Writing yourself into a corner...

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BlancheKing
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Writing yourself into a corner...

Post by BlancheKing » June 1st, 2010, 1:06 pm

I hate this, but bloody hell, it seems to happen all the time...

So I'm working on my second novel and am absolutely loving the new characters (particularly one) but every time I want him to show a little bit more of himself, I end up writing him into a predicament where I have no idea what to do with him. It's like I want him to have a chat/epiphany/fight but I can't think of a reason. Suggestions?
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xouba
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Re: Writing yourself into a corner...

Post by xouba » June 1st, 2010, 2:55 pm

I can't help you, I'm sorry. I've fallen into that trap often, and still don't have the "magic bullet" to get out of it.

What I'm trying to do now is to outline everything beforehand, so I have some structure to follow. Did you outline your plot? If not, maybe it can help.

Margo
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Re: Writing yourself into a corner...

Post by Margo » June 1st, 2010, 3:32 pm

People tend to love outlines or hate outlines. The only time I ever got stuck is when I didn't outline. I strongly suggest outlining.

Having said that, I have never convinced someone who hates outlines to try them out.

I have had an easier time bringing people to compromises on things like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or creationism-versus-evolution.
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BlancheKing
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Re: Writing yourself into a corner...

Post by BlancheKing » June 1st, 2010, 4:08 pm

Is it sad then that I already have an outline?

I tried taking this one author's advice: know some of the beginning, some of the middle, and all of the end. The problem is that the middle got lost in a stream of events that are only important later. It's like chauffeuring a friend to the airport. When the character's scheduled to be at point B, I have no idea how to get him out of point A and to point B because he'd somehow managed to build a house without doors.
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wilderness
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Re: Writing yourself into a corner...

Post by wilderness » June 1st, 2010, 4:21 pm

Yeah, I don't work with much of an outline but I do what you did (have a few major plot points in mind). The only thing I can say is brainstorm, brainstorm, brainstorm and be willing to rip apart the old stuff when it stops making sense to the story.

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Re: Writing yourself into a corner...

Post by Margo » June 1st, 2010, 5:27 pm

The middle is the hardest part, the place people are most likely to start meandering. My immediate thought, unsurprisingly, would be to do a more thorough outline of the middle (at least in this case). If you are lucky enough to have a brainstorming partner with a gift for plotting, try before and after brainstorming sessions; that's what I do when mine is available (the downside being he's the busiest person I know).
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polymath
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Re: Writing yourself into a corner...

Post by polymath » June 1st, 2010, 5:40 pm

Preplanned or unplanned, a plot is a causally connected series of events. A causal train takes a First Cause through a plot's waystations. A causes B, B causes C, C causes D, and so on. Ideally, A also causes C and D, B causes D, and so on. Causal momentum is cumulative not additive. A + B cause C, A + B + C cause D, and so on.

A boy orphaned by violence is placed with foster parents, who are mean.
The foster parents attempt to deny the boy his birthright related to the violence that killed his parents.
Sympathetic people intervene, who have similar birthrights.
The boy is enrolled in a school where he can learn about his birthright.
And so on, all causally related to the boy's birthright.

Writing into a corner isn't so much a product of failed planning. It might be the casual train has jumped the tracks or jumped over gaping gaps. Looking back for where causation digresses or jumps a gap might offer insight into how to get the plot back on track and bridge the gaps.
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JustineDell
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Re: Writing yourself into a corner...

Post by JustineDell » June 1st, 2010, 5:43 pm

Margo wrote:People tend to love outlines or hate outlines. The only time I ever got stuck is when I didn't outline. I strongly suggest outlining.

Having said that, I have never convinced someone who hates outlines to try them out.
It's funny, I did a blog post about pre-plotting today ;-)

I don't outline. Firm believer of no-outlining here. I'm different though. Outlining or plotting would make me feel "stuck".

If I ever work my characters into a tough spot, I work them out of it. If I can't, I scrap the chapter and start over. There's a reason you can't get your character out of the corner - he/she isn't meant to be there. Of course, that's my unpublished 2 cents. ;-)

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dios4vida
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Re: Writing yourself into a corner...

Post by dios4vida » June 1st, 2010, 6:06 pm

Something that helps me write myself out of corners is to focus on the character's motivation. Why are they at point A? Why do they want to be at point B? Is there something in their history that would motivate them to act blindly/stupidly/rashly that would drive them somewhere they shouldn't go? Or are there circumstances that would force them there?

Another thing is to think about what the point of the scene is. What does the reader need to learn about the plot or characters? Sometimes knowing what you as a writer need to accomplish in a given scene helps you figure out how to move the characters through it.

If you still can't get yourself out of the corner, you might want to consider changing the setting to fit the character's logic. If there's no way your MC would go to a bar, you can't send him to a bar. You might have to send him to a cafe instead. Sometimes simply changes like that can make everything fall together.

That's all the advice I have to give. I hope it helps. Good luck!
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Holly
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Re: Writing yourself into a corner...

Post by Holly » June 1st, 2010, 8:18 pm

BlancheKing wrote:I hate this, but bloody hell, it seems to happen all the time...

So I'm working on my second novel and am absolutely loving the new characters (particularly one) but every time I want him to show a little bit more of himself, I end up writing him into a predicament where I have no idea what to do with him. It's like I want him to have a chat/epiphany/fight but I can't think of a reason. Suggestions?
One word: subplot. Actually, I can never shut up, so here are some more words... try an intersecting subplot.

And second, get to know this character and his place in the story. Why is he there? What kind of person is he? When he wakes up at night, does he go to the fridge for a beer, to the TV to watch CNN, to the chapel to pray, etc.

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Re: Writing yourself into a corner...

Post by writeaskew » June 1st, 2010, 8:30 pm

Every time I write myself into a corner I stop where I'm at, put an asterisk or two at that spot and then skip forward to action in the future and keep writing. I think sometimes that's what really keeps me going. As long as I'm writng, the part I can't figure out will work itself out. You might even resolve the problem. If your MC is trapped in a bar fight and you aren't sure what to do with him and you skip forward in time and discover he's on crutches or is wearing an eyepatch, you know something had to have happened when you (not your MC) left the bar. you can go back to it later.

I'm of the philosophy that writers write. Keep writing and the rest will work itself out.

WA

Margo
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Re: Writing yourself into a corner...

Post by Margo » June 1st, 2010, 10:30 pm

Holly wrote:One word: subplot. Actually, I can never shut up, so here are some more words... try an intersecting subplot.

And second, get to know this character and his place in the story. Why is he there? What kind of person is he? When he wakes up at night, does he go to the fridge for a beer, to the TV to watch CNN, to the chapel to pray, etc.
Yeah, what Holly said. A strong subplot is a beautiful thing, no matter the circumstances. And you can never know too much about your characters, though one wouldn't want to include all of it just for its own sake. It does, however, help immeasurably when trying to dig deeper than the character's knee-jerk reaction to whatever is happening (promoting secondary motives, cutting those "off-the-top-of-my-head" choices in favor of the second or third thought, etc).
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cheekychook
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Re: Writing yourself into a corner...

Post by cheekychook » June 2nd, 2010, 12:46 am

Chat/epiphany/fight.

Those are all perfectly good vehicles to use to show a character's real self. Maybe you should try thinking of each of those things individually.

Chat: Who would your character talk to? Would they talk in person? IM? Email? What would they discuss that would showcase the aspects of your character's personality that you're trying to portray?

Epiphany: What would your character's epiphany be about? Life? Career? Love? Resolving a past conflict? Figuring out a future goal? What would cause the epiphany to occur? Maybe it could happen during a chat or fight...

Fight: What issues would most likely draw your character into a fight? Is he more likely to fight for himself or in defense of someone else? Does he fight fair or dirty? Does he become a different person when fighting?

If you know your character's personality really well and are getting stuck on plot try coming up with a scene first (lunch with a friend, argument with a spouse, meeting at work), make sure you know the conflict or point of the scene before you start writing, then drop your character into the scenario and his personality should come out as he makes his way through the event. Make sure to save any scenes you've written where the character gets stuck. When you go back and read them later pull out the parts you like---you may be able to put those pieces into another scene.

Good luck and try to remember, there's no point in having a character you like unless you're going to have fun writing about them. Come to think of it, there's no point in having characters you hate unless you're going to have fun writing about them too. ;)
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CharleeVale
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Re: Writing yourself into a corner...

Post by CharleeVale » June 3rd, 2010, 11:27 pm

Usually when I get stuck it's from something way beforehand that I didn't even notice. I have to retrace until I find the problem. It's extremely irritating.

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Steppe
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Re: Writing yourself into a corner...

Post by Steppe » June 4th, 2010, 12:22 am

A sudden turn always works.


Goes to the grave yard to visit a grave.
Goes to the library to check out a book.
Runs into an old friend (complicated relationship)
Add a character flaw event; poker, races, whores, criminal friend.


Mostly a main character should have one best friend and three to four main associate friends.
In crime or sci-fi it would be an accomplice from previous successful ventures that succeeded
demonstrating a trust level that may be up to this new venture or maybe not.

Always a meaningless sub plot the reader realizes is just distracting from the business at hand.
Half the characters are collaborating on a business venture the other half are vying for the same goal.

I spend usually less than two sentences locomoting from location to location
unless I want the characters to chat up the foreshadowing or have some snappy
lines to toss in for coloring within the characters lines.

If all else fails stop until the character "Makes" you come back to the keyboard.
Sometimes a pause is the very best thing for a story as the sub-conscious mind
processes the reality of the world created and catches up . All of a sudden it becomes inevitable;
he does this, then he does that, then he does this, before you know it your finger tips hurt.

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