Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Plotline question

This is topic Plotline question in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by TruHero (Member # 1766) on :

This is kind of a fringe question, and I wasn't sure if I should stick it here or in F&F. I flipped a coin, so it is going here.

I am at a crossroads with a story I am writing. I have a dilemma about which plotline might be better. I will give a short, vague description of each, give me your opinion. This is not the main plotline, that would not be exciting at all...

1. MC does something to defend his family and mend his relationship with his father, and they reconcile after years of not having anything to do with each other.

2. MC does something totally out of the ordinary to save his girlfriend's life and they end up getting married, due to this life-changing experience.

This could be answered on a more general basis as well. For a secondary plotline, which emotional tie would be a stronger motivation. Love for an immediate family member, or a love interest such as a girlfriend/boyfriend. Hmmmm...

If it matters, let's say the MC is in his late twenties.

[This message has been edited by TruHero (edited December 08, 2005).]

Posted by AstroStewart (Member # 2597) on :

When you say you are at a crossroads with your story, does that mean you don't know which story you want to use? Or do you mean that you're in the middle of a story, and at some juncture you don't know which of those two actions the MC would take? They sound like completely seperate stories so it sounds more like you don't know which plotline you want to develop into a story.

If that's the case, for me anyway, it's pretty impossible to tell which one would work better, as a one sentence synopsis of a story always makes the story sound shallow and cliche to me (just becuase it's only a sentence, not because of you or your story ideas specifically). In other words, it's hard to say much, because there's just not enough information.

As for father vs. girlfriend story, both would be compelling, I think. Readers will be able to understand both. It's really just a question of which one you want to write about.

Posted by benskia (Member # 2422) on :

I think that option 1) will give the reader a straonger reason to care for the connection / love between the MC and other character.

In stories where I have to hear about how much a husband loves his wife, I never feel it as much as the MC does & I end up never caring much about their relationship. How he loves the way she smiles, the light glints off of her hair etc...yawn.

Posted by Kickle (Member # 1934) on :

Is it a novel or a short story?
Personally I think that the thread that requires MC character to grow and hurt the most would be the best. But it is hard to guess without knowing the MC's character. Some people find it harder to remain involved with family members while for others developing relationships is more difficult.

[This message has been edited by Kickle (edited December 08, 2005).]

Posted by mikemunsil (Member # 2109) on :

Seems to me that if you have to ask this question, that you are not sufficiently invested in either choice to write the subplot.

Can you just live without it, instead?

Posted by Doc Brown (Member # 1118) on :

Have the character do whichever puts him into a greater moral conflict. If both are easy decisions then he can do both, but make them short and inconsequential scenes.

The overall story arc should be the character attemting to get something he wants. But he should spend 1% of your pages working directly on that goal and 99% of your pages doing things he does not want to do. In fact he should hate what he is doing 99% of the time, but he does it in pursuit of the goal that gets 1%.

Posted by TruHero (Member # 1766) on :

This is for a (long) short story. Like I mentioned, this is not a main plotline question. This will be a conflict within the main story. I needed the proper motivation for my MC to achieve his final goal. I wondered if the Father idea would work better than the Girlfriend. Not a grandiose dilemma, either would work, but I want to use the best one.

Or perhaps I could use both... Would that be too much? Too sappy? Would the reward be too great and give him too much happiness at the end of the story?

Posted by sojoyful (Member # 2997) on :

Personally, I would prefer to read the first one, but that's because I find romantic love boring compared to other kinds of love. It's a personal opinion thing.

Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :

What do you want to accomplish with this plot element?

Posted by franc li (Member # 3850) on :

Due to the nature of your request I'm skipping to the end. What is the genre? Because both of these situations have a distinctly modern ring to them.

Of course, the second one could be "Twilight Samurai", which I strongly recommend you watching in any case, just because it's a really cool movie.

And why does the MC make amends with his father? What was the cause of the rift in the first place?

[This message has been edited by franc li (edited December 08, 2005).]

Posted by nimnix (Member # 2937) on :

If it really is hard to tell which would be work better, and the MC's character isn't telling you which to pick, decide which you have more interest in telling. I know I have a preference in my writing to stay away from romantic relationship drama. But that's partially because I can't write it.

Posted by TruHero (Member # 1766) on :

Survivor: It is the element in the story that would give him the boost he needs to go through with his plans to the end. The MC will have a weak moment and it will be either the father choice or the girfriend choice that pushes him to hitch-up his pants and move forward.

franc li: the genre is loosely modern fantasy. Not many fantasy elements in it, really.
The problem with his father is somewhat generational it has to do with his grandfather and some things that happened in the past. The MC really loves his father, but is having a hard time with some elements that happened between his father and grandfather that started even before he was born. The MC has grown-up spending alot of time at his grandfathers side and loves him very deeply. He doesn't understand or like the relationship between his father and grandfather.
As soon as I work through this a bit more, I will post in F&F. It is nearly there.

BTW: I appreciate all the feedback.

Posted by Elan (Member # 2442) on :

and why not have BOTH problems? Perhaps his desires with the girlfriend conflict with his desires to reconcile with his father.

Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :

It...either option seems more like a barrier to further action on the part of the character. Myself, when something good happens I like to slow down and enjoy it rather than suddenly running off to do something difficult I wasn't really sure about in the first place.

That's just me, but maybe other people feel the same way. Also, I meant more the effect on the audience and what kind of person this makes the character, rather than just what it makes the character do.

Take a basic example. Let's say that you want to show that the character is capable of doing something extraordinary (perhaps to set up a later event) as well as doing something very ordinary (like getting married). Well, the scenario where you give him a motive to do both is your answer, isn't it?

But what if you want to show that he's capable of responding with empathy and understanding to an intractable family problem? Well, then, since he's not already married it would have to be the thing with his father.

Those examples are pretty obvious, but if you think carefully about what kind of character (and audience) you're trying to deal with in this part of the story, you'll be able to determine which scenario is the right choice for you. If both happen (and I see no reason you couldn't do that), you'll be able to tell which one deserves more emphasis and exploration.

Posted by franc li (Member # 3850) on :

The concepts I have in mind are "Accessory after the fact " and "Statue of limitations"

http://www.partiallyclips.com/pclipslite.php?id=1228&b=1&c=1