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Speeding up my Plot



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Sat Jun 29, 2013 11:59 pm
hockeyfan87 says...



I always have a story and I get so into it I get to the main plot line issue-the climax- within like 20 pages or less. I also am horrid at telling instead of showing. Any tips?
when you grow up you realize that Prince Charming is not as easy to find as you thought. You realize the bad guy is not wearing a black cape and he's not easy to spot; he's really funny, and he makes you laugh, and he has perfect hair and isnt wearing a black cape and easy to spot Lots of Love Jenn
  





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Sun Jun 30, 2013 12:39 am
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Rosendorn says...



Consider your balance of summary versus scene.

When it comes to pace, summary speeds it up, while scene slows it down. Scene usually involves character interaction, letting the character be alone, and obstacles in the plot.

As an example of how scene can really expand on a plot: consider a 100 word paragraph that, well, summarizes a bunch of options the characters are pitching for a whodunit plot that's really complicated to solve. I expanded it into a scene where they discuss the options and the amount of work they're doing into a nearly one thousand word scene.

Reconsider how you see the "slow" spots in a work. Are you bored by character interaction? Feel there can't be a break? Don't want to have any padding?

One thing I had to learn was that slow spots, plotting, and character interactions were absolutely fantastic to write. They weren't boring at all. They showed the character, built up this really rich world, and were full of little gems I wouldn't get without the slow spots.

This article goes into more detail on pacing.

Also, showing vs telling is mostly in character interaction. Something like "She sat on a chair" isn't telling. It's showing. You can add emotion and context to it, but that's still showing.

Telling is saying "he was angry" or "she was nice to others". Showing is having his eyes blazing with fury, jaw tense to the point the veins in his neck are showing, and having a lady smile to everybody, tip her servers well, and never say a harsh word.

This blog goes into more about showing vs telling.

Showing is much more effective for character interactions, because you actually get proof of the claims. Better to give us all we need to form an opinion on the character ourselves instead of saying the trait about the character.

It means your character building has to get better, because you can't rely on shorthand phrases to build the character. You have to describe them in actions and reactions to the characters, which takes some time. But the best way to build them is through interactions (I often recommend to stick characters in random situations to see how they react), so both skills will get better at the same time.

All of this results in a much longer story, and you'll probably show too much before finding the balance. My rule of thumb is when the writer starts to get bored with showing all the scenes, time to skip it forward to the next bits of juicy interactions.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

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Wed Jul 03, 2013 9:43 am
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Tenyo says...



Rosie has pretty much hit every nail on the head.

I have the same problem as you though, I get so excited and write everything in such a short space. Discipline is especially important here- just remember that it's better to have the enthusiasm to keep powering through it, rather than the lack of it that stops you from writing anything.

One thing to remember though is that having lots to write isn't always a bad thing. One of the reasons I love about Game of Thrones is that something really big and lifechanging happens every other chapter. You can never really predict where the plot is going to go. Maybe you can postpone the ending of your novel and just keep leading it on and on.

Another trick I use is to set a task and a word limit for each chapter as I come to it. Something like; "Here's chapter five. In this chapter Jack is going to arrive at the city and find his old house is empty. This is an important event and it needs to be at least 500 words."

Then I don't allow myself to move on until I've reached that 500 word quota. Once I've got the basic down it forces me to think of all the other things that I could include apart from just what's happening, like descriptions and introspections and all the likes.

Try it, and let me know if it works for you!
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Sat Oct 19, 2013 4:10 pm
deleted5 says...



I have the same problem, I have written the prologue for my book and it's 1 1/2 pages long (A5 :( ) I think I will try Rosey and Tenya's tips and see what happens.
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