When I was a kid, I loved the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books.
Do you remember those books? Basically, each book would tell a riveting story—you’re in a time machine, you’re back in the days of dinosaurs, you’re blasting off into space—and at the bottom of (most) pages, you got to choose how you were going to handle the situation you were in. “If you run from the T-Rex, turn to page 88. If you hide from the T-Rex, turn to page 40.”
Maybe it’s my experience with those books that makes me so open when I’m revising with my editor. For the last of the Memphis books, my editor asked me if I could tie a particular character back into the end of the book.
I emailed her back. “Sure,” I said. “Here are three alternate endings. Which one do you like best?” Yes, it was “Choose Your Own Adventure” for adults. :)
Being open to different plot paths for your story can be great when editing. But it’s also good for moving your story forward when you get stuck.
In my experience, it’s good to think big when you’re not really sure where your next scene is going. Instead of thinking up one alternate path for your storyline, try thinking up five storylines.
Or try thinking up 10 possible plot directions. Try thinking up 15. They can be random and ridiculous and don’t have to be the ones that you’re going to end up choosing. But it’s a great way to get your imagination going, brainstorming solutions to move the story forward.
Kill a character.
Introduce a new character.
The character quits his job.
The character’s mother moves in with him and murders his roommate.
There is a hurricane.
The character’s spouse becomes seriously ill and can no longer work.
The character falls in and out of love.
The character has a DUI.
You get the idea. You’re just trying to get your creative juices flowing. The funny thing is that in with the wacky ideas, there are usually at least one or two things that could work. There are usually more that could work with some plot tweaking.
Sometimes it’s easy to get tunnel vision when it comes to our plots. Even if we know the direction we’re heading in isn’t working, it can be difficult to see other directions to take. Brainstorming a list is just one way to approach the problem.
The “Choose Your Own Adventure” book in the picture above has 42 possible endings. How many can you come up with for your book? What other exercises do you use when you get stuck?
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This is advice that I really needed! And I love that your blog updates at midnight!
Interesting post. I definitely agree, sometimes with a flood of crazy ideas, good ones show up. :) It’s pretty amazing being a writer, isn’t it?
A timely post for me, as I’m stuck in my mystery and wondering where to go next. I’ll try the 10 possible plots idea and see where they take me. “What if … “
Good thoughts. I will use this.
Elizabeth – Being open to all sorts of plot paths can really be helpful in getting those “creative juices” flowing, no doubt about it. Coming up with all sorts of “what happens next” ideas is definitely one way to do that. I love it!
It’s interesting, too, how those plot paths are most productive if they’re obstacles that someone has to overcome. Even something simple like an unexpected traffic jam when the character’s in a hurry, or coming home to find the washer overflowing or something can add zip. It’s not nice ;-), but it can add pep.
Bethany–There are a lot of crazy ones that come up, but there are definitely some great ones mixed in there, too. :)
Megan–Hope it helps! :)
Kat–Good luck with it! I do always have 2 bodies in my mysteries–one in the middle…and it’s frequently one of the stronger suspects. That way I have 2 different investigations to run in one book. :)
I love the “making lists” solution. I use my lists to brainstorm locations and settings for individual scenes and objects for the characters to react to. Mystery writers may not have this problem as much, b/c I know settings and objects (clues!) can be important to the mystery, but I find that my first drafts are kind of bland b/c I’m so focused on getting the characters talking and on the page. They end up spending a lot of the time talking in the car. That’s realistic, but not very interesting ;-)
I’m in the end editing stages of my WIP right now, but I’m planning the next one. This is excellent advice I’ll use for sure. Thanks.
P.S. – I just signed up for the newsletter.
I loved those books when I was a kid! I particularly remember one where I had to learn how to survive an oncoming grizzly bear – you never know when this sort of thing will come in handy ;)
I remember those books. And I went through several plot paths during the writing of my second book.
I so needed this right now. I’ve been sort of floundering and I think this may just breathe life back into my book… I’m actually printing this off.
As for the ‘choose your own’ I foresee this as a future in eBook mysteries… really letting readers solve the case with the sleuth, but I already have a friend writing a ‘choose your own’ erotica (a happy ending with 4 different men *teehee*)
Great idea! Oh and I LOVED those Choose Your Own Adventure books as a child, just thinking about them makes me nostalgic :)
I’ve taken note of this and will be referring to it in the future.
Thanks.
What a great way to think of our stories!! I usually start with the ending – so this will require a bit of re-thinking, but I like it enough to give it a shot! Thanks for the idea :)
What great advice. I loved those books. What ever happened to them? I think there should be adult versions. By adult – of course I jusy mean for adults – not anything else – though that might be interesting too.
Yep, these are brilliant. Thanks so much!
Jill–Hope it works out well for you! And first drafts are just SO often awful. I’ve got a terrible one right now. :)
Juliette–We could use that kind of advice almost daily! :)
Teresa–Thanks and good luck!
Margot–Especially if we’re stuck or uncertain about the direction of the book. If we’re HAPPY with our book, then it sort of adds more work, but I love it when I’m not excited about my plot flow.
All those little bits of conflict can add up to such a great book!
Alex–Weren’t those books great?
Carol–Thanks! And thanks for signing up for the newsletter, too. :)
Hart–Hope it will help for you! I did it on a chartered bus today for my own book–while on a field trip. I came up with an idea I thought would really work well.
There are really so many ways it could work out well–mysteries, for sure (sort of like Dickens’ “Mystery of Edwin Drood”), romance, political thrillers, etc.
Girl Friday–I had a fun time looking at the old covers for this post. :)
A.M.–The books are still being produced–I’ve gotten a bunch of them for my kids. And they have them for early readers now, too, not just MG. I think an adult version would be GREAT! If we could choose our ending, depending on our mood, that would just be too cool.
Julie–Thanks so much! :)
Jemi–Hope you’ll enjoy trying it! Good luck. :)