Creating Multiple Plot Lines

So many characters and each believe they are the true hero.

Via: Screen Rant

Most stories follow a protagonist, or hero, through their journey to overcome adversity, evil, boredom, loneliness, or whatever it is they are up against. However, some stories need more characters and story lines to cover the epic plot.
Multiple plot lines are common in fantasy. Anyone who's read George R R Martin's Game of Thrones (or seen the tv series) will know there are many key characters in this novel and each of them has their own story arc or plot line. If your story has many occupants, here's some tips:

• Each character has their own story. Don't just throw in characters to enhance your protagonist's story. These characters have had their own paths leading up to this point. Remember, every character, even the busty barmaid serving mead to your luckless young hero, thinks this is THEIR story.
• Consider POV. Most novels with multiple characters use third person point of view (POV) (this is where you use 'he, she, they, it...' to explain what characters are doing). This is because if you speak from many character's POV, you can easily confuse your reader. There is a trend in YA fiction to use first person POV (using 'I, we...'), this is to give the reader a feeling of closeness to the protagonist. You can still achieve this closeness by using third person omniscient POV, this is where we can hear the thoughts of characters and therefore understand their motivations. Most complicated plots, such as multiple story arcs, will use third person POV varying between limited (watching the characters, we're not in their head) and omniscient POV. For more on POV, this site explains it well: The Three Points of View in Writing.
• Epic antagonist. If there are many different characters interweaving, you'll want to separate them into teams of light and dark, good and evil or blue and red (if you don't want to suggest one team has more justification than another). Your characters that lead these teams must be epic. If we have many characters telling stories in this novel, you want the antagonist to stand out amongst them all. I believe his story arc is even more important than the hero's, because it is the antagonist who drives the narrative. The best advice I've heard is to remember, a good antagonist believes HE is the protagonist.
• Voices must be LOUD. I don't mean every character shouts, but each character must have a very distinct voice, to stand out and be heard amongst the crowd of characters. Great writers make every character distinct by their voice, even if they all look exactly the same (simply changing hair colour, gender or size is not a good way of making your character an individual). You can achieve this by making sure you know each character and their motivations well. Do up extensive character profiles, meet their family, live in their skin. For more on the importance of individuality of characters, you can see this post: James Baldwin and Character Who-ness.
• Each story has its own time-frame. If you have multiple story arcs in your epic novel, don't start them all at the beginning of the novel and end them all at the close of the book. Each character's story will begin when they have their own inciting incident, and they may end much sooner than the overall story (especially if they die), or they may continue their own quest into book two. By giving each story arc its own point of rising climax, you give the reader more places to feel the rising tension and more small lulls where they can relax (momentarily).

It's a big job keeping track of many plot lines at once, especially if you're writing the epic novel as a collaboration with other writers. In my next post, I'll show you various techniques for keeping track of multiple plot lines and story arcs.

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Crime - Truth and Fiction Exercise

My favourite crime show!

My writing centre (QWC) and the talented Meg Vann hosted another amazing writer's workshop - Research for Crime Fiction. This one was made even more special by the setting - The Queensland Police Headquarters, which hosts the Qld Police Museum. What a perfect place to study crime research!

All writers went along with a brief outline of the crime novel they would like to work on. My crime fiction is Warracknabeal Kids: 

In the summer of 1939, a freak fire tore through the Warracknabeal Racetrack, destroying the decrepit clubhouse, but nothing else. This was suspicious enough, as the insurance payout would fund a much needed rebuild. When the town scallywag, 13yr old Harry Conner, finds a dead body in the burnt-out ruins, there's no doubt this is foul play. But the body disappears and no one believes him, not even his father, the local sergeant. Harry is on his own solving this case and he's wondering if it has anything to do with his own mother's disappearance two years ago. Perhaps his father knows more than he's saying. Meanwhile, across Victoria, the state is experiencing the worst bush fires it has ever seen.

My story was inspired by learning the clubhouse really did burn down in 1939 and the circumstances were suspicious (locals said the insurance payout was the most luck that track had ever seen). I decided to add a body and a town full of quirky characters. Real life provides plenty of prompts for murder mysteries, just watch the news or read the papers. But if a real crime inspires you, how can you go about using it for a novel without offending people involved?

One exercise we tried was to mix up events, characters and locations from different eras and crimes. We walked around the Police Museum taking note of the crimes and artifacts that interested us. This is something you could try using online resources for your news articles. Here's the steps we took and my responses:

1. Choose one person (victim, investigator, witness, etc) and record three details about that person: Eileen O'Donnell was one of the first women officers in Queensland, joining the force in 1931. She was good at catching bag snatchers. Women could not make arrests, but mostly did typing or chaperoning male officers when they arrested young women.
2. Choose one setting and record three details (from a different source): A vet surgery was the setting for Brisbane's notorious cat-lady murder. Found inside was the body and blood samples from two people, one belonging to the victim. Smell of ammonia and cat urine. Smooth linoleum floors. Very violent struggle.
3. Choose one incident/event: 1977 string of rapes and murders. Victim found in apartment by boyfriend. He had been at night classes at local TAFE before discovering the body.

The next step is to change any names (people and locations) and mix the elements together for a story idea. This is what I came up with:

   'Step back love, don't want to taint the crime scene.' Officer Robert Hacker put an arm out in front of officer Joyce Malloy, as if protecting her from stepping into traffic. 

   He'd already warned her several times on the way to this scene that it might be brutal and she could wait in the car if her stomach wasn't up to it.

   Joyce let out a 'humph' and stepped around Hacker's arm. She'd been on the force since 31. Her and Louise the first women officers in Queensland. Five years. Hacker had not yet served six months and he was giving her orders. 

   In her time on the force she'd seen robberies, assaults, wife-beatings, but, as she peered into the doorway of the veterinarian's office, she acknowledged she'd never seen anything this bad. Through the stench of feces and urine wafted ammonia, and in crates cats howled for release.

   Joyce stepped over the dead woman's extended arm, taking care not to tread in the glossy dark blood spread across the otherwise dull linoleum. 

   Another one dead. Women in men's professions. This one a vet, the last a lawyer. The knife used to rip the life from the deceased left by the body, just as the report had said about the previous victim.

   'Woah, you're a bit keen there Joyce.' Robert stomped in and for a moment almost lost his balance, slipping in the menacing fluid.

   He looked down, up at Joyce, back down, then threw up over the body.

Think you'll give this a try? It's a worthwhile exercise, you never know what you'll end up with!

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Why Writers Should Flash

Flashing is a great way to tighten your writing, instead of having pages to set up your story, you only have a line or two. It's also a great way to feel more productive, a novel takes a long commitment, but with flash fiction, you can get several pieces quickly to the point 'the end'. I find it very challenging and have a lot of work to do before I can claim to master the flash. Luckily for me, Romantic Friday Writers provide plenty of challenges for flash writing. Why not give it a go? Click the picture to sign up to this challenge, your prompt - Being the Perfect Ex.

Unsure how to tackle Flash Fiction? Try these links for some tips:

Fiction Factor - Writing Flash Fiction

Matt Moore Writes - How to Write Flash Fiction

He’d stay if he knew.
‘I've got the photo album. You love looking at it, remember?’
No. She did not remember. Not the album or the woman holding it.

‘Here’s your favourite, you and Lilly.’

Lucy straightened. It was the photograph from the Autumn dance. Lucy was wearing her new tight skirt, just like Lilly. The girls had changed in the ladies room, Lilly warning Lucy, Keep your mouth shut, Mum’ll flip if she finds out. And there he was, dark hair combed back, thumbs in pockets, wild eyes daring the camera. Lucy ran a finger over the the figure in the picture.

‘Max.’

The woman turned the page.

Lucy peered at the next photograph. ‘Who?’

‘It’s you.’

‘I’m so… old.’

The woman laughed and gave her a hug. ‘That was your seventieth, everyone came, remember?’

Seventy? But last night her and Max… they fought. He left. 

‘Here’s one of the whole family.’ The woman pointed to a group of smiling strangers. 

‘Who’s this?’ Lucy poked at a face.

‘That’s your nephew, Sam.’

‘Who’s this?’

‘Ron, Lilly’s husband, and look there’s Lilly. Jess and Rachel are Sam’s kids. See, I’m there too, with Richard.’ 

Lucy's finger jabbed a pasty image with lifeless eyes and then waved it at the man with the matching face seated by her hospital bed. 
‘Him?’

The woman frowned. ‘Henry, remember?’

‘Where’s Max?’

The woman's shoulders dropped, she reached across and closed the album.

‘Did I tell him?’

‘Tell him what? Who is Max?’

Keep your mouth shut. Mum’ll flip if she finds out.

‘We had a fight. Lilly will know him.’

‘Lilly died last year, remember?’

Lilly’s gone?

Lost. Everyone she loved gone. A moment flittered over a lifetime.
Except... ‘Do I have a child?’

‘Yes! You do remember, don’t you?’

The woman’s dark eyes shone with pleasure, those same eyes… a name...

‘Gemma?’

Gemma hugged her. She was hers. A flash of memory, a wild-eyed girl, maybe four, in a muddy dress.

‘Gemma… your father...’

Gemma pulled back, her grin wide. ‘It’s okay Mum, Dad’s here too. He always comes to visit his sweetheart, don’t you Dad?’

The old man’s focus didn’t move towards them, but he nodded.

Henry? Max had known. They’d fought. He left.

Lilly’s warning. Yes, she’d just shut her mouth. She was Henry’s sweetheart.

I'm not at all sensitive when it comes to feedback, feel free to critique if the mood strikes you, I do listen... sometimes.

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4 Ways Hypnosis Helps Writing

Sure, Zoe looks like she's napping, but she's really imagining her next novel.

Last month I took part in a challenge to meditate every day. After the challenge of blogging every day in April, I really needed the relax vibes. Jodi from Soul Speak hosted the challenge and now I'm a big fan of her blog. There's always something inspirational or insightful to find there. I'm completely hooked on meditation now and it has helped my writing in so many ways. You can meditate on your own, but I like to use guided recordings or hypnosis audiobooks.

Here's some reasons to try meditation or hypnosis.

1. Relax - You write, you blog, tweet, message, market, research, etc, etc. Writing a book involves a lot more than sitting quietly at the keyboard, feet in slippers, tapping away with a nice hot cuppa or glass of red (although I suspect many of our relatives assume that's what we're doing). There's so much to fit into each day. My own to-do list currently includes finishing two WIPs, organising the paperback copy of My Zombie Dog, planning a launch, researching development programs, editing another piece, reading up on formatting for iBooks, homework and creating workshop activities, oh, and blog. Sometimes I just need a breather, take a moment of peace and stillness, so I can come back refreshed and ready to keep going. Listening to my hypnosis recording before bed enables me to fall into a deeper sleep and wake feeling like I can take on another workload for the day.
2. Imagine - I usually fall asleep before my recording finishes, but always have vivid dreams after listening. Many times I get plot ideas from these dreams for characters, plots or short stories. Most recording are vague and may include talk about walking in the countryside or relaxing in a rainforest, this step takes you from seeing yourself on your bed or in your comfy chair to exploring a setting, where you go from there is up to you. Either record your dreams the next morning, or (if you're able to stay awake through the experience) write in your journal straight afterwards, explore your thoughts and feelings.
3. Inspire - I'm sure I'm not the only one here who occasionally feels down. I pour so much energy into a first draft, but when I'm done, the best I can hope for is pretty ordinary. Now, I know the magic comes in the rewriting and the fine tuning, but it can still be disappointing. Sometimes I make mistakes (like the first version of My Zombie Dog that was released with errors - gasp!) and although I know I'll make plenty more, and this is a chance to learn and amend, I can still feel negative. Meditation, hypnosis and affirmations are a good way of building myself up again. For me, the key to a good affirmation is truth. I don't tell myself I'll be taller or funnier or smarter than I am, but I acknowledge my accomplishments and where they can take me.
4. Discover - Try meditation or hypnosis and you could discover something really cool - you. By looking inward and exploring your thoughts on your story, the process of writing, what you've been reading etc, you'll find something special. You'll discover your authentic voice. Voice changes depending on our protagonist, their age, occupation, gender, nationality, etc. But YOUR voice doesn't. This is your writing style, the element in each of your novels that identifies them as yours. You want readers to recognise your voice because this is ultimately how you create fans. 

Not sure where to start? There are plenty of free podcasts on iTunes on hypnosis and guided meditation, include the search words creativity or writing and you'll find some good ones. You can also get audiobooks on iTunes, or Audible. Here are some I use:

Maggie Dubris' Inspired Novel: Creativity Hypnosis for Writers - Maggie has several creative hypnosis recordings and I have them all. This is my favourite. Maggie gets you to visualise having your novel finished in your mind, now all you need to do is write it.

Robin Moor's The Natural Born Writer - This recording takes you on a guided voyage (by boat!) to an imaginative setting, you meet with interesting characters and create story as you go. A good one to do and then record your findings.

Nicki Scully's Becoming An Oracle - If you're new to guided meditation, you may find this one a bit weird, but Scully's guided journey to ancient Egypt have really helped me to get a feel for my character in her original setting (my current character lived with Isis). There are several different journeys to take with this recording and although I don't 'feel' the whole oracle belief, I do feel inspired by the characters I create in these settings.

Glen Harrold's Ultimate Guide to Creative Meditation - I've just started with this tape and find some of the echo techniques a bit distracting, but I'm starting to get used to it and do feel quite imaginative afterwards.

Here's one from Youtube you can try:

Do you meditate? Want to give it a go?

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Setting Rules Story

Snoopy's world was limited in space, but imagination meant anything could happen!
Click on the picture if you want to get this as a wallpaper

Setting is often a key element in our story. Sometimes it can even be a character in the story like the big old house in Tim Winton's Cloudstreet. But often new writers overlook this and just have the setting as somewhere for stuff to take place.

I have an exercise I do with students when I run creative writing workshops for kids, it helps them to understand how setting can affect our story. I thought I'd share it with you now. Try this exercise with the setting to your WIP, but first use a few of the random ones suggested here as a warm up. We did this exercise in my writing group today and there were some interesting writing prompts from it.

If you're in a group, write these settings down on scraps of paper (add some of your own if you like) and disperse randomly. Otherwise, pick out two or three to work with.

Possible Settings:

• Pirate ship
• Prison
• Australian bush
• Homeless gathering
• Skyscraper
• High school
• Space
• Fantasy land
• Ski lodge
• Police station

Now you simply write two lists. 

One list is for plot ideas or motivations that can be generated from this setting, e.g. in a Prison, escape, trying to stay good for parole, guard might on their last day because they're quitting for a safer security job, governor or head of the prison might be trying to meet budget cuts or there could be an alien invasion on earth and the prison is the safest place from land attacks. 

The second list is all the threats that setting presents. In the Prison it could be knifing, drugs, vicious guards, attack dogs, lockdown and left without food in your cell (as all the guards have been killed off by the aliens), riots, lack of empathy from outside community, or losing your sanity.

Once you have a few lists, pick a plot idea and at least one threat then write for 10-15 minutes and see what you come up with, you might find yourself with a decent piece of flash fiction or the start of something bigger!

Now you've warmed up properly, pull out your own setting and see if you can find more threats or possibilities that could strengthen your WIP.

I'm currently working on a story where the little sister of Isis is resurrected in New York City 5,000 years later. So my setting is split between Ancient Egypt and New York City. Here's my list for Ancient Egypt:

Plot ideas

• Mummification
• Prophecies
• Secrets and plots
• Gods
• Superstitions and religion
• Afterlife
• Amulets and protection magic
• Came race

Dangers

• Mummified alive
• Cobras
• Assassins
• Rabid Camel
• Crocodiles
• Heat, sun exposure
• Dehydration
• Floods (The area by the Nile was not a desert but quite lush back then)
• Evil Gods
• Sacrifice
• Sentenced to death

If you try it out I'd love to see some of your suggestions for plot ideas or dangers for setting.

This post is part of the Insecure Writer's Support Group, challenges are posted once a month, you can sign up to join in here (or click on the picture). Now there's a few hundred participants, so it'll take me a while to get around to everyone, but I'll certainly try before the next challenge!

Realised, I should mention my writing insecurity! Mine is when I've finished that first draft and got all the plot details down, I won't be able to figure out that magic ingredient that adds life and pop to the book, it'll end up a bit bleh. What I do about it is exercises like this one to strengthen different elements of the story.

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