PRINCIPLES OF PLOT
1. The story of the book is what happens in the book. The plot of the book is the deep structure of those events.
2. We can identify a plot by a change. If you don’t have a change, you don’t have a plot.
3. The protagonist is the person to whom the change happens and in whom the change occurs. Who changes in your plot?
4. Two dimensions of the plot are the Action Plot and the Emotional Plot. Some authors call them External Plot and Internal Plot.
5. Your story will begin when one of these changes does.
6. And while the entertainment of a book may come from its Action Plot, the deeper emotional effect and meaning of the book comes from its Emotional Plot.
The key structures of this speech are in a post on Cheryl’s blog.
Showing posts with label Cheryl Klein. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cheryl Klein. Show all posts
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Cheryl Klein, "The Whole Shebang"
Ms. Klein discussed five books she has worked on, and what she’d like writers to learn from them:
1. Timothy and the Strong Pajamas – Viviane Schwarz. Timothy has pajamas that make him super-strong, but what happens when they rip? The pictures and text work together to tell the story. The vast majority should be in the images, like a silent film. It should also touch on a common childhood emotion. This book touches on a child’s desire for strength. Great children’s books model a way for children to deal with their emotions.
Exercise: What are some key childhood emotions when you are 6? 10? 15?
2. The Light of the World – Katherine Patterson. The key here is to speak the child’s language.
Exercise: How would you describe the Office of the President? The concept of love?
3. Millicent Min, Girl Genius – Lisa Yee. This book came to A.A. Levine through SCBWI. Began as a manuscript written entirely in emails. Great first line: very specific, contains conflict, and it’s funny. A great children’s book has believable characters you can sympathize with.
Exercise: Do a character study.
4. The Harry Potter Series – J.K. Rowling. Harry’s narrative voice is unique. Excellent showing (not telling) details. We experience what Harry experiences. Be alert to the word “felt.” Good fiction “mainlines emotion.” In reality, both showing and telling have their place in fiction. Think topic sentences.
Exercise: Rewrite the following: “Zombies walked up West End Avenue. Susie felt terrified. William was hyper.”
5. A Curse Dark as Gold – Elizabeth Bunce. A good example of character change/growth. Ms. Bunce has both an internal and external plot, weaved together. Don’t teach lessons.
Exercise: Use a triangle to map out your story – your story gets bigger and bigger and bigger to the climax, the breaking point.
Use exercises such as these to make your story stronger!
Cheryl Klein – Dimentions of Character
Cheryl Klein, Senior Editor with Arthur A. Levine Books (Scholastic imprint) talked about character. Character is important, but must be paired with action.
ESSENCE (who the character is):
1. Facts – age, where they live, gender
2. Internal qualities – personality, ethics, morals, values, degree of self-awareness. A Character can have two internal qualities that conflict with each other.
3. External qualities – factors that show the internal qualities: Appearance, manner of speaking, patterns of behavior.
4. History (backstory). Readers only need to know what’s relevant to plot or to understand the reason behind characters’ actions. It can also be used as emotional context, to make the reader sympathize with the character.
“Let your characters word and actions speak for themselves.”
ACTION
1. Desire – what the character wants: to get the girl, be the smartest person in the room, etc. Ask yourself: When a character wakes up, what’s the first thing he thinks of.
“The desire often becomes the plot engine of the novel.”
2. Attitude/Energy – content of what character says. Try journaling as the character to see what they say.
“If you wouldn’t want to hang around with a character in person, you wouldn’t want to hang around them in a novel.”
3. Action – what the character does to get what they want.
Desire + Attitude = Action.
Cheryl did an exercise with the audience, building a character using the essence points. She said the more characteristics you add in each category, the more interesting your character will be. Add depth by asking Why to each trait.
Cheryl said both the villain and the main character have motivations.
“Everyone is the hero of his own story.”
ESSENCE (who the character is):
1. Facts – age, where they live, gender
2. Internal qualities – personality, ethics, morals, values, degree of self-awareness. A Character can have two internal qualities that conflict with each other.
3. External qualities – factors that show the internal qualities: Appearance, manner of speaking, patterns of behavior.
4. History (backstory). Readers only need to know what’s relevant to plot or to understand the reason behind characters’ actions. It can also be used as emotional context, to make the reader sympathize with the character.
“Let your characters word and actions speak for themselves.”
ACTION
1. Desire – what the character wants: to get the girl, be the smartest person in the room, etc. Ask yourself: When a character wakes up, what’s the first thing he thinks of.
“The desire often becomes the plot engine of the novel.”
2. Attitude/Energy – content of what character says. Try journaling as the character to see what they say.
“If you wouldn’t want to hang around with a character in person, you wouldn’t want to hang around them in a novel.”
3. Action – what the character does to get what they want.
Desire + Attitude = Action.
Cheryl did an exercise with the audience, building a character using the essence points. She said the more characteristics you add in each category, the more interesting your character will be. Add depth by asking Why to each trait.
Cheryl said both the villain and the main character have motivations.
“Everyone is the hero of his own story.”
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