{"id":873,"date":"2015-09-17T11:48:32","date_gmt":"2015-09-17T17:48:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mrmaresca.com\/wp\/?p=873"},"modified":"2015-09-17T11:48:32","modified_gmt":"2015-09-17T17:48:32","slug":"perils-of-the-writer-keeping-all-those-balls-in-the-air","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mrmaresca.com\/wp\/perils-of-the-writer-keeping-all-those-balls-in-the-air\/","title":{"rendered":"Perils of the Writer: Keeping All Those Balls in the Air"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I’m now hip deep into the process of the third Thorn<\/strong><\/em> book, I’ve developed a lot more respect for writers whose subplots “get away from them”, as it were. \u00a0Because it turns out it’s a lot easier for that to happen than I thought. \u00a0It’s now completely clear to me how, for example, Rowling went from the lean-and-tight Prisoner of Azkhaban<\/strong><\/em> to the 800-page beast that was Order of the Phoenix<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

Both The Alchemy of Chaos<\/strong><\/em> and An Import of Intrigue<\/strong><\/em> have bits where minor characters from their respective first books have expanded roles. \u00a0Part of this was out of necessity of the plot– I needed POV characters for a situation where those characters were the best choice. \u00a0Part of that comes from enriching the world altogether– bigger things are happening with the gangs in Aventil, for example, so that means more people and new situations.<\/p>\n

So, the big question: how do I keep that natural growth from getting out of control? \u00a0Because as I reworked the outline for Thorn III<\/strong><\/em>, it became clear there were things I needed to at least acknowledge that I hadn’t planned on before. \u00a0Characters who barely existed on the fringes of Thorn<\/strong><\/em> now needed a subplot. \u00a0How did that happen? \u00a0How do I keep that from taking things over and making what should be a lean action-y novel into a doorstopper?<\/p>\n

For me, the main thing is pacing: each scene has to have a definitive this-drives-this-part-of-the-plot purpose. If it’s not buying me anything, I drop it. \u00a0Case in point, in\u00a0Import<\/strong><\/em>, I have a scene where Satrine visits with Sister Alana. \u00a0Mostly this is to put a pin in there that Sister Alana still exists and that Satrine has rekindled a friendship with her, because she doesn’t really have a role in the plot itself. \u00a0But the scene gives character work on Satrine, her frame of mind in the current case, and advances the plotlines of her personal life. \u00a0Now, a minor character from Murder<\/strong><\/em> who gets bumped up in Import<\/strong><\/em> is Corrie, Minox’s sister who works the night shift in the Constabulary. \u00a0I needed her as a POV character because Things Happen where neither Minox or Satrine are present, and hers was the best fit. \u00a0But that meant I couldn’t just POV her when I needed her and ignore her at the later. She needed to stay involved throughout. \u00a0But, again: it must advance the plot. \u00a0I’m not going to check in with characters like Reverend Pemmick or Lieutenant Benvin or Commissioner Enbrain just for the sake of doing it.<\/p>\n

Now, do I succeed with this? \u00a0I think most of the time I do. \u00a0But that’s for you all to judge next year when The Alchemy of Chaos<\/strong><\/em> and An Import of Intrigue<\/strong><\/em> come out.<\/p>\n

In the mean time, I’ve got plenty to do in the word-mines, including finalizing aspects of both those manuscripts, so off I go. \u00a0See you down there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I’m now hip deep into the process of the third Thorn book, I’ve developed a lot more respect for writers whose subplots “get away from them”, as it were. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrmaresca.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrmaresca.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrmaresca.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrmaresca.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrmaresca.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=873"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mrmaresca.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":874,"href":"https:\/\/mrmaresca.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873\/revisions\/874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrmaresca.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrmaresca.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrmaresca.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}