A Plotter's Process For Writing a Novel - Part 1

by Madelle Morgan

On deck is the third in my contemporary romance series Hollywood in Muskoka.

This is the seventh time I've started a new novel. From countless workshops and craft books over the years, I've distilled a story development process that works for me.

In my March and April posts I decided to share what I put together before I type Chapter 1 on that blank page. It's the most creative and fun part of writing for me. I imagine and reject many possibilities before deciding on key elements of the book such as...

Who, What, When, Where

I nail down a target word count, the romance sub-genre, a setting, the time of year, the hero and heroine's names, ages, professions and appearances, and a title (which might change anytime before the cover is final).

Whose Story is it?

Which of the two protagonists has the most to win or lose? In a romance, is it the hero or the heroine who has the greatest character growth? I can't start writing without answering these two questions.

Hero/Heroine's GMC

I'm indebted to Debra Dixon for her book G M C: Goal, Motivation and Conflict, which I've reread so often I practically memorized it. She proposes that an author create a summary sentence for each character's internal GMC and external GMC:

H/H wants (goal) because (motivation) but (conflict).

I customized Debra's summary sentence by adding a "C" for consequences. That is, what bad thing will happen if the hero or heroine does not achieve the goal?

H/H wants (goal) because (motivation) or else (consequences) but (obstacles/conflict).

Either the hero and heroine's external goals have to be in opposition, or, if they have a common goal, their motivations conflict. Recall the film Romancing the Stone. The heroine and hero both want the jewel, but the heroine wants to use it to save her sister, and the hero wants to buy a sailboat.

What happens when GMC is not in a book's back cover blurb or online description? The prospective reader has no idea what the book is about. Here's the description for Caught on Camera, the first in the series. It's the heroine's story. Rachel has the most to win or lose - a career in Hollywood.

To achieve her dream of working on Hollywood film sets (motivation), star struck chambermaid Rachel Lehmann (heroine) needs $35,000 for film school tuition (goal) by the end of the summer (time pressure). 

When she's asked to fill in for a missing bridesmaid at a movie star's wedding, it's her big chance to take candid photos and sell them to the entertainment media. 

Then groomsman Mickey McNichol, agent to the stars (hero), sweeps her off her feet. 

Mickey's bitter experience (wound) is that everyone in show business fakes emotions. When he falls for the stand-in bridesmaid, he thinks he's finally met a beautiful woman he can trust. But if Rachel betrays his celebrity friends' privacy, Mickey will ensure she never works in Hollywood (conflict).

In "imagineering" the hero and heroine, I identify for each:

• External GMCC (basis of the main plot)
• Internal GMCC (basis of the romance plot)
• Wound - what's stopping the character from committing emotionally
• False persona (who s/he believes herself/himself to be, or pretends to be)
• Character Arc to Essence (his or her transition to the true, best self)

I learned about the concept of essence at screenwriting teacher Michael Hague's workshop. It was the craft keystone I didn't realize I lacked. The hero and heroine fall in love with each other's essence - his or her true self. The romance plot is a journey to heal wounds and become the whole person the other falls for.

I also develop an external GMCC for each important character other than the protagonists; e.g., the antagonist/villain, and the characters in the subplot.

Theme

My interpretation of theme is that it's the emotional/moral thread underlying the plot. The main plot and any subplots should illustrate different aspects of the theme. In Caught on Camera, I used "deception leads to heartbreak". In my debut romantic suspense, the theme was "betrayal". Note that each reader's interpretation of a story is unique, and the reader may connect with a different theme from the one the author intended. That's rich, layered storytelling!

Whew. All that prep and still not a word on the page! 

Finally it's time to imagine what happens in the story. In Part 2 I'll describe my plotting approach using the screenwriting Three Act Structure.

Authors, how does your story development process differ? What do you add?

Readers, do you consciously look for a character's GMC in the description before deciding to read a book?

Madelle

Madelle's debut romantic suspense,  DiamondHunter, was turned into an action/adventure screenplay by screenwriter Marie Lilly. The novel is available in ebook format on Amazon and Kobo for $0.99 USD and £0.99 GBP.

Madelle tweets and posts about Hollywood, film-making, the settings for her stories, and, of course, writing. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter, or subscribe to her blog at MadelleMorgan.com .

DISCOVER YOUR CORE STORY by Sarah Raplee

In her August fifth blog post about killing boring scenes, Robin Weaver tells us that every good scene in your story must:

1. Move the plot along
2. Build characterization
3. ***Provide insight into the manuscript’s theme.***

The lesson your protagonist must learn to prevail in their story is the story theme (Michael Hauge, The Hero’s Two Journeys.) These themes will relate directly to your Core Story. All your stories will have at their heart the same underlying message (or occasionally more than one) that it may take you years to figure out. That Core Story is the seed from which all your individual story themes sprout. Your Core Story inspires your story theme to develop.

Here’s an example from an author with whom most of you are familiar:

NORA ROBERTS

Nora Roberts’ stories spring from the Core Story, “You have to discover who you really are.” Can you think of one of her books that doesn’t have that Core Story underlying her character arcs? Whether her book theme is “To love you must be willing to forgive” or “Self-knowledge is power,” it springs from her Core Story.“You have to discover who you really are” resonates with her readers. 

Identifying your Core Story gives you a big advantage when choosing your career strategies. In best-selling author Jessa Slade’s guest post last Saturday, she gives advice on career planning and positioning oneself in the market. Knowing your core story allows you to adapt story ideas to various subgenres successfully. If you wish, you will be able to write stories that resonate with your readers in more than one genre. Nora Roberts writes best sellers in nearly every subgenre of Romance Fiction.

Knowing your Core Story helps you identify ideas and opportunities that are a good fit for you, as well as those that are not. Would you want to partner with another writer whose core story is in direct opposition to yours? “Crime doesn’t pay” versus “Crime is a viable career choice?” “If you’re in love with someone, you won’t ask them to put themselves at risk” versus “If someone really loves you, you can ask them to do anything for you.”

I think not!

How does a writer figure out her core story? It helps to have written a number of stories so that you can look for the commonalities. I had written one novel, was halfway through the second and had outlined three others as well as written a number of short stories before I figured out my Core Story.

Listing out the external and internal goals, motivations and conflicts of your main characters per Debra Dixon’s iconic work, GMC: Goal, Motivation and Conflict, will give you clues.

Ask friends to read your stories and tell you what commonalities they see. Authors often can’t see what is obvious to others in our writing. Try to identify your favorite authors’ Core Stories by analyzing some of their books.

I knew early on that my stories had something to do with personal identity. My first heroine is a good girl who did one very bad thing and is now an ex-con living in her small Iowa hometown where someone frames her for murder. Her hero is a straight-arrow cop who was born into a family of thieves. The sub-plot hero cross-dresses to hide his identity—you get the idea.

COMING SOON!

In my Romantic Suspense novel, BLINDSIGHT (available in early September), my heroine hides her paranormal powers (her 'freak side'.) Her fear keeps her from learning to control them. The hero is an undercover psychic FBI agent searching for kidnapped psychics enslaved by criminals. Secrets and identity issues all over the place.

In two of my other stories, a hero and a heroine must accept their physical deformities as realities that do not diminish them as human beings and may give them an advantage in certain situations. In other stories, enchanted people transformed into animals must hold onto their humanity.

See the pattern? “You must decide who you will be.” My characters don't discover who they are (Nora Roberts), they choose who they want to be, as do J.K. Rowling’s  in the Harry Potter books: “It is our choices that define us.”

Be patient. This is hard work. Understanding your Core Story takes study, analysis and understanding of Story with a capital S. I promise you it is time and effort well spent.

Copyright 2015 Sarah Raplee