But does it have legs?

Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by Spencer1990, Jan 19, 2017.

  1. Laurin Kelly

    Laurin Kelly Contributor Contributor

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    Yeah, it's a fairly common colloquialism in my experience. I used to hear it in business discussions, but lately it seems to have been replaced by the buzzphrase "But can we scale it?"
     
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  2. Homer Potvin

    Homer Potvin A tombstone hand and a graveyard mind Staff Supporter Contributor

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    Barf! Scale this! Give me the legs all day every day...
     
  3. Spencer1990

    Spencer1990 Contributor Contributor

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    I'm surprised that even one person wasn't clear on my meaning in the original post. I thought legs was a pretty universal term, AND, I even threw in another metaphor to be sure.
     
  4. Laurin Kelly

    Laurin Kelly Contributor Contributor

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    Tell me about it. Especially when the answer to "But can we scale it" is yes, and the response is "But should we scale it?" This blog post is literally my life every day.
     
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  5. Homer Potvin

    Homer Potvin A tombstone hand and a graveyard mind Staff Supporter Contributor

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    Good God, that's awful. You need some whiskey!
     
  6. Laurin Kelly

    Laurin Kelly Contributor Contributor

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    Already there my friend. I'm partial to Irish whiskey in particular.
     
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  7. Toomanypens

    Toomanypens Member

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    I'm in the same boat

    I've been looking at structure from a maths and chess perspective
    Maths has four parts, the language of numbers, the structure of how they relate, shapes, and change.
    Chess has an opening tactical melee, a positioning scramble, a creation of two threats, and then using that leverage to breakthrough the opponents firewall and make an attempt at mating the opponent king before their own can come under attack.

    Chess describes structure. as in, all structures of plots involve initial melee, they then involve a phase of positioning, several threats evolve and become recognised, this faces a firewall, and the MC has too find a way to break through before they themselves are wiped out in the process.

    Then you need to turn that into a shape, and need to trace out the aspects that change and shift and give further texture and interest to the story.


    Creating language for the plot is easy, but exploring the structure, deciding on shape, and tracing out all the changes for the audience is quite bothersome.
    Its the unromantic, working portion of writing, annd it blows.
     
  8. MarcT

    MarcT Active Member

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    I would interpret 'legs' as momentum. Does the plot carry the story forward, is maybe the OP's question?
    I don't outline and find that if I change the scene and pov within the main plot or a branch of it, this then creates its own momentum.
     
  9. Toomanypens

    Toomanypens Member

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    Oh, well, documentaries on Isaac Newton might have it. Since they often cover his alchemy with little scenes.

    4.30


    Here is a different tact if you arre just visualising (try searching alchemy rather than apothacary)

    Also games
     
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  10. Silent Lion

    Silent Lion Active Member

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    I've been getting very similar problems with giving my stories legs. It's important to understand why this problem is occuring now, but didn't occur earlier in your life when the writing just flowed and everything was pretty. Here are some examples of why that's true for me, maybe some of them will strike a note:

    - I've become more critical, meaning unhelpfully high standards (I'm not good with drafts) that stifle my energy
    - I can't just enjoy writing, oh no. I'm older, I'm supposed to be developing into a proper writer, y'know? Which means being in control of the whole thing from start to finish. You know, like those professional writers do. I know it's bull, but I find it hard to shake off that expectation of myself even though I know it's not how I operate.
    - My writing now is isolated. In the past, I did a lot of roleplaying (partly why I'm here) and sharing, I've lost that stimulation.
    - My life is different. The past held less distractions, less responsibility, less things to harry the development of my creative spirit.

    If none of those apply to you... well, poo sir. But here are a few things that I'm trying to implement to tackle the problem.

    - Write. Write complete rubbish. It's the same with songwriting. Sometimes you just need to write whatever horrible tripe comes into your head, and just keep going. Make it cliche, whatever. You can come back and delete it all later. The point is, you're getting your brain past the block.

    - Fantasise. Did you ever do that teen thing where you'd daydream about saving your unrequited crush's life, maybe dying tragically and heroically in the process? Do that for your characters. Maybe chuck your characters into one of the rpg's here. You'll innevitably come up with some dramatically pleasing scenarios along the way. In short, I'm trying to shift my focus from 'what will my characters do next' to 'what will happen to my characters next'.

    - Look after your brain. I'm reading a fantastic book right now called The Organised Mind, which is all about how to be more organised backed up with modern neuroscience. I'm not an organised kind of guy, but recently by reading that I've managed to get so much more done and I feel so much less tired. I can think clearly again. And that means that when I get creative, I feel healthy, fresh and have nothing better to be doing. If you don't fancy grabbing the book, two key points:
    -- Carry a notebook. I've got a tiny flexible one in my back pocket with a pencil. It's not just for story ideas, it's for -everything- your brain throws at you. Must remember to pick up the eggs? Write it in. Got an idea for the story? Summarise it there. The neurological basis is that your attention has two mutually exclusive 'modes' - focused on the task at hand mode, and the wandering thought mode (which will throw things like 'pick up the eggs' at you when you're busy doing something else). Switching your attention from one thing to another comes with a metabolic cost that depletes the brain of nutrients and causes wear. Say you're trying to focus on work, and you remember about the eggs. Your attention will constantly flick between that thought and the work in front of you (or worse, try to hold both in your brain at the same time). Appease your brain by writing it down.
    -- Similarly, allow your mind-wandering mode frequent opportunities to take over. Have times when you let go of the reigns. The mind-wandering mode is essential for consolidating connections and allowing your focus to rest.
    -- Take your sleep very seriously. A lot of learning and creativity happens at night.

    A bit protracted for my second ever post on this forum, but I hope it helps both of us!
     
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  11. MarcT

    MarcT Active Member

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    I completely agree with your point about ´just write´ and it seems to be the only way, for me anyway, to push through the wall. It usually starts off badly, something kicks in, then the writing gets better, ideas appear and the game is on.
    I really don't like writing tripe for writing's sake and try to at least keep it within the story, so end up with some material at the very least.

    To your fantasise suggestion, I would add - take a real situation that happened and embellish it. When I was younger I had an encounter with an older woman, an experience I never forgot, so I put myself back in the moment, decided to include it in my latest work and boy did those words flow.
    Taking a real experience and adding to it is good honest writing I feel and that's possibly where the fantasy kicks in. Add ´what if?´ and you can could go on all day.
     
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  12. texshelters

    texshelters Active Member

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    Try adding another inciting incident that follows the first and propels your characters. That happens in many books: A man struggles with his work, encounters the the prols, meets others that feel the way he does, fears his neighbors children, has an illegal affair... Hamlet's father dies, and the shit rolls from there, fights with other clans, death, murder, bloody daggers, ghosts...

    Peace, Tex
     
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