In preparing for a plot talk for children’s writers and the SCBWI San Francisco/South region last Saturday, I analyzed one of my favorite books from my childhood — The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
As I read and plotted out the scenes in the Beginning of the story, I was delighted to see all the effective foreshadowing (in 2 instances she shows Mary, the 10-year old protagonist, playing in dirt and attempting to plant cut flowers which foreshadows the passion she develops for the secret garden. She also foreshadows the presence of another child in the house with the sound of crying three times before Mary actually discovers the cause of the distressing sound.).
In the middle, relationships abound which is thematically rich in that Mary has never had a true and loving relationship with others and in order to become who she is meant to be, she must heal this divide. Each relationship becomes a subplot in the middle which is exactly where subplots belong.
Also in the middle, whenever the story seems to slow down or her circumstances become too ideal, there are plenty of plot twists thrown in which makes for an exciting read.
However… and this is an enormous however, the End of the story made me want to fling the book across the room and declare that the book is no longer a favorite of mine.
The energy of the story rises to a climax and thus, stays true to the needs of the Universal Story BUT is not at all satisfying in that the reader is committed to Mary’s story and yet, as soon as she helps Colin — the only son of the lord of the manor — heal and become whole, she moves into the shadows never to be heard from again. The last 1/4 of the book becomes all about Colin.
This is not so surprising, when one considers that the book was published in 1911 (women’s right to vote doesn’t happen until 1920) and girls didn’t have many options. Still… there is absolutely no climax OR resolution for Mary’s plot line and thus, no resolution for all the young girls who love(d) this book.
In analyzing this book, I consider the impact the story must have had on me as a young girl. Though I read the book in the 50s or early 60s, my generation continued to have limited options — nurse, teacher, secretary, mother…
Now, a young girl’s options are limitless. She can be a leader, an artist, a visionary, an entrepreneur.
Please, when considering your story, reach, think different, stretch when it comes to writing the Climax of your story. Write lots of endings, push yourself to think outside the box, and then pick the one that feels thematically the strongest version.
Your protagonist’s actions at the climax inspire the reader to think big and different and grow and evolve. Give the ending the time it needs and deserves to deliver the greatest impact.
For more support about the Climax and ending of your story:
1) Check out Chapter 11 & 12 of: The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master (Also available as a Kindle edition)
2) Watch:
- How to Create a Climax
- The Climax usingin Change of Heartby Jodi Picoult
For more about the Universal Story and writing the end of a novel, memoir or screenplay, visit Plot Series: How Do I Plot a Novel, Memoir, Screenplay?on YouTube. A directory of all the steps to the series is to the right of this post. (a directory of the Plot Book Group with specific stories as examples is to the left of this post. Scroll down a bit to find it)
For more tips about how to use plot and the Universal Story in your novel, memoir or screenplay, visit:
Great blog. I like it, I love it, I want some more of it.
I'll be back.
What a great post! thanks a lot for sharing with us!! ike it!
that is just great) thank you!
Stories engage readers' emotions and expectations and if the climax does not channel those emotions and expectation into a satisfying resolution then the let down is huge. It's all vector theory. Another book on plot that can help is Vector Theory and the Plot Structures of Literature and Drama.
Excellent work! Thanks for it.
Thanks for your comments, Guy, webpromo, term papers!
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Hi Cynthia Joyce Clay,
Your book looks fascinating!!
I'm buying it on Amazon.
Thank your comments and congratulations on your book.
(You left the same comment twice thus the removal of one by me…)
Interesting analysis of The Secret Garden. I've been meaning to reread it (mainly because I allude to it in my WIP) and I'll think about this issue as I do.
Ruth, I'll be curious to learn what you think when you reread the story again… Thanks for your comments!
I feel the same way when re-reading Charlotte's Web! The story begins with Fern's incredible resolve to keep Wilbur alive, but she fades away with Henry Fussy at the fair without so much as a parting glance. I know kids have short attention spans, but…
Hi Krs10,
I'm now curious to reread other classics I grew up reading with a female protagonist to learn what happens to her at the climax.
Makes me passionate about supporting women writers to think different in writing their stories with the hope of creating a new reality for women and girls everywhere.
Okay, I'm climbing off my soap box now…
Thanks for commenting.
martha
aka
plot whisperer
Krs10, I've recently read Charlotte's
Web to a student so the book is fresh in my mind. Fern loses her enchantment with Wilbur long before the fair. Charlotte is the real main character IMHO.
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