Essence Of: Question Thread!

[Kryos]

1) What is setting to you?

Setting is the key for any story, for without it, you only have a stream of consciousness. The setting can range from actual physical location, such as the tundra of Salvar to the towns of Scara Brae, the the situations and motivations behind character action. This differentiates how someone such as Madison Freebird would have an adventure differently in the same location than, say, Luna the Seaborn.

2) What is enough setting, as opposed to too much?

Enough setting will paint a vivid picture in the minds eye while allowing room for the reader to fill in the gaps. This is something I have always enjoyed about reading, that different people are able to have the freedom to visualize slightly different scenes even though they all understand the key elements and flow of the story.

Too much setting will bog down the pacing of the thread, and will be different depending on the setting. Walking into a new city at sunrise may have rich and detailed descriptions that allow the reader to feel awe and wonder through beautiful descriptions and more wordy techniques. In the thick of battle, brief and to the point descriptions would serve the story better.

3) How do you apply setting in your own work?

I would think that I tend to be partial to the setting of character circumstance and development. I try to illustrate motivations and progression. However, I also always try to find ways to have characters interact with the physical setting that they may find themselves in, making use of the unique features of each location. Direct, and creative/insightful, ways of interacting with setting helps weave setting throughout the story.

[The Mongrel]

Thank you to everyone who has responded thus far. Everyone else, please get your answers in by noon EST on Sunday! Essence Of's format demands prep work, and I might not see later answers in time.

[redford]

1) What is setting to you?
Setting is, to me, the surroundings, much like the stage upon which actors play their parts. Included in this is all that it entails, and integral part of setting is the character's relation to it. If I put a nobleman in the setting of a seedy bar that caters to drunks, there is an element of setting that is not purely the surroundings. This is an important aspect, especially when writing in first person because perception of the setting is important as well.

2) What is enough setting, as opposed to too much?
There is a fine line to walk when building a setting. Too much, and the piece becomes bulky and cumbersome. Too little, and your characters act in a void. Myself, I try to use elements of setting that invoke more than one element. Building a setting isn't so much dropping a scene on the reader so much as guiding them to it, per se. I try to describe important things, but to the appropriately imaginative reader, all I have to do is paint the world with broad strokes, and their imagination will provide the details.

3) How do you apply setting in your own work?
I try to provide as little setting as possible in my work. I attempt to give the reader a starting point, and then guide them toward a vivid mental image. I try to use descriptions that invoke more setting, and more reader immersion, something like,

"The bar wad dark, smoky, and filled with only vague whispers and the clink of liquor filled glass"

Immediately the reader is transported to a scene with this sentence. It may not be exactly what I envision, but the setting I have set up is still vivid in the reader''s mind, and that is what is important.

[Karuka]

Ladies... Gentlemen. Cats, cads, and everyone in between! Thanks to your feedback and support, Essence Of is going forward!

Many thanks to BaBE, our prettiest plant monster, for continuing to produce this show. I'm hoping to make it bi-weekly.

If you'd like to be on Essence Of or have us discuss a particular topic, please volunteer and/or make suggestions!

Episode 1: Essence of Roleplaying - co-starring BlackAndBlueEyes
Episode 2: Essence of Setting - co-starring Flames of Hyperion

Episode 3 questions:
1) How do you define plot?
2) How do you develop plots in your own stories?
3) What are the pros and cons you see in plotting (coming up with your storyline before writing your first post) and "pantsing" (writing the story and seeing where it goes)?

Episode three records on Sunday! I will be discussing plot with our very own Gnarl and Root, and we would love your input! Questions are above and in the first post. Remember, we read your answers on this podcast, and they fuel our conversation! We'd love to feature your thoughts!

[hoytti]

How do you define plot?
Plot is the story. It is what happens when, where, why, how, and to who.
How do you develop plots in your own stories?
I usually get a basic idea about what I want to happen then I let my character run the show. For example, in my current story "Disease in the City of Wishes" I know what I want Grond to do. However, how he does it is a complete mystery to me as I don't have a full plot set up for him yet. The plot builds as I go.
What are the pros and cons you see in plotting?
Pros: you know how it will go and know how it will end
Cons: you can get stuck trying to force what you have and make the story more ridged.
What are the pros and cons you see in pantsing?
Pos: you are free to do with as you wish and the story seems more realistic.
Cons: you will probably throw away 3/4ths of the material you write.

[SirArtemis]

Episode 3 questions:

1) How do you define plot?
I suppose plot to me is sort of the glue of the pieces of writing. You have the infrastructure of a story with the setting, the lore, the history, the culture. You have the characters that operate within this world, and amongst themselves, creating tension and conflict through their own emotional drive. And you have the reasons for things happening as they do with respect to all of these things. Plot is the glue that binds the reasons/motivations of the world/characters together to create an outcome, whatever that outcome may be.


2) How do you develop plots in your own stories?
Often times I try to create relationships between people and play on the motivations of characters within the world. For example, one tournament gone astray caused Artemis to try to seal away a demon, at the risk of his life, because it was the virtuous thing to do. He tried to escape Corone for his safety only to find himself in a war and found himself constantly in conflict with what to do, because he knew battle and war had no correct side - only a side that you were on. Asking questions of the characters and their motives often helps me move plot forward along the track of whatever idea/goal I had in mind that I thought was cool.


3) What are the pros and cons you see in plotting (coming up with your storyline before writing your first post) and "pantsing" (writing the story and seeing where it goes)?
I think a mix of both is the best approach. When plotting too much I feel you may restrict yourself to a very rigid and forced outcome. Then again, something that's completely freeform may lack structure and motivation and leave the reader uncommitted. Giving your reader a hook, the same hook that gave the writer the hook to write it in the first place, can help create something that evolves on its own and that the author is just as unsure of the outcome as the reader is. I know that sometimes makes things like technique difficult, like tactfully placing foreshadowing, but not necessarily. In the end, the characters are the ones who have to make the choices, and if the author tries to force their character against their nature it shows to a reader.

[Bard]

Plot is known as the foundation of a novel or story which the characters and settings are built around. It is meant to organize information and events in a logical manner. When writing the plot of a piece of literature, the author has to be careful that it does not dominate the other parts of the story. There are five main elements in a plot. The first is the exposition or the introduction. This is known as the beginning of the story where characters and setting are established. The conflict or main problem is introduced as well. The second element of a plot is known as the rising action which occurs when a series of events build up to the conflict. The main characters are established by the time the rising action of a plot occurs and at the same time, events begin to get complicated. It is during this part of a story that excitement, tension or crisis is encountered. The third element of a plot is known as the climax or the main point of the plot. This is the turning point of the story and is meant to be the moment of highest interest and emotion. The reader wonders what is going to happen next. The fourth element of a plot is known as falling action or the winding up of the story. Events and complications begin to resolve and the result of actions of the main characters are put forward. The last element of a plot is the resolution or the conclusion. It is the end of a story and ends with either a happy or a tragic ending.

2. I start all threads, chapters, stories, what have you, by thinking of the first assumption, then take it to its logical conclusion, while holding for other guiding assumptions such as personality and the irrational rationalizations common to human kind.

3. The major strength of the plotted thread is, frankly its the way I always approach writing, which I've only attempted to not do once, which was here, and the open thread is still open, and dead as the three by five floppy. Now, I don't plot everything out completely mind, especially not with threads that I'm in with others, and especially not where I'm a supporting character, but I need to have some overarching concepts in mind for my character within the thread, and almost always do.

[Artifex Felicis]

1) How do you define plot?
Plot's a silly thing, and I usually just say it is "the things that occur in a story." Plot's also an incredibly neutral term to me, and I dislike a lot of the baggage associated. I use it as short hand for what I actually think, since it's a really pedantic difference. I do not consider nor expect the plot of any story or thread to be particularly complicated or "deep" in the sense many people talk about.

I care much more about the delivery and execution of a story than what actually happens during it, and plot's an easy way to describe it. I just make it a point to divorce the plot from its own execution, and to treat them as two different thing. A good plot is one that is well executed, and a bad plot is one that is not.

To put it another way, there's a reason why even a "tired old plot" movie like Star Wars can resonant so soundly with people, while another "bursting at the seams plot" movie like Jupiter Ascending can be mostly forgotten.

2) How do you develop plots in your own stories?
I personally often set goal posts, and work post by post to fill it in. Since I utilize a writing processor that facilitates it, my workflow often involves setting up the goal post for each segment or post, and I write within them to fill them out. Sort of a combination Flash card into full post set up.


3) What are the pros and cons you see in plotting (coming up with your storyline before writing your first post) and "pantsing" (writing the story and seeing where it goes)?
Depends, there's big benifets to both, so I'll focus on the two biggest cons of each method. Fully plotting out a story to its last detail often ends up making the story feel stiff and almost forced. By contrast, a fully pants'd story could end up falling apart because nothing really connects.

The big pros to both are obvious, both complete control to fully plotting everything out, or just the sheer amount of character you can get from pants-ing a storyline along. It's entirely a personal preference for what people would lean towards.

There's a good article that describes the two extremes as the Gardener and the Architect.

[Storm Veritas]

Took me some time to figure out you were updating the first post here. Yeah, I'm not very bright.

Episode 3 questions:
1) How do you define plot?

Plot is the stuff that happens; the journey described in each thread/story.

2) How do you develop plots in your own stories?

If Althanas itself is an exercise in the development of the character we invent, developing the plot is planning a few brush strokes in painting the picture of the character. I usually set out for any given thread looking to develop the character, be it through a battle, a quest, or simple conversation. Each plot is the track laid to get to an end goal; even if it isn't a specific ACTION, I always need to come out with a result that sets the direction for the character to move forward from. Once the end goal is set up, then you can easily work backwards to understand interesting, reasonable, and readable steps that bring you forward to a satisfying experience.

3) What are the pros and cons you see in plotting (coming up with your storyline before writing your first post) and "pantsing" (writing the story and seeing where it goes)?

Every solo I have written is fully fleshed out prior to writing. It allows the writer to have a much better plan to avoid redundancies, drags or races forward in pacing, remain focused, and execute more seamlessly.

Conversely, I -hate- to completely plan out the entire thread in detail with a writing partner. I think it sort of stifles the creativity of each writer if they know the entirety of what their partner is going to do next; by allowing the partner to progress the story logically on their own, it forces you to pivot and create more on the fly.

The big downside to this banter is that it can stifle or kill threads, as some writers just punt if they don't like how the plot has moved and that makes me insane.

[Kryos]

1) How do you define plot?

Plot entails the events and development that takes place within a story. It is probably that which is remembered with ease down the road after the story has been read. In addition, plot is unique to and dependent upon the characters and the setting. In other words, if one started out with a specific plot in mind, but the characters or setting changed, then the resulting plot would be similar, but different.

2) How do you develop plots in your own stories?

I personally develop my plots around my characters. Here on Althanas, it is all about Kryos and his story. In general, I try to find one or two key points in their story and build "arcs" around them. For Kryos, it is all about redemption. Within this theme, there are two specific turning points that will have huge ramifications and changes that will shape his character. Thus, every thread that I do, and certainly every solo, will have progression along these arcs. This also allows flexibility in how the actual threads play out, in terms of setting, other characters, and specific ideas I want to illustrate along the way. For instance, currently Kryos is with the Dread Lord furthering necromancy. When I started, I never would have considered this or thought it would be possible, but as things played out, both in Althanas and in real life, it is super exciting for me to see.

To put it simply, my plots are driven by character development. I also use a process and resources much like Artifex's example in the posts previous.

3) What are the pros and cons you see in plotting (coming up with your storyline before writing your first post) and "pantsing" (writing the story and seeing where it goes)?

Plotting: I think that it is very important to at least have a basic, skeletal idea of plot before starting any story, unless the goal is to have no plot and see where things go (which can be super fun ). But, having at least an idea of what is going to happen will give structure to each post and immensely help with pacing.

Pantsing: Can be super fun with the right group of people and if by yourself. It allows new avenues to be explored that wouldn't necessarily have been seen with a more structured plot, and those roads can lead to wonderful and surprising results.

In general, I think that having some plotting done beforehand, but not going overboard on either one will bring about the best results. Having that balance of structure, as well as freedom for the unexpected to happen, is the recipe for memorable, even legendary, tales.


I am looking forward to the podcast!

Edit #1 concerning the next post:

Note that I tend to take a very methodical approach to writing, and that I tend to think of my individual threads as but pieces in a much larger legendarium.

Legendarium????? That absolutely must be the coolest word I've seen in a long time.