StoryStalking: Thickening the Plot

There's a new entry on Ariadne's Owl on plot. Please check it out.

Thanks Molly,
For keeping me headed in the right direction. I'm pretty sure that when I was sailing through the great pods of dolphins traveling to and fro that there was at least a mermaid or two frolicking amongst those smiling voyagers. And I know that the flying fish who plastered themselves against the mast or who slapped the back of my neck before sliding into my foul weather jacket and slithering down my back have stories yet to be told.

POV: Creating Alternative Realities

The question came up in my critique group last night about building alternative realities, other worlds. Specifically, Orah spoke to the fact that she wants the world she’s creating in her “fairy tale” to parallel in some way the time frame we’re actually living in, so that her characters can interact with the “real” world, albeit from a distance. That’s why they have things like safety pins in their possession. We also heard a fantasy piece from Gay, set amongst ocean characters. Gay's piece seems to have accomplished that bleed-through between the “real” and the “fantasy” world Oral is asking about. Both pieces are targeted at the YA market.

So. I thought about it, and here’s a place to begin. My instinct is that it’s absolutely essential to establish the architecture of your world from the get-go. It doesn’t have to come all at once, by any means, but from the very first line you have to be focused on establishing your reader in time and space. If you're creating an alternative world, we need to see it. And if the “real world” also exists—with its safety pins and sleeping bags, then we need to be alerted to that right away too. So we can say, “Ah, here is a sister world, not completely separate from our own.”

It’s actually, a question of Point of View. POV, point of view. The big question of modern fiction. Rule of thumb: write from one POV, and one only. Lots of industry people won’t have it any other way. POV, however, is a very far-reaching and often controversial issue.

First of all, there’s the “person”  your writing in: first (I), second (you) or third (he/she). I’m going to slide over that, it’s not where my interest is focused at the moment. I’m going to talk about POV from another angle and say to you, the writer, that what I’m speaking of encompasses all three "persons." I’m going to talk about the sight (and insight) the “person” brings. I hope Gay and Orah don’t mind, but I’m going to use their work as examples, because it’s through the similarities and the differences in their writing that I can most easily make my point.

Gay has a talking jellyfish named Jeli for one of her main characters. It has washed up on the shore near Fort Bragg, California where it is rescued by a "Hu" named Memé Gay. Memé Gay helps Jeli into a tide pool and then learns from Jeli of the misfortune that has befallen her and her ocean friends. Clearly Memé Gay will become involved trying to help.

Orah’s main characters is Adi, an older woman who has magical healing powers that she's mostly stopped using. She sets out on a quest to recover her powers and meets Bart, a young boy whose parents have been abducted by a giant. The two set off together to search for Bart's parents in hopes of rescuing them. They are making their way through a forested terrain.

From the very first, there’s one marked difference: Fort Bragg, California. Fort Bragg is part of the "Hu" world, and it's also in the "real" world. Gay immediately establishes an overlap between Jeli's reality and the reality of her readers. Using geography is just one way to do it, but it's effective.

Before I go on, let me make it absolutely clear that there is no “better” or “worse” here, there’s only what one wants to accomplish as a storyteller. If you want a completely self-contained world that has no relationship to the “real” world of your reader, then you have no reason to create the connection. It’s only when you want the connection that you need to think about it. Orah told me that she wants to create connection, and asked how to establish that kind of understanding for the reader. That's what this diary is about.

The reason I’m calling it a POV issue, is because it is. POV means what we can see through the eyes of the storytelling character. Here’s the basics: If I’m telling a story through Louise Farrenc’s eyes (which I am), then when she looks out she sees Paris in 1830, I have to establish that for the reader. I have to bring the reader to Louise's Paris. I also have to account for what she feels inside and thinks—what it's like for her living in Paris in 1830. That’s her POV: everything she’s experiencing being alive. She sees other people, has attitudes and observations about them, but she can’t crawl inside of them and is never certain how they see and feel. She relies on her experience of them and perhaps some sort of sixth sense of simpatico. But even then, she’s got to validate her understanding of others. Right? She experiences everything through herself and if it's her POV, then we readers do too.

So. If Orah’s character Adi lives in a world that parallels the “real” world of 2010, then that’s what we readers have to see—how Adi sees/experiences both of these worlds. Orah doesn’t have to make a big issue out of it. She doesn’t have to point to it and say, “wow!” It simply has to be there in the same way that Paris in 1830 has to be there for Louise. Adi’s world has to include (and she undoubtedly takes it for granted) the world we call “real.” 

That’s what Gay is doing with Jelli and all of Jeli’s friends. They see the Hu world. But, (and this is important) as indicated by the fact that it’s a "Hu" world, not a human world, we see it through Jeli’s eyes, not our own. Got it? POV. We see the world through Jeli's eyes. We're not looking in, we're looking out. In Jeli’s understanding of reality Memé Gay is a Hu. In our understanding of reality Memé Gay is a human. Just that small slight of hand pushes us as readers into Jeli's perspective, into her POV.

There are many more issues here to discuss. The most important probably is about the “rules” for staying in a POV or moving into another, and how to do that successfully. It’s a topic that requires another blog entry, so I won’t go there now. Suffice to say moving the POV requires thought and skill. You have to take your reader with you. I think the best way to accomplish that is through a patterning, where the reader understands a structure that signals the change. Again, a subject for a much longer discussion, and I'll write about it at another time.

What interests me here, is the fact that the writer can get inside a POV that includes alternative "reality"… this is true whether we’re writing “fantasy” or not. In my story, Louise sees a ghost. From her POV, she sees “more” than many of the people around her. She sees the “real” world, everyone “shares," and she sees this "other" world where dead people exist and can communicate. I'm not so interested in asserting that "reality" is (exists) the way Louise experiences it; I want to say "this is the world Louise experiences." When we're inside her POV, what I have to account for, to create, is her experience of "reality." Ghosts visit her. From her viewpoint it’s “real”… I don’t need to make a big deal out of, I just need to focus on how she interacts with it and adjusts. She’s aware it’s not that way for everyone, and consequently has an attitude about it. It frightens her. That’s part of her reality too.

The point is, Point of View creates reality on the page, and if the reality is a fantasy world, the best way into it is through a character who knows that world. Let them be your guide. Create it through their eyes, and if they see our world too, then we’ll see it with them. If only a few of your characters see “our” world, then find a way, early-on to introduce us to one of the characters who sees into our world, even if it’s just a glance. That way we won't be caught off guard when it comes up in more detail. There needs to be reason why it is that way; the most successful, I think, would be a storyline in which the interplay between the worlds has purpose and value.

Another Post on Ariadne's Owl

Check out this article of plot and structure. Comments, etc, appreciated.

back to good reads

A good read: Jim Harrison's Returning to Earth.

A good read about writing:
Write Your Memoir: The Soul Work of Telling Your Story, by Dr. Allan G. Hunter.

Here's a synchronicity for you -- on the first page the author uses an image from an Andrei Tarkovsky's film, The Sacrifice. as a metaphor for the process of writing your life story, "a process most people don't understand."

A small boy . . . is seen everyday walking over a barren landscape lugging a bucket of water, which he pours over the base of a very dead-looking tree. People tell him it's useless, but he keeps popping into the frame, barely strong enough to carry the bucket and does it anyway. The other characters shake their heads and sigh, busy with their confusions and arguments. Almost the last scene in the movie shows the boy still dragging the bucket up the hill, except now the tree has green buds and leaves on it. . . .

As a metaphor for quiet belief in daily devotion to a task it works . . . Turning up everyday to write one's life story may look to some like a loosing proposition, but in the doing of it something changes within the writer. Dead trees sprout leaves, one's sense of life is enriched -- and we move closer to an awareness of what our lives might mean.

I believe this is true of any piece of writing we are devoted to, fiction or non-fiction. It is why I write.

The Golden Rule

First of all - Thanks Molly for these clear guidelines for constructive criticism. They're excellent.
It seems that we have a unique opportunity, with this group, to become better critics together, while becoming better writers at the same time. I find it exciting, in a slightly scary way. I feel
fortunate to have Molly, as our skipper and to have a skillful, literate crew on board. From the outset it has been my intention to offer criticism, as I would best be able to receive it. I'm afraid that I may have woefully missed the mark, on occasion. Know that I will do better, because I am
committed to do so. You are all helping me inestimably. Thank-you.
AG

Blog Prompt: 2

I just posted a diary on Ariadne's Owl about the critique process. I would really appreciate it if you all would respond here with any thoughts that seem relevant to our group process. I'm wanting us all to revisit the basics, but I didn't want to take up group time talking about it. So. I'm trying to generate a bit of an online conversation about it.

Thanks,

Molly

"What I like in a good author is not what he says, but what he whispers."
~Logan Pearsall Smith, "All Trivia," Afterthoughts, 1931

This quote describes how a good writer does not simply state the idea they are trying to convey, but rather creeps up on the idea as they are writing. It hints that good writing actually highlights the ideas between the lines: the power of the absence of words. It may be that, in all writing, the idea that the author seeks to describe is never what they describe in words: the reader has to look behind the author's writing to see what the message really is.

James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, which I recently read, is full of fantastic language! Beautiful read, even through the heavily philosophical bits.

- Submitted by Savannah

"I love talking about nothing. It is the only thing I know anything about." - Oscar Wilde
I like this quote because it is something that a humble and kind person would say. It is important for people to write and let people learn what they want from their writing not tell people what to learn. In reality nobody really knows anything and that is exactly what Oscar Wilde says.

I read Brian Friel's play called Translations this year and loved how it brought to life what was going on in an Irish town. The characters and their emotions and the irony of language were all woven together to really create a humorous yet also heart wrenching play.

~ submitted by Caitlin

A word is not the same with one writer as with another. One tears it from his guts. The other pulls it out of his overcoat pocket. ~Charles Peguy

I like this quote because it differentiates context and style to alter the essence of a word or group of words. We can use any word any way any of us want.
At Meg's suggestion, last night I began to read The All of it, by Jeannette Haien, and am rolling along with this pithy little gem. It is cannily written and has a tension you can almost chew. I cannot wait to get back to it.

StoryStalking: Playing it Forward

I just posted a diary on Ariadnde's Owl. Check it out. It's about getting out of a stuck place in my novel. For several weeks I've been unable to see how to move the story along. Now, I've found an answer and kicked up some synchronicity.

Molly

I'm here

Okay, Molly, I believe I'm on.

Nona

On Writing...

Yesterday evening, I read the first three chapters of the"Old Woman Book" to Hector who just turned fourteen and his brother, Diego who is ten years old. Steve, my partner and I are members of the Partnership Scholars. A program for bright low-income kids. We are Hector's mentors.

The boys seemed engrossed in the story and wanted to know what happened next. That was a big relief. But more important to me was Hector's comments on language. He said that he liked not always knowing what some of words in the story meant since it helped him to increase his vocabulary. That was a relief, since I hate the idea of dumbing down.

So the evening was a success, especially because the pizza that Steve made from scratch for us was as much appreciated as my reading.

I want to thank you, Molly, for including me in your writing group. I appreciate your insight, obvious command of your craft and the careful time you take with each of us. Also thank you my fellow aspirants, your thoughtful comments have been most valuable, and your care for your fellow group members' fragile egos much valued.

As to our first assignment:
I finished reading "Brunelleschi's Dome" by Ross King recently, after returning from Italy. If you ever gazed at the amazing dome of the Cathedral that so dominates the Florentine landscape and wonder how they managed to build it, then this will answer your questions. It is the story of how Brunelleschi designed and executed an extraordinary feat of engineering. He also designed the machinery that lifted tons of marble and brick hundreds of feet into the air six hundred years ago without the help of all the calculating tools we now rely upon. King explains complex processes so that they are easy to understand. He also describs the politics, finances and intrigue of those incredible years when Florence was at the epicenter of the high Renaissance. I was fascinated.

I also read Ross King's "Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling." Also a fascinating book. It's interesting how alike in character and genius the two men were.

Quote on writing:
Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass. ~Anton Chekhov

Blog Prompt: 1

Hello Fellow StoryStalkers,

Here's your first blogging prompt for the willing.... find and post one quote about writing that you really like. Say something about it. Tell us something good you've read in the last six months and say a line or two about why it's good.

How's that?

Molly

Virgin Blog

Seeing beyond the owl images, on this site, that accompany the poem, How to build an Owl, I glimpsed a yellowing picture of my Mother and her owls. The owl was her totem animal. She collected statues, paintings, anything with an owl theme. You get the idea. I thought it a silly pastime and I found it vaguely embarrassing. Like ornithological garden gnomes. Honestly.
Late one morning though, when she could no longer get out of bed, she looked out the window and said to her companero, " Look Michael, an owl."
A barn owl had landed on a tree branch. As he gazed steadily at his acolyte, she drew her last breath. I wonder, if she had a preternatural knowing, that one day she'd ride home on those wings.

AG

testing

What fun--even colored fonts available. Thx. Meg

I did it!

Good morning,
Thanks, Molly, for taking the time to enrich our writing experience through this blog. What a fun opportunity to gain a bit of ground in the tech department as well as having a way to interact a little more with the amazing people in our Tuesday group. I'm humbled by the quality of their writing, but more than that I'm touched by the tender heart each brings to the critique process and I look forward to getting to know each of them better. I suspect that not all groups are as nurturing as the ones you lead. Lucky us.

ONBOARD INSTRUCTIONS

Molly here. I'm writing this post as a guest author on the StoryStalker blog. If I have invited you as a guest author, which I've done for everyone taking my Tuesday & Thursday workshops, you should have received the invitation in the form of an email with a link.

If you have not, please let me know. If you don't have a Google account, you'll be asked to make one. No costs involved. Once you do that you will be directed to a page which is essentially the backdoor of the blog. The page has a lot of information, but only one button is important. You'll see the name of the blog, "Ariadne's Story Stalker" and just below it and slightly to the left, you'll see a blue button that says "New Post." Click on it.

Writing a Post
That will bring you to a little boxlike space that is essentially a miniature word processor. This word processor is pretty self-evident. Just type. It has a space for a title at the top. It has a place for a label at the bottom ("Labels for this post"). Please put your first name in that box. When published, your post will show the name of your blogger account—in my case, it's "Molly's Account." The label says my first name, "Molly." (Look at the bottom of this post to see what I'm talking about.)

Buttons:
You don't really need to use any of the buttons, but they are above the writing box and are, from left to right: a font choice; a font size choice; b=bold; i = italic. The next button changes text color; the next button allows you to add a link (more on that later). Then there are four buttons that format the text: left, center, right or justified.

1. The next two buttons format the text into lists.

The quote marks set off a quote with an indent.

The next button checks spelling. And the next allows you to upload a picture. (This button is the third button from the right.) It looks like a little picture. The next one is to upload video. The final button is a mystery to me—I can't see what it does.

Publishing Your Post
When you're finished writing. Click the orange button at the bottom left that says, "Publish Post." That will take you to a page that says "View Post" and above it "View Blog." I suggest you use the "View Blog" button, but either will take you to your post. Once you are on the Blog, looking at your post, and you want to make a change, or add more, you can click on the icon of the little pencil located just to the right of the word "comments" at the bottom right of your post. By the way, if you click on "comments," it will allow you to make a comment on someone else's post. Please use the "comments" button on this post and say hello or let me know if you need help.

If you're having big trouble figuring out how to post, email me and I'll help you along individually. I suggest if you've never blogged that you just keep it simple, at first, until you get comfortable with the processor. However, if you are comfortable, feel free to upload a picture.

Hope to hear from everyone.

Welcome to the Story Stalker

Creation, in my opinion, is a cooperative venture. We create by aligning ourselves with the larger creative forces that are responsible for our existence. This is the essence of story stalking, and I’m using the word “stalking“ not in the negative celebrity sense, but rather in the spirit of Euell Gibbons’ Stalking the Wild Asparagus, or Stalking the Blue-eyed Scallop.

We are a symbolic species.  Humans engage in thought in ways that no other species appear to.  We use language symbolically.  We know no other species that has a written language, or uses metaphor in the same way that we do.  We live in a world no other species can access. Ours is a shared, “virtual” reality of thought-designed stories, stories of real experience, invented stories, stories that imply hidden or esoteric meaning, stories we use to explain and organize our understanding of the world, stories about the way things are.

I’m talking about deepening our capacity as writers/artists to forage for creative nourishment, which can come in the form of beauty, mystery, magic, coincidence and synchronicity, essentially a deepening of our relationship with our own unconscious and with what Carl Jung called the collective unconscious, the realm of archetype and myth.

I’m also taking the term from, The Stalker, a film by the Russian filmmaker, Andrea Tarkovsky. Only an experienced stalker can stealthily navigate the constantly changing traps and pitfalls of The Zone. One cannot use the same path twice—the environment is constantly changing, the dangers that were here five minutes ago, are over there now.

More significantly, traversing The Zone is not their greatest impediment to success, but rather the uncertainty (and fear/resistance) one feels about their deepest wish. As the characters approach the threshold to The Room, their fear and trepidation over the materialization of their answered prayers is what ultimately leads to most profound levels of revelation and self-discovery.

An artist connects with creativity through increased sensibilité— because through this heightened sensitivity, the artist discovers the capacity to receive and be stimulated by larger forces. Lord Byron spoke of the Muse as a ruthless tyrant, and I agree, I believe that genius is such an incredibly powerful and essentially amoral force, that it has no regard for its recipient, that in the case of artistic genius, one can only hold on as best they can to a force capable of both stimulating and ravaging their mind and soul; their very being.