Season 2, Episode 32: Too Convenient
IN THIS EPISODE
Abby’s been doing a new thing that helps her put on her writer’s hat and get into the groove when she sits down to write: when she’s wrapping up a writing session, she puts the caps lock on and writes down what she thinks needs to happen next, where the story’s going, what her protagonist is thinking, etc. When she sits back down, she reads it, highlights it, erases it – and keeps going. Prime the ol’ brain pump!
This week, Abby’s been working on Chapter 15 – working from the ground up, putting the scaffolding in place for her story. Her protagonist finds her friend Logan taking down mean posters (about her!). She didn’t want her protagonist to be in a world where everyone is literally making fun of you. In middle school, it only feels that way. What she was trying to do in this chapter is point out (without pointing out) that our perceptions of things are usually worse than the reality.
“I felt like my first draft was working out the big picture thing that was happening. It wasn’t about the words on the page – it was figuring out what the hell the story was about.”
Craft/planning question: can you have a really minor character play a minor part in one book, and play a more substantial role in a later book? Kemlo says yes, absolutely, but you can’t have it come off as too convenient. They need to serve some sort of purpose in the story and not just hang around chewing the scenery.
Kemlo asks Abby the same question she asked Mel last week: When you went to revise this chapter, based on your manuscript audit, what were the big issues you were working on? Abby says that 1) the first half of the book didn’t match the second half of the book, and 2) the protagonist’s school world and book world never intersected. Abby brought in Ralph the Mouse, and he made an appearance at school, and he’s going to play a bigger part in this revision.
Abby’s wondering if she can work on Chapter 15 a little more. As much as she loves moving forward, she feels like she wants to polish it a bit so she can move on without it hanging over her head.
