Jeri Smith-Ready

Blowing off steam for a moment

I hate plots. Complicated plots are even worse. You know, the sort where every little piece has to fall into place and be foreshadowed many pages in advance. The Ocean's Eleven-type plot. Not my strength. My strengths are fascinating characters, evocative descriptions, and snappy dialogue.

So what do I do? I play on my weakness by creating a story about an ex-con artist who, in order to achieve her goal, defeat the Big Bad, and save the day, must devise a complex scam, one that provides a role for every minor character in the book (otherwise, why introduce them if they're not going to play a pivotal role in the climax?). There are roughly 3,497 loopholes in this scam, and every time I tighten one, another two open up.

For instance, I need to temporarily "dispose" of one character in a way that doesn't cause grievous bodily harm, then have them return at just the right moment to cause more headaches. Since it's a comedy, I'm allowed a certain amount of goofiness, yet I want the solution to be reasonably realistic. I want to limit the "Oh, come on!" factor in the reader.

Imagine beating your head against the wall, breaking through, only to find another wall behind it. That's what this feels like. I can almost see the end of the book, but the vision appears through a dozen layers of lucite.

I think it's important for authors to challenge themselves with each new work. With Eyes of Crow, it was my first time writing from a female point-of-view, first time building a world, and the first time writing without profanity. With Bad Company, I don't have any of those limitations (the main character's a woman, but I've gotten used to thinking like a female), but this one will, in the end (literally), test my ability to work my way into, and out of, a big friggin' mess.

There ought to be a rule: never create a character who's more clever than you are.

Labels: craft, Eyes of Crow, vampire series

• posted by Jeri @ 4:31 PM
• 12 comments