Jennifer Solow
We had the honor of interviewing guest author Jennifer Solow about her best selling novel now out in paperback, The Booster. She discusses her writing process with a focus on plot. For more tips from Jennifer, visit The Plot Whisperer, where she regularly comments.
Blockbuster Plots [BBP]: How do you go about plotting The Booster?
Jennifer Solow [JS]:When I was a little girl, my mother and I would make up stories about people we saw in malls, airports, restaurants -- anywhere. The stories were always imbued with conflict (often ridiculous!) and had some sort of climax and end. I think we as humans have an innate sense of plot and rhythm. We understand that Cinderella doesn't just get the prince without a few mud pies in the face.
The Booster grew organically like one of the stories I used to tell with my mom. I saw this pretty girl shopping for shoes at Gucci in Union Square. I made up a story about her in my mind. I started with the perfume I imagined she wore: Vetiver by Annick Goutal. I tried to imagine her life beyond that moment and that scent.
The Booster was the first story I ever wrote (the first anything I ever wrote!), and I never went to school for writing, so I didn't know anything. I remember having a major breakthrough at that time. One day I said to myself, "Hey! Wow! Stories have a beginning...a middle... and an end. Cool!" I then started labeled three envelopes and stuffed ideas into each one. This wasn't brain surgery, obviously, but I was educating myself about plot in the only way I knew how.
I also did a ton of mind-mapping. I jotted down anything that occurred to me: lines of dialogue, character traits, scene locations, whatever. My messy notebook was a treasure of unbaked ideas I could turn to. I do that for every story.
BBP: Are you a pre-plotter or after the fact?
JS: think both. I definitely start with a scene or a moment that appeals to me and work outward. The problem with that technique is that eventually (say, 200 pages later!) you have to make a story happen; you have to bring it to a close. I'm constantly writing then plotting, then re-plotting then rewriting. I plot when I'm lost and I need a birds eye view again. 'Plotting' can be as casual as jotting down a few notes on a Post-It.
BBP: What methods did you find particularly useful in plotting out your project?
JML: I'd have to say that my very best plotting method is bike riding. The truly, absolutely, magical plot moments are the ones that fall down on you like snowflakes from the sky. Mine fall while I'm riding.
The non-magical stuff is so simple but always slippery. Remind me again: What does my character want? What gets in her way? What does she do to overcome the sh*t that has fallen in her path? I try to fall in love with my characters then throw stuff at them that they absolutely can't handle because of who they are. How they get through it is always a surprise to me as well.
For instance, in The Booster, Jillian is a sophisticated compulsive-shoplifter who cares more about things than she does people. She has a million secrets that keep her isolated from the world. She meets Shelly, a dorky, unsophisticated girl who blurts out every embarrassing secret the minute Jillian meets her and shoplifts for completely different emotional reasons. Shelly is essentially the sh*t that gets in Jillian's way (and vice versa). But what happens to them is the story.
The epiphany I've had writing this third book is that usually something happens right in the middle of the book that turns the train completely around. The circumstances change drastically and now the character has to take an about face. Stories often fall apart in the middle. Before you toss out your story -- try hitting an iceberg. The sinking ship is where it gets good!
BBP: Do you consciously develop thematic significance?
JS: don't and I've never known a writer who does. I think things start reappearing in the story: imagery, words, concepts. In the rewrite you can tease that stuff up to the surface. I really think it's your readers who identify the themes of your story before you do. I'm always surprised at the thematic significance someone sees in one of my stories. I never set out to do any of that.
BBP: Are you a character-driven writer or action-driven?
JS: My first two novels started with a character and a circumstance without knowing the specific story that would take place around them. I guess you might say this is character driven in the purest sense.
The novel I am working on now started as a story -- a yarn already woven. I then created characters who fit the parameters of the story. I thought that might mean it's an 'action driven' story but what I'm realizing is that it's still all about character. Starting with 'story' was just an interesting way to develop character.
Most writers I know and read are character-driven: emotional development that occurs along a path of time and events. I think of an action-driven story as one where the characters themselves are much less important than the motion and movement of the story. Girl stories verses Boy stories? Maybe. My favorite stories have one foot in each camp. The Great Gatsby for instance -- certainly character driven, certainly action-rich.
BBP: Plot tips to share?
JS: I wish I could share some spark of genius. I'm always a beginner at this. I study great books, dissect movies and screenplays, read books on the matter (Blockbuster Plots, just an arm's distance away at this moment!), buy worksheets and planners (Scene Tracker, ditto!), subscribe to newsletters. Heck, I'm embarrassed to say it, but I even study MY OWN stories to see what I did right and how.
Because we are human, we understand how stories are told. Sit in the chair. This is my only advice. Sit in the chair until your ass is as fat as your seat. Sit until you are done.