Back to basics: Plots, what a twist!

[KillerMuffin]

It's a short story, so you really can't have a great deal of plot going on or you're going to seriously confuse the reader. But you need some plot and enough to make it interesting.

Plot is one of the basics of writing. Essentially, you have to have at least one.

Here are some questions that would be really cool to answer, but make sure they're your own answers from experience. It helps people with questions learn! That's the point, right? Q&A so that experienced writers can help those starting out catch their wings?

1) What is a plot?
2) How do you create a basic plot in a short, erotic story?
3) How do you know when you have a good plot?
4) How do you know if you have too much plot? Not enough?
5) When is good time to think about the plot for a short story?
6) Is outlining a plot necessary to writing a good story?
7) Is there a way to have subplots in a short story?
8) How much detail do you need to make a plot, ie characters, setting, time, etc.?9) Can there be an essentially "plotless" story?
10) How can you avoid a cliched plot even though the plot has been done before?

Okay, writers, answer 'em, if you can. All or none, or one or two or twice each! We have a lot of experience here and we all adore talking about writing. This will help! Maybe we can even make some kind of guidebook or something. That's be cool.

 

[christo]

I'm a very plot-driven writer. Some writers focus on their characters, or theme, or, uh, the fucking, but for me the plot's the thing. I get the plot in my head, and from there I develop the characters.

Plot is all about conflict. Get your main character to climb a tree, get him out on the highest branch, and have someone start sawing it off. If you watch TNT they have those pretentious black and white commercials asking "What is Drama?" and they have Whoopi Goldberg and Dennis Hopper and the dippy blonde woman from Ally McMeal saying stupid things like, "Drama is..*****" and whatnot. But Richard Schieff, who is the best thing about "The West Wing", puts it simply and succintly-- "Drama is conflict".

There are some very good, very sexy stories on this site that have very little drama to them. Boy meets girl, girl drops to her knees, boy comes all over girl's face. A tale told throughout the ages.

But you add to the story if, say, you throw a monkey wrench into the works. Boy meets girl, girls drops to her knees, boy can't get erection, boy is ashamed, girl solves problem by inviting seven of her friends to watch him masturbate in his parents bedroom while wearing a French maid costume, which turns out to be a secret fantasy. There's your plot. The character wants something (orgasm), there is an obstacle (impotence), he overcomes the obstacle (through cross-dressing and humiliation).

OK, it ain't Macbeth. But I think you get my point.

 

[garyblue]

Plot? We don't need no effin' plot

Well, Killer, there you go again with the intelligent questions. You don't mind if I skip one or three, do you.

1) What is a plot?

The plot is a joke. It has a setup (introduction to character(s) and environs), misdirection (conflict) and a punchline (resolving hook). If anything is missing, it's like that doofus who can never tell a joke right. It's just a scene.

2) How do you create a basic plot in a short, erotic story?

I don't know.

3) How do you know when you have a good plot?

If it were a joke, you'd laugh. See above.

4) How do you know if you have too much plot? Not enough?

Either way, you won't be able to make a clean ending.

5) When is good time to think about the plot for a short story?

Sometime before you start writing. No, that's not being a smartass. If you don't know what your story is, what the eff are you writing. Have completely plotted in your mind (or in notes) before trying to write it.

6) Is outlining a plot necessary to writing a good story?

Formal outline? No. Look at Christo's short story plot. Write the barebones story in 100 words or so. If you can't do that, you don't have a story yet.

7) Is there a way to have subplots in a short story?

Probably not worth the effort, but I'll pass on this one.

8) How much detail do you need to make a plot, i.e., characters, setting, time, etc.?

Not as much as is in most. The reader can fill in the blanks if the writer will give the right hints. Little bits of "business" can be used to make the characters human. For example: I was trying to remember what brand my cat would eat when a touch... (The victim of this plagiarism will recognize my thievery.)

9) Can there be an essentially "plotless" story?

Yes. It is only a scene, thus runs high risk of failure. Several years ago I wrote such a plotless scene for an amateur video friends and I made. It worked on video, a kinda visual haiku. As a short story?

10) How can you avoid a cliched plot even though the plot has been done before?

They've all been done. People change every day. Put a different person in the plot, and you have a different story.

For what it's worth, that's my ass flapping in the breeze. Take some shots.

g

 

[lovetoread]

Re: Plot? We don't need no effin' plot

8) How much detail do you need to make a plot, i.e., characters, setting, time, etc.?

Not as much as is in most. The reader can fill in the blanks if the writer will give the right hints. Little bits of "business" can be used to make the characters human. For example: I was trying to remember what brand my cat would eat when a touch... (The victim of this plagiarism will recognize my thievery.)

I agree with you Mr G, I do not want to read a story that has so much detail that your eyes cross trying to picture this in your head. Meaning that if takes a whole page to describe an outfit that a charactor is wearing,thats too much detail.

10) How can you avoid a cliched plot even though the plot has been done before?

They've all been done. People change every day. Put a different person in the plot, and you have a different story.

Agreed also. The only thing you can do is hope that when someone reads what you have written,they think only of the your story,and not that it reminds them of something they have read before.

 

[Mickie]

1) What is a plot?

A plot has a setup for the main character's goal, a conflict or obstacle, a resolution to the conflict, and a wrapup telling the end result of the character's goal. (this is really basic)

2) How do you create a basic plot in a short, erotic story?

Personally, and each author is individual in 'getting ideas', I start with a vision, like a picture, and invent the circumstances surrounding it. Then I create my main character, get a goal for the character, and invent the obstacle that he must overcome to reach that goal. The next thing to do is to decide if the character will accomplish his goal. And how. The rest is actually writing it.

3) How do you know when you have a good plot?

That's an individual thing. When I get that inner tightening that tells me I'm on the right track, I think it's good. Someone else might shrug and think it's boring, but then, another person might think it's the best idea anyone ever had.

4) How do you know if you have too much plot? Not enough?

For a short story, that's an easy answer. If you have more than one subplot -- something that spins off the main plot and intertwines with it -- then you're probably trying to tell too much. For a longer work, a novel, it's more difficult. Basically, if it confuses you, the author, then you might want to cut it down a bit.

) When is good time to think about the plot for a short story?

I don't begin with a plot, but a vision. In fact, I'll begin writing as soon as I have the picture in my head. Most of the time, this first scene will be cut or changed dramatically, but that's where I begin to find the ambiance I want in the story. I usually have a very basic idea of what the story might be about, though. As I go, I invent the character, the goal, the obstacle, but then I usually wait until I've outlined that in the actual text before inventing the solution to the conflict. Then, I'll hop back and see where I can put in things that will help the character deal with the obstacle. Sometimes, the character sets himself up to fail, and sometimes not. Always be open to changing ideas as you write, or your story sounds forced.

6) Is outlining a plot necessary to writing a good story?

No. It helps if you figure out the simple things in advance, though. Character, goal, conflict. The rest should be how those three things interact, and a fluid thought process while you write makes it more 'in the moment'.

7) Is there a way to have subplots in a short story?

Of course there is. But, I'd not put a lot of twisty subplots in a short. Keep it to the main plot, and don't wander off in never-never land. However, if you include a single subplot that helps create suspense or leads the reader in a strange direction, only to come together with the main plot in the end, you'll have a good tapestry effect to the story. Difficult to do with a short, but not impossible.

8) How much detail do you need to make a plot, ie characters, setting, time, etc.?

Detail. Well, I think in pictures while I write, as if it's going on as a movie in front of me and I have the main character's telepathic communication going on in my head. I write what I see and hear. The amount of detail is really a part of style, rather than delibrately choosing it. What I notice, I write. I do like a lot of visual detail. I don't like a lot of backstory. Setting is in the visual. Characters is in the main character -- the 'inner dialogue'. Those are the two most important parts of the details. Where it concerns the plot is -- does this detail move the plot forward? Does it make a point about the characters? Does it tell the reader something the reader needs to know to understand the character or the plot? Those are basic questions you can ask. Personally, I tend to err on the side of too much visual and peripheral detail, and try to keep the backstory to a bare minimum.

9) Can there be an essentially "plotless" story?

No. The definition of story includes plot. People seem to enjoy sexual scenes, though, with no real plot or storyline. So even a scene can be popular. Around here, everything is called a story unless it's poetry. But, the real definition of a large percentage of the 'stories' here is just a scene.

10) How can you avoid a cliched plot even though the plot has been done before?

This has a number of answers, but I'll pick my favorite -- find a new angle from which to tell the same old story. Instead of telling the romance from the woman's pov, tell it from the pov of her pet cat. Use her sister as the main character, and give her sister a role in the romance. Take the villain's pov. Anyone but the main characters you would normally use. Twist it around and look at it from a completely new viewpoint.

Well, them's my answers, do with them what you want --

Mickie

 

[poohlive]

I have a question. Are we dealing with just short stories here, or are we talking about sexual stories? Because, honestly, there are times when the answers will differ for each question.
In a sexual story, the plot isn't what you or I would consider a "plot." Honestly, some of the best sex stories only involved a man and a woman in bed having sex. They start with some foreplay, work their way up to some good sex, climax, and then cuddle.
Ha...
No real plot, and yet a complete sexual story.
Could the sex itself be considered plot though? Well, yes, if you believe that plot doesn't have to be just conflict.
Me... being an english major, just happened to look up the actual definition.

Plot... actions and events that are rendered and ordered toward achieving particular emotional and artistic events.
(M.H. Abrams 1)

Well then, according to that a sexual story is a perfect example. So long as it gets the reader hot and bothered... the author has successfully written a plot.
Ah yes, but I see hands already raised. What about conflict right?
It's in there, but not every plot has a particular conflict. What about the play Our Town? Thorton Wilder's greatest work? It deals with a small New Hampshire town and the lives of a few people in it. It is a great play, ask anyone who's seem a good production of it, but there is no conflict at all. A plot... yes, since there are particular emotional and artistic events being achieved, but no conflict. (1)
So, a plot doesn't have to have conflict.
Most plots do have conflict however.
This is just the same for sexual stories. There are stories that just deal with sex, and there are those who have conflict, and eventually lead into the sex. In either case someone gets laid at the end.
In a sexual story with a conflict in it, the author has something bigger to deal with than just the sex. They have to... in effect, write twice as hard to achieve their story. Not twice as long, but twice as hard. You see, they are trying for two particular plots. One, is pleasing the audience by having the characters indulge in sex, and the other is writing a plot that somehow surrounds or leads into the sex. This double plot has to be reasonable, believable, understandable, and yet still build up the story about the sex itself.

A husband and wife are hard out for money. So, they both agree that perhaps she should go get some work at a strip club. This particular strip club is no holds barred, and the more she does... the more money she gets.

There we are, a simple conflict and plot, along with a solution that involved sex. Just like that you've incorporated both elements into your story. Is it believable? In this day and age yes. Is is reasonable? Strippers do get good money. Is it understandable? Of course.
It's been done before as well, but that's not a big thing. Hell, Harry Potter is an old story that's been told about a hundred times before, and look what happened to it.
This is a "short" story though, so there can't be too much emphasis on whatever conflict the author has decided to put in there. Sometimes, it's just plain boring, and I know I've flipped through the nonsexual conflict parts to get to the sex, as I'm sure others have as well.
If there's too much, than the story takes another focus. It's not sexual anymore, it's a regular story, that just happens to have some sex in it.

A husband and wife just buy this spectcaular new expensive home. She wrecks the car in an accident a few days later, where the other guy didn't have insurance. After spending the money to fix it, he loses his job suddenly. Then, bills start piling up, and they begin to spiral down with financial problems. One day, he suggests to his wife to become a stripper. She agrees, and goes to the no holds barred place where the more she does the more money she gets.

This isn't a sexual story, this is a story about a husband and wife with financial problems that just has a nice ending. It gets so worked up with building the conflict, that the conflict itself becomes the more important element in the story than opposed to the unique way of solving it.
This wouldn't be so bad, except an auther needs to write to his audience. The audience doesn't care about how the husband and wife got money problems... it's a simple sentence to start off the story.

"A huge financial bind brought me to that run down titty bar on Route 4."

Easy as pie.
There you have it, as much as my rantings go for tonight. Just a few things I've pieced together from my experiences with professional english, and sexual writing. A deadly combination in the right hands... hee hee.
Thank you for reading (or at least simply glancing).

(don't want to plagerize here. Would hate for you to just blame me for all the stuff I wrote here.)
1.
Abrams, M. H. A Glossary Of Literary Terms 7nth Ed. Harcourt Brace College Publishers 1999 P. 224

 

[lovetoread]

There you have it, as much as my rantings go for tonight. Just a few things I've pieced together from my experiences with professional english, and sexual writing. A deadly combination in the right hands... hee hee.
Thank you for reading (or at least simply glancing).

Oh boy this may be a first,I actually read this and agreed. Must be really early...