How to Plan and Structure Multiple Plotlines in Your Stories

Рет қаралды 9,235

Күн бұрын

Пікірлер: 51

@timshuman3550 9 ай бұрын

The video was perfectly timed. My story occurs in contemporary Lima, Ohio and in ancient Memphis Egypt, involving the serpent mounds near Lima and a plot to usurp Khufu as Seneferu is dying. Thank you, it was a good clarification of how to structure the two plots and the timing of how they converge.

@Iwasonceanonionwithnolayers 9 ай бұрын

Sounds interesting!

@timshuman3550 9 ай бұрын

@@Iwasonceanonionwithnolayers . Thank you. I'd be happy to send the first chapter, If you want to have a look. Great handle by the way.

@lesliecrislipnielsen9928 9 ай бұрын

Cool to hear about a story partially set in Ohio!

@Iwasonceanonionwithnolayers 9 ай бұрын

@timshuman3550 Thx, and yes I would love to read it!

@timshuman3550 9 ай бұрын

@@lesliecrislipnielsen9928 Thanks. I'll try to do it justice.

@josephcillojr.7035 9 ай бұрын

My novel, “When the Wood Is Dry,” includes multiple storylines that intersect a culminate in a series of climaxes, with the different characters meeting their separate moments of truth. I created this structure by accident, just wanting to do justice to each character. The main character has a relatively flat internal arc, so the story structure makes sense in showing the impact of her ordeal on the other characters. The timelines mostly do not overlap, as each character carries the ball of the main plot along the timeline from their unique perspective. That is how I can have the main character in a coma for much of the second act, while some of the more dramatic scenes are happening. I can look back now and understand what I did from an analytical perspective, but I really developed it intuitively. I think the structure was influenced by Quentin Tarantino movies, like Pulp Fiction, that tell the same story from differing perspectives and focus on character. And yes, it was difficult to write!

@TheBabayaga321 7 ай бұрын

That sounds a bit like my story structure is turning out to be (i.e. substitute 'in a coma' for 'leaving the country' or 'going to jail'). As you may have guessed I haven't quite decided which as yet. 🤔

@diegolopezolive6403 9 ай бұрын

You are the best, helping me a lot to improve my writing. And To focus my imagination. Thanks

@moisesmartinez3134 2 ай бұрын

I just finished the rough draft of my novel, and it is amazing watching your videos, I did a lot of things you say, but on my own! It is a pleasant surprise!

@cutwir3317 3 ай бұрын

🙏🏼 thank you.I could listen to you talk for hours about this. 28:30 minutes is spoiling us. Thank you respectfully. 🤜🏼 🤛🏽

@One_Flew_West 25 күн бұрын

So useful to know, thank you! My WIP has three POVs whose stories all intertwine. I hope I can pull it off. I hope it's okay to say - you are so beautiful, and I adore your hair ❤

@andypowder2146 5 ай бұрын

Love the longer videos!!!

@mercurious6699 9 ай бұрын

This is so helpful, thank you

@philosophicallogic 2 ай бұрын

You are my favorite writing teacher K. M. ! Thank you for this video, it helped me understand the multiple plotline and subplot ideas so much better! I can't wait to read your two new books on plot structure and structuring the novel! God bless you!

@jamesfromthecomputer 2 ай бұрын

Great video about subplots, reminded me of what Chuck Palahniuk says about side stories and having to ask yourself if they even matter to the story you're trying to tell

@andyclark3530 9 ай бұрын

I like the new format. You come across as knowledgeable and authentic. Yes, “The Great Escape,” is brilliant. LOTR does a good job of weaving plot lines too, and does this in a variety of ways.

@Jerry.Bingham 8 ай бұрын

Well done. A good topic to make a longer video for. Love The Great Escape analogy.

@writethepath8354 9 ай бұрын

Completely unrelated to the excellent content of the video: The door handle in the background kept looking like the Word line marker. I was listening on my phone but twice I glanced up and for half a second wondered where my mouse was to move the thing away from your face 😂

@michaelalbrecht6156 9 ай бұрын

Hope you are feeling better soon. Good video as always. Blessings

@jwstanley2645 8 ай бұрын

NCIS does this very well. One story line is usually a murder and subsequent investigation. Forensic science almost always has a piece, the screen time of which varies per episode. Autopsy also has a piece, also varying in screen time. The whole team is together in some scenes. While also there are many scenes with only two or three of the four main characters. It makes a lot of sense. A huge part of the series includes the developments of the characters and their personal relationships with each other.

@playboy8303 9 ай бұрын

Thanks a lot. you are a contemporary legend. loved all your books.....

@blinkofaneye4451 3 ай бұрын

Thank you for this, it is very helpful, as is you book. I would love to see an example of a plot chart or structure for a serial or series. I guess I am searching for a visual that shows how the plots/plot lines might look when presented on one plan.

@jeffj4440 9 ай бұрын

Love the KZbin option. Thank you for the great advice. :)

@charlesmizas5813 7 ай бұрын

Excellent. Well Done. I have quite a few of your books, including ones about structure.

@kcherbel9230 9 ай бұрын

Excellent explanation, Katie. Thank you!

@HappyOddGirl 9 ай бұрын

Great stuff, as always! 🙂👍 Thank you! 🙂 My two favourite dual plotline stories are 'The Conjuror's Bird' by Martin Davies and 'Touch Not the Cat' by Mary Stewart. Both have the second plotline a couple of centuries in the past, with the characters in the present trying to find out something relating to the story that's happening in the past. In both cases, key moments in the historic timeline resonate with the ones in the present, just as you explained. 🙂 There is another very clever thing that Martin Davies does with the character in the past in 'The Conjuror's Bird' that I didn't realise he was doing until nearly the end, but I feel that revealing it would be a major spoiler. 😁

@andersnelson 9 ай бұрын

I read a novel called "The Virgin Blue" in which the MC from the 2000s is trying to figure out what happened to her ancestor in the 1500s. The two plotlines (modern-day and historical) are told alternately throughout the book.

@kellynconradsieg7396 9 ай бұрын

You're a mindreader, thank you!

@G-Blockster 9 ай бұрын

Underrated channel

@janh4203 3 ай бұрын

Really excellent, thank you 🙂

@WILLIAMSBENTO-m8r 9 ай бұрын

Great work!! Thank you so much!

@cosmicprison9819 4 ай бұрын

While the comparison to Game of Thrones for this particular issue seems obvious at the surface, that would require George R. R. Martin to actually… plan his stories. 😁

@joereese1 7 ай бұрын

Thank you 😊

@russellcameronthomas2116 9 ай бұрын

Minor suggestion for videos -- you could lower your microphone so that it doesn't obstruct your face. (I do audio engineering and mixing). This won't affect sound quality at all as long as the distance from your mouth is the same and the mic is directed toward your mouth.

@Cambium29 9 ай бұрын

Thanks!

@silvermist8984 9 ай бұрын

How do u know in your story when to use the character's pov and when to use the narrator pov it would really helpful if u explain when to change povs ❤❤

@daniello1399 9 ай бұрын

Most Star Wars films involve cutting back and forth between different conflicts. Would you say that's a legitimate consequence of multiple subplots, or mainly to keep the audience entertained?

@KMWeilandAuthor 9 ай бұрын

Depends. The recent films have a host of problems, including storylines that do not contribute to the bottom line of the main conflict. The original trilogy does a much better job, in that every character's storyline is crucial to the bottom line and brings everyone's contributions together in the end.

@AkshithaRegidi 9 ай бұрын

good idea

@jamesgurnell228 8 ай бұрын

Hey kate, you said that if the character arcs dont converge it may be the case that they are different stories. What about if they dont converge in this book, but will do in the next, and are all essential parts of the whole completed tale? Would you split them up, or still have them in the same book? I have four POV characters (epic fantasy), but only two of them converge in the first book, while the other two have entirely separate arcs. Thematically theyre united by pursuit of purpose and belonging, but their actions never see them interact, or even know of each other in part 1. Word count is 320,000 😫 Thank you for the video 🙏

@KMWeilandAuthor 8 ай бұрын

Certain genres, such as fantasy, support this better than others. Ultimately, what's most important is that readers' expectation that the storylines will come together is fulfilled by the end of the series' overarching story--as we see, for example, in Game of Thrones.

@AuthorGuy1 7 ай бұрын

Hmm. I was so caught up by the 'multiple plotlines' that I missed the idea of palnning them. I pants everything, usually with multiple plotlines. Let's see what happens.