week. No one can write that much. Well, at least not me. Thus I discovered the joys of my local libraries. Recently, I decided to look up an author who gave me great pleasure in those days. Most of his books are now out of print, I've learned, even the one that became a movie. I found that two of his were books available, so I ordered them. One I'd enjoyed before. The other was a straight thriller from the days before he created the "Appleton Porter" spy spoofs, re-released in 2001 in POD. I didn't know this before it arrived at my home in China. Since I'm giving away THE plot spoiler, I won't identify the author or title. A man who deeply loves his wife buys her a hotel outside London. She is very happy there, at first. This is a fine suspenseful read as she notes oddities and eventually appears to be losing her mind and such. Suicides, an eventual murder. Finally, her husband pays a doctor to kill her. Her husband arranged all this, we learn at the end, because she was dying of a horrible and incurable illness. Rather than let her suffer the indignity, he tries to give her some final days filled with wonderful memories. He never realizes that he ended her days with a living hell. The writing was fine, aside from some stupid typos of the sort common in unedited POD titles. He's obviously a sincere, hard-working, talented author. The plot was wholly consistent and everything "worked." So why is it a weak book? Because the plot I described is all there is. It's a one-plot wonder. As an author, if you find yourself floundering, if you find your work-in-progress failing to make progress, ask yourself. Is it a one-plot wonder? Here are some best sellers I've read over the past thirty years. During the Cold War, a Soviet commander steals a top-secret submarine and tries to defect to the US with it. A good and idealistic young law graduate accepts a job too good to be true, only to eventually learn he's working for the Mafia. An alcoholic author and his family become caretakers at an old Maine hotel, alone during the winter, and he eventually goes nuts. A US President declares war on drug dealers, a "clear and present danger" to national security. A crippled author is kidnapped by the ultimate fan. I've chosen these titles because I've read the books and seen the movies. None of my plot summaries are wrong. But with some of those novels, there are many more plots and subplots at work. These are the novels that didn't always translate well to the big screen due to time constraints and/or loss of non-objective voice. I love a well-conceived "what if" scenario, and none of these books lack that. But more importantly, I love a novel that's rich with the fabric of life. That's where multiple plots come into play. Very rarely will a movie capture this as well as a novel can. A one-plot wonder is a boring read. It's a boring write. It's not realistic. And, it's a hard sell. All your eggs are in one basket. If the editor isn't enthralled with that sole plot, you aren't published. If the reviewer isn't enthralled with that sole plot, he pans you. If the potential reader isn't enthralled with that sole plot, he doesn't buy your book. Or if he does, maybe you don't get any repeat business from him. You don't get mine. Plus, we should be setting the bar a bit higher for ourselves anyway. We entertain, but we also enlighten and educate. Or at the very least, provide needed escape. But it's hard to escape to a one-plot wonder. I keep taking coffee breaks between chapters. I single out no writing medium with this. All are guilty. Come on, TERMINATOR 2 has more subplots than many successful books these days. And it's not just "these days," incidentally. The title I reviewed early in this article is from 1979. Published, successful, well-written, flat. Craftsmanship is fine. Craftsmanship is wonderful to behold. Craftsmanship is a necessity. But, it's not enough. Do you want to build a horse barn that never leaks or do you want to build a two-story A-frame home that survives five hurricanes undamaged? My carpenter did the latter and I can't do the former. But if I had the ability to build a leak-proof barn, I certainly wouldn't limit myself to barns. I'd try to build houses. I'm not talking about weighty tomes. Times change, readers change, and most people don't read them any more. What was once considered gripping is now considered boring. But one-plot wonders also bore readers. They read it, enjoy it moderately, then go look for something else to do. There's little satisfaction at the end. Rarely the big "wow" that probably made you start writing in the first place. I'm talking about shooting for five stars instead of two or three. I'm talking about richness of story, raising the standard, writing your absolute best instead of settling for adequate. I risk oversimplification here, but I'm seeing far too many one-plot wonders. People are buying them, too. But it's time for us, the authors, to quit writing them. Copyright 2004, Michael LaRocca Michael LaRocca's website at http://www.chinarice.org was chosen by WRITER'S DIGEST as one of The 101 Best Websites For Writers in 2001 and 2002. His response was to throw it out and start over again because he's insane. He teaches English at a university in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, and publishes the free weekly newsletter WHO MOVED MY RICE?
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
You Can Be An Author "You should write a book." For years, I had been hearing this comment. Be A Savvy Writer: Go Where The Business Is If you're a writer, you're in business. It doesn't matter whether you're writing picture books, or a self-help book for underachievers, or promotional material and flyers for anyone who wants it. How to Break In and Succeed as a Screenwriter Screenwriting is a competitive trade. To distinguish yourself as a prize-winning writer you need to master organizational skills, take creative risks, and learn how best to present your final product. Writing For Free: When & When Not to Do It! Right off the bat, I want to say that there is no right or wrong answer to this topic. A lot depends on your end goal - to get a job, garner publicity, build a portfolio, etc. What You May Not Learn In College... (Part Two) If you become a writer for any publication, private business, public entity, non-profit organization and/or large corporation that employs more than one editor, you may find that your job description, expected contributions, desired writing style and similar "guidelines" for your position - are subject to change daily/weekly/unpredictably - according to each editor's mood and/or personal preferences. It takes time, but eventually you will learn how to satisfy everyone to the best of your ability. Getting Published Is Different For Everyone: Two Paths Among Many One obvious question that can get overlooked in the process of seeking publication is, Why do you want to publish this book, article, story or poem? Most likely, the answer involves some combination of artistic or spiritual vision, desire for recognition, need to communicate an idea or body of knowledge, feeling a compelling urge to shift consciousness around a particular topic, seeing a knowledge gap in the general society and feeling called to fill it, and of course receiving a little or a lot of financial compensation for one's efforts.As writers, as creative people, it can be difficult to join the artistic and spiritual sides of what drives us with the practical and business concerns. Know Your Editing Choices Each author has special editing needs. To save yourself time and money, look at the choices below and decide which kind of editing suits your needs. Get Published: The Nuts and Bolts of Good English, and How to Impress a Publisher (3) A well-punctuated approach letter may make the difference between acceptance and rejection by a publisher's commissioning editor. In this article, I'll look at just one small, but often bothersome, piece of punctuation: the apostrophe. Writing For the Joy of It As a child, I loved to write. I can't remember ever not writing. Finding The Book Writing Resources, Tips, And Help You Need! Writing can be more difficult that just compiling your thoughts on a few pieces of paper. In fact, it can be a challenge to find something new, interesting, and publishable to write about. The Opportunities As A Freelance Proofreader in the UK A UK based freelance proofreader should be able to provide quality products for the United Kingdom audience. There are many differences in the type of work that is produced for the United States and that which is produced for the United Kingdom. How To Stay Fit While Writing Day after day, writers tend to sit for hours writing that novel or story, and over time, this can become a potential problem. Their metabolism may slow down and the pounds can inch up. Screenwriting, Screenplays, Screenwriters - Incremental Productivity When attempting to understand Creativity and Innovation, it pays to import the vast range of research and knowledge that has been accumulated in these fields - most of it is to be found in the field of Business and Management.For example, Writer's Block is intimately related to Organizational Culture - the same principles that prevent people from generating ideas in the corporate workplace are also responsible for Writer's Block - evaluation apprehension in its many forms. 10 Best Writers Who Ever Lived Compiling a list of the history's ten best writers is like skating on a heated swimming pool. Just when you get started, you find yourself in hot water. Help! I Cant Write! Writer's Block can strike like a King Cobra, paralyzing every little golden nugget you try to create. What can you do to lick it? Below are some fun suggestions to crack the nut! (write about each prompt for twenty minutes)1) Take yourself to the local coffee shop and eavesdrop. The Writing Club Typically when falling asleep in bed at night great thoughts enter the mind, long stringed and meaningful sentences trip over each other to receive attention at the front of the brain alongside all the brilliant findings, results, meanings that speak volumes and hard hitting phrases that are just the ticket to open the door to success. The last thought in the brain before sleep overrides this brilliant future work is, "must use that tomorrow". How to Outline your Book and Chapters with Mindmapping Mindmapping is better than linear outlining because authors can use flexible thinking and relativity in writing their book. One can add and subtract a thought or phrase from a mindmap easily. Editing and Polishing - How Much is Enough? A few days ago, I critiqued a chapter for a writer I'd been working with for some months. The main thing we'd been working on was 'de-cluttering' her writing. Self-examination vs Self-indulgence Self-examination is brutally honest. Self-indulgence is brutally maudlin. Ferreting Out Work FERRETING OUT WORK You keep hearing that there's work out there, but so far you haven't found any. Well, where is it? That depends on what you're looking for.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2008 ReV Brown and LaMesa Gifts |
