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Ok, tongue in cheek subject, but I wanted to (seriously) pass along an analogy from Tracy Hickman regarding plot. I don't subscribe to the character is plot mantra. I don't mean that it's wrong. I mean that it doesn't work for this writer.

After rooting about and asking different authors how they plot, there seems to be 3 different camps. Those who plot closely (rigidly), those who plot loosely (character is plot), and those who are somewhere inbetween. I fall into the middle camp.

Tracy Hickman said that (to him) plotting is like holding as many marbles as you can in the grip of one hand. You can stack the marbles and get quite a few in there. However, if you squeeze too tightly, some of the marbles will squirt out. If you hold too loosely, again some of the marbles will fall from between your fingers. If you hold it with some pressure, but not too much, the marbles will remain.

I really like this analogy because it represents well how I control plot. I let characters do their own thing to an extent, but if they get rambunctious, I *guide* them in the right direction, until that marble is back in hand.

So, just thought I'd share. I'd be curious to hear others' thoughts.

Cheers,

Brad.

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I have to agree with Fiona here. As much as I try to plan my story, the characters will just do their own thing and I end up with strange dead-ends and plot lines. That's why I need to rewrite... Oh well...

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I am never in 'control' of the plot. I sit down in front of the screen each day and what happens, happens. Today I had no idea that Wyl was going to tell Fynch something but it happened and now the whole landscape of the story changes.

I like the analogy though. ">

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Brad

I like to control my characters and then I used Fiona's method and got some surprising results... so like you I am in the middle ground now...and enjoying it... Traci's analaogy is a good one and I am going to use it myself... hehe.

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I'm in the inbetween group as well.

To me if the plot is so rigid and well defined beforehand that the writer knows every little thing that will happen then obviously there can be no surprises for the writer. And if there are no surprises for the writer then there are no surprises for the reader either.

On the other hand I am in awe of those who can write with no 'control' of their characters. I know I can't (I've tried and it was a disaster - even more than normal).

So I'm in the middle. I need to know where I am starting from, something about the places I will be going and the major events I want to happen, and finally where I want to end up.

I liken it to going on an overseas holiday. Some research is needed so you know about the countries you are visiting (and this is my downfall, I get so caught up in this I forget what I'm really supoosed to be doing). A rough itinerary of where you would like to go and what you want to see. Then go and see what happens. If every minute of every day is planned there is no spontaneity and that sense of real excitement is missing. It's the unexpected and unplanned things you discover along the way which make the experience unique.

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Another person I had this sort of discussion with likened it to stepping stones. He sorted out his stepping stones from A to Z right from the beginning. He knew the outline of each chapter, the exact placement of each new revelation and so on. All he had to do was then fill in the detail around each stepping stone. Far too controlling and restrictive for me.

What I do is also like stepping stones, but the next stone in line doesn't become visible until I'm standing on the one preceding it. I jump and the next one comes into focus. I have a generalised idea of where I want to end up, and a vague idea of how to get there but I don't know the details, so things are 'fluid'. In my first book, I had my main characters split into two groups. Group A was supposed to end up in Position C, while Group B was supposed to end up in Position D. Lo and Behold! Group A ended up in Position D and Group B ened up in Position C! Made for a better, more logical ending.

For me, my method creats a more believable story. All the jumps in logic are created by what has come before, not because it was needed at the time.

I agree with what BH said... And if there are no surprises for the writer then there are no surprises for the reader either.

..............................
Life ticks, then you die
Asteroid B-612

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I've lost my marbles ... but i do like Lisa's stepping stone idea.

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and dont ask me, I have lost the plot..... ">