On Managing Wants in Your Story

by Juan-Pablo Pina

Howdy.

Like I said in a previous entry, this is meant to show my creative process. This means including just as much of the ugly warts and kinks as the exotic and artistic results. I want this entry to be an example of what will probably be inevitable in your storytelling journey.

An undeniable fact about this project is that, at least in the beginning, I was drawn to the setting more than the story. It’s true, the story is king, but the setting was the carrot on the stick that got me to move. Naturally, I want to see the setting in all its glory. And just like how James Cameron added the flying scenes in “Avatar” or Peter Jackson added the beasts of Skull Island to “King Kong” (2005), that’s a good thing. If you want your audience to truly immerse themselves in the story, you have to let them marinate in it. Even if it doesn’t outright contribute to moving the plot forward, it’ll be quite worth your while.

However, a goal I’m setting is to be a better writer. And if I can explore the setting in a way that moves the plot forward, I’d be very proud of myself. But if that means making the plot dumb as bricks, then it’d be better to just leave that part out. Or, at the very least, adapt it to better fit the narrative. Because if exploring a part of the setting means looping all the way around, then that just doesn’t make sense. Especially since that means that the in-between (which is important if you actually want to show that the setting has dimension) will be just as convoluted.

For example, a part I think would be great to have would be a moment featuring the northern city-states. Grim and quiet places where mammals have taken the mantle of dominant clade away from the reptiles. Plus, more critters to add to the collection! Who doesn’t want to have cave bears, cave hyenas, cave lions, the great elk, ground sloths, woolly mammoths and rhinos, Morrosaurus, Nanuqsaurus, Pachyrhinosaurus, sasquatch, scimitar-toothed cats, trolls, and wendigos? There’s also the bonus of a new cultural aesthetic (think of the Starks from “Game of Thrones” or Paleo-Native Americans) and magnificent locations like creepy forests and steppes with rolling hills. That’d be great!

But…

If the story means going east to unite the nations, then why would you go north!? To get some hot chocolate and meet Santa while they catch a cold and meet some Pleistocene mammals? It just wastes time and puts the characters in unnecessary peril. However, considering the theme of the first book is war (the nature and supernatural stuff comes in the following installments), it would make sense if they were captured by some roving warlord. And why not tie that into the villain?

Why make it random when this can act as a brutal reminder of the antagonist’s power? A villain that’s remembered is one that scares you and never lets you forget them. Scar being Simba’s uncle in “The Lion King” means he’s often around the cub, his cranky and sinister tone making him an instant icon. Lord Shen being so deeply tied to Po’s past in “Kung Fu Panda 2” shows his influence, makes Po (and thus, the audience) respect him, and also makes him terrifying considering the genocide he wrought on the panda village.

In this case, you can’t blame the characters for going north, they’re captured! What’s more, you get more action with sieges on northern settlements and it influences the long-term story, with the northerners making the army of the final battle an even greater threat. It’s a coup de grace that cuts the head off the problematic snake known as “logistics”.

Now, mind you, it is never this easy. Something that a lot of writers do (including me until not too long ago) is rely on the whims of mood and desire. But, to quote Gurney Halleck in Frank Herbert’s “Dune”:

“What has mood to do with it? You fight when the necessity arises—no matter the mood! Mood’s a thing for cattle or making love…it’s not for fighting.”

-Frank Herbert

Like a barracuda spotting a fish, writers will find a shiny new idea and get in a creative car crash. Desire for a new idea and love for the plot collide into a mess. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, you can adapt that idea to fit like I did with the northern city-states. Other times, however, you have to drop it, lest you fall prey to an endless “writer’s block” that eventually fills you with apathy and exhaustion to the point that you drop the project.

In this case, something I urge you to do is build a “filter”. A purpose-made algorithm that you can run a concept through and end up with a satisfying result. For example: my “filter” revolves around these core questions: “Does it add to the themes and/or plot?”, “Does it feel heavy metal?”, and “Does it make sense in the setting?”.

If 2/3 answer “yes”, then it goes in. If not, then I drop it (though I do try to think about it for a bit, as solutions can arise). I’d suggest you have the same mindset rather than latch on to an idea that goes nowhere and potentially dooms your project.

So with that, I’m gonna end it here, and I’ll see y’all next time.

Cue Outro…

*Copied over from my own Newsletter on Substack. "The Paleontology Author" https://substack.com/@paleoauthor