Another re-purposed blog post from Free the Princess today. I won't bore you with the details, but suffice to say that this was the best idea my over-tired brain could come up with. This post originally appeared on March 16, 2010.
One of the things I've started to do in developing my stories is try to figure out holes in the premise. To do this, I think in circles around various parts of it. This means I'm trying to come up with reasons why the story can't work the way I want it to work.
Sometimes my circular thinking takes me into different avenues of research. Like psychology for one. I've blogged about Alice and Janey before -- my two psych major friends -- who are now helping with the emotional arc of CALLARION AT NIGHT. In particular, Alice has been tremendous with her opinions in terms of story development and how to manage Moriah's emotional life.
My research has ventured into weapons, clothing, technology, even consumer goods of the Victorian/early 20th century. All of this to fill the circular question "Is this possible?"
Sometimes I'll find my theory isn't possible. That's where the thinking in circles comes in handy. If different routes to the same solution don't hold up under this circular thought process, then I take a different route.
What about you folks? Do you try to poke holes in your stories before you write them? Or do you wait and see what happens?
NOTE: Yes, I know I suffer from plot hole disease in my writing. This is a different kind of logic gap.
1 comment:
You're not alone. I do this too! I have a really, really vivid imagination and I think that while it hinders me in real life (instantaneous worst-case scenarios are not exactly a confidence booster), it's actually a boon in writing, I think.
I use research to fill the gaps, same as you, and hope for the best. :)
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