101 Plots--Used and Abused for your pleasure

I was looking downstairs for some items and saw a thin volume on top of a box of books. Sure enough, it was a book titled 101 PLOTS –USED AND ABUSED, by James N. Young, The Writer, Inc., publishers. I’d gotten it from one of the “bargain book” outlets over twenty years ago, probably for less than $5. Originally written in 1945, the revised edition was reprinted in 1961, which is what I have. It is only 71 pages and while some of the items in it are very outdated, it is frightening how many of these plots I recognized, reinterpreted and combined into an “everything old is new again” movie script or book.

Of course, the first thing I did was check to see if it was still available. First, I checked Amazon, to find it selling for $99.95, WITH the dustcover. It is the 1961 edition I have, in very good shape, but no dustcover.

(http://www.amazon.com/plots-abused-James-Nicholas-Young/dp/B0007E53JC)

Ooohhh! How interesting. So, I checked Alibris, a website for antique and out-of-print books. They were selling the 1946 edition in “good condition” for $85.50 for one of my favorite websites, Better World Books.

(http://www.alibris.com/search/books/qwork/-87116059/used/101%20plots%20used%20and%20abused)

Still, IF I should ever want to get rid of my copy, I’m betting I could get a decent sum. All in all, a pretty good investment.

In the Forward, Young tells about getting a call from a friend, who has a great idea for a story, that just happened to his cousin/friend/uncle/whatever. The author bursts his bubble by interrupting, telling the rest of the story and saying it is Plot No. 46. (A pickpocket/thief returns a favor by helping the protagonist escape.)

Don’t you wish you could do that?

“In this little book you will find briefly outlined a number of old plots (with a few of their many variations) which have become hackneyed through much use….Old though they be, the skilled craftsman can still reclothe their bones so as to produce the illusion of novelty.” Mr. Young worked as an editor, so he compiled his list from what he saw submitted, but also wrote himself.

Rule Number 1 is from Francis Lewis Wellman, author of The Art of Cross-Examination.  “Rule 1 for every writer should be: Write a certain number of hours every working day in the week. Whether you’re in a writing mood or not, write: Let nothing, other than illness, keep you from your typewriter!”

Rule Number 2 is from our author. “And, however impatient you may be, never submit a story to an editor until it is as near perfect as you can make it. Work over your plots again and again, before you start writing. Live with them, take them out to walk with you, sleep with them. Edit your stories line by line, word by word; and, if necessary, rewrite them again and again…and again…and yet again. When you have put the finishing touches on a story, when you have done your ultimate best, hold it for a time—with a little further thought you may be able to improve it.”

Rule Number 3 is on page 15, where our author is trying to write his own story for publication. “Which reminds me: One of the most important things the beginner must learn, if he hopes to succeed, is how to avoid the use of cliches. Many a piece of fiction never finds a market simply because of the author’s choice of trite words. If you are a beginner, go over your stories before you send them out, and delete as many hackneyed words and expressions as you can—and as many adjectives! This, take it from me, is good advice.”

He includes the super short story he gave to his editor, called “A Song in France.” It was his fifth draft. Remember, that was in the pre-photocopier days of the manual typewriter. I remember those and carbon paper, don’t you?

In fact, I have this very typewriter from my mom and dad on my quilt case.

Then, he goes into the plots, with the addendum in the headline “(With twenty-four extra, for good measure).” He numbers them, each one paragraph synopses, sometimes with generic character names.  While most would not sustain a novel, I recognized these old chestnuts, every one.

Number 114 is the: It was only a dream. (Remember that whole season of “Dallas”?) Number 55 is the: He’s dead, but the reader doesn’t find out right away. (Remember “The Sixth Sense”?) Number 72 is: The husband went off to war and was reported as dead, but returns years later, having just been captured. (Remember “Castaway”?)

So, it’s safe to say, anything we write has been written before. How many secret baby, fake marriage/engagement, misunderstanding keeps them separated books have you read the past few years? Quite a few from me, but I know I’ll keep buying them and reading them. It is simply up to us to make it interesting, different and worthy of our readers’ dollars.

Wanna be startin somethin?

Okay, a loooong time ago, I spent two hellish summers taking typing classes.  Yes, I'm old.  We loved the IBM Selectrics, but hated the Royal manuals.  My brother gave me an electric typewriter for Christmas/birthday/graduation that lives out in the garage as we speak, that got a hell of a lot of use.  One of the major things I learned from Mr. Donham was to double space after each period, each sentence, actually. 

I'm doing it now.  It's a habit I've had ingrained for a loooong time. 

Have you noticed, when you post on a blog, a board or Facebook, it's changed to only one space between sentences?  Have you really looked at a book published in the past oh, say, eight years or so and seen that there is only one space between sentences?  Go ahead, look and come back.  We have more to discuss. 

Okay, Smack Upside of the Head for Today: "Using a single space means that you understand that technology has changed since the decades ago when you first used to type." --Alissa Walker, in "Good Design Daily: Do You Double Space After Periods?"

http://www.good.is/post/good-design-daily-do-you-double-space-after-periods/ 

Walker references http://www.slate.com/id/2281146/ by Farhad Manjoo, who has gotten almost 1,000 posts, some hateful and angry that she even makes the suggestion we should change.  Current style manuals and typographers are clear that the one space rule should be, well, a rule and still folks are adamant that they won't change. 

Or, as my good friend Pam Asberry put it when she posted this recently:  "Don't hate me.  I'm just the messenger."  http://pamasberry.blogspot.com/

Now, these posts give the reason we put the extra space in--typewriters used monospace fonts, where each letter took up the same space.  With these big, fancy computers, the proportional fonts used automatically adjusts the space, because the lower case "i" uses less space than a lower case "m."  When you have a sentence starting with a "W," it truly looks better to have that extra space in there with some fonts.  I can't tell you how much time I spent line editing when I changed fonts on my completed manuscript, because it was easier to see if I had one, two or three spaces between sentences. 

But, earlier this week, I took the advice above and did "Find and replace" for periods, exclamation points, question marks and quotation marks on my 518 page "Seven Days."  When I finished, I looked at the bottom and saw it had gone down to 512 pages.  SIX PAGES (yes, I meant to yell) of extra spaces between sentences. 

Think about it.  That seriously affects your word count.  When it gets scanned in to whatever program, it'll get automatically switched to one space between sentences anyway.  Your angry Comments will be published with only one space between sentences, no matter how hard you pound that space bar twice. 

In other words, this is yet one more thing that has to change, needs to change.  Don't know about you, but I particularly hate change, even though it is often for the good.  Six pages I don't have to sweat over cutting works for me and it was simple to do.  I won't miss those extra spaces and I'll bet you won't either.  If you want to keep typing them, that's fine, just remember to do your search and replace at the end.  You'll get a more accurate word count and take a giant step forward toward what your computer already knows anyway.  And as Pam says, you can teach this old dog some new tricks. 

Things we can control

I went through my massive collection of beads and findings recently, sending out gifts to several people.  Today, I updated and printed out my book list and I'll do the same for my music list here in a bit.  I have a couple of needlework patterns I need to put away in my ring binders. 

Does it sound like I'm anal-retentive?  Which BTW, I've been told is hyphenated when used as an adverb.  Not really.  It's just that there are things I can control in my life and I find comfort from that.  When my husband and I were excavating (correct choice of word) the boxes of @#%& in the office to organize things, I had to force myself to NOT micro-organize every little bag of embroidery floss.  It was important at that time to get the larger problems solved (clean out that corner, pack bag of things to donate, recycle paper and cardboard, throw pictures in box to organize later) and get it done, while I had help. 

You see, I'm the daughter of two pack rats, married to a pack rat.  These past few years, I've forced myself to get rid of things, even when it kills me.  I had to do it at work, when I moved offices and by golly, threw away three huge trash bins of old workbooks, meeting notes and assorted junk.  I had to do it, when I sold Mom and Dad's house.  I promised myself I would not channel Dad and keep every single twist tie, plastic utensil and margarine tub ever.  Also, I promised myself I would go through my canned goods regularly and not keep anything that hissed when moved (the umpty-ump cans of pork & beans on the shelves on his back porch) or clanked when it shouldn't (the can of pumpkin Dad used as a rhythm instrument). 

Digital photography, scanners and flash drives have simplified my life also.  I'm truly blessed that my parents had a ton of pictures, but I can get rid of the ones that are out of focus or don't have anyone recognizable in them.  If a tragic fire happened, I have the family pictures in a fire safe and copies with several relatives. 

So, in my writing, editing and character design, I am desperately trying to do the same.  Yeah, I did a good job crafting that paragraph, but my novel is over 550 pages, so it gets cut.  I did save it in a file where it may be used elsewhere, in another form.  When I changed from 3rd person to 1st person, I hugely simplified my writing and cut over 100 pages (yes, my original draft was over 700 pages!).  It was a relief to get rid of some awkward sentence construction and let my characters tell their stories in their own words. 

But, there comes a time when I find things I can't cut or get rid of.  I put that in a scene in my second novel in the series, where the middle daughter, Mary Margaret, digs a ring box out of the trash to keep.  The hero, Rob, starts to make fun of her, then realizes it wasn't just a ring box, it was a memory.  On one of the organizational shows, the host was talking about not being able to honor your possessions and memories, if they can't be displayed or enjoyed. 

I can control what I keep.  I will have these memories and representative things that I can find fairly quickly, if I need to.  I will not end up on "Hoarders" or its ilk.  Any brothers or sisters out there who will give an "Amen"?