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Anyone who’s taken a journalism class, or written for a newspaper, is familiar with the “Five Ws” which–canonically–are supposed to be at the head of the story. Also with “inverted triangle” structure. Most of the time, novel structure is not the same, but keeping readers oriented to person, place, and time is–for most, not all–important. Even more important–though hidden from readers–is keeping the writer oriented to the Five Ws (and more.)
Frequently, the writer isn’t so oriented, in the course of writing the book. Who is this person who suddenly walked onstage in the writer’s brain, grabbed the microphone, and started singing…something…what? Belangian love songs? Stirring Umphagorian political rap? A diatribe against eating the undead larvae of zombie invertebrates? Where is this supposed to happen, and when? Did someone change the stage set so we’re now in Kortz instead of AllaBelTimeo? At dusk, when the last scene played was at dawn on a mountaintop? And why did this person show up, why did it (the sex isn’t obvious yet, with all those tentacles) grab the microphone and start singing? Especially that song?
A writer’s bright ideas (or dark ideas–doesn’t matter) often come without context and with very little definition. If the writer allows that unknown character to take over part of a story without considering the Five Ws, then mysterious variables are added to the story mix and (getting to the point finally, since this isn’t a newspaper story) those mysterious and totally incomprehensible (since never questioned) variables will, in the end, jam up in the story’s works and bring it to a lurching halt. Readers don’t need to know everything about everyone from the beginning, but the writer must either know, or find out, about the background and motivation of all characters whose actions impact the plot significantly. Or risk the kind of tangle I’ve been fighting with for months.
Bright idea #1 had a lovely idea about Character X, that X should have a not-exactly-sidekick-Y. Bright idea #2 was “Oh, yeah, not only THAT but let’s have Character X’s not-exactly-sidekick Y be (mmph) who was (mmph-gzzth-rrsth) because that would really add a ton of resonance, close a circle opened in [a very previous book], put primary POV character A in the worst bind of A’s life, threatening total collapse. ” And so on. Lots of “so on.”
Scenes were written. Lots of scenes were written. The first one the reader sees is in Limits of Power. POV for X and Y. No hints as to Y’s identity. Scenes for Crown initially went fast and smoothly, indicating I was on the right track. There’s X, there’s Y, there’s lights/camera/action and Plot rolling down the rails, zip. Climax scenes written, yay! (Hard scene to write, very high intensity.) Character B’s entire story arc done. Character A’s entire story arc done but for some little bitty connective bits. Character C’s story arc mostly…but for a gap in which Characters X and Y will do whatever it is they do to get to when/where they interact with Characters A and B.
But then, came the connective tissue that attaches the parts to each other. And…dead stop. Rearrange the parts, try again. Nothing. Usually this is duck soup. Character Amy, in Paris, is going to be kidnapped by Character Mercer, who’s now in Toronto. The writer knows why Amy is in Paris, why Mercer is in Toronto, why Mercer plans to kidnap Amy, why Amy hasn’t a clue about the plan, and much more (such as how much money each has and where they got it.) Since Amy will be kidnapped in Paris, Mercer has to get to Paris while Amy is there. There’s an ocean in between: what decade of what century are we in? (Will Mercer have a choice of air v. sea travel, or will only one be available?) How long will Amy be there? How long does it take, in that era, to get across the Atlantic? A little research and you’re writing the transition (with more or less detail depending on the story) of Mercer getting to Paris, where the unaware Amy is doing whatever visitors do in that era, so she can be kidnapped.
But suppose important Ws are missing. Suppose the bright idea “Amy will be kidnapped” didn’t come with a location, a time, a reason, and all the writer knows about Mercer is that he showed up at a family reunion in Toronto with an inappropriate “present” for his great grandmother, a badly tanned skunk skin?
I’ve been dealing with the Paksworld equivalent for months now. And last night before choir practice, thanks to the prodding of an editor friend (soprano in the choir) I got to the heart of the relationship between X and not-exactly-sidekick Y, which gave me the motivation for things that had been obscure, and also the means and opportunity for [other stuff I can’t tell you yet, sorry.] I know and understand both much better now.
Now to just write all the missing bits really, really, REALLY fast.
Comment by Genko — May 2, 2013 @ 12:13 pm
Glad YOU understand! This is actually pretty hilarious — thanks for sharing it with us.
Comment by Annabel — May 2, 2013 @ 1:35 pm
But it’s the character that crawls on stage and grabs the microphone that often is the first germ of an idea for a story, I find. It doesn’t always go anywhere, but sometimes it does. Once the story wasn’t even fantasy – help!!!
Comment by Daniel Glover — May 2, 2013 @ 3:22 pm
So that’s what happened to the stuffed cow! 🙂
Been hanging around with that badly tanned skunk skin. Sounds like the stitching is starting to hold.
Comment by Gareth — May 3, 2013 @ 2:29 am
Hope it all continues to fall into place. We talk about similar things in software engineering. We often pause to mull things over because although we sort of have a solution it’s all too complex and we just know that if we keep thinking or sometimes park and come back we’ll suddenly realise that if we do x it will fit in better with Y and we can take advantage of Z etc. Once it all falls into place projects move very fast – wish I could capture the process of making it all fall into place. Very often with us it is multiple people or the engineering teddy bear.
The engineering teddy bear? Well he did used to really exists – large stuffed toy (I mean man sized) that sat in a chair in a spare office.
We used to say – when you get stuck go and explain it to the bear and he’ll help you – this is how it goes – Look bear this is stupid, I do x and that causes .. oh hang on a minute I didn’t realise tat z was active at that pint – OK bye – you really helped…
It’s the act of explaining it to someone else that lets you solve it because it forces you to explain parts you knew but failed to bring to mind.
Comment by GinnyW — May 3, 2013 @ 9:02 am
I think I noticed the engineering teddy bear in a rather dark corner of the extras breakroom, in the corner next to the fireplace.
Now, added to the anticipation for Limits, which is now available for pre-order at Barnes and Noble AND Amazon, I will wonder whether Amy knows Mercer at all, and how she will react to being kidnapped in Paris. If I had to be kidnapped, I would rather be somewhere where I could be sure that my potential rescuers spoke English. That is to say, your explanation of the problem skillfully engaged the reader, and I still have no clue where the problem is in Paksworld.
If I were writer, instead of reader,serious panic would set in at the mere thought that a character I thought I knew in an about-to-be-published-book turned out to be a walk-on. The panic alone would prevent me from seeing the necessary connections. So I hope your fingers keep up with the really, REALLY fast typing!
Comment by Genko — May 3, 2013 @ 3:29 pm
Yes, I used to use a similar principle in typesetting, basically when the computer was doing something and I couldn’t figure out why, I’d ask Jim to come over and see what was what. He was really good, but it often happened that in the process of explaining it I figured it out, and he could just smile and go back to whatever he’d been working on. Once in a while he could supply me with the missing piece and I could figure it from there. And even more rarely, he could get into fix mode and actually do something. And once in a while he would shake his head and acknowledge, yes, that’s a bug. Maybe he’d have a work-around, and maybe he wouldn’t. But at least I would know that I wasn’t completely crazy, and it wasn’t my own fault.
Comment by Richard — May 4, 2013 @ 3:45 am
OK folks, to sum up several recent blogs, just a few weeks ago our author was caught in one tangle on the left, with an X in it but missing a Y (that her person down the hall has come up with), another tangle on the right (with different X and Y), and was in the middle of an argument with someone (yet another person?) who insisted on wearing red to – I’m guessing – the high intensity scene mentioned here in passing. Now she (our author) has burst free of the tangly forest (reminds me of Rotengre) and is on the home straight.
Anyone who really wants to fill in the Xs and Ys (but not who’ll wear red, or where), ask the bear – no, the stuffed cow, so THAT’s what its for. Ginny, you said the corner was dark, are you quite sure which of the two you saw?
Comment by Richard — May 4, 2013 @ 3:59 am
Yes, whenever Gird wanted impartial advice on a part of the Code he was writing, he talked it through with his legal expert cow (a live one, then) in the Fin Panir cowshed. The marshals all knew that – he told them, but Luap edited that bit out of the Life – so that is why they preserved the cow after it died.
Comment by Nadine Barter Bowlus — May 4, 2013 @ 11:47 am
Good idea, Richard. Many of you have commented on the “explain it to someone else” technique for finding the solution to one’s currently knotty problem. My mother used a variation on that theme when she helped us with our math homework. “Give me a couple of minutes to see where you are in the book…” time passes “Nevermind, Mom, I figured it out!”
Comment by Richard — May 5, 2013 @ 12:59 am
Nadine,
I expect peasant Marshals understood that Gird’s cow just had to be a good listener, but maybe some of the city-town-craftbred ones credited that particular animal afterwards with some mystic virtue.
As I recall, Elizabeth spotted the cow last autumn when writing Crown, so it will be a year before we discover what it is really doing in the story (if, indeed, it hasn’t been written out by now).
Comment by Jenn — May 5, 2013 @ 8:41 am
The engineering bear is welcome in the extras’ breakroom as long as it does not short circuit and start chasing people around with long nasty daggers. The Verrakai children are wary of talking stuffed bears and have given it a wide berth.
They want to know if the Wee Thieves are up for a game of football.
Comment by GinnyW — May 5, 2013 @ 6:04 pm
Tackle football? Flag football? Soccer? I personally was a frisbee player, but that was
a) when I was younger and more athletic
b) frisbee was in its infancy as a varsity-type sport so the rules were still flexible.
Does Paksworld include balls that are pointy and ovoid instead of round? It is a quandry that may require the Writer’s input.
The nice thing about cows is that they are good listeners. They never interrupt with a distracting train of thought. They do, however, deliver a swift kick when called for.
Richard, I THOUGHT it was a bear in the corner, but as you say it was dark. Would a stuffed cow sit up on its hind legs? Who would position it that way? The breakroom manager? The taxidermist? And when? Before stuffing or after? I can not even begin to imagine why.
Comment by Richard — May 6, 2013 @ 2:48 am
Ginny, you are right, it is the bear in the breakroom – the stuffed cow is somewhere at the back of the props warehouse.
Jenn, the Wee Thieves have a game a bit like American Football, called “Stop! Thief”. It is played with 3 “thieves” and 3 little drawstring bags (one for each “thief”) against 4 or more “watch”. The more-or-less identical bags are stuffed with rags; into one is placed a distinctive bead or pebble. This bag is the “purse” that the thieves must get “home”: it is placed on the ground for the “first thief” to start play by picking up. The thieves can pass bags freely (or pretend to) so long as nobody keeps more than one at a time. The game is all about keeping track of who has the purse and who the dummies.
For example, a thief on whom two watch at once get firm grips is “caught” and (if let go) must re-enter from the start line. Instead of letting go, the watch can challenge with “Stop! Thief, you have the purse” but if another says “No, I do” and proves it by displaying the token, then the fooled watchman is eliminated. Furthermore, a watchman who picks up a dropped bag must open it and is eliminated if it is one of the dummies.
Older children start with a pool of one small copper coin (serf) from each. (The sides rotate, with each player having a turn at being first thief.) The watchman who captures the purse with a true accusation keeps the coin. So does the “first thief” for that round who successfully declares that the purse is home. If the bag he named is a dummy, the coin goes back into the pool to be played for again. Sometimes about five older children play, taking turns to be thieves, with younger ones not contributing coins joining in as extra watchmen only.
Comment by GinnyW — May 6, 2013 @ 7:19 am
Sounds like fun! Jenn, what do the Verrakai children think of this one? Do the wee thieves get extra points if they ‘lift’ a bag from someone else?
Comment by Jenn — May 6, 2013 @ 7:31 am
Verrakai Children are in.
How about the kids of Duke’s East?
Richard your mind amazes me.
Comment by Richard — May 7, 2013 @ 2:57 am
The way play starts is this: the “first thief” snatches the “purse” from the ground and throws it to the quarterback-equivalent, who throws either it or the dummy he starts with to the third one, who throws back either the one received or the other dummy. Ginny, the bags are held in hand not in a pocket to be picked, nor are the “thieves” supposed to fight over them, but some delight at this stage in fooling not just the “watch” but each other as to which bag is being passed. After several rapid exchanges one of them throws either purse or a dummy to the first thief who (unimpeded by the “watch” whilst not in possession) has gone to be wide receiver. Often someone also throws away (ahead, to be collected later) a dummy – or is it the purse? – after which it is a running piggy-in-the-middle with three thrower-catchers, two flying objects, and several chasers.
I dare say the game (with different local rules as to rewards, forfeits, rotation of players and when to stop and restart) is played by children of not just Thieves, but of all Simyits-believers, plus all those childrens’ friends.
It is Elizabeth’s mind that should amaze us all.
Comment by GinnyW — May 7, 2013 @ 8:08 am
Richard, I second that last comment.
The children of Duke’s East are fascinated. They have never seen anything like it.
Comment by Jenn — May 7, 2013 @ 10:57 am
The Verrakai Children have their colors: Dark blue and silver. (obviously)
The Junior Girdsmen are looking for a sponsor so that they can join in the extras’ break room games. Any takers?
Comment by GinnyW — May 8, 2013 @ 6:16 pm
Duke’s East wears Maroon and dark tan. They are strongly tempted to try playing guard, but I have told them that they MUST LEAVE THEIR WOODEN PRACTICE SWORDS on the sidelines. They CANNOT use them like hockey sticks to keep the bags away from the Wee Thieves. They are still considering.
Its all about Limits.
Comment by Richard — May 9, 2013 @ 2:05 am
Ginny,
I now see how extra points might be possible for planting a bag on someone – tucked into the back of their belt say – without their noticing.
Jenn,
junior Girdsmen – are the Fin Panir boy students and the Harway (Thornhedge Grange) juniors to be one team or two? Aren’t they all too much older for the Verrakai children to play with successfully?
Talking of teams, I believe that when actual Thief Guild children (younger ones) play by themselves, one version of the game has the watchman who opens the true purse taking over as first thief for the next down, bumping one of the others onto the watch, so that the purse always gets home in the end.
Obviously there are children everywhere, but anyone else like to say what other groups (where) we have actually spotted doing something in the books, or a speaking part even?
Comment by Richard — May 9, 2013 @ 2:52 am
Elizabeth,
“let Y be (mmph) who …”: I’m confident of Y, and thought (mmph) confirmed an earlier guess, only now I’ve suddenly seen another possibility that would resonate and close a circle. Except that I don’t see what this new guess as to (mmph)’s identity could have to do with A being in a bind. I’m eagerly anticipating seeing that, by the way, and how he’ll get out of it (I hope next month rather than next year). Though sure you had to be throwing him a curve ball sometime, its nature will be as unanticipated by me as by him, unless an earlier snippet is its harbinger.
Comment by GinnyW — May 9, 2013 @ 6:27 am
Richard,
You are way ahead of me. I can think of a couple of possibilities for Y, although there is the (OH NO) possibility that we have not yet even met Y. So much depends on who X and A are, and which story arcs form the circles that are being closed.
Although, (and this is just a comment about Reader’s engagement with the not-yet finished story) I think of the STORY in terms of threads, rather like the colored threads in a piece of embroidery. The individual threads appear on the surface to make a pleasing picture, but on the back sometimes go in entirely distinct and surprising directions, since the thread needs to get from point A to point B, without being obvious on the surface. We see the surface emerge,and wonder whether the tree is oak or cherry or ash, but Elizabeth has to worry about the back of the piece. Whether bringing THAT blue (or green or maroon) thread across to THERE will create too much tension and hopelessly bunch up the fabric.
Elizabeth is obviously trying to get the final pattern to harmonize, with all the colors neatly tied off, at least on the surface. But some of the colors need to be in opposite corners, with no obvious way to get there from here in the pattern.
Comment by GinnyW — May 9, 2013 @ 6:30 am
I must say that I am looking forward to the approaching day when I can read Limits of Power, and say OH! THAT was Y! or X!
Comment by Jenn — May 9, 2013 @ 8:52 am
Richard,
I figured the Junior Girdsmen are the young children of the unnamed villagers and townsfolk who supply the all various granges and bartons throughout the eight kingdoms. These are the background’s background characters. Who knew the breakroom was so large!!!
GinnyW’
I can wait for June 11. I got a gift card for my b-day and pre-ordered right away.
Comment by GinnyW — May 10, 2013 @ 7:28 am
Jenn,
The extra’s breakroom is like another dimension of Paksworld – all the people who are somehow present at the background of the books but not actively engaged in the story-line congregate there when they are off-stage. So there are a LOT of people involved. And they never get together anywhere else, since in Paksworld they live very far apart. But they can get to the breakroom just by being ‘offstage’ in the story. And since these are ‘extras’ they are almost always offstage.
I pre-ordered too. The book appears tantalizingly in my Nook library, but can’t be opened until June 11. I feel like a 12 year old on Christmas Eve – the wrapped package is right there under the tree, but I can’t open it yet.
Comment by Daniel Glover — May 10, 2013 @ 10:28 pm
Ginny,
I agree with you. I’m not sure that the parents of the children of Duke’s East would want there children to play any other role than that of the guard. Though, I think if Piter could have a word with them about the benefits of disappearing shoes at the right moment he might be able to convince them to let their children take on the “thief” role.
Comment by GinnyW — May 11, 2013 @ 6:54 am
Daniel,
Very nice point about the value of “theif” skills on the side of justice. Not to mention some of Arvid’s contributions, or the perhaps questionable skills that some of the veterans in Fox army occasionally come up with.
Comment by Richard — May 11, 2013 @ 7:17 am
Daniel,
or re-brand the game so that the threesome are Canna, Saben and Paks with an urgent message to get past enemy patrols.
Not you, but from past comments I’m not certain everyone twigged that Piter left left-foot boots so the right ones could be returned to the right owners at the right moment for that.
Ginny, Jenn,
I was thinking Aliam’s grandchildren should be seen in the breakroom more often for the Verrakaien to play with.
A philosophical question Elizabeth suggested but nobody answered (about the stars in their private lounge, but it applies it to the extras’ breakroom too): are those who have been killed off still admitted? I say yes, for a practical reason: often when a number of Phelani/Fox soldiers are killed during fighting (for example), nobody else knows which ones, just how many. Now if those individuals cannot be kept out, it would be unfair to exclude extras killed wholesale, whether off-stage (townsfolk of Riverwash and the Halverics in their camp) or just about on (Mikeli’s soldiers posted to trap the magelords who’d be coming for Beclan).
Comment by Jenn — May 11, 2013 @ 7:58 am
Richard,
Several months ago I lost the Verrakai Children. They were playing hide and seek and I unknowingly was it. After a frantic search assisted by the Knights and Marshalls we discovered a secret door (and Polonius) behind an array. The door led not to a garden but the the deceased characters retirement center. It was amazing. Swimming pool, all you can eat buffet, lawns and gardens, etc. Saban and Canna helped to round up my lost charges who had sneaked in and let us know that only deceased characters were allowed in. Sorry.
Now everyone is dying to get there. 😀
Comment by Daniel Glover — May 11, 2013 @ 4:56 pm
Oh, that’s why all the Verrakai children are getting killed off. They found out there’s better service on the “other side”.
Comment by GinnyW — May 11, 2013 @ 7:15 pm
HMMM… Are Verrakai children whose bodies have been taken over deceased enough to get into the garden? Or do you have to take your body with you?
Maybe that’s how the Live Ones sneaked in.
We are now officially within the one month Limit. Happy Mother’s Day to all who are mothers, (and all who are not as well).
Comment by Richard — May 12, 2013 @ 1:55 am
Jenn,
now you mention it, I think you did report finding the retirement centre at the time, but I’d forgotten it for a while.
Comment by Susan — May 13, 2013 @ 6:50 pm
I want to thank you, Elizabeth, and all those who contribute to this blog. Between the philosophical discussions, glimpses into the writing/publishing process, songs, poetry and the extra’s breakroom, I have never enjoyed the wait for a book so much in my life!
Comment by Jenn — May 19, 2013 @ 1:02 pm
Frazz teeter-totter…
http://www.uclick.com/client/sea/fz/2013/05/19/index.html
…has just been voted in by the Verrakai children as their offical sport.
Wee Theives and Children of Duke’s East are welcome.
Comment by Richard — June 10, 2013 @ 3:27 am
For the record
Spoiler Warning
(#21) I was confident about what Y Eizabeth was writing about here – and wrong. I was thinking about D and E, E being ermph who… (which puts a different person from A here into a different bind).
Comment by elizabeth — June 11, 2013 @ 11:00 am
Richard: At the moment *I* can’t remember who Y is…too much has rushed through my brain lately.