Finding your narrative arc amid the noise

eruthford · Nov 20, 2019

I'm looking for an exercise or a resource that will help a writer sift through a bunch of events and find the ones that make the physical, emotional and intentional arcs actually work. I've looked through the stickies and haven't found such an exercise, but if there is one I've missed, please feel free to point it out.

In my case I have two memoir manuscripts, and on each I have written several drafts. On each I have about 200,000 words I've written about all the stuff that happened and I've narrowed them down to 60,000 or so words that I think would make good reading. But as the years have gone on and the stories get rejected by agents or beta readers say "it was ok but not a real page-turner" I'm getting the impression I need tighter theme and plot. I am good at writing about individual experiences that happened and making them interesting and sometimes funny, but the whole "ok so why is this in the book" question, not so good. And, I feel like my manuscripts are getting stuck at No. 8 of the Slushkiller's list of reasons your book was rejected. "It’s nice that the author is working on his/her problems, but the process would be better served by seeing a shrink than by writing novels." (or in my case, memoirs)

I've pondered doing experimental things like turning my memoir into a bunch of short stories that barely relate (although that would be darned weird because I'm the narrator throughout all of them) or fictionalizing the whole story so that the tension could lead to the characters breaking up a smuggling ring or something similarly exciting (and unlikely). But I think these are just weird ideas one comes up with when stuck on the same project too long.

So, does anyone know of good thematic organization tips in non-fiction?

Bufty · Nov 21, 2019

All I can suggest is find one overall theme and link the others to it.

Perhaps 'Dealing with whatever life throws at you' -and sub-themes- in alphabetic or some sort of linked order - of whatever situation/issue/ you chose to select as having been flung at the reader.

I'm only answering here because the question seems a lonely soul, despite over 40 other folk having read it and, possibly, like me, not too sure what you were seeking. Have you tried Googling?

Sorry if my post is of little help. :flag:

Woollybear · Nov 21, 2019

We see memoirists at writers groups and yours is a not-uncommon problem.

One woman framed hers as her escape from fundamentalism. Another framed hers as how she grew into a witch (she also started in a fundamentalist christian church.) One woman overcame abuse, and another woman had a wild ride of a life with nobel laureates and Stanford positions and acid trips. Her stuff is amazing to read but she also struggled with why it was a story. To her, we suggested breaking the book into three or four chapters of life, like college as a smart strong mathematician major, then falling in love and becoming a wife and mother and putting some of that to the side, then caring for her brilliant husband as he began his mental decline and she did not, then life after his death. Somehow the theme emerged as the continuity of her through all these different chapters. Or something like that.

I don't think any have been picked up for publishing.

Good luck. If there's a writers group nearby, they may be able to help.

gothicangel · Nov 23, 2019

It might be worth picking up The Writer's Journey (Christopher Vogler). Aimed at fiction/screenplay writers, but it may be of use.

indianroads · Nov 23, 2019

If all you have are a bunch of short stories without a theme that ties them together, I suggest you publish it as - a collection of short stories. Otherwise write each segment in a way that it progresses the narrative about that theme.

My first two novels were autobiographies about growing up around criminals selling drugs to hippies back in the 1960's. At first all I had were some short stories, but then I noticed the story about children being separated from their parents when they crossed the border was getting a lot of play in the news. Well... that's kind of what happened to me, and that's what linked the individual tales together. The plot became linear (and easier to read) when I started it with my parents arrest, then progressed through alienation (loss of friends & disowned by family), then juvenile hall, then foster care, then living on the street. I also got to tell the story about my first girlfriend (a street urchin like me). As I worked with the plot, I realized that I could use the theme of 'perseverance' when writing the emotional arc of the main character.

As I said at the top of this, I suggest you look for a linear plot line you can move your character through, and a theme that will act as the backbone of your novel.

Gateway · Nov 29, 2019

eruthford said:
I'm looking for an exercise or a resource that will help a writer sift through a bunch of events and find the ones that make the physical, emotional and intentional arcs actually work. I've looked through the stickies and haven't found such an exercise, but if there is one I've missed, please feel free to point it out.

In my case I have two memoir manuscripts, and on each I have written several drafts. On each I have about 200,000 words I've written about all the stuff that happened and I've narrowed them down to 60,000 or so words that I think would make good reading. But as the years have gone on and the stories get rejected by agents or beta readers say "it was ok but not a real page-turner" I'm getting the impression I need tighter theme and plot. I am good at writing about individual experiences that happened and making them interesting and sometimes funny, but the whole "ok so why is this in the book" question, not so good. And, I feel like my manuscripts are getting stuck at No. 8 of the Slushkiller's list of reasons your book was rejected. "It’s nice that the author is working on his/her problems, but the process would be better served by seeing a shrink than by writing novels." (or in my case, memoirs)

I've pondered doing experimental things like turning my memoir into a bunch of short stories that barely relate (although that would be darned weird because I'm the narrator throughout all of them) or fictionalizing the whole story so that the tension could lead to the characters breaking up a smuggling ring or something similarly exciting (and unlikely). But I think these are just weird ideas one comes up with when stuck on the same project too long.

So, does anyone know of good thematic organization tips in non-fiction?

You're looking for a central idea and then sub ideas which support the two opposite sides of the central idea (all represented by characters), and then a main character to be pulled and pushed towards each side as a choice is made. That's the basis of a tighter theme and you kinda need to have it explained/shown to you in action before you start to see how it works. Too much to it to explain in a post.

eruthford · Dec 2, 2019

Patty said:
We see memoirists at writers groups and yours is a not-uncommon problem.

One woman framed hers as her escape from fundamentalism. Another framed hers as how she grew into a witch (she also started in a fundamentalist christian church.) One woman overcame abuse, and another woman had a wild ride of a life with nobel laureates and Stanford positions and acid trips. Her stuff is amazing to read but she also struggled with why it was a story. To her, we suggested breaking the book into three or four chapters of life, like college as a smart strong mathematician major, then falling in love and becoming a wife and mother and putting some of that to the side, then caring for her brilliant husband as he began his mental decline and she did not, then life after his death. Somehow the theme emerged as the continuity of her through all these different chapters. Or something like that.

I don't think any have been picked up for publishing.

Good luck. If there's a writers group nearby, they may be able to help.

Thank you for your help with this, Patty. I've been traveling and it's taken me quite a while to come back to this thread.

What I'd been wishing for was some kind of theme-sorter spreadsheet tool like the scene-sorter spreadsheets you'll hear people use to keep track of their plotlines, but alas, I am getting the impression they do not exist. Although the thing about breaking it up in to three or four chapters of life was an important thought. With my manuscripts, I had tried a three-part structure, one for college, one for the Peace Corps, and one for becoming a father, which looked ok for a while, but I'm thinking of focusing it just on the Peace Corps.

eruthford · Dec 2, 2019

indianroads said:
If all you have are a bunch of short stories without a theme that ties them together, I suggest you publish it as - a collection of short stories. Otherwise write each segment in a way that it progresses the narrative about that theme.

My first two novels were autobiographies about growing up around criminals selling drugs to hippies back in the 1960's. At first all I had were some short stories, but then I noticed the story about children being separated from their parents when they crossed the border was getting a lot of play in the news. Well... that's kind of what happened to me, and that's what linked the individual tales together. The plot became linear (and easier to read) when I started it with my parents arrest, then progressed through alienation (loss of friends & disowned by family), then juvenile hall, then foster care, then living on the street. I also got to tell the story about my first girlfriend (a street urchin like me). As I worked with the plot, I realized that I could use the theme of 'perseverance' when writing the emotional arc of the main character.

As I said at the top of this, I suggest you look for a linear plot line you can move your character through, and a theme that will act as the backbone of your novel.

Wow, that's quite a story with the drug trade and then trying to make it on your own after that. Perseverance sounds like a good theme for it. In this case, I started out coming from a stable childhood and ok experience in college, but later events sent me for a loop, so I'm trying to work on a humbling theme, learning what can be actually accomplished vs. what goals are just egotistical.

Finding your narrative arc amid the noise

eruthford

Bufty

Where have the last ten years gone?

Woollybear

gothicangel

Toughen up.

indianroads

Wherever I go, there I am.

Gateway

You Are My Density

eruthford

eruthford