The One-Plot Wonder

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Articles Index >> Writing

The One-Plot Wonder

by Michael LaRocca

THE ONE-PLOT WONDER
Copyright 2004, Michael LaRocca

Back in the mid to late 1980s I was a security guard. The pay was
lousy, but it gave me many hours in seclusion to write short
stories and novels. However, I usually worked over 80 hours a
week. No one can write that much. Well, at least not me. Thus I
discovered the joys of my local libraries.

Recently, I decided to look up an author who gave me great
pleasure in those days. Most of his books are now out of print,
I've learned, even the one that became a movie.

I found that two of his were books available, so I ordered them.
One I'd enjoyed before. The other was a straight thriller from
the days before he created the "Appleton Porter" spy spoofs,
re-released in 2001 in POD. I didn't know this before it arrived
at my home in China.

Since I'm giving away THE plot spoiler, I won't identify the
author or title.

A man who deeply loves his wife buys her a hotel outside London.
She is very happy there, at first. This is a fine suspenseful
read as she notes oddities and eventually appears to be losing
her mind and such. Suicides, an eventual murder. Finally, her
husband pays a doctor to kill her.

Her husband arranged all this, we learn at the end, because
she was dying of a horrible and incurable illness. Rather than
let her suffer the indignity, he tries to give her some final
days filled with wonderful memories. He never realizes that he
ended her days with a living hell.

The writing was fine, aside from some stupid typos of the sort
common in unedited POD titles. He's obviously a sincere,
hard-working, talented author. The plot was wholly consistent
and everything "worked."

So why is it a weak book? Because the plot I described is all
there is. It's a one-plot wonder.

As an author, if you find yourself floundering, if you find your
work-in-progress failing to make progress, ask yourself. Is it a
one-plot wonder?

Here are some best sellers I've read over the past thirty years.

During the Cold War, a Soviet commander steals a top-secret
submarine and tries to defect to the US with it. A good and
idealistic young law graduate accepts a job too good to be true,
only to eventually learn he's working for the Mafia. An
alcoholic author and his family become caretakers at an old
Maine hotel, alone during the winter, and he eventually goes
nuts. A US President declares war on drug dealers, a "clear and
present danger" to national security. A crippled author is
kidnapped by the ultimate fan.

I've chosen these titles because I've read the books and seen
the movies. None of my plot summaries are wrong. But with some
of those novels, there are many more plots and subplots at work.
These are the novels that didn't always translate well to the
big screen due to time constraints and/or loss of non-objective
voice.

I love a well-conceived "what if" scenario, and none of these
books lack that. But more importantly, I love a novel that's
rich with the fabric of life. That's where multiple plots come
into play. Very rarely will a movie capture this as well as a
novel can.

A one-plot wonder is a boring read. It's a boring write. It's not
realistic. And, it's a hard sell. All your eggs are in one
basket. If the editor isn't enthralled with that sole plot, you
aren't published. If the reviewer isn't enthralled with that sole
plot, he pans you. If the potential reader isn't enthralled with
that sole plot, he doesn't buy your book. Or if he does, maybe
you don't get any repeat business from him. You don't get mine.

Plus, we should be setting the bar a bit higher for ourselves
anyway. We entertain, but we also enlighten and educate. Or at
the very least, provide needed escape. But it's hard to escape to
a one-plot wonder. I keep taking coffee breaks between chapters.

I single out no writing medium with this. All are guilty. Come
on, TERMINATOR 2 has more subplots than many successful books
these days. And it's not just "these days," incidentally. The
title I reviewed early in this article is from 1979. Published,
successful, well-written, flat.

Craftsmanship is fine. Craftsmanship is wonderful to behold.
Craftsmanship is a necessity. But, it's not enough.

Do you want to build a horse barn that never leaks or do you want
to build a two-story A-frame home that survives five hurricanes
undamaged? My carpenter did the latter and I can't do the former.
But if I had the ability to build a leak-proof barn, I certainly
wouldn't limit myself to barns. I'd try to build houses.

I'm not talking about weighty tomes. Times change, readers
change, and most people don't read them any more. What was once
considered gripping is now considered boring.

But one-plot wonders also bore readers. They read it, enjoy it
moderately, then go look for something else to do. There's little
satisfaction at the end. Rarely the big "wow" that probably made
you start writing in the first place.

I'm talking about shooting for five stars instead of two or
three. I'm talking about richness of story, raising the standard,
writing your absolute best instead of settling for adequate.

I risk oversimplification here, but I'm seeing far too many
one-plot wonders. People are buying them, too. But it's time for
us, the authors, to quit writing them.

About the Author

Michael LaRocca's website at http://www.chinarice.org was
chosen by WRITER'S DIGEST as one of The 101 Best Websites
For Writers in 2001 and 2002. His response was to throw it
out and start over again because he's insane. He teaches
English at a university in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province,
China, and publishes the free weekly newsletter WHO MOVED
MY RICE?

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