Worksheet 5

 

WORKSHEET FIVE

World building/back story

 

What kind of background, setting, or back story is needed

to tell this story?  Yours need not be as detailed as my 

example below.  

If your book will require research, this would be a good place to create a list for later. 

World building and back story example:

Two hundred years before STAR-CROSSED begins, the human colony on the Earth-like planet Arden was devastated by a plague which killed many inhabitants and most of the males.  Having no cure, Arden has been quarantined ever since with only careful trade allowed.  Arden's women took over, and the men came under government protection to keep the humans from dying out completely.  This control has evolved into a planetary harem system.  Through a lottery, women of wealth or merit can buy a male for a year's time for reproductive reasons.  The rest of the female population bear children through artificial insemination, the sperm coming from off-planet.   Most male children supposedly die within hours of being born.

This lottery has become extremely profitable and useful for the government so, at all costs, the leaders wish to keep it in place.  All contact with other planets is controlled, only scientific knowledge being allowed into or out of the planet, and the concept of a male-female society has faded from memory.  Few women have seen a man except at brothels, and men have no rights or privileges within the system.  Women consider men fragile and unworldly.  Words like "father" and "love" in a romantic sense aren't used.  Children and pregnant women are the most protected members of society.

Arden is fairly poor, and its quarantine prohibits much trade so its citizens live with day-to-day technology ranging from the late 20th to the mid 21st century.  The novel is set in the mid 24th century.

The planet is Earthlike except for some pink vegetation and animals.  The buildings have high small windows and yards are enclosed by high brick fences because of the tyrlin, a large tiger-like predator.  The planet's gravity is a bit heavier than Earth's so the women on the planet are stronger than Earthmen Tristan and Kellen.

The Big Question, Part 12

 WORLD BUILDING

I haven't talked about world building, but in most ways, it is the same as character building using the three-tiered structure.  The premise and plot give you certain requirements, then you build your world to fit them.    

World building can also involve creating the back story of a novel.  Back story is what happens before the novel begins that will influence the events and characters in the novel.

In a mystery, for example, the world building would involve the murder and the world around the murder victim as well as the crime solver.  If the victim is a professional rodeo bull rider, the life of the rodeo would be the world you must create.  

Using the Big Question in your world building also forces you to create a depth that you might not have otherwise because you are forced to think of both sides of the question in relation to the world.

For STAR-CROSSED, I knew I needed a planet where men have been disenfranchised so I asked myself a series of questions.  The first was-- Why would such a human society evolve?  

As an answer, I decided an incurable plague whose primary victims were men quarantined Arden for several hundred years. The quarantine would not only hide the slavery from other human planets, but also permit the government to keep outside influences to a minimum. 

To repopulate the planet, the colonists decided that the remaining men were state property whose sole task was reproduction. This system developed into a corrupt, inhuman harem bureaucracy.

My next question was a tougher one--What would a society like this be like?  Children and pregnant women would, obviously, be revered and protected after such a devastating plague.  

As time passed, men would lose all status socially and all claim of being the stronger sex.  In women's minds they would be poor weak dears incapable of anything but sex.  Even language choices would change.  Words like "father" and romantic "love" would no longer be used.  

A woman's last name would indicate the mother, not the father, and religious terms would change.  God would be female, for example.  Family life would be strong, generations of women bonding together for the sake of their girl children.

On a larger scale, the changes would not be so benign.  The harem system would be a social corrupter.  Men's sexual favors would be used as bribes, and those who control the harem and the chance for children control the world.  

Corruption and incompetence would spread throughout the society.  Those in power would use propaganda to insure women's poor opinion of men and men's blind subservience to their role as bed slaves.  Drugs to control sex drive and will would force rebellious men to cooperate.  

The emotional void men fill in women would be partially replaced by female bonding, but the remaining void would be an emotional cancer eating away at society.  

I now had my society, but what would the planet Arden be like?  I wanted to avoid a planet radically different from Earth because those differences would change human society even more, and I wanted my emphasis to be on the society, not the planet.  

I decided to make Arden Earth like, but I added alien touches--a sprinkling of pink trees and bushes, vicious predators which forced odd architectural changes in buildings, and native foods.

I chose to make Arden's gravity a bit heavier than Earth's for a specific plot reason.  I intended to introduce my Earthman hero Tristan and his best friend Kellen to the planet, and I wanted them to be inferior in strength to the local women.  A stronger gravity gave Arden women that physical advantage.  

NOTE:  I will post Worksheet 5 tomorrow.  

Worksheet 4

 WORKSHEET 4

1. List your story arcs.  Include the main story arc, any secondary story arc, and subplots that are needed.  

Remember that the more complex the story, the more arcs will be needed.  

Example of story arcs: 

Main story arc:

Mara must rescue Tristan from the harem, and they must escape to freedom.

Romantic story arc:

Mara and Tristan must put aside their cultural differences to find love.  Tristan must choose between Mara and Dorian by giving up his own insecurities about love and by discovering whom he loves. 

Subplots:

Kellen must try to survive Cadaran's abuse and try to escape.  Later, he must come to terms with the rape and brutality he has lived through.

Novia attempts to destroy Tristan first by trying to change Mara's opinion of him then by spying on them for Cadaran.

Hallie meets Kellen, becomes his friend, then must try to find the courage to save him.

The alien cat Floppy hates Tristan because he believes the human will hurt Mara, but he learns to respect Tristan when Tristan teaches him to read.

2. List the main character's goals and list the character or characters who will thwart each attempt.

   

Example:

Mara against the government:

She tries to contact Tristan's family -- The bureaucracyof the planet prevents this

She tries to give Tristan status as a scientist instead of a man-- her elderly scientist ally becomes ill, Cadaran uses bribes and fear tactics on the other scientists

She tries to use Tristan's fame and value as a scientist to make him valuable enough to the government to free him -- She discovers that the government has already told the other planets and Tristan's powerful family that Tristan and Kellen's ship blew up near the planet with no survivors.

The Big Question, Part 11

 SUBPLOTS

The main plot of the novel drives the story forward through the whole work.   

Some novels have only one plot.  A simple romance's plot is boy and girl meet, one or both screws it up because of some inner flaw or weakness, but they manage to change enough to create a happily ever after.  

Other novels have a major story line and minor story lines.  Most often, these books mix genres like romantic suspense, or they are more complex in both subject matter and word count.  

A minor story line is called a subplot.  The two major types of subplot are the parallel or woven subplot and the independent subplot.  

The parallel subplot is a smaller element of the overall plot that intersects the major plot with both its characters and the events.  The main plot affects the subplot, and the subplot affects the main plot.  

In AVATAR, Sully's romance with Neytiri is one of the parallel subplots in the main story of Sully's learning about the planet Pandora and his decision to save it from the other humans.

His relationship with Neytiri is his personal introduction to the planet, its people, and their ways, and his emotional/romantic relationship with her teaches him the value of its people as well as giving him the original impetus to reconsider his decision to spy on the scientists and betray the locals to the corporation and its mercenaries.

In my STAR-CROSSED, Kellen's struggle against sexual slavery, his owner Cadaran, and his search for his freedom parallels Tristan and Mara's sweet relationship and their own fight for Tristan's freedom against Cadaran as representative of the corrupt government.

A complex novel may have numerous parallel subplots.  Some may be almost as complex as the main plot, and others may be short and simple pieces of the puzzle that is the story.  

Another simple subplot in STAR-CROSSED involves Tristan's relationship with Floppy, the intelligent alien kitty.  

When Tristan lives in Mara's house, Floppy sees him as a rival for Mara's time and attention, and the housekeeper has told Floppy that Tristan with his sneaky male ways is a danger to her.

Floppy works to prevent a physical relationship between Mara and Tristan, and he's more than willing to kill Tristan to protect Mara.

Floppy and Tristan gradually learn to like each other when Tristan teaches Floppy to read.  

After Tristan saves Mara's life at the risk to his own freedom, Floppy is totally won over to Tristan's side. 

This subplot not only drives the main story forward by interfering with the romantic relationship of the hero and heroine, it also is comic or scary in contrast to the main story line's tone at that moment to add variety.  

An independent subplot doesn't impact the main story.  A common use of this kind of subplot is in a mystery where the main character has a home life subplot as well as trying to catch the killer in the main plot.

At its least, an independent subplot gives a fuller picture of the main character or a more complete view of the world he inhabits.

At its best, it reflects the main plot thematically or emotionally.  For example, the hero must face the death of his father and their issues of abuse at the same time as he is chasing a serial killer who targets elderly men which may indicate he was abused by an older man when he was little.

The TV show, HOUSE, often used the independent subplot which involves the relationships of the hospital staff to reflect the main plot of discovering what is killing their patient.  

In most episodes, House will gain a valuable clue to the illness through his interactions with another character during that subplot.  

The very strongest subplot, even those that aren't parallel, brings a thematic, characterization, and world building depth to the novel. 

NOTE:  I'll post Worksheet 4, tomorrow.  

The Big Question, Part 10

 SIMPLE PLOT LINES

Now that you have your cast of characters, you need to come up with more plot details and decide on what story arcs (major plots and subplots) you'll need to answer your Big Question.  

An arc or plot line is a simple statement of plot.  You can create one for the main plot, the secondary plot line, and for the subplots.

For STAR-CROSSED, the science fiction story arc is 

Mara must rescue Tristan from the harem, and they must escape to freedom.

Since this novel is a romance as well as science fiction adventure, there is also a romantic story arc:  

Mara and Tristan must put aside their cultural differences to find love.  Tristan must choose between Mara and Dorian by giving up his own insecurities about love and by discovering whom he loves. 

Here are story arcs you'll find in different types of romance novels.

In a romantic suspense

the romance story arc--

the hero and heroine's emotional story arc

the mystery/suspense arc--

the villain's story arc

In category romance (series lines like Harlequin American)

The romance is the major and usually the only story arc

    Sometimes, a minor subplot may cause conflict between the hero and heroine

Fantasy, science fiction, and straight mystery also have one major story arc. Fantasy and science fiction tend toward the quest or task story arc.  Romance and character relationships are more often a subplot arc or character development with no major plot importance.

Now you need to detail your own story arcs and plot elements.

Get a sheet of paper or a blank page on your computer.  First jot down the ideas you've already come up with thanks to creating your question and the characters you've created.

Now start writing down the obvious plot points.  

For STAR-CROSSED, the most obvious ones involved the story arc Mara must follow to fight the corrupt government, to save Tristan and Kellen, and to destroy the government. 

Each attempt she makes is thwarted in the early stages, and each time she's thwarted, the situation becomes more hopeless.

Since this is a romance, I also had the romance story arc.  

Here are some other notes I made on the novel.  

Mara & Tristan in unfeasible power positions, a struggle to regain equality between them.

Cadaran as embodiment of the evil government and the evils of the harem. Tristan's best friend Kellen must become Cadaran's bed slave and faces the true indignities of the harem which Mara spares Tristan from.

Kellen vs. Cadaran, Kellen's attempts at escape -- major subplot.

Another plot conflict/subplot: Tristan's female friend Dorian must discover that Tristan & Kellen aren't dead, and she figures out about the harem planet and must come to their rescue. 

Emotional conflict from this: Dorian believes herself in love with Tristan. Tristan uncertain of his feelings for her. Dorian's presence will tear apart the fragile bond between Tristan & Mara as his escape releases him from Mara's control. 

Tristan's emotional conflict-- anger at harem society with Mara as representative vs. love for Mara as individual. 

Theme: freedom through love, the importance of trust.

Kellen as foil to Tristan 

Kellen's emotional conflict-- hatred of society and struggle to retain emotional dignity. 

his inner freedom vs. the hopelessness at being victim of an inescapable system. 

Possible small conflicts: 

Mara's housekeeper Novia acts as spy for Cadaran. 

Mara's intelligent alien pet Floppy hates Tristan. 

Mara becomes laughingstock when she takes a bed slave because her beloved dead mother was opposed to sexual slavery.

Notice that I also gave suggestions for different themes within the novel that are a bit different from the original question, but reflect the original question.  Doing this will add even more depth to your novel.

The Big Question, Worksheet 3

 

WORKSHEET 3

You don't have to go into great detail with minor characters right now.  Just do your most important characters.

 

Flesh the important characters from Worksheet 2 out:

 

Give background and motivation

Physical description if important

Example: 

MARA D'JOREL

Mara d'Jorel's relationship with her mother has dominated her life.  Mara always sensed Jorel's bitterness and grief but incorrectly believed she was the cause, and she wasn't worthy enough.  To win her scientist mother's love, she focused all her energies on science and her career with little time for a social life.  Her strong loyalty, love, and maternal impulses were expressed in her relationship with her grandmotherly housekeeper Novia, the alien rab-cat Floppy, and her pets.

 

Mara is tall and slender. Long legs, ample breasts, very pretty. Her eyes are hazel, her hair chestnut and short at the beginning of the novel.  Her mischievous smile earns her the nickname “Pixie” from Tristan.  

Big Question, Part 9

 CHARACTER GOALS

If you aren't happy with the emotional content of your story, you may want to look at the central story idea. Do your character/characters have a real emotional reason to be doing what they are doing?

Their hunt for the lost treasure should be as much about their emotional reason for needing the treasure as it is about simple greed. That emotional reason should be important enough to make the reader want them to succeed as much as they do.

Maybe the main character is after a magical sword which is the only weapon that will kill the dragon currently ravaging his homeland, and he doesn't really care about other treasure and the life of drunken decadence and dancing girls it promises the other characters.

Maybe the other characters have laughed at him, but they've admired him and gradually they have been drawn into his quest for the sword, and in the end, they'll choose to get the sword with him and lose the other treasure.

Maybe the one who laughed the hardest and made the main character's life hell along the journey will be the one to sacrifice himself so that the hero can rescue a homeland the scoffer has never had, but now wishes to have with his whole heart.

Now that's a story that will grab your reader where a simple quest for gold will not.

ACTIVE VERSUS PASSIVE GOALS

I'm a great fan of Andre Norton, the incredible sf and fantasy author.

When I read Norton's MERLIN'S MIRROR, I was so disappointed by the book I reread it to figure out why.

The character of Merlin has a mirror which tells him the future, and he has to make it happen. Through the whole novel, he does all kinds of active things but doesn't make the first important decision about his own life or what he wants to do. Instead, he's led along by that dang mirror. 

He is as passive, in many ways, as a character who is always reacting to others rather than charting his own course, and a passive main character means a boring book.

Being active as a character is as much about choices as it is about running around doing stuff to achieve a goal, particularly someone else's goal.

CREATING A CHARACTER FROM WITHIN

From a writer's point of view of creating a character, I believe that we need to look inward. All the emotions that will drive the average, sane person to do something unexpected are all there inside us. Given the right impetus, a person will do the unexpected.

I don't believe a good person with a strong moral center will deliberately do something evil like cold-blooded murder, for example, but a good person will kill in the right circumstances. 

From my own experience, I know I'd kill in the right situation. I was sixteen, my dad was camping with the Scouts, and someone woke me by trying to come through my bedroom window in the middle of the night. I had a loaded pistol, and I'm an excellent shot. 

I knew I could shoot through the window, or I could get the gun and run to the phone on the other end of our big house. Either way, I'd be safe. But my mom and my kid sister were asleep in other bedrooms, and I'd be leaving them to the burglar's mercy if I ran.

In that moment of decision, and with cold, certain clarity, I realized I was perfectly capable of shooting the burglar to protect my family. I also realized that he'd have to come through the window before I shot so I would know he was down, or he could come through another window anywhere in the house. 

I knew if I told him to stop, he'd keep coming because I'm female and so small he'd probably think I was nine or ten, and I'd have less of a chance of killing a moving target with a small caliber gun. I knelt behind the bed with the gun in my hand and waited for him to come through the window. I planned to put three shots in his heart and save three shots for just in case.

Fortunately, the dogs scared him away before he made it through the window, but I'll never forget that moment of cold certainty, and I know that I would do the same now. 

As a writer, I've used that moment to help define my good characters who are driven to the edge with hard choices.

The trick as a writer is to make the reader believe that a character will do something outside of their experience. If I were writing that personal experience as part of a novel, I'd have already shown the reader that this character loves their family, and that they have a gun and the experience to use it. 

When that moment of decision comes, the reader wouldn't be completely surprised that the character chooses to stay rather than fleeing like a self-centered bunny. 

If a writer doesn't make you believe a character will react in a certain way, she has screwed up badly.

NOTE:  Worksheet 3 will be posted tomorrow.  

Big Question, Part 8

 FLESHING OUT THE CHARACTERS

Once you have a general idea of the characters and the plot, you will need to start fleshing them out.  The major characters have to be more than just elements of the question.  You have to make them real people.

Part of this process of making them real people is adding to their emotional complexity.  First, look at the various givens in the characters' personalities you created so far. Why are they like this?  What in the past shaped them?

For example, Cadaran d'Hasta represents the evils of Arden's society, but as I considered her and why she is what she is, she became more of a person.  I decided that her own motivation stems from a need to dominate others, a refusal to be defeated, and a genuine contempt for women weak enough to love a man.  

She hates men, and she refuses to accept defeat by a man because she was raped when she was a young soldier, and she can't accept that a man ever defeated her.  Every man in her bed, since then, has been dominated and abused to prove this to herself, and she likes men who are sexually rough because it proves she can take it.  

I gave her good qualities to make her fully rounded.  She's loyal to her troops and fair, and she repays loyalty.  Her sarcastic wit in her scenes with Kellen makes her more than a snarling rapist, and in their verbal give and take, the reader can get a glimmer of the possibility that these two people could be friends under very different circumstances.  

MOTIVATION

One very important aspect of creating great characters is proper motivation for what they do in the novel.

If Mara decided to save Tristan from the harem because he's great in bed and she wants to keep him, the totally selfish motivation wouldn't be strong enough for the plot or for the reader.  

The motivation must be understandable, strong, and for the main viewpoint character or characters, the motive must be one the reader will approve of.  For Mara's original motive, I chose a desire to save a brilliant fellow scientist on the verge of a scientific discovery that will benefit all humans.  Later, her motivation includes her love for him.  

Even with Cadaran, I created a motive greater than a need for money or political power.  I gave her an obsessive need to dominate.

Don't try to be totally inclusive in this creation of characters.  Sketch out the major personality points, decide what the characters look like, and maybe decide on a mannerism or two that fits their personality. 

Mannerisms are especially useful for secondary characters.  Novia, for example, tends to grind, throttle, and maul things with her hands as if she's fighting her need to do that to Tristan whom she hates and fears. 

As you write the novel, characters will often surprise you with insights into them that will add even more depth.  Accept these gifts from your Muse as such and don't toss them out because they don't fit that original character sketch.

In STAR-CROSSED, Floppy, the alien version of a cat, was only supposed to be a cute, fuzzy reminder that Mara lives on a different planet, but in his first scene, he hopped onto Mara's lap and pointed at the data cube to let me know that he was human smart, not a pet, and he wasn't about to let me or any other character take care of Mara when he could do it himself.

He proved to be a great addition to the novel and a reader favorite so I'm glad I listened to my Muse and this opinionated cat.

My insight into Cadaran being raped as a young soldier came when I was writing an early scene between Cadaran and Kellen, and Kellen remarks, “Did some big bad man mangle you?”  My mouth flopped open as I realized that's exactly what happened to Cadaran.  My Muse through Kellen had given me the final piece of Cadaran's emotional puzzle.

In one of my first stories, I had the main character in a surly mood in the opening scene without telling the reader why he was acting the way he was. A friend who critiqued the story wrote in the margin, "Who pissed in his oatmeal this morning?" It's a comment I hear in my head every time I discover I need to rewrite an under-motivated character.

Characters should have very good reasons to act as they do. We must give them motivations that the reader can understand. The most common mistake most new writers make is having a character act in a certain way because the writer needs her to act in a certain way.

This is as true for the villain as it is for the main viewpoint character. If your bad guy doesn't act without proper motivation, the whole story falls apart.