Online Chat Transcript on the Lester Dent method of plotting

Someone told me that Picasso said that when art critics get together they talk about the meaning of art but when painters get together they talk about the best place to buy turpentine. Tonight I want to talk about a "turpentine" topic: The Lester Dent Master Plot

What's a master plot? It's a basic structure for writing a book or story. We all know some, even if we don't identify them as master plots. For instance "Boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl again" is a classic master plot.

Lester Dent created "Doc Savage" and wrote over a thousand pulp fiction stories. In 1939 he remarked that all his stories had the same basic plot. No one believed him, including editors who had bought literally hundreds of stories from him. Lester wrote an article for Writer's Digest that told, in 1500 word increments, just how he put together his stories.

I read Lester's article when I was getting my BA in creative writing. It made a lasting impression on me especially the line where Lester said he had never failed to sell a story that used the master plot!

When I started my first mystery book, I realized that plot was critical if I hoped to sell the book. Lester's Master Plot came to mind immediately as I pondered the problem of plot.

Of course, I couldn't adopt Lester's structure exactly. Lester wrote 6,000 word pulp stories and I was writing a 65,000 word novel. He used a 4-act structure (that is, there were 4 peaks in the story which built to the end), and modern readers are more used to a 3-act structure from movies and plays. Still, there was a lot of good stuff in Lester's approach, especially for a genre piece like a mystery novel.

I modified Lester's structure to modernize it and used it to write my first two mystery books. Both books sold in a matter of weeks with good advances. In fact, the second was sold from a plot synopsis before I had a single chapter done! Lester must be smiling.

So what's the Lester Dent Master Plot (at least as I've modified it)? First, Lester says to think about four elements:

1.A different murder method.
2.A different thing for the villain to be seeking (i.e. a different motive).
3.A different locale.
4.A menace which is to hang like a cloud over the hero.

Lester says having one of these things in your plot is nice, two is better and three is "swell". I used all four in my first book, just to make sure!

In my first mystery, "Death in Little Tokyo," the victim is killed with a sword, the motive goes back to the relocation camps of WWII, the story is set in the Little Tokyo district of L.A., and if the protagonist, Ken Tanaka, doesn't find the real killer, then he's being considered as a prime suspect by a racist cop! Different weapon, different motive, different locale and an on- going menace. All four of Lester's starting ingredients.

Next Lester discusses the plot item-by-item. If you're interested in reading Lester's original 4-act structure, you can download a copy of his article from: http://dept.english.upenn.edu/~rbarrett/mc/dent.txt.

I'm going to talk, step by step, about my revised 3-act structure for Lester's Master Plot...The 3-act structure is used in screenplays and most modern stage plays. You may not know it, but you've read or seen thousands of works that use this structure. Chances are you think all these works were different. They are, but only in the sense that sonnets, fugues, haikus or people are different. They share the same structure or skeleton, but there's an infinite variety possible in this structure.

The 3-act structure starts with a "hook." A hook is simply a way to engage the reader and introduce your main character(s). Lester suggested something dramatic like a sailor staggering into the hero's office and gasping out the name "Eloise" before he dies.

Hooks are important in genre fiction because readers expect to be entertained. The earlier you can start the entertainment, the better! Most readers (and editors) will not read a slow paced 100 pages before the real action starts.

The first part of the plot then builds towards the first act climax. At the first act climax, more of the story is revealed, but this revelation sends the story shooting off in an unexpected direction. For instance, let's say the detective finally finds "Eloise" after a lot of hard work, only to discover that Eloise is a ring-tailed monkey!

The new direction has to be related to the unexpected results in the first act climax. For instance, let's say that the detective then finds out that Eloise's tail has extra rings painted on it! Why? Answering that question is going to get the hero in increasing hot water, leading up to the second act climax.

For my books I followed Lester's advice and made the second act climax a physical confrontation. My protagonist, Ken Tanaka, is not a tough guy, so in the first book he's captured and beaten up by a couple of Japanese Yakuza (organized crime) thugs. He's beat up because he refuses to give them the address of his client. This raises the stakes for Ken and gives the resolution of the case a physical danger to go along with the legal problems if the racist cop makes him the prime suspect.

As with the first act climax, the second act climax sends the plot off in an unexpected direction. In "Death in Little Tokyo," Ken is able to get the Yakuza and other villains captured and arrested, but when he does so he realizes he doesn't have the real killer!

This forces Ken to go back and re-examine the clues and people he's met to try and discover the true killer and the true cause for the killing. This drives the story to the end, where everything is tied up and explained.

So that's it. My version of Lester Dent's Master Plot. Hook, first act climax (with story twist), second act climax (with a physical confrontation that raises the stakes and another story twist) and conclusion (where everything is revealed and tied together). Concentrate on character and style and 65,000 words later you have a marketable book. Easy:-)!!

Any questions?

BryantAV:Great job Dale. I think I'll run out and buy your books! Okay...who wants the 1st question

BryantAV: 65,000 words is the hard part for me. Are there other elements that can increase the word count-thereby making a book. I know it's lazy, but I get so frustrated going back and adding in descriptions of the gown. :

Dale: Typically several elements can get used to get a novel, these include sub-plots (will the detective get the girl? etc.) other locations or actions that, by themselves, are interesting (Mody Dick Make that MoBy Dick! ... has a lot of stuff on whaling operations that readers usually find interesting) and the final thing is explanation or background material on major characters (I talk about Ken's war history, upbringing and such. They help explain Ken's character, but aren't directly related to "Who done it").

Another question?

Kthirty:Any tips on weaving in subplots so they don't slow the action and suspense and/or how many subplots?

Dale: That's a "that depends" kind of question!!! There are various schools of thought on this. One school says subplots can be parallel to the main plot, in other words the problem of the detective getting the girl won't really affect the main plot either way. The other school (that I subscribe to) says subplots should (a) enhance the main plot, (b) echo the themes of the book or (c) illustrate the main characters. I personally don't think there's a hard limit on subplots if the "related" school of subplots is followed.

D S Pouch:When you undertake to write a novel, do you already have your plot and subplot(s) neatly outlined, or do you start out with some vague notion and fill in the blanks as you go along? Also, how often and how long do you discipline yourself to write per day/week/month when you're in the middle of writing a novel?

Dale: The first book was not well plotted and I had to rewrite it a lot. I learned. The second was much better, especially since I had a chance to sell it from just a plot synopsis:-). The third is very structured, but I'm not a slave to that structure. If a character takes over, I let him/her! I can alsways cut it or use it in another book! In book two, a 7-foot, 500 pound Sumo wrestler started doing things on his own, and I wrote him into another scene. He'll be the client in my third Ken Tanaka book (which is not the third book I'm doing... that's another detective serires).

Jogerrit:65,000 words seems short. Is that a self-imposed limit? And do you use one POV?

Dale: Hi Tess... The first two books just came out at 65,000, so I guess that's as long as I needed to say what I wanted to say. The third book will be longer, I think. The Ken tanaka books were first person, because that seemed easier to me. The third book is in third person, but it's set in 1600 Japan, and it's easier to be an outside observer, instead of inside the head of a 17th century Japanese. In this book I try to have all of a section from the same POV. I think every writer just "feels" how a book should be for POV and first/third person. For mysteries, first person actually gets to be hard because you can only show what the detective knows.

BAvey:How long does it take you to write a novel? And, did you have trouble doing research? If so how did you resolve that problem.

Dale: It takes me about 6 months. I dictate my first draft and pay someone to transcribe it for me. The rewrites I do on screen. The first book had several rewrites, because although I used the Dent structure, I wasn't sure what to include or exclude. The second book had fewer rewrites, even though on the second draft I wrote out an entire character (to increase the pacing of the book). I've been lucky to have very few changes requested by my editor. Research for the Ken Tanaka books was easy because they deal with the present and things I know (there's a thought..."Write what you know"... I wonder if anyone else has thought of that?!?:-)). The third book requires research because it's set in 1600 Japan, but we all had to do research in college, but this time I'm looking for the interesting detail that fits into the story I want to write.

Jogerrit:How long and are your synopses? (The ones you sell on).

Dale: 10 pages. The first ½ page discusses the theme and what I'm trying to accomplish in the book. The rest is a scene by scene description of the action. It's not an outline, but a Cliff's Notes description of what the book will be.

Jogerrit:Re: character. How thoroughly do you know these people before you start writing?

Dale: Of course, that depends on the character. When I wrote short stories in college I tried the "write a bio even if you don't use it" bit, but I didn't find it helpful. I'm sure *every* writer finds that their characters start telling things about themselves that you (the author) didn't know. For instance, I didn't know Ken Tanaka won a Bronze Star in Vietnam, or how. I did know about Ken's feelings about Asians and the number of wars the U.S. has fought against Asians, but Ken's war record came out as I was writing. I *know* you and Jean have the same thing happen.

D S Pouch:How do you pace yourself when you're writing? To get a book together in 6 mos., how much do *you* consider is good to accomplish in one day? Just your personal approach.

Dale: I'm terrible. I don't write every day and I don't write at the same time. I wrote over 250 articles, and I used to write them (usually) on deadline and after doing interviews or research. That meant writing morning, afternoon or evening, depending on when the research was done and how loud the editor was about the deadline. I write fiction the same way. I want a career in writing and I want to do 2 books per year. So if I'm 2 months into a new book and things aren't coming along, I put more time in. Yes, it's a bad way to do it, and no, I don't recommend it, but I just got into the habit from my article writing days.

D S Pouch:You sound like me! It's nice to know you can make a livelihood that way. :-)

Dale: DS: Remember, I also own a consulting business!

Khusoch:Who is your publisher? ISBN nos. by e-mail, and titles, if you'd be so kind./

Dale: My publisher is St. Martins, and I'm not in the blatant self-promotion mode yet (despite this chat.... you should see me when I really get into that mode!!!:-))

BAvey:Dale, since you are a management consultant, etc. I wondered have you worked out a marketing program-and a ten-year plan for your career?

Dale: Yes. In 10 years I want to make more from writing than from consulting. That can be easy or hard, depending on the year!

D S Pouch:How much do you feel your creative writing classwork has helped to polish your writing?

Dale: Good question. I learned a lot from my formal training but I didn't learn how to put together a marketable book. I won local and national prizes for literary fiction but if I continued with my MFA program in novel writing, I'd probably be a teacher today. I switched to an MBA, BTW. If you want to write and make a career of it, I wouldn't recommend academic training.

Khusoch:!Dale re academic training in the arts in writing. The mystery seminars I attended taught me more than all the academic training, at least in terms of putting together an entertaining book. Absolutely, Dale. My husband is an artist, has an MFA. How did he learn to paint? By painting! I've taken all sorts of courses in writing. How did I learn to write? By writing. Workshops and seminars are invaluable-especially if taught by marketable selling pros. Academia is generally too rarified./

Jogerrit:?Do you feel your Asian background inhibited your choosing writing as a career?.

Dale: Hi Tess... Yes.

BryantAV:Thank you soooo much Dale. Your input, as always, has been very valuable. I think we all benefited greatly!

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