Lose The Plot

I find it funny how the words ‘plotting’ and ‘downfall’ are so often to be found in the same sentence, because in my writing career, I often feel that it’s plotting – out of all the many elements of fiction-writing – that really is my nemesis.  

I HATE plotting. I just can’t do it, and I’m on Novel No.13. Of course, I do do it, and it’s always fine in the end (after blood, sweat, tears and considerable input from editors) but my goodness, it’s like pulling teeth sometimes.

Sometimes? Who am I kidding? Always. It is always like pulling teeth. I’m currently 80K words into my new book, and while I sort of know what I think happens at the end, I can’t get my head around how to make it complex and satisfying enough to interest even me, let alone anyone else…  I’m not panicking exactly, because as I said, I’ve been here many times before. But instead of my ideas speeding up as I near the climax of the book, it’s like they slow down. I’m not exaggerating when I say that unless I can talk it through with someone, my current plot idea output is at a deeply unimpressive approximate level of two per week.

Two ideas a week! Now, this undeniably also has something to do with the fact that I’m not a bum-on-seat person, I don’t sit at my desk from 8am-6pm and forbid myself to leave until I’ve written two chapters, or 1000 words or whatever, I’m not as disciplined as that.

To illustrate, I’ll talk you through my novel-writing ‘process’, such as it is:

• Have concept for novel, and think up main characters and settings
• Have a few rough ideas of what to put said characters through
• Plough in with 10-20k words, to get an idea of which direction the story might be heading in, and develop the characters
• Perhaps a vague idea of the ending, sometimes no idea at all
• Remember past agonies of plotting
• Decide to use a structure this time, plan the rest of the whole thing out ahead of time
• Re-read various books on plotting such as The Writers’ Journey (which explains how to use the 12 step Hero’s Journey blueprint – very useful), Save The Cat, Take Off Your Pants! On Writing, etc.
• Buy a lot of index cards and/or post-its.
• Haul the pin board out from under the sofa.  It’s divided by ribbons into Acts 1, 2 and 3, and sub-divided into further sections, a handy structural breakdown.
• Have ideas for a few scenes and stick them on the board
• Run out of ideas
• Have a very bare pinboard
• Plough on regardless with the first draft till I’ve painted myself into various fictional corners
• Weep and consider retraining as a cabinet-maker
• Get there in the end.

I’m always envious of people who can plot out entire novels chapter by chapter, scene by scene. Plotting seems like a far more expedient way of writing than its opposite number, ‘pantsing’ (ie. writing by the seat of your pants).  But even if I could plot out an entire book without seeing where the characters took me first, I’m not sure that I would. Personally, I would find it really dull and prescriptive if I had to write the whole thing knowing what was going to happen.

As tortuous as my process is, there is the undeniable frisson of pleasure when it does finally start coming together, especially in later drafts.

I co-wrote six novels with Mark Edwards, and I have to say I think this is why I find plotting solo books so particularly difficult, because we always did it so collaboratively. That said, Mark has always been better at plotting than I am; but I always found it a case of each idea leading to another in a much faster way with two heads than it ever does with one.   I’ve had ideas for plot twists that I’d never have been able to have without his prior input to help set it up. So after many years of working this way, it’s undeniably hard to do it solo again.

There’s also something really helpful about articulating a plot to someone else in a brainstorming session. Even if they themselves aren’t writers and their suggestions are a) rubbish or b) irrelevant, I find that merely by explaining out loud where I’ve got with it so far does often lead to me then being able to generate fresh ideas of my own. It’s just that, unless you have a long-suffering other half, you don’t really want to bore your nearest and dearest with the intricacies of storyline. Well, I don’t, anyway.  

You could, of course, pay an editor, although personally I would baulk at doing this so early in the process. Editors are invaluable, especially to an unpublished or self-publishing author who doesn’t have anyone in-house on hand, but to me their worth is in taking a rough diamond and polishing it, not helping mine the diamond in the first place.

It is odd, thus, that my novels are often described as ‘tightly plotted’. This makes me laugh because the route to their tightness is without fail so circuitous. I can honestly say that I don’t know how my books do end up with such complex plots. It is certainly a process of evolution rather than pre-planning.

So, if you too are struggling with your plot, I hope you will take heart from this and know you are not alone.  It’s a marathon, not a sprint. I’ve now resigned myself to the fact that I can’t force it, but I take heart from knowing I’ve been in the plot desert so many times before, and I’ve always found my way out eventually, with patience, input where possible, and perseverance.  

Then the editing can commence!

—

Over her eighteen-year writing career, Louise Voss has had twelve novels published – six solo and six co-written with Mark Edwards, a combination of psychological thrillers, police procedurals and contemporary fiction. Her twelfth, THE OLD YOU (Orenda Books) came out in May 2018 and is described as ‘nail-bitingly modern domestic noir’.Louise has an MA(Dist) in Creative Writing and also works as a literary consultant and mentor for writers. She lives in south-west London and is a proud member of two female crime-writing collectives, Killer Women and The Slice Girls.

About THE OLD YOU 

Someone’s mind is playing tricks … but whose?

Lynn Naismith gave up the job she loved when she married Ed, the love of her life, but it was worth it for the happy years they enjoyed together. Now, ten years on, Ed has been diagnosed with early-onset dementia, and things start to happen; things more sinister than lost keys and missing words. As some memories are forgotten, others, long buried, begin to surface … and Lynn’s perfect world begins to crumble.

But is it Ed’s mind playing tricks, or hers…?

‘The slow reveals and hints at the darkness to come in The Old You will make it impossible to put down’ Sarah Pinborough

‘A cracking page-turner that sucks you straight into the dark heart of human behaviour’ Marnie Riches

‘A brilliant tale of deception with a twist that took my breath away’ Mark Edwards

‘I was guessing right to the end’ Katerina Diamond

‘A twisty, thrilling read with engaging and complex characters’ Sarah Ward

‘Poignant, clever and terrifically tense’ William Shaw

’Exceptionally clever, intriguing and mysterious … this is how a psychological crime thriller should be written’ Random Things through my Letterbox

‘One of the twistiest books I’ve read for a while. Completely gripping’ Cass Green

 

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: Contemporary Women Writers, How To and Tips