Plot Talk #3: Inventive Narrative Structures!

I just finished reading Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple and the novel really got me thinking about inventive narrative structures! If you haven't heard of it, the first 75% percent of the novel is told completely through letters, papers, emails, and other such notes. (It's also really entertaining, by the way!)

Thus far, all of the books I've written follow a pretty normal narrative style. The Midnight Fire was linear third person following a single character, and The Shadow Soul uses the same structure but for two protagonists (there is an alternating POV, but nothing too out of the norm). And a new novel I'm working on uses first person narrative.

However, there are a ton of AMAZING books out there that follow really interesting narrative structures, so I thought we could explore two different styles together--epistolary and nonlinear!

Epistolary Narratives

      

   

Epistolary is just a fancy term for novels that tell the story through documents, i.e. letters, diary entries, emails, newspaper clippings, interview transcriptions, and more. There are so many reasons I love these sorts of books! One, because you really get into a character's head (especially with diary style novels). Two, because the story often reads like a prolonged dialogue so the distinct voices are very strong. Three, because they're often harder for me to figure out so the mystery can be fun. 

However, these books do stretch reality a little bit. For example, characters often confess way more in an email than might be normal in the real world. Or diary entries may have unnaturally precise dialogue and description. I'm not sure about you, but my diary was never so detailed! Still, that's never stopped me from enjoying this narrative style.

Nonlinear Narratives

             

Nonlinear narratives are stories that don't start at the beginning and finish at the end, but rather jump around a bit (usually through time). There are some really cool ways to accomplish this! 

The Time Traveler's Wife uses the character's magic ability as the tool to tell the story, so the readers, just like the protagonist, must make these leaps in time. Pandemonium oscillates between chapters told in the present and chapters told in the past, so you bounce back and forth in time with each chapter. Another Lin Oliver novel, Before I Fall, forces the main character to relive the same day over and over. The Post-Birthday World uses a parallel structure, where in there are two different versions of each chapter based an earlier decision the protagonist makes. And then there are the "Choose Your Own Adventure" style books, like the upcoming Summer Love, where every book can tell a bunch of different tales based on reader decisions. Slaughterhouse-Five is a classic example of the nonlinear style!

Any writers who might be reading, I thought this article brought up a lot of great points to consider when trying to create your own nonlinear story. 

###

Are there any books you love that I missed? What do you think about these narrative styles? Leave a comment and get the talk started :)

###

Plot Talk #2: The Dreaded Cliffhanger!

Oh cliffhangers...what a plot device! The bane of my reading existence and yet the joy of my writing existence :)

I know, I know, how does that make sense? Let me explain...

As a reader, I'm all:

But as an author, I'm all:

(As explained by the wonderful Rick Riordhan!)

When it comes down to it, cliffhangers are fantastic plot devices! Sure, they annoy the heck out of readers (especially cliffhangers at the very end of a novel), but they are extremely useful. 

I normally boil cliffhangers into two basic categories--short-term cliffhangers (my favorite to use) and long-term cliffhangers (the ones that drive people crazy). 

Short-Term Cliffhangers

I define short-term cliffhangers as chapter-to-chapter cliffhangers. 

You're reading, enjoying, laughing with the character, when suddenly she comes face to face with her crush, they talk, he leans in, she catches her breath, then BAM--chapter ends. Or more high-stakes--your hero is exploring an empty castle, he hears a sound, turns, his eyes go wide, there's a sword at his throat, then BAM--chapter ends. 

There go your plans to go bed at the end of the chapter! You NEED to keep reading so you can find out what happens. And since it's the middle of the book, you can! 

These are my favorite cliffhangers to use! Here's why:

1) Can't stop syndrome! When done right, your reader won't be able to stop him/herself from turning the page and starting the next chapter. This just heightens that amazing "couldn't put it down" feel to reading--my favorite! 

2) Immediate gratification! Your readers don't have to wait months to find out what happens, they get the answers right away. 

3) Creates tension! My favorite books contain oodles and oodles of tension--high stakes, lots of pressure, a ticking time bomb. Using internal cliffhangers can help keep the pace quick and emotions high.

I found this technique especially useful in my new book The Shadow Soul because it is told through two different character perspectives. Using these short-term cliffhangers I hope kept the pace quick for both tales, while also keeping the readers emotional invested in the states of both characters. 

Long-Term Cliffhangers

I define long-term cliffhangers as those that happen at the very end of the book. 

You're reading, speeding through the pages, and the end of the novel is coming to a climax. You can feel the pages thinning and know there isn't much time left. The hero meets the villain, they share words, a fight commences. Your hero is thrown down, the fate of the world rests on his/her shoulders, you greedily turn the page to see how it all ends...and NOTHING!

The next page is blank, the page after that contains the title of the sequel and an on-sale date that is A YEAR away. A long, long time. 

Let's face it--if an author is writing a series, these cliffhangers are somewhat unavoidable. You want the readers to keep reading, you want to hold their interest, so you can't give the entire story away at the end of the first book--no one will come back for more! HOWEVER, I think there is a right way to do this and a wrong way. 

To me, the right way is for each individual book to have its own thematic arc that comes to a close at the end of the novel, but the overall story still has open threads that keep the reader invested. Take Harry Potter for example--the titles tell you what the thematic story for that book is going to be. Prisoner of Azkaban. Goblet of Fire. Each book has it own story. But, the overall fight against Voldemort carries on and it keeps readers invested in the lives of the characters and the fate of the world. 

To me, the wrong way to use a long-term cliffhanger is to completely leave your readers in the lurch--a filler book. I understand why authors do it, but I can't shove my reader side far enough way to let myself write something like that. Because as a reader, I LOATHE THIS ENTIRELY! I'm okay with not knowing if a character will live or die at the end of a novel, as long as the scene has still played out and the action is done. I enjoy the suspense, the mystery. I'm okay waiting as long as I feel like the entire story I just read wasn't the first act in a two act play--I want to feel like it had worth on its own, and wasn't just the prologue. 

Either way, long-term cliffhangers have some great benefits:

1) Reader buzz! Are you dying about how a book you just read ended? Are you getting all the feels? Don't you just need to tell everyone through every social media outlet you belong to? Awesome! A good cliffhanger ending can be great free press for an author because hopefully your fans won't be able to stop talking about it! 

2) Reader engagement! If the fans are dying to know what happens next, chances are they'll be ecstatic if you post a teaser. Or chat about what may or may not happen next! And let's face it--as an author, this is pretty freaking cool!! 

3) High continuation rate! If someone reads book one and is dying to know how the cliffhanger is solved, there is a very good chance they will buy book two. However, if the book has a nicely tied ending, readers might not be as invested in picking up the sequel. 

Danger!! Like I said, I personally think there is a right and wrong way to handle long-term cliffhangers, and when done the wrong way, you may risk losing a reader! 

Case in point for me--the Wings series by Aprilynne Pike. I adored that series, until we reached book three. I don't want to give anything away, but the book basically ended in the middle of a scene--practically in the middle of a sentence. And I was so annoyed. I never went on to read the last one, because it felt like such a money grabbing move to me. The entire third book seemed slow, like it was a little forced. Any and all action that could have been included was stripped away and replaced with a cliffhanger. Sometimes an extreme cliffhanger can make the book seem like filler, which is exactly how that book felt to me. 

What do you think about cliffhangers? Love them? Hate them? Any good or bad examples? I would LOVE to hear from you!! 

Plot Talk #1: Love Triangles!

Like I mentioned with "Cover Convos," I'm trying to broaden the scope of this blog. I've given you one  feature about what happens on the outside of a book, so now let's turn inside of a book with Plot Talk (like shop talk...get it? No? Well...all of my creativity is going towards the new book!).

Every so often, I'll bring up different plot points--character based, setting based--basically anything I notice inside of a story that I want to chat about! And first up is a heated topic that hits close to my own heart--LOVE TRIANGLES!! 

You've seen them everywhere--from Team Edward vs Team Jacob, to Team Peeta vs Team Gale, to tons of YA books without that crazy level of recognition. Love triangles are all over the place! But they're also, in my opinion, one of the most debated plot devices. People seem to either LOVE or HATE them! 

   

Here's my two cents as a reader and as a writer--don't forget to let me know what you think! 

When I Love Reading Them:

I admit it--I'm a sucker for boy drama in YA novels! I love high-stakes, passionate love stories, and why not have two swoon-worthy males to choose between. The more the merrier in my opinion! Books are all about living vicariously, right? 

But with love triangles, what I really love is when I have NO idea who the main character is going to choose. I love the unexpected. I love when both outcomes of the love story seem true and possible, and it's really about the main character making a choice. If there are other sources of action and drama, the love triangle can act as a great metaphor for the main character's own life--so it becomes not only about who she truly loves but who truly fits into her life and understands her. 

(Hopefully you're thinking of Luke and Tristan here, because that is exactly the sort of love triangle I tried to create in my own story!)

I don't care if the boy I wanted was chosen--well, scratch that, if the boy I wanted isn't chosen I'll be a little angry--but as long as the story itself is thrilling, gripping and surprising, I'm satisfied.

When I Hate Reading Them:

Well, here's the problem with love triangles--there are way too many ways they can go wrong! 

I hate when a female main character acts completely wishy-washy, bouncing back and forth between two boys for books and books, never making a decision and making out with both of them in back to back to back chapters. To me, that means she's a weak female--something I hate! Of course, with any love triangle there will be some indecision, but when it just drags on and on, I go crazy! 

On the flipside, I hate when the outcome of the love triangle is obvious from the beginning--when one love is so much stronger than the other, and there is no surprise. To me, that's just a contrived way to create tension. 

Along that same line, I hate when the love triangle is the ENTIRE plot, especially if it's a paranormal book that has so many other creative devices and action to draw on. I think love stories are fantastic--but there needs to be something more. 

Lastly, I hate when love triangles are solved by any way other than the main character's choosing. For example, when one boy dies so suddenly there is no choice necessary. A love triangle will always suck for one person--someone will always get hurt or lose. But it's the author's role to make sure that even if one character gets hurt, they'll have a different happy ending (or the author can always let his or her readers suffer!). But to deny the main character the moment to make a concrete decision in her own life just drives me crazy (if any of you have read The Clockwork Princess, I'm still working through some bitter feelings here...)

A Writer's Note:

In case any of you are reading this thinking, "Well, that's what I HATED about your love triangle," I'll just say it right now--authors have blinders on! Of course I think everything I hated about love triangles was not in my story, but the truth is, I am way too biased about my characters to really know. I told their story the way it felt right--and hopefully it felt right to most of you! 

I do think any author who goes the route of using a love triangle is a little brave--to give your readers two love options, knowing all along that half of them might not be satisfied at the end, is freaking scary! At least, I was TERRIFIED! I always knew the outcome of the Midnight Fire Series and I just hoped that the end would leave my readers happy--no matter whose side they were on. 

But, like I said in my previous post, I'm leaving love triangles behind for now! My next book will be a dramatic love story (and an epic adventure), but it will just be for two :) I don't want anymore hate mail! Haha! 

Well, that's all from me! 

How do you feel about love triangles?? Let's get the conversation going!