plot complexity – The Fantasy Nook

Thursday Technicalities: Upping the Stakes

Introduction

Today, we’re going to talk about upping the stakes. Last week, we talked about sub plots, and we’re going to tie together our sub plots and upping the stakes. Often, sub plots are the result of upping the stakes. Whether you end up with a sub plot or not, however, upping the stakes will always result in more complex plots.

What Does It Mean to Up the Stakes?

Simply put, upping the stakes just means making things more difficult and more important for your characters. You want the outcome of the story to come to matter so much that the character cannot walk away. In some cases, the stakes may rise so much that the character’s stake in the situation is a life or death matter. But making things matter so much for them is going to require some work on your part. Let’s take a look at how you can achieve this.

Upping the Stakes – Where to Start

The exercise to figure out where and how to up the stakes for characters is relatively simple. Get out a piece of paper and a pencil or pen. Then write down the characters and, next to their names, what it is that matters most to them. Once you know that, ask yourself how you make that thing matter even more. Keep listing out reasons until you run out of ideas. Then set it aside and come back to a little later to see if you can add even more ways it will come to matter.

Using the Exercise

Once you’ve listed out all the possible reasons that what a character wants most comes to matter, look over the list. What are some of the best reasons in your list? What will work well with the story or add layers of complexity to what you already have? Are there any surprising reasons on the list? Often reasons that add complexity or are in some way surprising are the best ones to add in. They keep the story interesting and engaging for the readers while simultaneously forcing the character to a point where they must make choices, fight for what they want, and decide not to walk away (or perhaps are unable to do so).

The key is to take away from the exercise at least five or six good reasons that you can develop as the story goes along.

Developing the Stakes

Once you know what will keep upping the stakes, you have to develop those stakes in the story. If they were all out in the open to begin with, there would be no progression of events, and you really wouldn’t be upping the stakes at all. Instead, take the most obvious motivators or the ones that still allow the character to walk away from the fight and start out with those. Let’s take a look at an example.

Trader Prince of Aleshtain

In my current WIP, Eras wants to become an air captain. It’s been his lifelong dream. Unfortunately, he’s the crown prince of a country, and he can’t just ditch his duties to go flying a ship through the skies. That’s the first stake. He wants to be an air captain more than anything, but if he did so, he’d have to leave his home and his people behind. But what can make his childhood dream matter even more? The introduction of a slave girl he’s trying to keep out of his father’s clutches.

As his father thwarts his attempts to keep her safe, he goes to increasingly high risk methods to keep her from harm. Eventually, he bets his father that in two years as a trader and captain of his own ship, he can make enough money to pay off any investment his father has in the venture. If he succeeds, he wins his freedom, which is what being an air captain really means to him. He also wins the ability to do as he pleases and to protect his woman from his father.

And if that isn’t reason enough to care? His father’s treachery and backstabbing in an attempt to ensure Eras loses that bet force him to send his woman away, perhaps permanently. And doing that puts his own life at risk in an increasingly unstable political environment. So now if he doesn’t win the bet, he could lose his life, not just his chance at freedom. So by the time that the book is beginning to come to the climax and conclusion, the matter of becoming an air captain—and thereby winning his freedom—has become a matter of literal life or death for him and for those he’s trying to protect.

Your Process

This is the same process you want to follow. Your character’s stakes won’t be the same, but the point is that it has to come to matter so much that they have no choice but to fight for one thing or the other that they want or need. It must seem like life or death for them even if, in the end, their failure won’t actually result in their deaths.

Sub Plots and Upping the Stakes

In the process of developing the stakes, you may discover that you end up with sub plots without really trying. For example, a sub plot that developed from the example above is Eras’s time traveling around Alcardia to trade. It’s connected to the main plot, but it is not the true plot. Similarly, Rhubhian’s time in her country after Eras sends her away is a key sub plot and leads to development for her. Despite that, it isn’t the main plot even though it leads into happenings within the main plot. If you find this happening in your work as well, don’t stress about it. Let it happen. Usually this results in a better, stronger story even if you didn’t plan for the piece to go that direction.

Conclusion

I hope that this has helped you to better understand how to up the stakes in your novel. How you choose to go about doing so is up to you, of course. Everyone has a different way of figuring out how and where to up the stakes. The method I presented in this exercise is simply my preferred method out of the ones I’ve tried.

Whether you choose to use it or another method, however, upping the stakes is a must. No matter what type of story you are telling, the book will fall flat without the work you will do. Upping the stakes will broaden the story in ways other techniques can’t. It will certainly make the characters’ main desire matter ever more in the course of the story. This will result in better reader engagement in the end. The work will be worth it!

If you’re looking for more detail on upping the stakes, check out Donald Maas’s Writing the Breakout Novel set.

Thursday Technicalities: Sub-Plots

Featured Ariel Paiement1 Comment

Introduction

Today, we’re talking about sub plots. Last week, we talked about plot complexity, so this is the perfect point to discuss sub plots as the two often work together. To start, I’ll define sub plot. Sub plots are the plots taking place while the main plot is still moving forward. They’re extra layers, if you will.

Differentiating Between a Plot and Sub Plot

First, we need to know the difference between plots and sub plots. Sub plots are smaller plots within the larger, overarching story goal. They often resolve through the course of the novel or may even happen mostly in the background. Plots, on the other hand, are the main stories of a novel. The book must have the plot at least or it won’t be a story.

Examples

This concept can be a bit abstract, so let’s look at a few examples.

Way of Kings

In Way of Kings, the main plot lines are focused on Dalinar’s struggle to understand the strange visions he receives, Shallan’s quest to steal a fabrial (magical device) to replace one her family broke and now owes to a nasty group of thugs, and Kaladin’s struggle to survive battle after battle as a bridge carrier while unprotected from enemy fire. Those are the main plots in the story, at least to start.

But Sanderson also introduces many sub plots. For example, there is a plot to kill Jasnah, the woman Shallan is both learning from and attempting to steal a fabrial from. Dalinar and his sons are attempting to navigate both infighting between various nobles involved in their fight against the invading Parshendi and to figure out how to win the war for territory they are engaged in. Kaladin discovers he has abilities he didn’t know were still possible to possess and in his struggle to survive, he turns his focus on turning his bridge crew into a force to be reckoned with. Then there are the interludes about characters seemingly unconnected to the main story, which introduces still more sub plots. None of these are the main plots of the story, but they’re all strong features and play into the main plots.

Stephen Leeds Novellas

A simpler example would be Sanderson’s Stephen Leeds Novellas. Each book has a new case for the impressive Stephen Leeds and his many “aspects”. But Sanderson adds layers by giving the books the same underlying sub plot. He’s looking for someone in his past, and time is running out as his aspects go rogue one at a time, dying off as his mind is unable to cope with them all. The girl from his past might have answers, and so he searches. It takes a back seat to his cases, but as the last book approaches, that sub plot morphs into a plot and becomes the focus of the final book.

Using Sub Plots

Hopefully the examples have helped you to understand the difference between plot and sub plot. Now let’s discuss how and where to use them.

First, the size of the story determines whether you can have a lot of sub plots. A short story, for example, probably doesn’t have the room for much addition in the area of sub plot. You add dimension in other ways when you have a 10K word limit, but you don’t spend time discussing events unrelated to the main story in a strong way. For novellas, you can comfortably fit one or two to add complexity. In a novel with a thousand pages like Way of Kings, you can fit quite a few if you do it well.

Second, all sub plots should connect to the main plot whether the sub plot belongs to a main or secondary character. The connection may not be obvious at first when the sub plot is part of a longer book or if it spans several books. Sanderson’s Stormlight Archives are one great example of ways to use sub plots to leave readers guessing at the larger plot’s conclusion or to introduce surprising twists in the story.

There are many ways to incorporate sub plots, and the best method for you depends on your book. To know where to introduce them and how to develop them, you need to know where the story is headed and what the best points for the sub plots to intersect the main plot are. This is why I’m such a big advocate for doing at least basic plotting. You need a foundation to work from if you want your novels and series to have the type of complex plot that can surprise, hold attention, and convert casual readers to avid fans.

Conclusion

At this point, you should have enough information to start working out your story’s sub plots. Does it have them? Are they underdeveloped or not brought into play in the right moments? If your story is already complete in a rough draft form, go back and look for sub plots and any issues with them. If your story isn’t done or is still in the ideas stage, make sure you think about this while planning and writing. It will add life to the story in the most unexpected ways.

Thursday Technicalities: Plot Complexity

Featured Ariel Paiement1 Comment

Introduction

Today we move away from our discussions on character to discussing plot. A good plot is one that is both character driven and intricate, but many new authors (and even some who have been at it for a while) struggle in this area. Often, writers are unsure how to deepen plot, make it interesting, and keep it from becoming predictable. Today, our discussion will focus on the idea of intricacy and complexity in plot, but in future weeks, we will also discuss how writers can make plot less predictable, up the stakes, increase tension, and make things matter more in relation to the characters. We will also discuss sub plots and how you can properly use them to add dimension to the book and to keep life in every page. Let’s get started on today’s discussion, shall we?

The Importance of Complexity and Intricacy in Plot

While characters are the lifeblood of a good story, plot is the foundation. If you don’t have an interesting plot, the story will still end up collapsing or falling short. You need both elements to make the story go well. It is true that you can have a somewhat generic plot (as is often the case in many romance novels) and manage to make the book somewhat memorable if only because the characters are memorable. However, if you want a truly exceptional novel, the plot needs to be just as exceptional as the characters.

This makes complexity and intricacy in a plot integral parts of any story that an author wants to polish until it shines. I don’t mean that it has to be the level of complex or intricate you see in many murder mysteries or thrillers, though it could certainly become that complex depending on your genre. What I mean is that there should be many layers to the plot. It should not be simplistic, nor should the layers clash in such a way that there is no subtlety to them at all. Crafting fiction is an art, and it must be done with balance and artistry to be done beautifully.

There is a great deal of variety in how this goal might be accomplished when it comes to writing. You’ve probably heard that there’s no one way to do things as a writer. This is very true in most areas, with the exception, in some instances, of grammar-related issues. But there are just as many wrong ways (or ways that do not work) to do things. Therefore, our goal is to know some of the key tools that will help us to do the right things so that we can succeed.

Giving Plot Complexity and Intricacy

One of the first, and simplest, ways to add complexity to plot is to ensure that nothing is too easy for your hero. Make sure that your protagonist can’t get what they want easily. This could mean they have an internal conflict that’s preventing them from having one thing if they go after the second thing they want equally, or it could mean that some external force gets in the way. But what other options are there for adding much-needed complexity besides this first, obvious one?

Obstacle Difficulty Mounts

The obstacles that show up in their way should be increasingly difficult to surmount. What do I mean by this? Well, take Trader Prince of Aleshtain for example. In my current work-in-progress, the goal of both main characters is ultimately freedom. But one thing after another stands in the way. For Rhubhian, the female lead, she has the entire Aleshtainian system, which has enslaved her in the way. Then she has Eras, the male protagonist, and her own feelings in the way of what she perceives as freedom. Even once she has a chance to live free, she isn’t able to live with the brand of freedom she’s won back for herself because she has lost the other thing–love–that she now realizes she wanted more than her “freedom”.

For Eras, he finds that duty, his father, the priesthood in his kingdom, and financial straits keep him from gaining his freedom. Then, in a desperate bid for freedom, he signs a contract with his father–the king–that takes an incredibly risky gamble with his future while allowing him at least the chance to win it. But even here he meets obstacles as the pieces he was relying on to allow him his victory prove to be against him instead. The two of them face problem after problem, some due to intentional intervention from outside forces and enemies and some due to simple misfortune and life getting in the way.

But that’s what keeps the story moving. The goal is always just out of reach or, at their worst moments, seems impossible to achieve. In a very real way, failure is always on the table for these two, and while it may or may not be how things end for these characters, it should always be something you consider an option.

Multiple Plot Lines

Another way you can add complexity is with the introduction of several plot lines. Each main character has their own thread to follow in the tapestry that is your story. Sometimes those threads will tangle with other threads along the way, and at times, a character may even have multiple threads at once as they pursue multiple goals. But either way, however many threads you have, if you are able to successfully bring them all together, you can create a plot that is complex and seemingly genius or effortless to any who don’t see the hard work that went into it.

Subplots

Finally, you can introduce subplots. We’ll discuss these in more detail later on, but essentially these are the other threads in the story that run beneath the overarching story goal or plot. So, in the case of my earlier example, freedom for the two main characters is the overarching story goal, but the attempt to keep Rhubhian safe from others in the castle would be a sub plot for Eras. It adds complexity, but it is only an underlying thread in the larger tapestry and the goals both are ultimately striving to achieve. The goal is not to keep Rhubhian safe and a slave for the rest of her life. The goal is her freedom. Keeping her safe is just a necessary journey or sub-goal along the way.

Weaving It All Together

In the end, the best method to add complexity and intricacy to a plot is to have several threads all running throughout the story. Some may be immediately obvious in their connections while others may be less so, but in the end, you have to bring them all together.

One example of this is Pathway of the Moon, a piece I wrote about a year ago and am in the process of editing. In this story, the book has two distinct storylines for much of the book: that of the assassin-vigilante, Leo Ryalin, and that of High Imperial Knight, Alrian Haridan. These two interact under various aliases throughout the course of the book without ever realizing who the other is until, finally, circumstances, an investigation into the assassin on Haridan’s part, and the connecting link–a maid Ryalin rescued–end up bringing Haridan to an Aha kind of moment.

Examples

But the two have entirely separate story lines for much of it and only hear about the other’s story line when they happen to hear rumors or are directly investigating, in the case of Haridan. The clues pile up, and while the reader knows that Ryalin is the assassin, they begin to realize there’s far more to him than just that as Haridan’s investigation uncovers threads of his ties to other happenings in the kingdom, which were seemingly unrelated.

Another example, which is far more masterful at tying things together than my own work is, would be Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archives. If ever you want to see a master of plot and character in action, you should read Sanderson. As an author and editor, I can imagine (and in some cases know all too well) how much work goes into making the kind of sweeping plot lines, intricate connections, and unexpected twists Sanderson utilizes work properly. If this is an area you’re trying to improve, read this series. I say that as someone who learned most of what she knows about plot intricacy and characterization from simply reading and observing this master in action via his own work.

The Concept in Action

Practically speaking, this is an exercise in imagination, logic, and creativity. You can find some initial connections quite easily by considering your characters, your major plot lines, and your locations. Donald Maas, in his Writing the Breakout Novel, suggests that you write them down and start pairing a character with one item each off the other lists. Some connections aren’t going to make any sense, but often you’ll find ones that do that you never anticipated would work. Write those ones down to keep. Make notes on them. Use them. It will make the novel better and far more complex if you can find a way to weave all of the key connections you’ve made together.

Conclusion

Good plot, like good character, is something you must develop. It takes time and planning. Some books may require much more formal planning than others, but all will require some degree of planning or else a great deal of revision if you want your plot to shine like it can. While the effort may to some seem an unworthy use of time, I can promise you that this is an area you don’t want to skip. It’s an area that Donald Maas focuses on heavily in his book because, as a literary agent, he rejected thousands of manuscripts due to issues with plot. It pays to pay attention to and to develop soundly the plot for any book you’re endeavoring to write. Don’t ignore this crucial piece of crafting a novel.