A Novel in three acts: Act Three

[stacia_kane]

So, here we have the final act. It's the easiest to write, but the hardest to write about; at least, I think so

Comments

[selestial_owg]

I tend to agree that the last part is easiest to write (at least if you aren't completely pantsing it - then, for me, it can be very painful). I plotted my YA rather loosely in advance, but once all the pieces were in place, it was like knocking over dominos (I like that analogy), everything just fell right. The only hard part for me was that there was a period of emotional turmoil that was hard to write (mainly because I had to think emotionally like a teenager, which wasn't as simple as I thought it would be), the rest was easy and a lot of fun.

Thanks again for doing this, Stacia!

[tom_gallier]

The endings are the hardest for me. I don't know how many books I have with just five or so chapters left, and ... abandoned. I suspect it's because I didn't set up Act III properly. I will have to give your system all due consideration. I know I need a better, more efficient way of doing it.

Thanks again for sharing how you write.

[dynastic_queen]

This is really great stuff, Stacia. We appreciate you taking the time to put it all together.

Lord, yes, that ending can be the life of you... :)

Neat

[anonymous]

I have to say, I love your blog. I work the same way that you do, with tiny variations. I have to focus more on the clue planting, though.

Tracy Sharp
www.tracysharp.com

Getting in on this late

[driftsmoke]

I really liked your plotting series. I've written a few books, and I always know there's *something* wrong with them. Your words gave me plenty to think about. I know this is the post about the third act, but I have a question that goes all the way back to the first act.

You're planting seeds in the first act about the big problem and the subplots. If you don't know how things are going to end up, how do you come up with seeds you can expand upon so early in the book?

For the record, I'm the worst pantser in the world. I decide what's going to happen next each morning when I open my document.

Re: Getting in on this late

[stacia_kane]

Hey there!

Hmm, good question. I guess I do generally have an idea of how the whole thing is going to end, but generally, I just make sure everything I write in those first 30k words leaves lots of questions open, do you know what I mean? I may not end up solving all the mysteries or answering all the questions, but I usually know what my mystery is overall.

To use Personal Demons as an example again, I wasn't sure what would come of a lot of the events of those first 30k. So I was basically just making sure I conveyed the impression that something was going on. I had Megan getting odd images from people; I had the reporter coming to interview her, I had the business with making promises and clients whose minds made her sick and creepy Art Bellingham. I was basically just writing an average day but throwing as many roadblocks up as I could, you know what I mean? And figuring those roadblocks would amount to something along the way; I'd figure out a way to make them fit. :-)

Does that help? Or does it make it worse? :-)

Re: Getting in on this late

[driftsmoke]

It doesn't make it worse, no. :-) I think, if I'm following, what I need to do is make sure I've got lots of possibilities available in that first ~30K. I need to sort of know the mystery, but I can still be working out ways I might get from A to B to C. This does give me a good idea some of the stuff I'm missing. ;-) Red herrings!

Thanks, Stacia, for taking the time to reply. I appreciate your insight.

Re: Getting in on this late

[stacia_kane]

Right! I never know what the solution to the mystery is going to be, but I usually have some sense of how and where the denoument will take place. So I just make sure I keep expanding the story throughout those first 30k; throw lots of complications in, you know? :-)

Lol and yes, I do love my red herrings.