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Working the Grid
29/8/15 14:56I'm tearing up the world with this Story Grid method! It's amazing.
Fully 43 scenes lacked Conflict, Arc, Turning Point, Stakes, and/or Plot Purpose. Some can be fixed, but a whole bunch are deadwood. No matter how much I've loved each of their conflict-free little faces, they're on the chopping block.
Now that the deadwood is off my mental radar, the real heart and bones of the novel have started to emerge. It went something like this:
ME: I've written a gay Regency romance with one major flaw: it doesn't have a happy ending.
STORYGRID: No you haven't. You've written a historical social drama that doesn't require a happy ending. Its major flaws arise from your misconception about its genre.
ME: But...but...it's all about love!
STORYGRID: No it's not. It's about self-expression, honor, and keeping your place in society.
ME: Well, but my Antagonist, the ex-boyfriend, is motivated by jealousy and greed, just like a romance antagonist.
STORYGRID: No, your Antagonist, Society, is motivated by its desperate need to maintain the status quo, just like a Social Drama Antagonist. It gives the weapon of blackmail to its unwitting accomplice, the ex-BF, who is nothing more than Society's bitch. Society needs to be rid of him just as surely as it needs to destroy the Protagonists.
ME: But my Protagonist wants love, just like in any romance!
STORYGRID: No. Your Protagonist wants to surrender to his sexuality but he needs to, ahem, Restrain himself. He wants to flout Society's rules, but he needs the goods that social conformity provides. He wants Tristan because he needs guidance and structure and cover to be his true self.
ME: Oh! I get it! And Tristan needs to prove he's a real legitimate grown-up nobleman, so he takes on the role of John's protector.
STORYGRID: And it just happens that true love arises from that, but look at the tragedy that comes with it.
ME: Wow.
STORYGRID: Do you still think you were ever writing a Regency Romance?
Me: *tiny voice* Nope.
STORYGRID: *dusts hands together*. Okay. Get back to work.
Fully 43 scenes lacked Conflict, Arc, Turning Point, Stakes, and/or Plot Purpose. Some can be fixed, but a whole bunch are deadwood. No matter how much I've loved each of their conflict-free little faces, they're on the chopping block.
Now that the deadwood is off my mental radar, the real heart and bones of the novel have started to emerge. It went something like this:
ME: I've written a gay Regency romance with one major flaw: it doesn't have a happy ending.
STORYGRID: No you haven't. You've written a historical social drama that doesn't require a happy ending. Its major flaws arise from your misconception about its genre.
ME: But...but...it's all about love!
STORYGRID: No it's not. It's about self-expression, honor, and keeping your place in society.
ME: Well, but my Antagonist, the ex-boyfriend, is motivated by jealousy and greed, just like a romance antagonist.
STORYGRID: No, your Antagonist, Society, is motivated by its desperate need to maintain the status quo, just like a Social Drama Antagonist. It gives the weapon of blackmail to its unwitting accomplice, the ex-BF, who is nothing more than Society's bitch. Society needs to be rid of him just as surely as it needs to destroy the Protagonists.
ME: But my Protagonist wants love, just like in any romance!
STORYGRID: No. Your Protagonist wants to surrender to his sexuality but he needs to, ahem, Restrain himself. He wants to flout Society's rules, but he needs the goods that social conformity provides. He wants Tristan because he needs guidance and structure and cover to be his true self.
ME: Oh! I get it! And Tristan needs to prove he's a real legitimate grown-up nobleman, so he takes on the role of John's protector.
STORYGRID: And it just happens that true love arises from that, but look at the tragedy that comes with it.
ME: Wow.
STORYGRID: Do you still think you were ever writing a Regency Romance?
Me: *tiny voice* Nope.
STORYGRID: *dusts hands together*. Okay. Get back to work.
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