Education Plots For Fiction And Fantasy Novels - Figaro! Figaro!

The most difficult part of sitting down to write that next piece of literary immortality is constructing your plot, or so it seems at the time. To have that sensation of "immortality" over one's own work is not misguided, for to us our characters and settings are entirely original, one of a kind. However, it is unlikely that our plots are brand new, and that's just fine. Ecclesiastes may have been right... "there is nothing new under the sun." To have concretized the distant plot, far ahead of today's chapter-in-progress, is not necessary. The spontaneity of improvisation is a wonderful quality in fiction writing. However, models already exist for almost everything we would have our characters undergo, and a mix of improvisation and structure is a good approach. For that reason, I would avoid soap operas, despite their "out there" qualities, for there is no ending place for the improvisation, and they are intended to spin on for years. Modern television fiction is fine, but must be translated into your era and setting of choice, which is easier to do from the work of earlier centuries. Laugh if you like, but the genre of opera has it all. Survey the "Opera Seria" of Handel, (kings, queens, epic heroes and exotic far-away loves) through Mozart's "Opera buffa" (comic opera), Singspiel (with spoken dialogue) and "Dramma giocoso" (dark comedy) on to the "Verismo" (reality) operas of Verdi and Puccini. You will find a set of entirely crystallized, pre-packaged plots that have stood the test of time and critics, and which can be superimposed on any era or cultural setting. Study Wagner's "Music Dramas" and you'll even have the ancient Nordic market wrapped up without lifting a finger, all pre-Tolkien. "Wozzeck" and "Lulu" of Alban Berg will provide that touch of post-industrial revolution horror genre in which so many modern authors revel. Since these works are between eighty and two hundred plus years old, the need for ongoing revision ended long ago. The plots pace themselves beautifully, as a rule, treat characters with the ratio of importance they deserve, avoid editor alerts for conflicting logistics and deliver ironic finales of the first order. The spacing with which characters enter and exit, for purposes of vocal rest, parallels perfectly the literary need to make sure characters are seen and unseen for effective durations. And so...the next time you find yourself sitting in a corner with a cold cup of coffee, laboring for a story with which to kick-start your work, get up and see what your nearby opera company is up to this season. Even in another language at half the speed of speaking, you won't be able to miss it. There's a powerful story in it, or it wouldn't be there - "La commedia e stupenda!" G.F. Skipworth has toured much of the world as a concert pianist, vocalist, composer, symphonic/operatic conductor and opera coach, but has also worked as a speech, pamphlet, comedy and academic writer. In a diverse output, he has published four volumes of "Fables of the Carpailtin Campfire," which include "Shindaheen," "Fire And Iceland," "Three Roads To Waitsburg" and "Airna of Karapin."

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