Sep 10 2008
Plot Writing
I took a few days to not write anything, partially because of school, and partially because I wasn’t quite sure what to say next. Once I got to thinking about it, I realized that ‘plot’ should be something to talk about.
Over the summer, I read “Nights In Rodanthe” by Nicholas Sparks. Now, Mr. Sparks is a somewhat guilty pleasure read for me. His stories are poignant, and they’re about regular every day people, falling in love, and it’s REAL. It’s not a bubble gum chic lit book, with vapid girls and beefcake guys. He writes about the cashier at the grocery store who happens to fumble handing a customer their change and somehow that starts a conversation. The conversation leads to someone asking the other on a date, and a mind-blowing lovestory ensues. Cheesy, but hey, it’s more real that the 30-something bleach blonde working at PR firm in Manhattan.
So, this particular book was a let down? Why? The plot development just was not what it could’ve been. It had a LOT of great ideas, and a lot of amazing things could happen, however for some reason they just didn’t.
One key event in this story was that one of the main characters was a plastic surgeon. A woman came in, wanting a certian procedure, and soon there after passed away. Naturally, the woman’s family was suing the doctor. Her widower’s legal counsel suggested not to make any personal contact with the doctor, but he did anyway, and told the doctor he’d like to talk to him. And this is why the doctor wound up in Rodanthe, North Carolina.
To me, that was a crucial even in the story. However, during the course of the book, more attention was paid to the past of this character, and that of the female love interest. The woman in the story had her past issues too, which were developed well, but this reason for the doctor being in Rodanthe was ignored. And when he finally did talk to this woman’s widower, he said naught but 2 sentences to the doctor.
While I can appreciate Mr. Sparks’ attempt at being concise and to the point, this was not the time to do it. The widower deserved a conversation with the doctor, the discourse between the two of them had little to no tension in it, and you didn’t know very much about the way the family felt. Those things took a back seat to the love story that he was trying to write.
Of course the love story WAS the story that the book was being written for, my point is, so many other things could’ve happened that didn’t. To me, poor plot development in this story completely took away from everything else that was good about the story. There was a lot of potential for this book, and I guess that’s why such a lack of plot ennerved me. I wanted to see more detail, and hear more about what people were feeling about these extremely important events.
To me, a strong plot is the most important part of the story. Sure, character development is necessary, but without a decent plot, the story will not exist. And sometimes, at least in my experience, character development is dependent on the plot. This isn’t always 100% true, but think about how life works sometimes: your personal changes and developments over the years has been dependent on the things you’ve gone through, good and bad. Without a story line, your characters can’t grow. But sometimes, the plot will unfold due to how you want the characters to change. Either way, it’s important to make sure you develop your plot as fully as you can.
Until next time,
Erika
