I was reading Anna Genoese’s blog here (she’s an editor for Tor) and came across this comment about a panel she did recently: “…although some of the people attending didn't seem to quite understand the difference between character development and plot development, commercial success and a successful character, and why, when you are writing a character driven novel, you want a three-dimensional character, not a plot device disguised as a character.”
Not a plot device disguised as a character.
Huh?
Am I guilty of such a heinous crime?
I clicked through to leave a comment asking her to elaborate but saw that others already had. Apparently, she wasn’t in the mood…referred to a rant she’d posted some months back. I made a half-hearted effort to locate it but gave up quickly.
I should mention she made this comment in the context of complaining about what she sees as a heavy reliance on Christopher Vogler’s Hero’s Journey. (For you nonwriters, Hero’s Journey presents a story-telling structure--reflected in everything from mythology to today’s commercial box office movies--that involves a step-by-step pattern populated by characters who fulfill certain roles like “mentor.”)
So is Anna harping on authors who create characters whose sole purpose is to satisfy a step in the Journey…? Gee, I’m not sure I could do that even if I tried.
I feel like I’m missing something important here.
Then again, maybe not.
Any guesses?
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3 comments:
You have to write a lot more before I'm going to understand what you are talking about, I'm missing about what you're missing. Sounds like Monopoly pieces. Mentor, protaginist, antaginist, hero, villan, victim, innocent by stander, used car salesman, smile when you are happy, frown when you are not.
Darth Vader must have been the mentor.
Well, tell me this: how could a plot device be disguised as a victim? A mentor? Is it just semantics? Maybe I don't understand what a plot device is. Maybe I need to study writing more. Maybe I should have taken more than one creative writing class in college. Hey, who knew UC Irvine would turn out to be one of the top schools for writers?
Too bad I got that crush on my poly sci professor.
Tried to figure out what a plot device was. When in doubt, search the internet.
"A plot device is a person or an object introduced to a story to affect or advance the plot. In the hands of a skilled writer, the reader or viewer will not notice that the device is a construction of the author—it will seem to follow naturally from the setting or characters in the story. A poorly-written story, on the other hand, may have such awkward or contrived plot devices that the reader has serious trouble maintaining suspension of disbelief; indeed, the devices may even leave plot holes."
Think I'm starting to get the drift. A plot device does not work for writers who sit down and the stuff just comes out. I haven't written on Novas for a month and received a request to share what happens next. I have absolutely no idea what happens next. So, if I have plot devices, they are complete accidents. Seems to be incredible that a writer can at a point, say "I'm going to insert this character or thing to cause this problem." But, outlining a story before writing is incredible too. How does anyone be so sure about what happens before sitting down and writing it?
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