Summary: We started this show by talking about how I (Johnny) am enjoying -- for the first time -- writing an outline before beginning work on a project. I'm currently doing this for Fat Vampire 3. There was some contention between Sean and Dave about the outlining process, but that's always the case. The way I'm working and the way Sean likes to work (which I learned now that I'm working with Sean on our first Unicorn Western book) involves writing what Sean and Dave call "story beats." It's not exactly a rigid plot architecture, but is rather a loose summary -- the way you'd write a summary after finishing a book, except that you write it first. The summary/outline gives you guidance and lets you think out the story without being overly rigid or left-brained. I also said that it's feeling to me like a "pre-rough-draft draft," which means I'll now get to play with revamping the story as I write rather than having to wait until I rewrite it in the second draft. Plot? Setting? Concept? This led naturally into discussion of the differences between a story's concept or setting versus its plot. All three of us seem to feel that "rigidly plotted" books come off as exciting but stilted, but we've also learned -- and I learned the hard way, through many failed fiction projects -- that some structure is a godsend. Specifically, I used to create worlds based on cool situations… but then found that there was nothing going on in my story. Fat Vampire is a good example. The CONCEPT was "a man is turned into a vampire when he's overweight, and his overweight nature dogs him into vampirehood." But that's just a concept, and I still needed to have my guy do something, or else he'd just sit there and suffer in amusing ways. This would also have me laughing AT my protagonist rather than WITH him. He'd be a joke and nothing more. So I had to come up with a problem he got into and had to get out of, and that became the plot. There was a ton of more discussion here, much of which revolved around Stephen King's idea of "situational writing" vs. the tightly plotted work of authors like Dan Brown. The short version is that we like our fiction best when it's somewhere in the middle -- character-driven and situational enough that it feels natural and real and you care about the characters, but plotted enough that your story actually goes somewhere and stays focused. Ultimately, you want something to happen, and having a bit of a roadmap helps. To view the video version of this episode, go to: Self Publishing Podcast #30 - Concept vs. Plot vs. Setting
