A WRITER'S BLOCK


UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Gennita Low's Writing Muse needs a voice now and then to remind Gennita about her love for writing and her battle with words. It's a dark world illuminated by the glow of creation. The Muse is that light. Sometimes she sleeps. Sometimes she's ferocious. Often she patiently waits. Pst. Never ignore her. Feed the Muse or else.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

A Plot Rendered Unusable

Could it be the

101 ways to harpoon a whale inserted in the middle of an angsty whale hunting/soul searching metaphor?

the ten pages of how the bomb was built while the hero looks at the device?

500 characters who have a say in what goes on in the story?

the three dozen times your heroine sabotages the plot with her stupidity?

the plodding description of every room in the house and everyone's clothes?

the joylessness of five thousand sexual positions in one night?

the cute child who has a wise saying/observation every five pages?

We can discuss each of these, if you like, to see why they can kill a plot for a reader. Can you come up with a writing block that stopped your interest?

I call this block Plot Poop Interruptus. It's curable.

2 comments:

Leilani said...

What about secondary characters that try to take over the story? Or secondary characters who are more interesting than the main characters? LOL

Gennita said...

Leilani,

Ah yes, also known as the runaway plot and the unattentive plot. It is important not to let your secondary characters take over. How to test whether this is happening: who is dominating the one best scene in your book? Also, are you already planning what's coming up for the secondary characters in future books? Not good. Your attention is wavering from the current project, m'dear.