Flying into the mist
by Alison Brideson
Maybe it was the atmosphere of the "deep south" which was beginning
to affect me, but when the very English Jo Beverley got up to speak
at the RWA New Orleans conference in July it was all I could do not
to leap to my feet my hands upraised and cry out "I hear you,
sister!"
Conferences are full of workshops on plotting - using story boards,
plot arcs, brainstorming - all sorts of wonderful suggestions to aid
in pre-plotting a novel. The topic Ms Beverley (multi-published, RWA
Honors List, historical writer) was talking on was the art of not
plotting your book, or as she calls it, "Flying into the Mist".
It may surprise Jo Beverley fans to know that she does not pre-plot
any of her books. For her, writing a novel is an ongoing mystery
that unfolds before her when she sits down at her computer and the
reason she chose to speak on this topic was to give permission to "flimmers"
(and yes I am one of them!) to work this way.
I have been to the conferences, read the books, devoured the
articles and in the earnest belief that I must be doing something
wrong, I made several concerted attempts at pre-plotting a story.
Instead of sailing into stress free writing I found I had got so
bored with the story before I even started that I never got around
to writing it. All the pleasure of writing had been taken away from
me. So you can understand my enthusiasm when this evangelist of the
non-plotters told me it was quite acceptable not to pre-plot and
that I was not alone!
So what does "Flying into the Mist" mean? In Ms. Beverley's words,
it means "that the writer does not pre-plot. No scene outlines, no
plan for key scenes and dark moment. Not even a plan for theme or
metaphor. These things reveal themselves as the writer writes."
That does not mean that a "flimmer" flies into the mist on
autopilot. A good "flimmer" will have something in mind when they
start - it may be a character, a setting, a scene or an incident. If
you are writing romance you generally know the ending - the hero and
heroine will end up together in a happily ever after embrace. How
they get there is, for a "flimmer", the excitement!
Of course there are inherent risks in this method of writing and the
obvious one is that you can waste an awful lot of time, flying in
the wrong direction and then having to back track to put the story
back on the right course. However I consider no writing wasted and
in that diversion you may discover things about your characters that
you can use at another point in time.
One thing I love about "flimming" is that the characters take on
life and start to tell me things about themselves. It is almost as
if a character will stop in the middle of the action and look at me,
arms crossed, with a quizzical expression and the following
conversation ensues:
Character: "I wouldn't do that."
Author: "Why not"
Character: "Because you have missed my motivation for acting the way
I am. You know I am really looking for my brother."
Author (with surprise): "You have a brother?"
Character (with studied patience). "Yes, I have a brother. He is
being held prisoner on an island…"
And so the conversation continues and a whole new character and plot
line enters the story.
Jo Beverley overcomes problems with her characters by holding
"character interviews", much along the line I have just outlined or
she will use "mind mapping". Here a large sheet of paper or a
whiteboard is essential. She will put the hero and heroine in
circles in the middle of the sheet with some minor characters in
smaller circles around them and then using lines map out the
relationships between the characters and their problems and
motivations.
How does she know that a particular plot line is (or is not) going
to work? Jo will give herself three or four chapters into a story
before she makes a decision on whether to continue or abort. She may
find that the characters need rearranging or that the story is only
just starting by Chapter Three .
Once the first draft is done, then Jo will go back with "all the
tricks of the plotters trade" which she will use to strengthen the
story: Key points, hero's journey, scene and sequel, metaphor and
theme will all be used to turn that first draft into yet another
best seller.
So why doesn't an experienced writer like Jo Beverley pre-plot her
books? Because she feels pre-plotting drags her out of the present.
She can have her characters conduct their interactions in a natural
way without feeling she has to move them onto the next scene. "If I
know what's supposed to happen next or later that distracts me from
what's happening in the moment. I might even push the characters to
certain words or actions instead of letting them do and say what
they truly would."
Flying into the mist is a method of plotting (or non-plotting) that
does not suit everyone. Do what feels natural to you, there is no
right or wrong way to write your novel and if what you are doing
works for you then go with it. Every writer is different.
For those closet-"flimmers", quietly reading your Hearts Talk in the
comfort of your living room, I hope, like me, you are leaping from
your chair, with your hands in the air shouting "I hear you
sister!". Thank you Jo Beverley for giving us permission to "fly
into the mist"!
This article first appeared in Hearts Talk. Quotes are taken from "Flying into the Mist" by Jo Beverley - 2001 RWA Annual Conference and reprinted with her permission. Jo Beverley's latest novel is Hazard, a regency historical. For more information, please see her web page at http://www.jobev.com/
(c) Alison Brideson 2002