Be an Author: Plot Advancement by Stupidity · 5:51am Nov 20th, 2018
Avoid plot advancement by stupidity at all costs. It is very easy to write a character who forgets to lock the door if the story hinges on a burglary. It is very easy to have the guards distracted by the delivery of an unexpected cake if the plot hinges around nopony getting past them. It is easy to forget that unplugging a megalomaniac computer could prevent it from taking over the world if the plot hinges on ignoring that fact.
The worst... possible... thing... (well, okay, maybe there are worse) that can happen in your story is to have the reader realize an obvious solution to a problem and then have the characters in the story proceed to ignore it. This goes for violating laws the character should know, including those of physics and cultural norms.
There are two classes of faux pas you could make.
The first is a deliberate manipulation on your part that causes a protagonist or secondary character to do something the reader can recognize as stupid, or, worse, unprofessional. This isn't to say there are not stupid characters, but unless you are writing comedy or about believably unprepared underdogs, they are probably not in your stories. This isn't to say that professional people don't make mistakes. They do. But what are the chances that they make a mistake just in time to work well for your plot? No reader likes coincidences. Going back to the burglary example, how many times do you forget to lock your front door when leaving home? Such things make the reader think you, the writer, are lazy. It makes the story unrealistic and ultimately uninteresting. Often such faux pas are fixable, for example, after having the burglar try the locked front door, just write the burglar going around back and using a log from the wood pile to bash in a window. Much more interesting.
The worst, of course, is when you paint yourself into a plot situation where unless something stupid happens your protagonist is captured, found out, or killed. Don't be tempted. That's the time where you go back a few chapters and rewrite for a more favorable plot line going forward. Hard work, but you are an author. We all have to do this occasionally. Alternatively, shelve the story. In a week or month, you may realize a solution you didn't see in the moment—but keep in mind, you'd better make sure it's something your protagonist could have figured out!
The second class of faux pas is caused by a lack of understanding, research, or resisting asking an expert.
Even for the most earnest author, this problem is likely to occur when you attempt to write about fields you have no expertise in. To write a story about police-work, you must first understand how police work. No amount of cursory research will give you what you need to write a police procedural. I know a successful author who writes urban fantasy police procedurals who made detective—and she still asks working officers and detectives to look over her work. The point here is to thoroughly understand what your character does and to make sure they are making no mistakes that would be obvious to those in the profession, and especially to those not in the profession. As a point of fact, I've been told most television police procedurals are fairly to completely inaccurate. Additionally profession should not be considered something someone is necessarily paid for. A person that grows roses or orchids as a hobby can be pretty knowledgeable, and since plenty of people garden, you need to get it right.
Find a library or a librarian. Find a chat room that professionals frequent, or forums. Or just telephone someone. This goes for doctors, police, military, physists, etc. Make sure you understand the profession you want to write before you do so. If that's too hard, write about some other profession. [A reader recently corrected me about titles and the monarchy, and I thought I'd researched it well. Fortunately, the faux pas didn't affect the plot. I will fix the affected stories. -ScifiPony.]
The upshot is that you need to choose what the characters you write about do with some care. If you have some special expertise, consider writing about that. Carefully watch the direction of your plot to assure you don't write yourself into a corner where a miracle is required for the protagonist to escape. Stay away from specifics if your expertise in a field is weak. And certainly, don't make a character do something stupid so you can finish a story.
You don't want the bad reputation.
Update: Reader Curify got me dead to rights about my choice of tagged story; it isn’t an instructive choice, and I don’t think I’ve committed the proscribed sin in it. I’ve changed it to Prevaricator, though Sisters in All but Blood would have been a good choice. Both are my reactions to PABS in series episodes. In the first, Dashie is acting childish and I thought by that point in the series she was better than that. In the first series episode, neither Twilight (initially) nor Celestia were arguably acting at the best of their abilities considering who they were and what they knew. In both stories, I fix the problem or deal with the consequences. Sisters is more to the point, but I promoted that one recently.
Update-2After initiating a discussion with an admin for clarification, I realize now that tagging has to be providing new or updated information about the story. As a result, I’m removing the tag and using an embed instead.
I had written myself into a corner not too long ago. I was like, aww crud, now what? Reviewing what I had, I found that I did have a way out. My way out caused a domino effect in my story. What caused the problem in the first place is I simply could not break the cardinal rule of writing, and that's to never break our own rules as set up in the world we create. XD
4970870
Absolutely. When you treat your world’s rules like the laws of physics in our world, you provide the reader with a foundation to understand the story and a chance to solve the mystery of the plot as the protagonist does. This is a cardinal rule of good SF, and if followed in fantasy, it can lead to greatness.
BTW, your awareness of this means you’ve leveled-up as a writer.
Are you referencing Jim Butcher?
Agreed, so very much.
And I'd like to point out that many people in various professions have no objection to people calling them and asking about their work, and will likely enjoy the chance to talk about it with someone. At least, that's what the writers on Leverage found whenever they did research about one thing or another.
4970912
I’ve changed The Enforcer and Her Blackmailers to Prevaricator and added an addendum to the blog to clarify why. Thank you. You get a gold star.⭐
And I thought I got away with that!
4970985
I am assuming you mean “to tag a story.”
Ah. Good point! Thank you for giving me a reason to talk about my motives.
I will cover this in Be an Author: Promotion (a half-written draft at the moment), but here’s a preview: Content is king. Everyone wants something interesting to read.
Most authors these days have a website (that is, the ones actively selling their books, articles, or services). It roughly corresponds to your user page. The obvious idea is to provide an official portal for fan access and for official business. The smart ones know the less obvious reason: To keep your name, your brand, in the minds of readers who will purchase your books when they are released. A static website that just lists your bibliography is only interesting just once. Providing periodically updated free content—such as articles, fan imagery, travelogs, author musings about genre topics or their own writing—drives page views. It keeps your brand fresh in the public mind.
So, what am I doing*?
I happen to be a published author, though nopony important. I want to be published again one day, but that’s another story. Here, I am just another FimFic author and I want to differentiate myself. The currency I earn isn’t dollars (I don’t have a Patreon), it’s Views, Faves, Comments, Likes, and Feature Box Appearances in order of value. (I very very very much appreciate your comments2, though!) I want to maximize my earnings while keeping my few fans interested as I work on my next stories. I have four stories already on site undergoing final polishing (who knew lyrics were so hard to write!), and two others completed but in rewrite stages.
In my decades as a writer, I’ve learned a lot that I want to share. I very much want to do an author tips talk at Babscon 2019, but before I follow-up an offer I made to do so, I wanted content for the hour-long spot. The Be an Author articles therefore serve multiple purposes, but at the very least they allow me to promote another one of my stories to an audience that might not have yet read them. I want to be read.
So, no. While you consider it “misleading/baiting,” I will always tag something in order to promote my stories, too. With my first published novel, I did not realize I could have, nay, should have self-promoted. All the publisher’s advertising went to a blockbuster that released the same month as my novel. Would have, should have, could have.. I will not make the same mistake again.
* I’m practicing 1st narrative and getting ready to relaunch my SF career.
2 BTW, I always check out the stories of people who leave comments, especially if they are cogent like yours. Thus commenting is also self-promoting.
4970939
100% true. Sadly, I’m a lot like Fluttershy—but I hear this at every SF convention and any time people talk about research. One day.
Baby steps.
4971022
Same here, alas.
4971038
I heard all the aspects of your critique and decided it was better to take part of my reply off-line via a PM. I get that we do not agree on what is important. I am convinced that it takes more to be a successful author than just to write (though that’s fundamental)—it also takes variety, study, research, and networking as well as promotion. I am using FimFiction as a microcosm to practice all of it. I apologize if you perceived anything I did or wrote as an attack upon you. I am trying to share hard earned knowledge and nothing but. That I stated that I am a published author is meaningless other than it informs the reader that I might actually have relevant experience. I did not use it as a debating tactic. Please read my PM before replying here.
You say that it's not wise to write things that the readers might find stupid/bad choices but what if I have already established that these stupid things are something that the character is vulnerable to?
Let's say that X and Y general have been fighting each other with cunning plans their whole time.
Y general gets trapped with no escape so he decides to do something unconventional. He sits in front of his city that is poorly defended in plain view.
X General knowing Y general assumes that he's got a plan and isn't doing that due to some coincidence. He does the stupid thing and retreats thinking it's a trap. It's a stupid thing, the fans already know this, yet... it happens.
So my question is if what the readers consider stupid works... then is it stupid or smart?
4971141
I really have to get the companion article written, which recommends what to do instead! This one discussed what I recommend not to do. The construction using the word "stupid" is mnemonic but also, admittedly, ham-fisted.
Briefly, your characters as described are working at the best of their ability. There's subterfuge and clever planning. It comes down to who knows their enemy better. You write:
The rest of your reply implies the "character" in this quote is the antagonist. Establishing the situation as described is exactly the way to handle it. The problem occurs only if you don't foreshadow or hint there's a great mystery or plan. If the protagonist knows they're doing something stupid, it becomes the protagonist's choice. The reader sees clever—dangerous, but clever. The reader won't see the author writing themself out of a pickle by making the character stupid. The retreat isn't a miracle if the antagonist is acting professionally and rationally, and has no reconnaissance he's ignoring, etc. It's luck, yes. It respects the reader. You see the distinction.
And rolling the dice is sometimes a valid strategy. Prone to failure and dangerous. Usually fatal. If you make the antagonist react believeably, perhaps provide a nonbinary third alternative, it could work. Depends on your skill as a writer, ultimately.
Thank you for posing the question. It should clarify it for the readership. You get a gold star. 🎖
4971437
Thank you. Really. Thank you. You made my day.
4971291
Daaaaw thanks. But the thing is that perhaps if I let on what the antagonist is thinking this will spoil the surprise.
Anyway my main gripe is... Is it wise to adapt this so that it looks neat from the audience's perspective? How do you balance the plot to the audience and still maintain your artistic perspective as an author?
Another question. What if let's say I use deceptive narrative? What if my strategy is solid but because of my flawed point of view it's stupid. Or... what if an ambush style development makes it look stupid and the plan gets thwarted.
What if my plan is acknowledged as stupid because it really is a desperate gamble?
Ps. I fucking love these discussions sorry if I ramble.