valsbookverse

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Probably the single hardest lesson for me to internalize in writing was that you don’t design a character you design a character arc.

One reason you as a writer might end up stuck with a flat or boring character, or one that just isn’t doing the things you need to create a vibrant plot, despite working out all the details of their life for hours, is because you’ve made the mistake I always do. You’ve made a character who is a blend of all the characteristics you envision for them, rather than saving some characteristics for the end of their journey. 

What do I mean by this? Maybe you envision a character who is a handsome prince, honest, brave, and true. In your plot, though, he’s going to be an antagonist for a bit but you don’t really want him to be seen as a bad guy, necessarily. But when you drop him into your story, he’s just… there. Being honest, brave, and true. 

That’s because the prince has no character arc. He is a static figure, a cardboard cutout. 

Let’s go a little deeper with a great example of one of the best character arcs in YA animation: Prince Zuko. He is, objectively, honest, brave, and true (to his cause of finding the Avatar) from the outset. But he’s also a dick. He’s a privileged, imperialist brat, who is rude to his uncle and vicious to our protagonists. 

By the end of the series, though, Prince Zuko is still honest, brave, and true, but he’s also a good person who has learned many lessons over the course of his trials and obstacles. He has failed over and over again at his initial goal of capturing the Avatar. He has failed at winning his father’s regard. He has failed at numerous smaller goals of day to day adventures. He has learned from all of these. We have seen his journey. But, if you started your vision of how to write Zuko from who he ends up being, he’s got nowhere to go as a character. 

It’s not just about what flaws he has corrected though. It’s about what lessons about life he has internalized. What flawed views of the world he has corrected and how. 

Rather than saying, “The character starts out a dick and learns to be nice,” be more specific. “This character starts out believing the empire he is loyal to is morally in the right for its conquests, but over the course of working for that empire’s ruler and seeing his cruelty first hand, not to mention fighting the empire’s enemies and mingling with its civilian victims, he becomes a better person and learns the error of his ways.” 

Already, right there, you have more than a cardboard character. You have a character who has an arc that molds to your plot. 

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Top 10 Read Books in 2020

These are the top ten books I read! This of course means these aren’t books that will have been published in 2020. I had a habit of reading a lot of graphic novels and manga this year, just because my book slump was so rough, but I did my best.

10. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (I would say this is a reread, but that would be a lie, as in high school, I just read the sparknotes to get by.)

9. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (reread)

8. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (reread)

7. The Gentleman’s Guide to Getting Lucky by Mackenzi Lee

6. Heartstopper by Alice Oseman (up to volume 3)

5. SAGA by Brian K. Vaughan (all volumes)

4. Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demonslayer) by Koyoharu Gotouge (entire manga)

3. Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin

2. Heartless by Marissa Meyer

1. Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

[valsbookverse]

The Priory of the Orange Tree

by Samantha Shannon

TLDR Version: unbelievably phenomenal, a forever fave, something I exactly wanted out of a book for a very long time with such authentic diversity.

Click the link below to see the full, spoiler-free review.

Only a year or two ago, I’d gotten back into reading after being in a reading slump that lasted for over five or more years. I started getting back into reading after viewing some book vlogs on youtube and fell in love with new stories. I’d read the first Game of Thrones book in 2014, maybe, and it was the only adult book that I trekked through. When I got back into reading, Mistborn: The Final Empire and Red, White, & Royal Blue were a couple of adult books I took a shot in reading that I ended up enjoying a lot. They would be more considered ‘New Adult’, maybe, although everyone has a different view of genre. And, of course, Priory was amongst the handful of new adult books I took a chance on reading.

This was a book I didn’t think I would love so much. A whopping 800 pages with small text was going to take forever for me to finish. After all, I’d been working on Mistborn’s first book for 9 months. I’m a notoriously slow reader.

I finished Priory in a week.

Shannon created such a world, such vivid characters, with traits I kept wanting in fantasy, and put it all into one book that I am so grateful to have come across. This is a world where the color of people’s skin is a descriptive trait and doesn’t become a plot point. This is a world where same-sex marriage occurs and every spouse is referred to as a companion. No prejudices. No sexual violence. It’s a high fantasy, written by an LGBTQ+ author, who did her research, and delivered something that was absolutely needed in the fantasy world.

And the best part? She did it well. Shannon has a way with words on paper. I thoroughly enjoyed her prose and the voices of every point of view (there were 4). They were all such flawed, beautiful characters with their own journeys. I cared so much about everyone and while some may say that there elements in this story that we have seen before in the past, I have to argue that that’s how literature works. There will always be references to history or other works in a new, original work, as long as it’s the author’s made it her own. I personally think that Shannon took the queens and the dragons and the witches and the magic and even the pestilence and created something spectacular. Although this is a standalone, I know she has plans to write more within the Priory universe, and I can’t wait to see what comes next.

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Guide To Parallel Plot Structure

Patreon || Ko-Fi || Masterlist || Work In Progress

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Stand Alone, But Work Together

While each plot must be designed to stand alone, they must also be working toward a common goal or endpoint where the reader says “oh, that makes sense now” or “oh, so that’s why the author finds these stories important/compelling”. Design them with the same themes and ending in mind.

Crossovers Must Be Meaningful

When you’re designing a plot convergence, be purposeful in your placement and your significance. Why is it important that the reader sees this interaction between the separate plots you’ve woven? Why did you put the interaction at this point in the story? You should be able to thoroughly answer these questions. 

Tie Them Together With Theme/Motif

All stories with parallel plot structure should be connected (at least) through theme or motifs. If you’re doing a story in parts where each part is a completely different story that all run parallel to one another and connect some way in the end, the reader should see an almost immediate connection in the stories’ theme and/or symbolism and/or big ideas.

Immerse The Reader In Both Plots

Develop each plot line enough that it could exist on its own, but be concise when describing details that the reader may have already heard. If you’re describing a place that exists within two or more of the plot lines, be descriptive the first time and evocative the second. Be clear that we’ve seen this place before, but change the context to match this new storyline. 

This Isn’t A Flashback Story

If pieces and parts of your story take place in the past, that’s a flashback plot structure and should be approached differently than a parallel plot. Parallel plot is specifically two or more fully developed plot-lines that occur parallel to one another, connected by at least one factor that either is or will become apparent to the reader, but not necessarily the characters. These characteristics must be addressed uniquely to this plot structure, and if you don’t supplement each plot line with enough scenes or development, they will fall flat.

Common Struggles

~ How do I transition between timelines smoothly?… It can be as simple as switching stories every chapter. It’s important to make it clear to the reader which plot they’re following, so as long as you feel you’ve accomplished that, approach transitions however you’d like. 

~ How similar or different should the two plots be to one another?… It depends on what you’re trying to say, in the grand scheme of things. If you’re telling a story about a specific experience from multiple points of view, obviously the plots are going to be very similar, but always make sure that the reader never asks “how is this relevant”, unless you’re feeding them info that will make sense later. 

~ Can the two protagonists and/or the antagonists be distinctly different to the other?… Absolutely. In my opinion, the plots need to have some sort of connection, but it doesn’t have to be as obvious as who the villain or the hero is. 

~ What shows, books, or movies should I watch in order to get the idea of a good parallel plot structure?…

Here are some of my recommendations:

Movies: Amores Perros (2000), Timecode (2000), Love Actually (2003)

Books: The Counterlife by Philip Roth (1986), NW by Zadie Smith (2012), A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin (has many plot-lines running parallel to one another)

Other Resources

Plot Structures

Useful Writing Resources | Part II

Pros & Cons of Different Points of View

Resources For Plot Development

Guide To Plot Development

Writing Long Stories Without Filler

Novel Planning 101

Tackling Subplots

Outlining By Chapter

Character Driven vs. Plot Driven Stories

How To Write A Story Timeline

Making A Story Come Together

How To Engage The Reader

Pacing Appropriately

Tips on Introducing Backstory

How To Develop A Distinct Voice In Your Writing

Balancing Detail & Development

Tips on Balancing Development

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Masterlist | WIP Blog

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