Character & Plot

I can't make conclusions about plot until I know my characters. The more extensively I am able to understand the strengths, weaknesses, and unique traits of the main cast (and auxiliary) the more I am able to pinpoint how they function on what I would call the "grid of life" AKA plot. This might not be how other writers work, but seeing character first helps me to know what exactly their problems or situations should be. I ideally think in visuals about what the character would experience, see a small zygote of an idea, and build from there. Preferably if I can daydream about a character for 12 minutes then I know I have something small enough to work with without it becoming a saga. If I can sit down and get my brain to make a story in one sitting than likewise it will probably be a work that's read in one setting. This is not always the case because sometimes you come across the perfect daydream that has enough juice to give electricity to the world, but there is some amount of ratio in how much I input into my thoughts that translates into length for number of pages.

As for plot, I see it as a  grid of freewill and predestination. In fact, fiction is the only real frame that has laid out what exactly those esoteric terms mean. I now see plot as strings that expand from left to right, but also can dip into more complex of dimensions besides 2D lines. I don't think it's the most stiff written into stone science, for there is some fluctuation as to where characters (and people alike) can end up treading on their path(s). There is some obvious indications where characters will go based off the paths they take; setting, symbols, and all around story world building can point to what will happen since there are only so many options from context, for instance, when you have a character at the bottom of a catacombs layering bricks on top of each other to trap a friend inside the reader / audience should be expecting grim conclusions. The Edgar Allen Poe short story I'm briefly touching upon has a distinct plot line that follows the descension master plot. Before the main character even begins touching bricks the reader should know that the story has dark, sinister, and morose implications simply based off how the story continually descends into further layers of... death and darkness. Furthermore the actual words chosen to depict that descent help to frame the story for the reader. The properties to help build plot allow for the audience to key into what's happening, such as the setting. The visual medium constantly gives hints as to "what is happening" in the plot. In fact, visual mediums beat the audience over the head with point; however, we often watch unconsciously until we are enlightened on the patterns and symbols before us. 

To me this helps to depict predestination. There are only so many master plots in storytelling; perhaps 20, maybe more, but those plots in and of themselves give hints as to the possible types of conclusions that will be reached. In a rescue plot we expect one of generally two outcomes: the victim will be rescued or the victim will not be rescued. Any number of other possibilities could happen, in fact bizarre ones like the rescuer becomes the victim, or the victim becomes the victimizer. But with this type of master plot we're definitely not expecting certain other outcomes such as a complete shift with penguins riding hot air balloons (more in lines with a quest / adventure), unless somehow that has to do with rescuing: it more than likely is a red herring or unrelated. The characters still have myriads of choices, and I think the writer needs to listen to the character and allow for it's own decision making rather than force characters to go the way an author requires. I think to help characters ring true we have to let them go into their own world and try not to take them by the hand too much. Sure, that may make no sense for writing since the writer puts every word on the page that directs action, so I think what I'm referring to is a step before writing. In order to let characters be free we have to be free in our imaginations. Fantastic dreams often are when the mind goes free of it's own course to process whatever deep unseated issues or fantasies it has. I'll soon get to how this is achieved for characterization, but I do think mimicking this dreaming for characters helps for them to have authenticity. Being open minded helps to get the perfect blend of formalized character (predestined) along with a more lively, untamable soul pulsating in its veins (the freewill). 

When I feel like I'm controlling my characters too much, I step away. Trying to take a screwdriver to them and force them to be what I want ends up in info dump dialogue and cliche actions. Instead of writing it's time to go back to thinking, daydreaming, imagination, and dreaming. One of the better strategies I have to break from writing is to lay down, close my eyes, and play music that reminds me of the character and then just let myself dream about a scenario with whatever decides to come up from that. Not only does this relax me, but it also generates far more substantial ideas than if I just stare at a blank white screen. To be honest, I don't even think there is a blank white screen in front of me. The problem is I'm too focused on what's before me in the physical that I can't see what's really going on in my head, so then it becomes a matter of silencing everything and really going into the character's heads and seeing what meaningful stories resonate from them.   

I must also admit that seeing fiction in this way and relaxing with it has also taught me a great deal on how to perceive life in general. If I recognize before hand what type of setting or decision making I'm entering myself into and it's not where I want to head, I respect what master plots are out there and I change my path.