Plotza – Because It’s All About The Layers
I was talking to a friend about writing stories the other day. You see, I’m working on something right now and it just didn’t feel like it had enough oomph. I knew there was something missing, I just couldn’t put my finger on it–then we got to talking about the layers of a story.
Well, that quickly turned into layered food, because–dude I make a lot of food analogies. And so, Plotza was created.
The thing about pizza plotza is, all the pieces are good by themselves. Cheese is gooey, who doesn’t love pepperoni or sausage, the dough is yumtastic, and then there’s the sauce–mmmm.
That’s how your story should be. When you take it apart and look at the different elements, they should all be good, but when you put them together, they better be fantastic.
We start with the dough- This where the story happens, it’s the characters.. it’s what everything else sits on top of. Without it, your pizza will fall apart, and that’s just messy.
Then you have the sauce- The thing about the sauce is, it’s in every part of the pizza, but it doesn’t overpower the whole thing. It’s there in the background, moving things along–making them yummy.
We can’t forget the cheese- Sure, you can have pizza without cheese, but dude–why would you want to? That’s what the romance is all about for me.
Without the toppings, it’s just Cheese Pizza- When you’re little, cheeze pizza is where it’s at. You want things simple, no need to over complicate them toppings and such, but we’re not writing early learner books here–we need some toppings to spice things up and make it more interesting. That’s just what the little mini conflicts throughout the story do.
I think I love you.
I am just SAYING.
Plotza ftw.
@E. Kristin Anderson (Emily), It makes me hungry for pizza…
Also, I <3 you too.
(I hate when people don't say it back)
.-= Jamie Harrington´s last blog ..$50 Dollar Giveaway and A Life Changing Product – PlayOn =-.
Ahhh, NOW I know what Storysaurus’ eat!!!
@Mendi, HAHA YES! That’s PERFECT!
Okay but what if I what I really like is the garlic bread???
.-= Lisa Green´s last blog ..Double Double Toil and Trouble, This Witch Has a Bone to Pick! =-.
@Lisa Green, mmmm garlic bread.
Can’t. Stop. Laughing. Not only was the post hilarious, but the comments–you have some crazy-shmazy and amazing friends. So…the big question is: Do you know what your toppings are now?
.-= Chantal Kirkland´s last blog ..You. Must. Heart. This. Movie. =-.
@Chantal Kirkland, I think I have them all lined up and ready to throw on the plotza… ohhh yeah.
Wow, Jamie, you must have some AWESOME friends, ’cause ‘PLOTZA’? That’s just sheer GENIUS! 😉
.-= @jmartinlibrary´s last blog ..DIVINE MISFORTUNE by A. Lee Martinez =-.
@@jmartinlibrary, Yeah–plus they are SUPER cute.
Just told my husband I’m in the mood for a little cheese. He didn’t seem impressed. I must be doing something wrong.
Tawna
.-= Tawna Fenske´s last blog ..Bung holes and book research =-.
@Tawna Fenske, sigh… why are they never in the mood for cheese at the same time as us?
#teamYogaBoi
*cough*
Cheese is my favorite.
@heatherwpetty, I just realized I suck for not linking to you in the original post. I meant to, and then I posted it without doing that. BAH! Fixing that NOW~!
@Jamie, You are the genius behind Plotza. I just gushed about my beloved YogaBoi.
@heatherwpetty, but you are the sweet sweet genius behind LAYERS!
@Jamie, Maybe, but the cheese-to-romance correlation defies words, really.
AHAHAHAHA!!
@heatherwpetty, haha I think that’s my favorite part as well 🙂
Hilarious and uber useful. Just read Plotting made easy at http://childrenspublishing.blogspot.com/2010/03/plotting-made-easy-complications.html VG read.
@Archana Bharathan, oh cool. Thanks, I will check it out!
But, plain cheese pizza is STILL my favorite! *throws gauntlet*
MY plotza (LOL) would have the external story arc as the sauce, like you say, and the internal one as the cheese (I don’t write romance!), then the toppings would be subplots.
.-= Jess´s last blog ..The Big Picture =-.
@Jess, haha that just means you didn’t grow up. That’s a GOOD thing.
@Jamie, of course, my alternative to plain cheese is NO cheese, with mushrooms and onions. What does that SAY about me?!?!?
.-= Jess´s last blog ..The Big Picture =-.
@Jess, you love conflict?!? 🙂
I don’t think you understand how much this makes me want to photoshop a dinosaur eating a piece of pizza. I love that you teach me writing lessons using terms I can understand. xoxo
.-= MeadowC´s last blog ..Why Do We Love Bad Boys? =-.
@MeadowC, haha I need to do that. It would just be SO awesome!!
Hey wait a second – are you calling my romance novels “cheese”? 😉
Fun post, as always…
.-= Jamie (@JamieDeBree)´s last blog ..Wildcard Topic: Talkin’ Tech =-.
@Jamie (@JamieDeBree), haha but we all love cheese!