Some people have plot bunnies; I have plot dinosaurs. A friend of mine posted this drawing on dA and I laughed and laughed:
http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=§ion=&global=1&q=plot+dinosaurs#/d3ajd1i
Of course, my plot dinosaurs are bigger than that. Hers are too, I'm sure, but that's very cute:)
The plot dinosaurs are rampaging like crazy this week. I thought I was going to deviate from my four book series with an idea that just wouldn't leave me alone. Then I realized I have a ton of research I need to do for that, so now I'm back to the series (which is mostly written and researched already since I'm culling from my fan fiction plot; doing a lot of world building for my own universe with that). Hmm, maybe it's not plot dinosaurs at all, but plot ADD.
My mind is definitely all over the place! Even with the series, it seems I've started on the second book rather than the first. I'm actually torn with which book ought to be first to begin with. I am a nonlinear story teller who likes to throw in all sorts of flashbacks and the like, but I think that might have gotten too complicated when I was writing fan fiction. I still like the nonlinear thing, but maybe not at such a grand scale. A few flashbacks here and there may be good, but not an entire story that is a flashback thrown into the main story.
It makes me think of the whole Star Wars thing. They had three stories and then the next three had to do with the past. I really liked that. That was nonlinear at its best. The question is, if George Lucas could do it all over again, would he choose to tell the story of Anakin first, or the story of Luke? Having the story of Luke first certainly gave us the biggest plot shocker of all time...the enemy leader he thought killed his father is his father. Whoah, that's heavy stuff, and excellent drama. That iconic moment would have been lost had the story of Anakin been told first, not to mention the sister shocker moment too.
Yet, there is so much about Obi-Wan and the Jedi that would have been nice to know before seeing Luke's story. If we had known all that beforehand, our hearts might have been more into the Jedi plight than they were. Well, not that our hearts weren't in it, but learning about just how it all went down with the Jedi certainly helped solidifiy the feeling. Learning all that strengthened the Luke story with the Jedi thing for me.
Of course, if the story of Anakin were first, we'd have lost the mystique surrounding the Jedi that was created during the story of Luke. So, all in all, the nonlinear aspect of Star Wars is part of what made it great.
What does this have to do with my story? Just thoughts, just thoughts...and a perfect example of how my mind is all over the place. LOL!
don't i ever agree about a scattered mind! eventually something's gonna give, so just keep picking away at it :P
ReplyDeleteI tend to be a nonlinear kind of reader, myself. I do enjoy a story that offers some tidbits of the past throughout the story its self. That thing that says; here is the problem at hand, and then a little back story to tell WHY that problem came about in the first place is quite stimulating to the mind. Well, in my world actually. As long as there is some clear definition between the here and now and the there and then, then there's not much of an issue. ^_~
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