Another excerpt
Mar. 2nd, 2002 02:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
moonwiseAgain, taken from Stephen King's On Writing, totally without permission.
On Plot
In my view, stories and novels consist of three parts: narration, which moves the story from Point A to Point B and finally to Point Z; description, which creates a sensory reality for the reader; and dialogue, which brings characters to life through their speech.
You may wonder where plot is in all this. The answer - my answer, anyway - is nowhere. I won't try to convince you that I've never plotted more than I'd try to convince you that I've never told a lie, but I do both as infrequently as possible. I distrust plot for two reasons: first, because our lives are largely plotless, even when you add in all our reasonable precautions and careful planning; and second, because I believe plotting and the spontanaeity of real creation aren't compatible. It's best that I be as clear about this as I can - I want you to understand that my basic belief about the making of stories is that they pretty much make themselves. The job of the writer is giving them a place to grow (and to transcribe them, of course.)
On Plot
In my view, stories and novels consist of three parts: narration, which moves the story from Point A to Point B and finally to Point Z; description, which creates a sensory reality for the reader; and dialogue, which brings characters to life through their speech.
You may wonder where plot is in all this. The answer - my answer, anyway - is nowhere. I won't try to convince you that I've never plotted more than I'd try to convince you that I've never told a lie, but I do both as infrequently as possible. I distrust plot for two reasons: first, because our lives are largely plotless, even when you add in all our reasonable precautions and careful planning; and second, because I believe plotting and the spontanaeity of real creation aren't compatible. It's best that I be as clear about this as I can - I want you to understand that my basic belief about the making of stories is that they pretty much make themselves. The job of the writer is giving them a place to grow (and to transcribe them, of course.)
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no subject
Date: 2002-03-02 04:26 pm (UTC)What I think King is saying is that if you force your story into the rigid confines of the Ultimate Story that you dream of writing (i.e. trying to predetermine every thought and nuance) then you may be bound for frustration. The characters do talk to you and you find that they want to do things you might not have expected. I have found this myself in my limited experience and I can only imagine how it is for someone who knows what s/he is doing.
I see that once again, I forgot to put in a HTML tag. :/