Tag Archives: choices

Plots Need Believable Consequences

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Plots Need Believable Consequences” by Joan Y. Edwards

A great plot in your fiction novel must have believable consequences in the world you create for it. Otherwise, your story falls off the deep end. Even though you may know that your story needs believable consequences, you may not have noticed they weren’t as believable as you thought.

Sometimes, if you’re like me, you create unbelievable consequences and happenings for your characters. You need a gauge that lights up and goes “BEEP BEEP BEEP” when you put a character in a far-fetched situation or consequence.  If you don’t have one of these gauges and can’t find one in your local bookstore, how do you keep the events in the flow of your story natural, believable, and true to character? Perhaps a look at what is the difference between natural consequences, logical consequences, and unrelated man-made consequences that are neither natural or logical will help you:

  1. Does what happens to your character as a natural consequence for his chosen actions?
  2. Is what happens to your character as a result of his action a logical consequence set up by another person…the consequences for breaking a law of an antagonist, bully, family, parent, teacher, organization, church, county, city, country, or society? (who makes up their own rules and consequences)
  3. Is the consequence or result of his action neither natural or logical but a man-made punishment unrelated to crime decreed by a bully, family, parent, teacher, organization, church, county, city, country, or society (who makes up their own rules and consequences)?

In an article “Natural and Logical Consequences” on Kansas University.edu website it states that D.B. Pryor and T.R. Tollerud say that that natural consequences are outcomes that are not planned or controlled but happen as a result of behavior.  (Pryor, D.B. & Tollerud, T.R. (1999). Applications of Adlerian Principles in School Settings. Professional School Counseling, 24, 299-304.)

Jerry Webster in his About.com article, “Consequences, Not Punishment,” says that a natural consequences can be dangerous, for instance, when you play with fire you are going to get burned.

Logical consequences teach a lesson because they relate to the behavior. If a three-year old rides his bike in the street, the parents take the bike away for three days. If you do not do your work and a boss fires you, it’s a logical consequence.

Dr. Laura Markham says that punishment is imposing something painful (physically or emotionally) on a child in the hopes that he will behave as we’d like in the future to avoid more punishment. If our child hits and we respond by spanking, sending him to his room, or rescinding his screen privileges, that’s a parent-imposed consequence, otherwise known as a punishment. It may or may not be a logical consequence.

According to Robert K. Merton, purposeful action can have unintended, unanticipated, unforeseen consequences both positive and negative:

  • A positive, unexpected benefit which is sometimes called luck, serendipity, or windfall.
  • A negative, unexpected detriment that occurs in addition to the desired effect of the policy.
  • A perverse or ironic effect that is the opposite or contrary to what the character intended and/or expected. For instance, instead of making it better, it makes the problem worse. Or instead of making it worse and stopping someone, it makes their path easier.

When you use unintended, unanticipated, and/or unforeseen positive and negative consequences for a character’s actions, it adds pizzazz to your manuscripts. It embeds unexpected twists and turns of the plot in your stories that heighten the interest of readers.

What is literary irony? Oatmeal.com and LeastTern.com say there are three types of irony:

  1. Situational Irony- when the reverse of the expected happens or when the person you least expect to do something, does it – such as: It is ironic that Cinderella gets the prince.
  2. Dramatic irony happens when the person watching the movie or the reader of a story is aware of a situation, but a character does not realize it.  In Romeo and Juliet the reader knows that Juliet isn’t really dead, but Romeo doesn’t know it. Dramatic irony can be a source of tragedy, comedy, or tension.
  3. Verbal Irony (Language Irony) happens when a person says one thing but means another…the opposite of the truth. For instance, after his wife went on a griping kick, the husband says, “My but you’re in a good mood.”

I hope that studying these different views of natural, logical, consequences and punishment which may be logical or decreed as an aim for control you may be able to put your consequences into a category or figure out a better consequence for the action your particular character takes and what happens to him as a result. Add a dose of irony to put a little layer of oomph in your story.

7 Questions to Make Sure Your Plot Has Believable Consequences:

  1. What would happen to me if I took this action?
  2. Would the consequences be different if I did this somewhere else – in a different environment?
  3. Are there unwritten, unspoken, unknown rules and consequences? Are they natural, logical, or neither?
  4. Does your story show natural consequences for your character’s actions?
  5. Does your story show logical consequences for your character’s actions? Decided by: Self, Bully, Parent, Teacher, School, Church, State, Country, Society
  6. Punishment, neither natural or logical? Decided by: Self, Bully, Parent, Teacher, School, Church, State, Country, Society?
  7. What result or consequence do you or others expect for the character’s action? Does this happen or does something different and unexpected happen as a result of a character’s actions? Is it situational irony, dramatic irony, or verbal irony?

Resources:

  1. Jerry Webster. About.com. Special Education. “Consequences, Not Punishment:” http://specialed.about.com/od/managementstrategies/a/Consequences-Not-Punishment.htm
  2. Sara Bean, M.Ed. “Five Areas to Let Your Child Face Natural Consequences:” http://www.empoweringparents.com/5-areas-to-let-your-child-face-natural-consequences.php#
  3. University of Kansas.edu. “Natural and Logical Consequences.” http://www.specialconnections.ku.edu/?q=behavior_plans/classroom_and_group_support/teacher_tools/natural_and_logical_consequences
  4. Least Tern.com. “Literary Terms: Irony of Situation, Dramatic Irony, Irony of Language:” http://www.leasttern.com/LitTerms/literary_terms.htm
  5. The Oatmeal.com. “3 Kinds of Irony:” http://theoatmeal.com/comics/irony
  6. Robert K. Merton. American Sociological Review:“The Unanticipated Consequences of Purposive Social Action:”
  7. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony
  8. Laura Markham, Phd. “What’s Wrong with Consequences to Teach Children Lessons?” http://www.ahaparenting.com/parenting-tools/positive-discipline/Consequences_Punishment

I hope you enjoyed reading my blog. Good luck with the publication of your books! Please leave a comment. Thank you.

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Never Give Up
Joan Y. Edwards, Author
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A Critique Is a Gift – It Contains Choices and Possibilities

“A Critique Is a Gift-It Contains Choices and Possibilities” by Joan Y. Edwards

A critique is a gift. It contains choices and possibilities for you to consider. Not – YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE THIS AND DO THIS OR ELSE your story will not survive. Use your critiques to empower you to improve your manuscript and take it to a higher level.

Sometimes you don’t ask the person who critiques your work enough questions. If you can get them to interact with you back and forth after the critique, it would be helpful. You as a writer are brave. Ask questions. Many times you are lucky to have gotten the critique and there’s no way of communicating with that person again. Having the right thoughts going through your mind when you’re reading your critique will help you accept it as the gift it is and use it to your advantage.

Don’t be afraid of what a critique says. You’re afraid probably because you’ve received countless rejections. Hundreds of rejections that stack up from the floor to the ceiling. This may cause you to doubt yourself as a writer. You may believe rejection means you are not a good writer. Actually, rejection doesn’t mean anything about your writing except that the person reading it didn’t have a passion for what you wrote like you do. It didn’t “call” them.”

I challenge you to change your thinking. Accept in your mind that it’s all right if they like it. And it’s all right if they don’t like it. Once you get to that point, you’re able to really listen to what they are saying. As long as you like your story and believe it will be published, and you’ve visualized it in its final form with cover and binding and people purchasing it. You’ll see that a critique is either your pathway to growth or the pathway to giving up. It’s your choice.

There is another very real possibility. It could be that the person who critiqued your work likes your work and is trying to help you make it better. Or they missed part of your plan for your story. They don’t understand parts of your plot. If possible, ask them questions.

Ask questions. Suppose 3 different people tell you to start at three different places in your story.

If someone tells you that you’re starting your story at the wrong place, ask them to tell you more.

  1. Where do you think it should start and why?
  2. Why do you think I wrote this story? What did you learn from it?
  3. Is there a better place to start the story? What is it? Why?
  4. Is the emotion missing?
  5. Do I give action, reaction, and dialogue for each scene?
  6. Give me possible what ifs for my story.
  • What if your main character did this?
  • What if the setting was in a different place, like _______.
  • If such and such happened, what would be the new set of chain reactions for the main character? If the main character does this, then the villain would do what?
  • What if the main character’s problem was even more difficult, steeper, harder for him to handle, like ______________?

Before you use any of the information in a critique, make sure you agree 100 per cent with any changes you make. Make those changes you agree with as quickly as you can. Send it out. Submit it again.

If there are parts of the critique you don’t agree with, you have two choices – delete them and never think about them again or let the manuscript hibernate in a drawer or in a folder in your computer for 1-4 weeks-no longer than that. Then take it out and read the critique again. Read your manuscript again with new eyes. Pretend this is the first time you’ve ever read it. Pretend you’re a potential buyer of your book in a store. You open it up to the first page. You read it. What do you think? If you still are not 100 per cent sure you want to use the questionable advice in this critique. Let it go. Delete it. Say a prayer. Relax. Believe in your manuscript. It will be published. You will know the changes to make. Studying the craft books that are in this area will help. Trust yourself and your story.

Accept in your mind that your beginning might be the best or another beginning might be best. Either is okay with you in your mind. Now allow yourself to choose the right place to start your story. You are the writer of this story. Believe that you can choose the right place. Other people’s opinions are possibilities. Other people’s opinions are choices. They are not facts. They are opinions. They give you something you never thought about. They give you possibilities. What a gift! Rejoice! Remember it’s your choice, your story. Believe that these critiques are not going to stop you from reaching your goal. They are steps to make your story better. To get it in top-notch shape for publication.

Be happy and rejoice with every critique you receive. Delete any ideas and suggestions that you don’t agree with 100 per cent after you’ve studied it and given good consideration of the possibilities given. It’s your story. You are the author. You will decide great things for your story. Now revise your manuscript with high energy and a good feeling and thankfulness for the critique.

Summarizing above:

Receive the critique.

Use what you agree with 100 per cent right away. Change the manuscript and submit again.

Put the questionable advice and the manuscript in a drawer. Wait from 1-4 weeks. Then read the critique and the manuscript again with new eyes. Make a decision. Use the advice or delete it. Then go forward.

Believe in your manuscript. Believe in you and your story.

Do something fun to celebrate you today!
Never Give Up

Joan Y. Edwards