Oh man. I have Thoughts and Ideas about plot and story. I really enjoy stories that are light on plot - and enjoy writing them - but I still want to tell a story, even if it's not explicit in a plot-heavy structure. One of my personal goals with writing is to get more comfortable with plot. I usually think of it and talk about it as being comfortable with verbs. I want action, progress, conflict - SOMETHING - in my stories. I don't always succeed, but I want to get better at it.
But of course, I have no idea what to write. I doubt that a long nattering post on Process and my Personal Growth As A Writer Person would work (or work for me personally. I do, after all, like plot. Heh).
i have a terrible time with plot, which i always define to myself as "the shit that actually happens". (i wrote a nanonovel that was almost completely devoid of plot. 50k words and practically nothing happened.) "being comfortable with verbs" is a good way to put it. i am apparently NOT comfortable with verbs (unless they're sex scene verbs), but i reallllly want to be.
Quite the opposite. It's the stories that should be streaking -- plots are the nuns habits they're forced to wear. Plot enforces a very particular sort of order on your story. If used The Wrong Way, it'll squeeze the joy out of your story entirely.
Or, put another way: when we're young, we have coloring books with pictures in them. First we color outside the lines, because we don't know any better. Then we color inside the lines, to learn the rules. Then we color with no lines, because we want to experiment. And then we draw our own lines in order to tell our own stories.
(the_lettersea is feeling particularly explicative today.)
If my writing comes to a halt, I head to the shops: I find them very inspirational. And if I get into real trouble with my plot, I go out for a pizza with my husband.
I first came across this phrase in an episode of "Doc Martin." It was the very rude doctor's reponse to someone's complaints-- "Well, I can't help it that you've lost the plot..."
Meaning, lost his mind or has no idea what's going on. It cracked me up. Maybe it's a common British usage, but I'd never heard it before.
Dunno about British usage, but it's definitely common terminology in Australia. I'd say that phrase most weeks, I reckon! Mostly about myself, sometimes about other people :)
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But of course, I have no idea what to write. I doubt that a long nattering post on Process and my Personal Growth As A Writer Person would work (or work for me personally. I do, after all, like plot. Heh).
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It's Open Topic.
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Wheeeee!
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Or, put another way: when we're young, we have coloring books with pictures in them. First we color outside the lines, because we don't know any better. Then we color inside the lines, to learn the rules. Then we color with no lines, because we want to experiment. And then we draw our own lines in order to tell our own stories.
(the_lettersea is feeling particularly explicative today.)
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--Sophie Kinsella
That's pretty much me, lol!
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Meaning, lost his mind or has no idea what's going on. It cracked me up. Maybe it's a common British usage, but I'd never heard it before.
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And still fairly rude, in the context, which is what Doc Martin himself is all about. ;)
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