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I cut off the rest of this one-page synopsis of Disney’s Pocahontas, which has Avatar’s characters and plot plugged into it…I didn’t want to create a spoiler for the movie, if you haven’t seen it. This is something that’s been circling the internet for about a week. You can see the full story on Media Bistro.

This is one reason why I’ve never been worried about sharing my WIP (work in progress) ideas with other writers—there are only so many plots out there. They could take my basic premise and come up with a completely different novel. Why? Because they’re different from me. They think differently, have different experiences, and have a different background.

No one is saying James Cameron hasn’t made an innovative film.

But what makes it innovative? The cutting edge technology and his characters. He brought all his creativity into the project and that made it fresh.

It’s been said that there are only seven basic plots in all of literature. Actually, there have been said to be several different numbers of basic plots, but seven is the number mentioned most frequently.

Those are:

1. man vs. nature
2. man vs. man
3. man vs. the environment
4. man vs. machines/technology
5. man vs. the supernatural
6. man vs. self
7. man vs. god/religion

Writer’s Digest proposes 20 basic plots:

1. Quest
2. Adventure
3. Pursuit
4. Rescue
5. Escape
6. Revenge
7. The Riddle
8. Rivalry
9. Underdog
10. Temptation
11. Metamorphosis
12. Transformation
13. Maturation
14. Love
15. Forbidden Love
16. Sacrifice
17. Discovery
18. Wretched Excess
19. Ascension
20. Descension.

Then we have Georges Polti’s The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations. I’ll let you click over and scroll to the bottom of the page if you’re interested, considering the length of this post.

Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that there are as many as 36 basic plots or dramatic situations. That’s not very many.

But do we get bored with the books we’re reading? Not usually. Because each author brings something fresh and new to the plot. It might be a unique setting. It might be a fabulous character or a fun twist ending. It might be the writer’s voice, itself.

I think we could give twenty people the same basic plot assignment and we would get twenty wildly different books in varying degrees of complexity, humor, and even genre.

It’s our different takes on life that make plots unique.

Do you ever notice the repetition of plots? Or are the authors’ different voices enough to help you forget the plot similarities?

I’ve said before that the biggest moment for me in getting published was when I determined what I wanted as a writer.

There are so many directions that you can follow with writing. If you want to write professionally, you can choose a job where you’ll write: advertising, radio, TV, stage, newspapers, freelance writing, etc. You don’t have to write novels or nonfiction books to satisfy the writing urge.

I’ve also spoken to several writing groups before. There were writers in these groups who were perfectly satisfied writing for a small audience of readers. Maybe they were penning a family history or writing a memoir to be handed down. And there is nothing wrong with that—you save yourself a lot of trouble by realizing that’s what you want and that you don’t need to query or write synopses.

Then there are writers who are really writing just to please themselves. Many poets I’ve met fall into this category. And it’s an incredibly satisfying thing—writing poetry and journaling. It’s a voyage of self-discovery.

The important thing is to know what you want to do. Maybe you’re interested in being published but you don’t want to go through the hassle of agents, editors, and publishers. If you’re wanting to share your book with some family and friends, then self-publishing might be an option for you (you need to be careful and go through a reputable self-publisher. Check Preditors and Editors and Writers Beware.)

You might be satisfied by being published by magazines, or ezines. You might be satisfied by entering contests (watch those entry fees. Again…Writers Beware.)

Small publishers might be the perfect fit for you. It’s usually not necessary to have an agent and you usually get the distribution (and paycheck) you’re looking for.

None of these things is better than the others. They’re just different. I was just as happy writing for myself as I am writing for my publishers and readers now. I just wasn’t quite satisfied with it, so I decided to take the next step. There are good points and bad points for all of them. But you have to figure out what exactly it is that you want. Only then can you do the research and work required to achieve your goal.

“So, what are you working on now?”

Do you mind telling people about your WIP (work in progress)? Or does it make you grit your teeth when they ask? Do you wonder why people never ask accountants what they’re working on?

Usually, if you’re out of the writing closet, this is a question that you’re going to get from time to time. I get it pretty frequently from acquaintances who know I write.

Upside of telling them:

You get ideas—If I tell you about my WIP or you’re a first reader and you offer some ideas? I’m not shy about taking them. Sometimes you can even adapt an idea and change it into something really useful. Both Dorte and Hart have given me great ideas for two separate books (one a Myrtle, one a Memphis.) I love ideas. And they’ll be in my acknowledgments section!

You get accountability—The next time you see this person, they’re likely again to ask (right after they finish commenting on the weather), “So how is that book going? The one with the murdered supper club guest. Have you finished it yet?”

You get encouragement—“That’s a cool idea for a book. Where do you get your ideas from?”

Downside:

You might not have fully formed the plot yet. You might not be able to really even say what exactly it’s about. So you halfway describe it and the person you’re talking to looks confused. Because it is confusing—it’s not a solidified plot.

You might not be in the spot where you want to share your WIP’s plot because it’s malleable. And you don’t want it transformed before you figure out where you’re trying to go with it.

When you share your idea, some people may criticize it or appear disinterested when you tell them about it. When it’s in the formative stages, that’s not fun. Then you start second-guessing your plot.

Accountability in a negative way. I’ve told people about WIPs that later ended up in my manuscript graveyard. Then every time I see these particular people, they ask about it. And it’s been 1 1/2 years since I even picked the darned thing up. I’ll tell them I put it aside to work on something else (something I was paid to write, which is always given a priority!) and they’ll say, “But I really liked that idea!” I want to tell them they’re free to write it…

Reading this over, it looks like I’m seeing more of the downside to WIP sharing. I wouldn’t have said that, going into this post. Maybe it just depends on the person I’m sharing the info with. If he’s a writer, that’s one thing (he’d understand.) If I’m sharing with non-writers? Maybe I should keep it vague.

Do you tell people what you’re working on?

When I was a kid in the late 1970s in Anderson, South Carolina, I’d sometimes have to go to the drugstore with my mother. This was not a fun trip for me. Other than Belk Department store, the drugstore was the most boring place in the world.

The only redeeming quality to this shopping trip was the comic books. The store had them on a wire rack. They were packaged in sets of three inside a plastic wrap. So you could see the comics on the front and the back of the 3-pack. Those comics would be something great like Peanuts, Donald Duck, or Little Lulu. But the one sandwiched in the middle of the pack was a mystery.

And it was always awful. When I unwrapped the pack in the car, I’d find a dreaded Boy Comic Book. (Sorry boys.) That would have even been okay if it’d been a decent boy comic like Superfriends. But no, it would be some 3rd string, horrid comic book with awful illustrations.

Having a horrible middle in your book isn’t a good idea, even if your beginning and end are fantastic.

But it’s easy to lose focus in the middle of your story. Sometimes I think, “Where was I going with this, again?”

Here are some ideas about avoiding saggy middles:

Put the character another step toward their goal.

Put the character another step away from their goal (setback.)

Introduce a new character who either causes conflict for the protagonist, or helps him to his goal.

Put your protagonist under pressure.

Throw in a life-changing event. Death, birth, job loss, unexpected personal gain.

Plot backwards. Okay, I know it sounds bizarre. But some writers swear by it. Basically, it means to start at the end (assuming you know how the book ends) and plot backwards to the point where you currently are. What needs to happen to get you to the end point? Those key events in your story can be plugged in.

Work on your subplot. If your main plot is faltering, try working on your subplot for a couple of scenes and see if you can get back to the main story afterwards. Or see if you can connect the subplot to the main story in some way.

Include a suspenseful scene. If the story is getting boring and saggy to you, it’ll really seem so to a reader. Maybe a little excitement is in order.

Reveal a secret. Or disclose some previously-unrevealed depth to your protagonist or a secondary character.

Since I’m a mystery writer? I don’t have a problem with saggy middles. In each of my books, you’ll find a dead body right in the center of the novel. :)

Got saggy middles? How do you deal with them?

I was driving back from having lunch with my husband yesterday when I saw a little tableau playing out on the side of the road. Well, the road was actually a major highway and I was driving 74 (not 75 because I never go more than 9 miles over the speed limit), so my impression of the scene was a split-second one.

There were several construction workers standing at the bottom of an incline with their arms folded. There was another man who appeared to be a foreman. A furious foreman. He made chopping, angry motions with one hand before waving it around in the air. His mouth was open wide as if he were yelling. He stood stiffly and every muscle looked tensed. The person who seemed to be the object of the fury was another construction worker with slumping shoulders and head hung low as he shifted from foot to foot.

Uh-oh. Someone screwed up. And I whizzed by in another couple of seconds.

I’m not one who does well with nonverbal cues in conversation. I frequently puzzle over conversations after they’re over—thinking that I missed something. But with my writing I’ve learned to concoct social cues that help power my scene.

Can your reader tell what you’re characters are feeling by their actions?

Body language can be really useful when you’re writing. Does a character grit their teeth when their mother in law corrects them? Smile with their mouths but not with their eyes? Bite their fingernails while waiting in the dentist’s office?Do they avoid eye contact when a parent is asking them questions? You can also use their tone of voice (strained? wavering?) to help show their reactions to events.

Nonverbal cues are great ways to communicate emotions to your reader. They also fit the “show, don’t tell” requirement that editors look for in manuscripts. One upside of show, don’t tell is that the reader is a little more engaged in the passage—they’re reading clues to the character’s emotions instead of having them labeled and spoon-fed to them. It’s a more active process.

I sometimes like using nonverbal communication that sends a mixed message just to shake things up a little bit. The meek woman with the strong handshake. Or maybe the character pretends not to see an outstretched hand. Is the character snubbing the protagonist? Or is he worried about catching germs during flu season?

I’ve found it useful to practice nonverbal skills. One way is by muting the television and watching actors (who are gifted in vividly putting emotions across) as they fret and strut their way across the stage. Soap operas are especially good at this. Lots of violent emotions on soap operas…as well as Deep Thought. Overacted sometimes, but that’s all the better!

Another exercise I’ve found useful is people watching. Lots of writers go to shopping malls to watch people and get character ideas. I’ll go to coffee shops usually, since malls aren’t a favorite of mine. But while you’re people-watching, you can focus in on people whose conversations you can’t overhear. I try to guess what they’re talking about by their demeanor. Is it a job interview? (I see lots of those in coffeehouses.) Is it a couple having an argument? (I also see a fair number of those.) Someone dominating a conversation as the other person gets irritated?

Do you enjoy using nonverbal communication? Is it an easy technique for you, or a hard one?

Hope you’ll pop by Mystery Lover’s Kitchen this morning. I have a special guest, Laura Childs, who writes several mystery series for Penguin. She’s sharing her recipe for Eggs Benedict and discussing her latest release!

Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen had a nice mention in the LA Times on Tuesday: http://tinyurl.com/yd7jxjv