Linda Needham

Author to Author ~
Article - Great Ideas

Turning Great Ideas into Blockbuster Novels

Which comes first to the successful author, plot or character? And what if neither comes first? What if you are dogged by an idea that seems barren of either? Don't give up! Help is on the way! We'll put that pesky idea through its paces, test it for a solid theme and character, and then determine its plot-worthiness.

This dogged idea might have come from a setting--such as the story of a 24-hour lending library located on the edge of the woods; or from character--a multi-generational family of pyrotechnicians, or from an event--the Boston Tea Party, or perhaps from a situation or fact. As an example, the idea for my fourth book (Avon-early 1999) came to me while I was reading the introduction to The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries, a 1910 book of field-evidence gathered by an early folklorist. The man was bemoaning the reputation that he and his fellow folklore scholars had earned among the enlightened academics who didn't believe that the study of folklore was a true science. Conflict! But was there character? Plot? Theme?

The next thing to determine is the PQ of the idea--the Passion Quotient. There must have been something compelling about the idea, or it wouldn't be so pesky. Finding the PQ will lead to the essence of the idea and will hint at the direction a story might take. In the case of my 'fairy faith' book, I could see the possibility of a character whose livelihood and reputation and sense of self depended upon traveling Britain's byways in search of tales of the fairy folk. An interesting situation, but not plot-worthy without the right characters, motivations and goals to play out the consequences.

Since I like to work from theme and premise, the next step I take in turning a great idea into a workable story is to brainstorm possible themes. Yes, the dreaded 'theme.' But don't panic. Theme can be single words and simple terms associated with the idea, as derived from the PQ. In my case, words that came to me seemed to be an exploration faith--my Passion Quotient. Theme words/terms that I discovered: blind faith, a crisis of faith, the loss of faith, faith tested, reality v. belief, tradition, the old religion v. the new--all these possibilities and dozens more, spinning off a single idea. But still not plot-worthy because theme is not character--characters merely live in the milieu of theme as they try to prove the premise: blind faith leads to disappointment, or faith tested leads to a greater knowledge of love. There are hundreds of premises that could come from the theme words listed above. Think of theme as the colors of a character's thoughts, as the clothes they wear and the food they eat. Theme runs deeply, and can be a great help in staying on track and making sure that characters stay true to themselves and thereby to the story.

Now that I have isolated my Pesky Idea, and explored its themes and possible premises, it's time to orchestrate my characters--to make sure I have the perfect blend of character traits and goals. And this is all before I begin to plot the path they will take. Let's say that my characters must prove the premise that 'faith in the human heart can overcome the coldest reality.' One character's job will be to show and explore what 'faith in the human heart' looks and feels like. Everything she does, says and thinks will be slanted toward her 'theme,' her half of the premise. She will believe in people's goodness and have faith that they mean well--which will not only become her greatest strength, it can also serve the dual role of being her greatest weakness. The other character's job will be to show and explore what 'the coldest reality' looks and feels like. He will think in terms of reality and cold facts, be suspicious of people's motives, and fear the intimacy offered by the other character who shares the story premise. No matter where such a story is set, in a covered wagon on the Kansas plains or on a plane to Kansas, these characters will do everything they can to prove their own theme--and it will be my job as the author to make the ensuing conflict that rises from their struggles against each other prove the premise that I have constructed from my original idea.

So off we go in the search of great characters who will ruthlessly prove the above premise by their motives and actions. Because of the premise, one of the characters must operate within the theme of faith in the human heart, the other must operate within the theme of cold reality--which gives me two characters whose actions will be in direct opposition to each other--conflict.

But before we can continue, we need to know why these characters operate in their individual ways. In brainstorming the 'faith' character's background I found these possible backgrounds: an orphaned Pollyanna-like heroine who has learned to rely on herself and others to survive; or she is the daughter of an antiquarian, who has seen that her father's confidence in the basic honesty of people has served him well and made him admirable to her; perhaps she came from a large impoverished family who loved and supported each other unconditionally, or she's the eldest sister of a half-dozen siblings, thrust by the loss of a parent into the role of head of household. You can probably think of hundreds more backgrounds that might set up a character as one who ruthlessly believes in the goodness of people. Whichever background is chosen, our heroine's belief in the human heart has been repeatedly tested in her past, and her faith has only been strengthened by each assault. Therefore she is well-trained for her job as defender of her part of the premise: faith overcoming. The background of the 'cold-reality' character will work most dynamically, if it's in direct opposition to the 'faith' character's background. If she comes from a large supportive family, he will serve his part of the premise best if he comes from either a large, ruthlessly unsupportive family, or from a background that has made him a loner, a wounded man who lacks faith in the human heart; perhaps he was orphaned and poor, or orphaned, wealthy, and warded as a child to a disreputable relative who had him transported; whatever his background, our hero was betrayed by those who ought to have protected him, and made to suffer grievously from that betrayal. He protects himself from further injury by remaining detached from people and focusing on that which is concrete and unshifting--granite, ice, iron... ah, I smell the piquant aroma of theme and imagery.

Onward, toward the story! Hidden within the stated premise is the action of the conflict: overcome. 'Faith' must overcome 'cold reality.' Do you see the inherent possibilities for conflict there? Her faith in the human heart is a direct threat to his cold reality, just as his cold reality is a threat to her faith. Examples: her faith in people forces him, in a critical moment, to depend on her, whom he sees as a recklessly-trusting person; his cold reality forces her to confront the truth about a person whom she believes in, etc. Each of these threats must deepen the danger to their part of the premise, and of course, to the relationship. Remember that, just as her faith in the human heart is her greatest strength, if it is also her greatest weakness (too-trusting), and if she's forcing the hero to confront his cold reality in the light of her faith, then these characters will drive that conflict with such force that the middle of the story can't possibly sag--there's too much momentum to slow it down.

Because I have chosen the conflict-word overcome, I already know that faith will win out over reality, which illuminates the destination. I know now what the resolution will look like, and yet, I haven't even begun to think about the actual plot. Which is what comes next: I must determine the route my characters will take to get there. This route must be dangerous to both characters, a tightly orchestrated threat to their self-concepts, to their goals and to their world views. That danger must be shown clearly and immediately at the beginning of the story, and it must unrelentingly increase--and the stakes raised ever higher--as the characters near their destination. Which means that as the heroine's faith-in-the-human-heart assault on the hero's cold-reality escalates, he begins to change as he sees the effects of her faith (in him and in others) and feels its compelling warmth moving to overtake his own heart. He won't like this change at all, will see it as a direct threat to the way he's learned to operate within his carefully-crafted defenses--coldly distant. As the heroine's faith in the hero increases, so should the risk to her heart as well as to her story goals.

In planning the details of the external part of the plot, its scenes and sub-scenes, be true to the themes that you develop. They will give you insight into how your characters think and act, and give scintillating color and rich textures to the story. (Ex. Our new house is set in the woods and has a cozy, lodge-feel to it. We're going to capitalize on that feeling by using the woodsy theme in our decorating, hoping it will invite our family and guests to experience a sense of the natural when they visit.) Remember that the story-goal, the character goals, every scene, every line of dialog, and every minor character must be an exploration of your character-based premise.

May all your ideas be pesky and compelling, and may all your stories come true.