Tell Me A Story

[geoviki]

Anniversary again - one year on LiveJournal! Thank you so much isiscolo for giving me my first deadly taste of heroin my first introduction to LJ a mere year ago! It has truly ruined changed my life.

On with the meta.

I've already waxed poetic about characterization a bit, and I know you all are dying to hear the pearls fall from my lips again. I want to beat the literary drum about one thing I consider even more important:

Plot.

(Don't fall over in sheer amazement).

In a roundabout way, I've been thinking about it this week because of several stories I've read. Now you will all recoil in horror that I'm just now getting round to reading Stealing Harry. I've only been here a year, guys. There are just some fics that, well, everybody's read, but I haven't. (Oh, admit it, you've got a few on your back burners, too.)

And the reason I've been so tardy wasn't because I thought it wasn't going to be terrific, wonderful, and impressive, but because I thought it was going to be all those things. Do you know what I mean? I was saving it for a dry spell, a time when I could relax into it, let it wash over me like that vacation at the beach I should have had, but didn't.

And it was terrific. It was wonderful. It was impressive. (I still wish for that beach, though).

I loved the characterizations Sam creates. I loved the Sirius/Remus tenderness and growing relationship. I loved the dialogue.

But the best part for me was the plot. Because that's what carries the story, what makes the dialogue have meaning, what gives the relationships their depth.

I need that engine driving me, that "What happens next?" that urges me along, that "Oh, no!", that "Oh, yes!"

A lot of fanfic exists with a focus on characterization. I'm not saying that's wrong - hell, I read my share of PWPs, too. But I don't remember PWPs past a few days. But a noteworthy plot will have me turning it over in my mind days, even weeks later. For me, the impact remains.

That's why A.J. Hall is one of my absolute favorite writers (I deliberately didn't say fan fiction writers). Her latest story, The Perilous Point just enveloped me entirely. Her whole world is one I revisit frequently, not just for her characters, which are skillfully drawn, or her dialogue, which is enormously entertaining and clever, but for the sometimes audacious, the frequently beautiful, the surprisingly gentle, but always innovative plots she concocts.

Isis, too, is a plot-driven writer. One give-away is the sheer number of pairings she's written to tell her stories. She'll write slash, het, gen, women, men, beasts - whatever it takes to drive that all-important plot. Check her out

Now I don't want this to be an oversimplification - obviously characterization is vital to good storytelling. It binds the plot to something we as readers can connect to. If you don't believe me, go read some ff.net stories for an afternoon. Still, I am one happy camper when I find myself in that mesmerized state of thinking: No one and nothing had better interrupt me right now, because I just have to know what happens next...

This is the part where I ask you to rec me your favorite plot-driven fic! So???

Comments

[cordelia_v]

Oh, I enjoyed that post. And let me second the praise you give to plot-driven stories, btw. I know my recent essays were mostly about characterization. Poor character development just ruins a story for me, and can quickly drive me to stop reading. But although great characterization draws one in (if you love that character), it's the plot that keeps you scrolling down breathlessly, wanting more and more. It's good to remind us of that.

I hesitate to recommend anything, however. You've been in this community longer than I have, and have probably read anything I could come up with.

That (obligatory disclaimer) said, have you read lexin's work? Her style is elegantly minimalist (works beautifully, too) and her stories are plot driven. They're all on her website, except for "Through a Glass, Darkly," which is on Inkstained Fingers. I'm sure you've also read icarusancalion's "Beg Me For It" series, which is plot-driven and features Draco, so it'd be right up your alley). But you probably know both of these authors, alas.

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Now, see, there are big gaps in my reading, and I have not read enough of Lexin. I see her articulate LJ responses to AJHall, but I haven't kept up with her writing. So thanks for the recs.

Um, but the Beg Me For It series - well, that's one that made it to the printed-out archive, my highest honor!