How are your structures holding up?
Do they support and lift your story to a new level or will they crumble under scrutiny? Are there termites eating away at the foundation? Do all the elements of the story contribute to the structure or do they detract from it? These are the questions I've been asking myself lately as I've been cutting my story back to a reasonable length for YA.
Do you follow the Traditional Form as in the Freytag's Pyramid?
Does the structure highlight what's important or hide it?
Can you view it from above and below without glaring problems waving at you?
Mine is still in construction or should I say deconstruction/reconstruction right now and these are the questions I'm asking myself. They are really helping me.
FYI--Since the last few Mondays, comparing writing to photography/photographs, have been so popular, I'm going to make it my regular Monday feature. Today's images: 1 & 2--The Eiffel Tower and 3--The Pyramid at the Louvre.
20 comments:
Oh the stress! ;-) Those are amazing photos..
I love the analogy. It really makes you think of all the work and planning and structure that went into the building and should go into our novels!
Thank you for the visual! I'm assessing the the structural soundness of my WIP as we speak.
Awesome photags!! :)
Hmmm...your analogy has really got me thinking.... :)
Litgirl, thanks! Yeah, our stories have to bear up under the stress just like we do.
PJ, Just so. It takes a lot of planning.
T. Anne, good luck shoring things up.
Beth, Thanks! Cogitate away!
Amazing visuals! I am also in the deconstruction/reconstruction zone, so questions of structure are very much on my mind right now as well.
Wonderful photos and the analogy is great. I'm still building my new novel while the other one's out. Good luck with the editing :^)
Oooooh my head aches just thinking about the revisions I'm going to have to make. I think the basic structure is good but there's just too much of it and it's seriously overclad.
Lots of work to do. But the TV's so good right now...
Kate, Thanks, and good luck with your revisions.
Sherrie,Thanks, I hope all goes well with your novel that's out.
Janey, I understand. My infrastructure has been a bit overrun with side stories. The trick now is figuring out which ones are side and which ones are essential.
I like the idea of structure. It reminds me of layers, and I think layering is the only way to effectively build the structure you are talking about.
Lovely photos!
Glam, thanks! I think layering is essential to get the structure right. Unlike with buildings structure can be added at anytime in the novel building process.
I'm still working on it. Ugh.
Me too, Justus. Me too.
ooh! This has definitely made me think! I have one book that sticks out in my mind, I'll have to go back and rethink if it's being eaten by termites! LOL! Awesome! Jenni
Jenni, They do like to creep in.
As usual ... awesome pictures and awesome information/advice/questions!!!
Kelly, thanks I appreciate your support.
What amazing photos! And a good thing to think about!
Thanks! Becky
The problem I have with Freytag's Pyramid is that it implies that the climax comes in the middle of the story. I think if we really wrote like that, our endings would be horribly anticlimactic. It would be more realistic if it were more like
this.
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