Creative writing teachers show
their students visual representations of plot structure in the hope that it’ll
help. But there’s really not much to show about Classic Plot Design, which follows
the ever-popular Hero’s Journey. It’s a simple linear progression from
beginning to end, with a few basic elements labeled. There’s nothing wrong with
the Hero’s Journey pattern. But the diagram doesn’t give writers much to work
with, and it really doesn’t help people who don’t think linearly as create –
which, let’s face it, is most of us. Classic Plot Design is especially
unhelpful for writers who wish to produce more literary, character-centered
fiction.
Every time I teach novel writing,
I struggle to find techniques I can offer to help nonlinear plotters create their
stories. I often show the movie Wonder
Boys in class as an example of a character-based plot that doesn’t follow
Classic Plot Design. Usually we watch the film and discuss how the various
elements blend together, but last week when after showing the movie in class, I
was struggling to articulate a metaphor for how such stories were created, and
I had – check this out, literary writers – an epiphany. In my mind, I saw a wheel with multiple spokes coming
from a central hub, or more accurately, spokes which were leading TO a central
hub. These spokes were different plots elements, the hub was the climax or
ending point of a story, and the main character was represented by a spiral
line which started on the outside of the wheel and continued circling toward
the hub, touching the different spokes at various points along the way, and at each
point the character engaged with the spoke in a different way that moved that
section of the story forward.
And thus the Amazing Story Spiral
was born!
To create a Story Spiral, draw a
small circular in the middle of a piece of paper (or in the middle of your
computer screen if you’re using a drawing program of some sort). This is the climax
or the end point of your story. Then decide on various main story elements and
draw a line coming from the middle circle for each of those elements. Then,
starting at the top of the circle, draw a spiral line representing your main
character which progresses through the spokes, curving ever inward in a spiral
until it reaches the middle circle. Then go through the spiral and pick points
where your character intersects each spoke and decide what event/story/character
development will take place at that point. You can write notes about those
events on the spiral itself, or if you don’t have room, on other piece of paper
or Word document. When you’re finished, you have an alternative outline you can
use as you draft your story.
Image by Keith Minnion: www.keithminnion.com
I realized this pattern could
work well to help nonlinear writers – and writers looking to break away from
classic plot design – so I introduced it to my students and we spent a class
using the Story Spiral as a plotting exercise. Here are some of the things they
discovered about the technique.
·
You
don’t have to have your character progress through the spokes in lockstep
fashion. Just because the spiral touches a spoke doesn’t mean you need to
create a scene for that spoke right then. For example, in Jaws one of the story spokes would be the sheriff’s conflict with
the mayor over closing the beach because of the shark attacks. Since this isn’t
as important a story element as other spokes, the sheriff character only touches
that spoke a couple times. Whereas, in Jaws,
the sheriff is going to intersect the spoke representing the shark many times.
·
Spokes
can end before they reach the hub, or the climax of the story. Some plot
elements are resolved before the story’s end. For example, if one of the spokes
represents a character, and that character dies halfway through the story, that
character’s spoke ends.
·
You
can create different Spirals for different characters/viewpoints. You can use the
same spokes, but the different characters will intersect them at different
times and in different ways.
·
You
can use a Spiral to plot out a chapter or even a scene.
·
The
tightening of the spiral mirrors the rising action of Classic Plot Design, but
it implies a sense that opposing forces are drawing closer and closer to the
main character, which more accurately depicts how a character feels as the
events of the story draw near a climax.
So if Classic Plot Design hasn’t
worked for you, or if you simply would like to try an alternative plotting
tool, give the Story Spiral a try. And if you do and have any reactions or
suggestions, please leave them in the comments section. (And when commenting,
please be kind in critiquing my skills as an artist!)
Happy Spiraling!
DEPARTMENT
OF SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION
My novel Grimm: the Killing Time, based on the hit TV series, is now out
from Titan Books. http://www.amazon.com/Grimm-Killing-Time-Tim-Waggoner-ebook/dp/B00JI4A6E4/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413741295&sr=1-5&keywords=tim+waggoner
My novella A Strange and Savage Garden is out from Samhain. http://www.amazon.com/Strange-Savage-Garden-Tim-Waggoner-ebook/dp/B00MO9WID2/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413741295&sr=1-4&keywords=tim+waggoner
My novella The Last Mile is due out at the end of October from DarkFuse. http://www.amazon.com/Last-Mile-Tim-Waggoner-ebook/dp/B00MBZZT7Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413741194&sr=1-1&keywords=tim+waggoner
My young adult horror novel Dark Art is due out from Nightscape
Press in November. Print edition: http://nightscapepress.wix.com/store#!product/prd1/2725628021/dark-art-by-tim-waggoner
Ebook: http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Art-Tim-Waggoner-ebook/dp/B00N37ZDE0/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413741295&sr=1-2&keywords=tim+waggoner
My collaboration with Michael
West, “In Vino Veritas,” which deals with Elliot Ness facing the Greek god
Dionysus, is out in the anthology Streets
of Shadows from Alliteration Ink. http://www.amazon.com/Streets-Shadows-Tom-Piccirilli-ebook/dp/B00NWKB6CQ/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413741295&sr=1-6&keywords=tim+waggoner
