{"id":160,"date":"2013-10-22T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-10-22T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/blog\/2013\/10\/22\/tactical-tuesday-advice-for-self-editing_22\/"},"modified":"2015-11-25T12:22:16","modified_gmt":"2015-11-25T19:22:16","slug":"tactical-tuesday-advice-for-self-editing_22","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/tactical-tuesday-advice-for-self-editing_22\/","title":{"rendered":"Tactical Tuesday: Advice for Self-Editing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\nLayering
\nis what I call the process of blending the plot so that they do not seem
\ndropped into the manuscript for convenience. There are a number of different
\nportions of a story that can and should be layered: Props, character arcs,
\ntwists and turns, back story (which, when done correctly, brings in surprises
\nfor the reader), and a chief element that I wish to discuss today: conflict.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nAs most
\nauthors are aware, conflict is the fuel that drives plots forward. A story
\nabsent conflict is boring. Likewise, a story where the conflict is introduced
\nand resolved in time for another conflict to arise is equally as boring and it\u2019s
\nwhat we call episodic.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nLayering
\nis the technique by which authors avoid episodic writing. This practice allows
\nan author to build the conflict. For example: Joe and Ted are part of a small
\ngroup of teenage friends. They like to hang out and have fun. They went their
\ndifferent ways over the summer, but now, this last weekend before school
\nstarts, they\u2019ve all met at the lake to have some fun. The scene opens, and Joe
\nis acting differently. He seems antsy, and he tries to talk the boys into doing
\nthings they wouldn\u2019t have ever thought of, say racing their cars down the old
\ntwisting and turning road that leads to the lake. The boys deny Joe is fun and
\nwhile Joe and Ted are out in the middle of the lake, Ted demands to know what\u2019s
\nwrong with him. Joe answers by nearly drowning Ted. Scene ends.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nThe
\nconflict is set. We haven\u2019t brought Joe and Ted on stage, introduced a problem
\nand resolved it by Joe explaining his actions. The reader wants to turn the
\npage and find out what in the world happened to Joe over the summer to make him
\nchange.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nIn
\nanother scene, Ted, who has avoided his best friend for a while is downtown. It\u2019s
\nthe Friday after school has started, and Joe has skipped school a number of
\ndays. Tonight, though, he\u2019s at the local hangout, and he\u2019s not alone. Joe has
\nbrought a group of kids with him. These aren\u2019t good kids. They\u2019re gang members.
\nThey\u2019re threatening, and everyone is afraid of them. They challenge Ted,
\ncircling around him, ready to beat him up. Ted looks into the eyes of the guy
\nhe\u2019s known all his life, and he waits. Joe wouldn\u2019t let him down. He\u2019d get him
\nout of this. Joe narrows his eyes. \u201cDon\u2019t beat him up too bad, boys.\u201d Joe steps
\nout of the circle.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nJoe had
\nnow taken another step into the abyss that Ted will eventually need to pull him
\nfrom, if Ted can ever forgive him. The conflict in this coming of age story is
\nbuilding, until it reaches a climax. Can Ted save Joe from self-destruction?
\nWhat sent Joe over the edge? Did Ted have anything to do with it?<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nThese
\nare questions that layering will answer\u2014not all at once but as the story
\nunfolds.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nConflict
\nis what makes the reader turn the page. Layer it in.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nHappy
\nediting.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Layering is what I call the process of blending the plot so that they do not seem dropped into the manuscript for convenience. There are a number of different portions of a story that can and should be layered: Props, character arcs, twists and turns, back story (which, when done correctly, brings in surprises for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[504],"tags":[67,21,139,137,104],"class_list":["post-160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editing-writing-advice","tag-editing","tag-editing-advice","tag-layering","tag-plot","tag-plotting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}