saxifraga-x-urbium:
planning your stupid shit-ass fucking novel:
- you can know the ending or the beginning but if you know both then you will never ever sort the middle out
- why do i need more characters can’t this plot resolve itself without me introducing more characters
- i am going to kill literally everyone in this chapter here and then i can just ride the trauma wave through to the next act
- there isn’t room for the romantic subplot
- there isn’t room for this subplot either
- this was meant to be a minor point why is it taking over the entire second act
- [research this] *never researches it*
- stop obsessing about your framing device and sort out the plot holes
- stop obsessing about the likely reaction of tumblr to individual characters and sort out the plot holes
- fine just fucking live in a plot hole you piece of shit
- is this the same team dynamic as the last four books
- yes
- it’s my fucking novel i’ll write what i want
- oh god what if no one likes it
- stop writing imaginary reviews from people who hate you and sort out the plot holes
- right i’ve sorted out the middle but now the ending doesn’t work
Okay, time to explain some things about writing as I’ve experienced them, ymmv.
When you know the beginning (hard stop), and you know the end (hard stop), then the middle sometimes becomes impossible because it has to follow strictly from point A (the beginning) to point B (the end). Plot holes usually exist because a writer is trying to force a story to travel from Point A to Point B, but that journey may not be a logical journey, so you’ll almost inevitably reach a point where you can’t figure out how the characters move from A to B reasonably.
So here’s where I give you the best advice anyone ever, ever gave me: when you can’t win, redefine winning.
If you work out the middle and the ending or the beginning no longer works, don’t be afraid to toss it out the window and give the story the new ending or beginning it needs. There’s a phrase I’m sure lots of you have heard: “kill your darlings” well guess what? That beginning and ending you KNEW had to be a certain way? Those are your darlings, too. Sometimes, improving the story means culling parts you like or thought you knew to replace them with things that work better.
When you can’t win, redefine winning.
I once spent 10+ years writing and rewriting a story over and over and over, I must have gone through 20 partial drafts of this fucking story, only to have an epiphany one day about why I could never get it right; I was telling it from the wrong character’s perspective. Did that require a huge reassessment of the entire story? yes. But it’s a better story now.
When you can’t win, redefine winning.
I have, for the past two years or so, been struggling with starting a story I had already written once. It already had a beginning, middle, and end. I had literally already written it once as fanfic, and I wanted to write it as an original, and for some reason, it would just NOT start for me. Two days ago, I finally let go of the story structure I had used, and instead of starting the story at the beginning, I am now starting it at the end, and it’s solving all sorts of problems.
When you can’t win, redefine winning.
I spent the last 5 years or so thinking a long, long fic I’ve been working on ended a certain way. I had quit writing the story for years because I Knew that was how the story ended and I didn’t want to write it. A year ago I started sorting out the middle better, and I realized that although those events still happen, the ones I don’t like, the story didn’t end where I thought it did. The story kept going, and ended somewhere else, beyond the things I didn’t like. The story ends in a way better place, and now I’m well on my way to finishing it.
When you can’t write the story you thought you knew, redefine the story.
Sometimes you just have to let go of what you know, and let the story try something else. Let that minor plot point take over the second act just to see where it goes (and don’t be afraid to throw it all out if it doesn’t go anywhere interesting). Cut the romantic subplot out. Cut that other subplot too, even though you really liked it. If the middle is giving you guff, throw the middle off its game and let the story start or end somewhere else. Nothing is set in stone, even after it’s typed.
