OK, team, this one has got my curious.

I just recently finished another read through of the Dresden Files, doing so because I want to steal Jim Butcher's writing spirit orbs. I want to try and break down his plot/structure to see what works, why it works, and emulate that into a story of my own.

Basically, the Dresden Files are very readable, formulaic, and that's a good thing. Never mind the first three books. He was finding his feet there.

How would you describe the formula that makes some of these books real page turners?

Butcher's pacing is fantastic. He keeps you turning those pages, given hints and even outright solutions, if you're discerning enough to see them, of what's coming and what to expect.

He keeps his overall story arc moving, while making it possible to basically enter the series at any given book and enjoy the story.

How do you see his A to Z. His Beginning, Middle, to End.

The recipe, the formula. I want to harness it and try my hand at his game.

Broadly, you read one of those books and you start with a problem, something always bigger than Dresden, something that then escalates, sidesteps into a grander scheme, impossible-to-win scenarios. How would you write out a plot structure, a template, to mirror that style of story?

 

I'm not sure about pacing or structure or any of that jazz that people who can actually write adhere to but whenever I try to plot Dresden Files I always think one thing.

"How can I fuck up Harry's day?"

Butcher once mentioned something along the lines of a Dresden Files book having to be based on the worst day of Harry's year. Anything less than that and it's a side job.

 

It's an RPG scenario. Dresden gets the main quest with a time limit. Alongside this he recieves one or two sidequests that at the end provide necessary information, clues, items or abilities that would prove crucial for finishing the main quest. During this, he is introduced to the opposition (usually in two tiers - mooks and the big bad). Sprinkle some random encounters into the mix and finish it off with a final battle at the end.

 

OK, that's some good insight. So:

• Story always takes place over a few days at most.
• Rising tension all the way through, alternating action/emotion chapters.
• Two tiers of antagonists that, in most of the books, seem unrelated until something, usually at the halfway point, thrusts them together.
• Three act sequence building toward final confrontation. Story usually ends in a few pages of the Big Bad being defeated. Best example of this off the top of my head is where Cowl attempts the necromancy ceremony to obtain godhood and Dresden rides on the animated T-Rex. Butcher built the confrontation from almost the first page.

Incident = Response = Emotional Fallout

Rinse and repeat. Odd chapters are incident/response, even chapters emotional development/fallout.

 

I wonder though, is that how it is planned or is that just how it ends up most of the time? Just thought of high school English classes when reading this. There's only so much you can analyse, if the author writes on feel/instinct more than deliberate planning.

 

I'd argue on the side of planned. Perhaps written by the edge of the seat through the first draft, or a lot of jumping back and forth through the draft. But there's a formula here, a damned good one.

 

<cracks knuckles>

Okay, boy. Here it is, in broad strokes.

First chapter: Harry is living his life, as he has been living it, since the last book. Whether at his office waiting for a case, in his apartment with a fucking headache, in the basement drowning himself in work, closing out a case involving shit-flinging monkey demons, or on a creepy-as-fuck island, we always open with a day-in-the-life. It is the closing paragraphs of this chapter that introduce Harry to The Event that will fuck up his weekend. Whether this is someone asking for a favour, a Queen demanding one, a damsel in distress, or a freak occurrence, the last page or two of Chapter One are where it all starts to slip downhill.

After that,, you've pretty much got the rhythm: one chapter makes things worse while another provides a chance to recover and settle into the new normal. The new normal in Harry's life usually only lasts for an hour or two, until the next worst thing happens.

Many, though not all, of the 'worsening' chapters will contain a moment of inspiration/awesomeness, where Harry will actually get the better of his opponent or situation, but usually, this only means he survives at all, rather than triumphing. So, very narrow definition of a 'win'.

It's usually in the recovery chapters that Harry begins to piece things together or does the actual detective work - in the worsening chapters, he's too busy fighting/running for his life.

Anyway, shit piles on and on, and all too often, one or more allies/friends ends up getting hurt/slash killed. Killed means things are going to get worse, and that harry himself is probably going to go do something stupid to make it even more worse; hurt means he's going to be mad, but is probably going to pull his head out of his ass and start getting to the bottom of shit.

In the last fifth of the book is where the tide turns. The Bad Guy's plan is finally revealed or figured out, and Harry begins to put together or reveal his own plan. If there is going to be a major twist/reveal, it usually happens around here.

There is a fight, Dresden pulls out a trump card/horseshoe up his ass, and wins, sometimes just by the skin of his teeth.

We get a final chapter showing things settling back into the New-New normal, or how his life will be until the next book, perhaps one last revelation or realization - this one invariably downplayed, since Dresden is usually emotionally exhausted by this point - followed by a moment's relaxation and vow to be better prepared next time, THE END.

 

One thing Butcher does well is using the plot to structure world-building and exposition. Bob served this function in the earlier books, as Harry asks him about werewolves/fey/magic etc. that the plot for that particular books involves.

This preserves the pacing of the plot (Harry needs this info do decide what to do about it) and also sets up world-building for the readers and future books.

 

I remember from reading LC's... I mean, Jim Butcher's blog (or livejournal, I think it was?), where in one of the posts he talks about The Big Middle, some big thing in the middle of the plot to keep the tension up, like the scorpion from Storm Front, Bianca's party from third book (can't recall the title).

 

Jim always starts with two plots that converge in the middle, with the detective plot taking focus for the first half and the supernatural part taking the latter half. Usually, the detective plot leads into, or provides something critical to, the supernatural plot. Chekhov's Gun makes its appearance in the first third of the book, making its reappearance in the finale. See Sue the dinosaur, Lydia the seer and Nelson the junkie for reference.