We published a bit of this in our conference roundup, but typically don't include everything that gets said in these sessions because we want to save that for the people who paid to attend the conference, and we want our faculty to be able to use their talks elsewhere.
But Laini Taylor, generous soul that she is, has posted her whole, fantastic plot workshop on her blog. It's in three parts:
Part I: What is Plot?
Part II: Character, Motivation, and Conflict
Part III: Structure
Do check it out. There's some really great advice in it.
Showing posts with label laini taylor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label laini taylor. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Laini Taylor on big, juicy plots #scbwiwwa
Here are a few highlights from Laini Taylor's breakout section on plot:
Everything we do in writing is a balance between dramatization and narration.
Plot is the answer to the question, "What happens?"
"What is the story about" is not a question about plot. That is about premise and themes.
The plot is the sequence of events over which your themes, your premise, your conflicts, and your character growth play out.
Plot is, by definition, the stuff that happens. It's true that there are a limited number of basic plots because our wants and needs are simple and rather primal. Humans need food, shelter, and love--"clothing optional depending on climate."
Readers need connection, enjoyment, and satisfaction.
For readers to connect, character or characters to care about or even be. Think about all the Pride & Prejudice movies and remakes. Or even Twilight. To be passionately loved by someone amazing is a primal need. The unlikely hero is also compelling.
Plot is driven by your characters' desire and action. What do your characters want? Characters must have a desperate goal that is thwarted. The author is a rascal, rooting for his protagonist, even while thwarting him.
It's the motivation of the antagonist that drives the plot. The villain wants something and sets about making it happen. The main character's job is to prevent it.
Conflict is the elemental building block of plot.
Find more of Laini's essays on writing here.
Everything we do in writing is a balance between dramatization and narration.
Plot is the answer to the question, "What happens?"
"What is the story about" is not a question about plot. That is about premise and themes.
The plot is the sequence of events over which your themes, your premise, your conflicts, and your character growth play out.
Plot is, by definition, the stuff that happens. It's true that there are a limited number of basic plots because our wants and needs are simple and rather primal. Humans need food, shelter, and love--"clothing optional depending on climate."
Readers need connection, enjoyment, and satisfaction.
For readers to connect, character or characters to care about or even be. Think about all the Pride & Prejudice movies and remakes. Or even Twilight. To be passionately loved by someone amazing is a primal need. The unlikely hero is also compelling.
Plot is driven by your characters' desire and action. What do your characters want? Characters must have a desperate goal that is thwarted. The author is a rascal, rooting for his protagonist, even while thwarting him.
It's the motivation of the antagonist that drives the plot. The villain wants something and sets about making it happen. The main character's job is to prevent it.
Conflict is the elemental building block of plot.
Find more of Laini's essays on writing here.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Laini Taylor keynote: in search of street performer with an eyepatch #scbwiwwa
OK, so she's not really still looking for that.
She does tell us that a turning point for her was when a famous writer read some of her early work and said, "You are the real thing. Keep writing."
She stopped writing right after that.
But then she went to art school and met the man she'd marry, Jim DiBartolo. (Awww.)
Since then, she has been blessed with happiness but afflicted with perfectionism.
"Ideas are just so perfect and everything we do trying to tug them into existence seems to disfigure them," she says.
Perfectionism is a barrier that prevents forward momentum. It is an enemy to grapple with. It sucks.
"Lazy and scared are a killer combination about which I know all too much," she says. "You can live quite comfortably at the threshold of your dream for a long time."
So, she says, we need to make the commitment to go through that door. Referring to the TV show Firefly, she said, "You have to be the brilliant mechanic who can keep your brain working, lest you be lost in space forever and die, gasping, like a fish."
The only way anything is ever going to happen: "Form a habit of completion and put your butt in your chair."
She does tell us that a turning point for her was when a famous writer read some of her early work and said, "You are the real thing. Keep writing."
She stopped writing right after that.
But then she went to art school and met the man she'd marry, Jim DiBartolo. (Awww.)
Since then, she has been blessed with happiness but afflicted with perfectionism.
"Ideas are just so perfect and everything we do trying to tug them into existence seems to disfigure them," she says.
Perfectionism is a barrier that prevents forward momentum. It is an enemy to grapple with. It sucks.
"Lazy and scared are a killer combination about which I know all too much," she says. "You can live quite comfortably at the threshold of your dream for a long time."
So, she says, we need to make the commitment to go through that door. Referring to the TV show Firefly, she said, "You have to be the brilliant mechanic who can keep your brain working, lest you be lost in space forever and die, gasping, like a fish."
The only way anything is ever going to happen: "Form a habit of completion and put your butt in your chair."
Laini Taylor: My Own Personal Labyrinth #scbwiwwa
Laini Taylor takes the stage as the first keynote talk.
There's already been swearing and bare bottoms (not hers). No joke!
(From a clip from the movie Hamlet 2)
Laini has a special word for those that find writing easy and breezy. You are robots!
What is writing anyways? "Nothing less than a kind of wizardry..." The writer finds a way to make the page disappear so that the reader forgets they are reading.
For Laini, writing is hard.
Laini has a "one step forward, two steps back" method of writing. She has a healthy relationship with her delete key. "A highly inefficient way to write a book."
"Writers have a kind of synesthia, where they can taste words."
"Writing is like the girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead. When it's good, it's really really good. And when it's bad, it's horrid."
There's already been swearing and bare bottoms (not hers). No joke!
(From a clip from the movie Hamlet 2)
Laini has a special word for those that find writing easy and breezy. You are robots!
What is writing anyways? "Nothing less than a kind of wizardry..." The writer finds a way to make the page disappear so that the reader forgets they are reading.
For Laini, writing is hard.
Laini has a "one step forward, two steps back" method of writing. She has a healthy relationship with her delete key. "A highly inefficient way to write a book."
"Writers have a kind of synesthia, where they can taste words."
"Writing is like the girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead. When it's good, it's really really good. And when it's bad, it's horrid."
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
National Book Award news
OMG!
It's Laini Taylor and Jim DiBartolo, proud parents AND National Book Award finalists for their collaboration LIPS TOUCH (published by Arthur A. Levine Books, a Scholastic imprint).
Check it out.
Laini and Jim live in Portland, but Laini has spoken at a conference and regional meeting, and both are honorary members of our chapter.
It's Laini Taylor and Jim DiBartolo, proud parents AND National Book Award finalists for their collaboration LIPS TOUCH (published by Arthur A. Levine Books, a Scholastic imprint).
Check it out.
Laini and Jim live in Portland, but Laini has spoken at a conference and regional meeting, and both are honorary members of our chapter.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Publishers Weekly spring previews
Dave Patneaude's EPITAPH ROAD gets a shoutout on this spring preview from Publishers Weekly.
If you want to see what's out right now, though, check out PW's A-Z listing.
You have to click here, though, to see the cutest fall release by a Northwest author.
If you want to see what's out right now, though, check out PW's A-Z listing.
You have to click here, though, to see the cutest fall release by a Northwest author.
Monday, August 24, 2009
PW Starred Reviews
Some familiar names here:
Read the rest of the Publishers Weekly list of stars so far (and the actual books, too, dagnabbit!).
Congratulations to those who have stars on thars. Apologies if I missed any.
- Robin Cruise, for BARTLEBY SPEAKS!
- Deb Caletti, for THE SECRET LIFE OF PRINCE CHARMING
- Laini Taylor, for SILKSINGER (illustrated by the fab Jim DiBartolo)
Read the rest of the Publishers Weekly list of stars so far (and the actual books, too, dagnabbit!).
Congratulations to those who have stars on thars. Apologies if I missed any.
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