c'mon, damn it, brain. this is what we DO, remember?

[lagilman]

I have a world, and a set-up, that Joe (aka New Agent) LOVES. I have a very specific voice for the book. I have two absolutely perfect characters to carry the POV, and several secondary characters just waiting for their lines. I even have a Scenario off which to base the dangerous hijinks and dark magics, derring-don't and foolish heroics.

What I bloody well DON'T have, is a plot. I've got the thinkings of a plot, the the trappings of a plot, but no actual plot on which to put said damned trappings.

I know it's in there, somewhere. It just hasn't come OUT yet.

*shakes brain, impatiently, waiting for something to fall out*


Ha, plot! I was falling for my own story-sneakery, and looking in the wrong direction.

Gotcha now.

Comments

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

its always something so everyday and common place that you wouldnt know that just picking up a (insert here) off the sidewalk could totally turn your day to shit. Because no good deed goes unpunished.

[kateelliott.livejournal.com]

I know just what you mean and I HATE IT. Good luck!

[jmonell.livejournal.com]

Mmmm...that is stressful. What's the external conflict? Sometimes I like to plot backwards from the ending. Good luck!

[lagilman]

The problem is that I don't have an in to the conflict yet - how do I tangle my characters up in X and Y, so that they feel compelled to act? I need that to click into place, and it hasn't yet.

(and no, offering suggestions probably won't help, because your process isn't going to be mine, necessarily. This is where usually I'd go for a long walk/run, but it's Too. Damn. Cold. And somehow, jumping rope doesn't have quite the same brain-unlocking mechanism.)

[badgermirlacca.livejournal.com]

sympathies on the plot problems. Hate that.

New agent, she says inquisitively?

[lagilman]

And this is what happens when you read the afternoon post before the morning one...

[badgermirlacca.livejournal.com]

Yeah, well, that's how it shows up on the Friends page, so.

Have caught up with it now.

[jesskastar.livejournal.com]

Yay for finding the plot! *is immensely amused* ^^

[sorek.livejournal.com]

Amy: "You do have a plan. Don't you?"
The Doctor: "No. It's a thing, it's like a plan but there's more greyness."

Or if you prefer Galaxy Quest:

Sir Alexander Dane: "You're just going to have to figure out what it wants. What is its motivation?"
Jason Nesmith: "It's a rock monster! It doesn't have motivation!"