Non-standard "plot?"

[DennisB]

I'm struggling with what I see as a huge problem. I've got my 74,000-world novel essentially done (I keep going back to tweak things). But I'm having trouble coming up with a concise synopsis for a query.

The reason: it isn't a "here is John (or Jane) Doe and we learn to love him/her but something bad happens and he/she tries to fix it and a couple of complications arise and he/she solves the problem" type of story.

It's a book about three completely different people who share the same demanding profession, but in different cities. Because they are in a business that involves non-stop life-and-death situations, the book is structured to have each involved in a crisis and climax along the way (it's the nature of the profession). The three are not even tied together until the last chapter.

Now, I know one of the most juvenile things a writer can do is get a critique from Mom and Best Friend. But I have passed a couple of chapters on to others and the response has been unanimous so far: "please let me see more!" I'm not bragging, only telling you that there must be something here worth reading.

The problem is that the non-standard format may turn off agents/publishers (ten of whom have already taken a flyer).

I keep thinking of Tarentino's film "Pulp Fiction," and how it is non-standard, yet works very well. Why can't a similarly-plotted novel work?

Should I scrap the format and have all three characters work in the same city and interact with one another? Or is there a way of conveying the essence and heart of the story, the pathos and excitement as it is?

Thanks a bunch for any thoughts. You guys are life-savers!

[RJK]

Ask yourself, do you have three short stories based on the same plot and theme? Or, do your characters connect in some way? If you can find common ground. A place or thing that your characters can connect to. You can weave your plot around that.
I don't know enough about your story to be more specific.

[maestrowork]

It's literary, then.

But if you are trying to write commercial fiction, you may have to think about this story structure. Where is the "plot"? Why do your readers care? All that stuff. You said it like it's basically three different people and three different stories but eventually they come together at the end... it's been done before. Still, the readers need to know where that is going -- why are we reading three different stories of three different people. Who is the payoff at the end?

That's something you have to think about.

[thothguard51]

Professionals often know their counterparts in another city, state, country or company. Your MC's do not have to start off knowing each other personally.

How is the book formatted? Do you head hope each chapter to the different characters and stories or do you have the book divided into parts? Is there a narrator or event that ties all three stories together? Need more information...

Having multiple MC's throughout the story is ok, though somewhat risky. Generally there is one character or event that brings the story and characters together towards the end. If told more from the unseen narrator, with no interaction between the MC's, or only a loose association between them, then I think you have three seperate short stories all based around a central theme.

[maestrowork]

This reminds me of movies like Crash -- multiple characters who seem to have no connection with one another, but they -- as a whole -- tell a story with meaning, and eventually you realize their connections.

It could work, but you have to structure it in a way that eventually the readers understand what the plots are about...

[Danthia]

Try looking for other things that tie the story and characters together that you can showcase in the query. You might do an small intro that shows the three characters, a'la...

Bob, the daredevil accountant, Jim, the doctor with the secret drug addition, and Jane, the CEO fighting for what's right. (but not this bad of course, LOL)

Then perhaps go into the meat of your story and how these people connect, if not from a direct plot way, then a thematic way. It's conventional, but it might allow you to talk about the story without focusing on one character.

Also spend some time at an online bookstore and read cover copy for other books similar to yours. See how they do it. You;d give more specific details in a query, but the format is basically the same.

You can also look at movie description for stories similar to yours. Bear in mind, most movie blurbs are filled with cliches, so you'd want to write those out, but the tone and feel might help you get the feel for it.

[cbenoi1]

> Why can't a similarly-plotted novel work?

Michael Crichton's "Next" works along the same line. The family of a miraculously cured cancer patient is chased by a company owning their DNA; a parrot that talks like you and me escapes their owners; a family hosts a genetically modified chimp whose genes are shared by the father. Here, the theme is about the various declinations of owning DNA. Yet, they all meet in one final climatic chapter.

To be frank, I didn't like whole editorial lecture part of why there should be no ownership (patents) on DNA. But did the novel format work? Hell yes.

> I'm having trouble coming up with a concise synopsis for a query.
> The three are not even tied together until the last chapter.

Maybe a trip to Query Help in the Share Your Work forum might help.

-cb

[DennisB]

Danthia,
Thank you so much. Actually, what you suggest is what I had done in those previous 15 queries (10 rejections, five no response). And, interestingly, the characters are similar, except that they are set in the world of aviation (one is a drunk, one is going nuts because of the stress, and one has it together).

Maestro,
Literary? Well, it's not "pretty writing." Does the fact that it's non-standard make it of the "literary" genre?

I believe, though, you've hit it on the head. Essentially I've got strong character development coupled with one professional crisis each--in a way, three mini-plots). Then the bad guy is introduced, and the last third of the book is about him and efforts by law enforcement to catch him. He then enters the lives of the three protagonists, and the crisis is resolved (but it's not a happy ending, per se).

Maybe the real problem here is that this is too ambitious for a first-time novelist to pull off.

[maestrowork]

a) literary is not about "pretty writing."

b) you don't know until you write and finish it.

[Lady Ice]

Literary is basically about style and structure. The plot comes second to, or is entwined with, the style and structure.

What you have described is done quite a bit- I have something along those lines (as in three characters connected). However it makes sense to have them meet, or at least show the similarities, fairly early on, because you're splitting the reader's heart and concentration 3 different ways.

Every novel has a 'plot'. Plot just means 'how do we get from the beginning to the end?'