When your plot does a thing
Apr. 29th, 2015 02:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccaelizabethI wrote a plot outline where there's a happily ever after with a baby. Because yaay. Happy characters are good, right?
But I realised today that (a) the chapter headings I planned to use include CREATE and out of the 7 main words that's the one that says make a baby, but it's in the middle, not at the end, plus (b) the adventure plot I already had sorted out for that section leaves them in the perfect situation to set up the sex plot that I otherwise needed to set a different trap to make happen.
And 'oops, accidental pregnancy' is clearly dramatic.
Happy characters are good, but characters who never had a plan for this are going to make more story.
... I've just spent half an hour elaborating on the way this change makes more story, in my notes. I think I'm going to do this, then.
But it makes figuring out how they raise the baby something that'll happen on screen, so to speak. Like, they're both active field agents, they now have a baby, what do?
That wasn't the story I had in mind.
I mean the story I had in mind was 90% porn and it grew more plot every time I sat down, but now, even more so.
I don't know, maybe go back to the easy way and have the story end when they realise they're both yaay about having a baby? But there's clearly a lot more story after that.
... this story keeps getting longer, and I only have 9K words. This is like the paradox with the turtle and the arrow, only with word count.
Also I keep questioning the usefulness of even making a big plot when 8992 words is the most words in many years. Am I making up plot as a distraction from actual story? But I do need to know roughly where it's going.
ALSO also I need to notice when I'm putting a gun on the mantelpiece, or taking one out of the armoury in this case. I knew something was bugging me. Okay, I now actually know what happens next instead of just what the characters plan to have happen. Go me.
But I realised today that (a) the chapter headings I planned to use include CREATE and out of the 7 main words that's the one that says make a baby, but it's in the middle, not at the end, plus (b) the adventure plot I already had sorted out for that section leaves them in the perfect situation to set up the sex plot that I otherwise needed to set a different trap to make happen.
And 'oops, accidental pregnancy' is clearly dramatic.
Happy characters are good, but characters who never had a plan for this are going to make more story.
... I've just spent half an hour elaborating on the way this change makes more story, in my notes. I think I'm going to do this, then.
But it makes figuring out how they raise the baby something that'll happen on screen, so to speak. Like, they're both active field agents, they now have a baby, what do?
That wasn't the story I had in mind.
I mean the story I had in mind was 90% porn and it grew more plot every time I sat down, but now, even more so.
I don't know, maybe go back to the easy way and have the story end when they realise they're both yaay about having a baby? But there's clearly a lot more story after that.
... this story keeps getting longer, and I only have 9K words. This is like the paradox with the turtle and the arrow, only with word count.
Also I keep questioning the usefulness of even making a big plot when 8992 words is the most words in many years. Am I making up plot as a distraction from actual story? But I do need to know roughly where it's going.
ALSO also I need to notice when I'm putting a gun on the mantelpiece, or taking one out of the armoury in this case. I knew something was bugging me. Okay, I now actually know what happens next instead of just what the characters plan to have happen. Go me.