The Plot Thickens

The plot thickens meaning what form does your novel take.

·        Linear.

·        Episodic.

·        Parallel.

·        Flashback.

     There are books on writing that will explain those terms with highfaluting literary terms. No highfaluting here.

LINEAR

     Linear means one event happens after another. Your story may quite literally unfold with the birth of your character and follows the person through his or her life, event after event.

    Charles Dickens, David Copperfield - Chapter one…I am born.

The first lines are:

“Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show. To begin my life with the beginning of my life, I record that I was born (as I have been informed and believe) on a Friday, at twelve o'clock at night. It was remarked that the clock began to strike, and I began to cry, simultaneously.”

     If you are interested in writing the events of your life, let’s say to leave as a keepsake for your family, starting at the beginning “I was born” and then step by step visit the events of your life probably works best. Each chapter is then a specific time period. Of course this wouldn’t be a work of fiction unless you are spicing it up with things that didn’t happen. Let’s just say your life is spicey enough just the way it is. The linear unfolding works best here A to B to C. This is a good format for a memoir.

     In a novel, you can follow David Copperfield and start at the birth of your hero and the story develops as your hero grows up. Although, linear stories don’t have to start with the beginning of your hero’s life. Your reader can “drop in” on your character at whatever age and the story goes forward from that point. Wherever “start” is, your hero must be well developed and appealing (even if unappealing in personality) because that character must hold the readers interest. Of course you have to put obstacles in the way that your hero must overcome. In a linear or chronological structure the story unfolds in the order it happens. The reader finds out about the events in a progressive timeline.

     How the plot develops is just as important as the story itself. You, as the writer are in control of that. The life of all beings is linear. We can’t go back in time. We go forward, one event at a time. One day at a time. A linear structure can skip time periods let’s say age 10, skip to age 20. But, you then can’t go back to age 5. (The hero can have a memory of age 5, the writer can describe the scene in detail, but the story structure can’t “flashback” to age 5. This would not be a linear progression of events). If you want to include age 5, you have to start the story at age 5, then you can skip to age 10, skip to age 20. As long as events go forward in time, A to B to C, you’re good.

EPISODIC

     Episodic describes a story divided into episodes—parts or installments in a series. Lord of the Rings is a series of three books, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King. There are plot considerations when writing a series. There will be a resolution to some dilemmas in book one and book two, but the overarching plot is not resolved until the final book.

     Some books and films that are episodic are self-contained meaning the story or movie has a resolution. It is not open ended. Another installment will have the same hero with a different plot that will have a resolution at the end. The Die Hard series is like that. Each film is stand alone.

My novels series Ghosts of the Presidential Library and Wizard of the Presidential Library are like that as well. The plot is resolved for each book, not open ended.

     The Harry Potter series does resolve some issues but its open ended because too many questions go unanswered, and the reader is compelled to check out the next book. I used the open-ended approach for my Bats in the Belfry series. In my experience some producers interested in making a movie out of a series are sometimes reluctant to go with open ended books. If the first movie isn’t a success the producer is less likely to make the second book or the third that will have the overarching plot conclusion.

     In a series that has a conclusion the movie, like the novel, can stand by itself. The producer may choose to make the second book with the same characters. If not, the first film is complete. Movie studio Warner Bros. and the various producers took an enormous risk committing to making eight films based on the J. K. Rowling novels. The movies are not stand alone because the overarching plot, the destruction of evil wizard Voldemort, doesn’t occur until the final movie. Of course the novels were a tremendous hit, so the risk was worth taking and paid off big time. Good for all involved going for it and giving we, the viewing public, such wonderful entertainment. We, as writers, can only hope and pray the same luck, fate, or fairy dust sprinkled on Joanne Rowling blows our way.

     Series television scripts are episodic. Each script will have the same characters, but the plot is different. A sitcom (situation comedy) and a drama series is presented in episodes. Each episode will have an ending or resolution. However, the viewer will want to know what happens to these characters and watch the next installment.

     For writers, Amazon self-publishing has a website with an episode format called “Kindle Vella.” A writer can tell his or her story in episodes. The episodes are similar to a chapter. A writer can publish serialized stories, one short episode at a time. The reader then purchases each episode.

The ending of an episode is stronger, or more dramatic than a chapter ending might be. That is the episode ends with a cliffhanger described as an ending to an episode of a serial drama that leaves the audience in suspense. Cliffhanger books and movies were very popular in the 1930’s with The Perils of Pauline and the Buck Rogers series. The classic cliffhanger is the villain ties little Nell to the railroad tracks. Will the good-hearted Mountie save her in time? (Watch the next episode to find out.)

We'll continue with Parallel and Flashback next week. Happy Writing!