Plot is a sore point for me.
It’s where pantsers and plotters part ways. I have never been able to plot. The times when I’ve plotted out a story before starting to write, it’s felt stilted and uncomfortable and forced. Like doing a homework assignment. Check that rubric – are you hitting all the right notes?
Once I’ve regurgitated what I’d planned, I feel let down. Like I was waiting for this great thing, and it disappointed. The idea seemed so much better in outline form.
Not always, but on the best days, there’s a magic in writing, a moment when your fingers are tapping and obviously, your brain must be operating, but you’re somewhere else. For me, it feels like watching a movie or exploring a new place or talking to a best friend. The words flow without me thinking of them. Sometimes when I read later what I wrote, I’m surprised (often in a good way, but also occasionally horrified).
This is why Anne Lamott’s take on plot not only resonated with me, but also liberated me back when I read this book twenty years ago and thought, “See? I can write without plotting!”
“Plot grows out of character,” Lamott says. (And I nod vigorously.)
Every book I’ve ever written started with a character I was curious about. Leann, the obese grocery clerk with plastic barettes and greasy hair in I’m Not Her, was created standing in line at the store. It was much more entertaining to meet her than thumb through the tabloids. I wondered, what is her life really like? What if I were her? What if she’d been born into different circumstances?
From there, I spent time getting to know her (and Carin, the other main character) before ever writing a word. I brainstormed everything I knew about them. When I ran out of ideas, I used the Gotham Character Questionnaire, and later the 90-Day Novel. Both gave me the questions I needed to help me get to know my characters and consequently, discover their story.
The most important thing you have to find out about your characters is what they want. Those are the stakes that will drive the story. That want is what will create tension. As obstacles get in the way of that want, your character’s real character is revealed. Overcoming those obstacles (or being defeated by them, but rarely in my stories) is the plot. And that plot culminates, usually in some big climax, but more to the point, it culminates in your character being changed.
Just like Lamott says, your plot will grow out of your character’s journey. “Characters should not,” she says, “serve as pawns for some plot you’ve dreamed up.”
Ever read a book and the plot seems clever but the book falls flat? That’s why. The writer created the plot before the characters.
Now, hold your horses, you plotters. Don’t get your wig all knotted up. Of course, you can plot out a story, but…not until you really know your characters.
Start with character. Figure out what they want, and THEN plot out their quest, their struggle, the people who break their hearts, the bad shrimp that gave them food poisoning and saved them from being on the bus when it exploded, the dog who saved their life, the angry husband who locked them out in their underwear, whatever. Throw all the crazy crap at them, because if you really know your character, you’ll know how they react and you’ll know what they’ll do next. And you can follow them all the way to that wonderful (happy, at least in my case) ending.
As Lamott says, “Aim but not too hard.” Let your characters take you where they want to go. If you must outline, keep it vague and be open to detours.
Maybe that’s great advice for life too. We all know that plans are often futile, but nevertheless, we plan. Let that plan be fuzzy. Listen to your character and the characters around you, and be open to detours.
You might find out, as Lamott writes, “your characters had something in mind all along that was brighter and much more meaningful than what you wanted to impose on them.”
Hey, thanks for reading. I know you’ve got lots of options, so thanks for sharing a few of your minutes with me.
Honored,
Cara
If you’re curious about what else I’m up to, check out my website, CaraWrites.com.
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If you’re a dog lover, check out my other blog, Another Good Dog. And if you want to know what is really happening in the animal shelters in this country, visit, Who Will Let the Dogs Out, and subscribe to the blog I write there.
I’d love to connect with you on Facebook or Instagram, and I’m thrilled to get email from readers (and writers), you can reach me at carasueachterberg@gmail.com.
My latest novel, Blind Turn is a mother-daughter story of forgiveness in the aftermath of a fatal texting and driving accident. It won the Womens Fiction category of the American Writing Awards in 2022. Learn more about it and find out how to get your copy here.
My most recent memoir, 100 Dogs & Counting: One Woman, Ten Thousand Miles, and a Journey Into the Heart of Shelters and Rescues is available anywhere books are sold, but if you’d like some help finding it (or want to read some lovely reviews), click here.
My Life in Paragraphs 