Kate Brauning Profile picture
Jun 16 17 tweets 7 min read
It’s #subtips time! Here’s an editor plot tip challenge that may significantly tighten your plot, stakes, & pacing.

Make your main character the antagonist of your antagonist.
So many genre novels I work on tend to have MCs with strong internal goals but soggy, abstract external goal. Discovering something, figuring something out, dealing with a family dynamic, making it through something. #subtips
But the antagonist’s goal the author really nailed—it’s specific, measurable, concrete, unique. Get revenge by doing X. Build power by siphoning magic from Y. Present a deadly puzzle to trap Z. #subtips
But then the main character is pretty much stuck being reactive to the antagonist’s goal—figure out the puzzle, escape, struggle through hoping to achieve something. #subtips
Sometimes this can work. There’s always exceptions. But this sets the author up for a story driven by the antagonist. The MC is kept fairly reactive or passive because the one with the real goal is the opponent. But what if your MC truly drove the story in response?
#subtips
If the MC is largely reactive in their goal & actions, if they are not as specific, measurable, unique, personal, concrete as the antagonist’s—that sets you up for soggy stakes and pacing because there’s not enough push-pull in the plot. The MC isn’t pushing back enough. #subtips
But try flipping the story around. We already know to imagine the story from the antagonist’s POV to make sure they’re active and complex. Now take that a step further:

Plot your MS as if your MC was the antagonist of your antagonist. What’s their goal NOW? #subtips
What if instead of “escape the killer” their goal became “kill the killer”? What if “struggle through my family life” it becomes “lead my family through accepting Dad is emotionally abusive and take collective action” #subtips
In both of these, the MC goes from largely reactive in their goal to truly opposing the opponent. Even if the opponent is a situation or problem and not a person. #subtips
To do this, instead of having a MC with a goal and coming up with something to oppose them, try taking your antagonist’s concrete, measurable goal and ask yourself “what would throw a huge wrench in that?” Let your MC be the wrench, not the antagonist. So: #subtips
Mc has a goal: Cop in a crumbling marriage has to rescue his hostage wife & others from terrorists.

Vs:

MC as antagonist: German bank robbers pose as terrorists and take an entire office hostage. Jon McClane sets out save everyone by terrorizing the terrorists. #subtips
It’s so much more compelling—even in a story where there was already deep stakes and a concrete external goal for the MC. Imagine the difference in your plot and pacing if that’s already weak #subtips
Suddenly you have a much more dynamic plot, equal push-pull, more opportunity for twists & shocks because there’s more power at play, a MC set up for real cleverness, pushing themselves more & being way more proactive. And bonus: Tons of extra character development! #subtips
Want more #subtips? A golden rule for the first page:
Another plot rescue tool: move the climax to the middle. See what happens next. See if what follows gives you 4x the story and if that’s what you really wanted to say: #subtips
Some behind-the-scenes discussion of why you might not be getting feedback responses on your queries: #subtips
And a bit of #subtips on character realization vs character transformation:

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More from @KateBrauning

Apr 25
It's #subtips time! 3 golden rules of the first page, from an editor:
1) Give us a burning question. What will happen? Are we right about our dangerous suspicion? What is this incredibly intriguing situation? Why are they doing this very odd thing? We will read to get the answer.
This question should hang in the reader's mind as the early conflict/tension. It should be fresh-- why is this toast so important? Why the hell is she sitting in a hole in the back yard? It should be important and not TOO big. "Will they live?" is much too big for pg 1 #subtips
Double down on this question on page 2-- add a layer, give a detail that prompts a deeper question. Slowly peel the onion-- only tell us things that will make us have MORE questions or will make the original question even more important. That re-sets the hook! #subtips
Read 4 tweets
Jan 12
hey why not resurrect my #subtips?

As an editor, one of the most frequent notes I give on MSs is "move the current climax to the midpoint. See what it does for the story."
What if you moved the big bang of the story to the middle? What if it went so badly or so well that it changed everything? What does that do for your characters, your pacing, the action of the plot, your theme?

If that sparks anything for you, pause to think about it #subtips
This is such a great tool for taking your story from a 5 to a 10. As writers we're so scared to dream big with our characters and what we allow them to go through.

So here's a question: What would happen if you let all the shit hit the fan at 50%, rather than the end? #subtips
Read 11 tweets
Nov 18, 2019
Some quick Monday morning #subtips on author branding! In an age of so much information and access, a solid brand becomes a goldmine for authors.

What is a brand? It's the core elements that readers can expect from you-- it lets them know what to expect before they buy.
Your brand is made up of who you are + what you write. You + your books = your brand. #subtips

But of course it's not THAT easy, right?
Your brand is not a logo, a business card, your website, your colors. Those are all products or expressions of your brand. Your brand guides them. Before you jump into branding with hundreds or thousands of dollars in purchases, hang on a second. #subtips
Read 25 tweets
Nov 20, 2018
Whaaat is it really #subtips time again? It is! I'm going to yell about what makes a standout, bestselling, award-winning, reader-grabbing first line in a novel. WITH EXAMPLES.
First to note-- not every book that wins awards or becomes a bestseller or that readers love like their own child has a striking first line. BUT why not use every power you have to hook your reader and set their expectation? #subtips
There's a magical joy in picking up a book that's new to you & reading a first line that just stabs you in the heart, or makes you laugh out loud in the bookstore, or mesmerizes you so intensely you forget that you're a person making a decision & simply enter the story #subtips
Read 31 tweets
Oct 6, 2018
I am so tired of people thinking being a bi person married to a person of another gender makes you somehow less queer. Like you’re basically straight and can live a straight life.
A) it’s not being “basically straight.” Your brain and body are still bi. Your relationship is not a straight one.

B) it’s not all “I get to pass as straight.” Sometimes I pass as straight, but it’s not always that I GET to. Passing as straight sometimes SUCKS
There are aspects of privilege to not having my orientation immediately guessable by everyone around me. This is very true. Those of us with no option there so often deal with massive trauma because of it.
Read 17 tweets
Nov 29, 2017
Time for more #subtips! More on emotional engagement and emotional dimension! To review here's my thread from last time:
Your character can go through hell but if the reader isn't impacted emotionally, none of it matters. Breakout books move the reader. #subtips
I am specifically talking about mainstream fiction straddling the literary-commercial divide, and how to boost that breakout potential. Though these tools apply to a lot of books! #subtips
Read 26 tweets

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