as a wannabe novelist who studied english literature in college, this is a really problem i struggle with. i have consumed so much of "great fiction" that everything i write tries to be something it is not and ends being a pretentious mixture of mediocre character narrative. this is also why i took a break from fiction writing. to find my voice. brilliant read!
What a serendipitous find this is! I’ve been watching lots of films lately (as in a seriously indecent amount) and paying extra attention to how they unfolded and why I liked them. More often than not a winning film was one where I loved the storytelling. And because I’ve also been looking at older commercial films from the late 90s/early 00s I have noticed as well that the journey of the characters is often more substantial than in similar modern commercial films but I hadn’t realised it was, as you say, because often these movies were meant to fit like a glove around the main actor/actress, which is a really clever way of building the story. This week I’ve watched Poor Things a second time and I completely agree with all your points about it. I was fascinated by the film the first time, went to buy the novel (halfway through it, absolutely love it), and went back to watch the film this time to pay attention to how the novel translated into the screen and how differently the story was told, which was an interesting exercise as most of the travelling is explained through letters in the novel as opposed to us being witness to Bella and Duncan’s adventures. I have also seen All of Us Strangers (based on another book) and while less flamboyant and potentially the movie equivalent to literary fiction, there is a clear change in the characters through what they experience and the things that have happened to them, which perhaps is why such an intimate movie is so incredibly intense and very satisfying to watch.
Wonderful article. In fact they same can be said of films, a lot of highbrow filmmakers speak of plot as some kind of swear word. It's highly fashionable to say that a film is 'deconstructing the notion of plot itself'. In truth it's often a posture and a lazy way to avoid doing serious writing work. Whip something complicated together, some folks are bound to find meaning in it. To me that's the opposite of complexity.
Yesss! Check out one my writing teachers Joan Scheckel… she’d appreciate this essay immensely. And yet even though plot is a necessary layer in the lasagna - the hero’s journey is but one of a billion structures available to us lest we forget.
Love this! Whenever I’m plotting I always want to start with the inciting incident right away, even though Save The Cat and other structures suggest you have a few other bits first.
Ah I loved this! How many times I have finished a novel, and when someone asked me how it was, said, oh yeah, quite good, nothing much happened though.
I also absolutely loved Poor Things, then listened to the audiobook over a few days where often I would find myself just sitting doing nothing else and listening.
Ahh I loved reading your take on this. I fall on the other side, I reallllly love a “plotless” piece of writing, it reminds me of mumblecore films and I enjoy when art reflects the messiness of reality and dialogue more than a formulaic story. Though I totally agree with you that an emotional journey is key. I write this way too and I find myself worried that people will think it’s pretentious or navel-gazy for focusing too much on emotions rather than action, which has become the standard criticism after the backlash to this kind of literary fiction, even if the backlash is well-deserved.
As a writer I will admit that ‘story’ is the part I find hardest to grasp, despite being a person who tells stories informally all day, every day. I am finding Lisa Cron’s book *Story Genius* really helpful in teaching me how to find the story in the fictional pieces I write.
I'vlm halfway through the Cazalet Chronicles and had to come back to this. You make such great points and it feels so good as a reader to follow through a plot. CC has got a few pages dedicated to characters who you know won't be seen in the rest of the novel but they capture your heart anyway. It's SO GOOD!!
I love your advice to most new writers’ problems: “use simple language well.” And then, shit has to happen. This is something I’ve been working on, and noticing that a lot of literary fiction is lacking. So great to see your take on this!
as a wannabe novelist who studied english literature in college, this is a really problem i struggle with. i have consumed so much of "great fiction" that everything i write tries to be something it is not and ends being a pretentious mixture of mediocre character narrative. this is also why i took a break from fiction writing. to find my voice. brilliant read!
I hope you do find your voice! It is the most difficult thing about writing and I still am never convinced I've found mine
What a serendipitous find this is! I’ve been watching lots of films lately (as in a seriously indecent amount) and paying extra attention to how they unfolded and why I liked them. More often than not a winning film was one where I loved the storytelling. And because I’ve also been looking at older commercial films from the late 90s/early 00s I have noticed as well that the journey of the characters is often more substantial than in similar modern commercial films but I hadn’t realised it was, as you say, because often these movies were meant to fit like a glove around the main actor/actress, which is a really clever way of building the story. This week I’ve watched Poor Things a second time and I completely agree with all your points about it. I was fascinated by the film the first time, went to buy the novel (halfway through it, absolutely love it), and went back to watch the film this time to pay attention to how the novel translated into the screen and how differently the story was told, which was an interesting exercise as most of the travelling is explained through letters in the novel as opposed to us being witness to Bella and Duncan’s adventures. I have also seen All of Us Strangers (based on another book) and while less flamboyant and potentially the movie equivalent to literary fiction, there is a clear change in the characters through what they experience and the things that have happened to them, which perhaps is why such an intimate movie is so incredibly intense and very satisfying to watch.
Well said! Quit trying to be Rachel Cusk and start trying to be Alexander Dumas! MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN ON THE PAGE
😂
ok thank GOD someone else said this because the whole time throughout I was thinking about Rachel Cusk lol
Wonderful article. In fact they same can be said of films, a lot of highbrow filmmakers speak of plot as some kind of swear word. It's highly fashionable to say that a film is 'deconstructing the notion of plot itself'. In truth it's often a posture and a lazy way to avoid doing serious writing work. Whip something complicated together, some folks are bound to find meaning in it. To me that's the opposite of complexity.
Totally agree!
Yesss! Check out one my writing teachers Joan Scheckel… she’d appreciate this essay immensely. And yet even though plot is a necessary layer in the lasagna - the hero’s journey is but one of a billion structures available to us lest we forget.
Love this! Whenever I’m plotting I always want to start with the inciting incident right away, even though Save The Cat and other structures suggest you have a few other bits first.
Ah I loved this! How many times I have finished a novel, and when someone asked me how it was, said, oh yeah, quite good, nothing much happened though.
I also absolutely loved Poor Things, then listened to the audiobook over a few days where often I would find myself just sitting doing nothing else and listening.
As the writer of a near-enough plotless novel, I nevertheless enjoyed this a lot. Thanks Heather!
Haha! We can break the rules once we know them I reckon!
best writing advice AND literary criticism I've read in a while
Ahh I loved reading your take on this. I fall on the other side, I reallllly love a “plotless” piece of writing, it reminds me of mumblecore films and I enjoy when art reflects the messiness of reality and dialogue more than a formulaic story. Though I totally agree with you that an emotional journey is key. I write this way too and I find myself worried that people will think it’s pretentious or navel-gazy for focusing too much on emotions rather than action, which has become the standard criticism after the backlash to this kind of literary fiction, even if the backlash is well-deserved.
This is such a good post.
As a writer I will admit that ‘story’ is the part I find hardest to grasp, despite being a person who tells stories informally all day, every day. I am finding Lisa Cron’s book *Story Genius* really helpful in teaching me how to find the story in the fictional pieces I write.
I'vlm halfway through the Cazalet Chronicles and had to come back to this. You make such great points and it feels so good as a reader to follow through a plot. CC has got a few pages dedicated to characters who you know won't be seen in the rest of the novel but they capture your heart anyway. It's SO GOOD!!
Brilliant article (Aspiring writer/ Just duped the first 100 pages)
I love your advice to most new writers’ problems: “use simple language well.” And then, shit has to happen. This is something I’ve been working on, and noticing that a lot of literary fiction is lacking. So great to see your take on this!
Thank you!
This is precisely what I needed to read today. Thank you Heather.
Love this, thanks for giving shape to my thoughts!