Feed My Thoughts

Edition 2 – Part 2: Feed My Thoughts on Plot Originality

Hey guys! Welcome to part two of Feed My Thoughts on Plot Originality. This week we have an interview with cashmerepoison, writer of ‘I Am Chloe’. Her heartbreaking story is currently at #27 in Teen Fiction, #32 on Watty Awards and #113 on What’s Hot. 

So what’s it about?

Cashmere’s story, ‘I Am Chloe’ conveys the detrimental consequences of the neglect of 12-year old Chloe by her father. It encompasses the onerous pain of being ignored and the mental insecurities because of this. Chloe is constantly dehumanised by her father as he feels weighed down by his fatherly responsibilities. Truly touching, ‘I Am Chloe’ demonstrates the need for a voice of the downtrodden in our society.

What I love…

Since, of course, this segment is about developing a brilliant plot; I chose to interview Cashmere on the basis of her brilliant plot. ‘I Am Chloe’ is truly heartbreakingly stunning and original. I almost cried while reading this story – it was that good. Every time she tries to escape the confinement of her life, she is shut down by the characters that are paradoxically so paramount to her yet convey no emotional response to her.

Character personality is also a lynchpin to the list of amiable qualities of Cashmere’s story. Chloe is not emo, genius, nerdy or fake. Her grades are failing, she is desperately trying to self-remediate her mental insecurities through conversations with herself, and her that means I am almost in love with this story, -confidence is pretty much obliterated. The persona of a 12-year-old is infallibly adopted by Cashmere, and Chloe has neither the mental simplicity of a child, nor the wizened vocabulary and experience of an older persona. All these qualities made Chloe gut-wrenchingly real and certainly packed a punch when hitting the ideas Cashmere was trying to express.

The quality – other than just the simply brilliant narrative tone, of the writing was also exceptional. The dialogue flowed smoothly and every conversation was completely and utterly relevant. Also the descriptive text was absolutely brilliant and 110% significant to the plot and character development. Betwixt the two – plot and dialogue, there was almost a perfect balance, and I couldn’t stop re-reading over and over again.

Also, on a side note, superb choice on story name and book cover – certainly very relevant and suits the tone of the story brilliantly.

Room for improvements…

Now, usually being the massive critic I intrinsically am, I would usually have a myriad of small suggestions for improvement to your story. Howbeit, in this case, it is near impossible.

So is there any room for improvements? – On a whole, pretty much no. A suggestion, howbeit, would perhaps be to slightly shorten the conversation with “Dr. Chloe”, but the second conversation essentially balances this. Also, consider avoiding the usage of caps lock in the story.

Overall…

Notice how the positives excessively outweigh the ‘improvements’ – it means I am almost in love with this story. ‘I Am Chloe’ is beautiful, original, and touched my heart. If you haven’t read it, then you are completely oblivious to what you are missing out on. Please check it out, you won’t regret it. ‘I Am Chloe’ is a great muse for anyone considering writing from the persona of a 10-13 year old girl, and certainly anyone looking for a brilliant plot.

Now after such a great story, you can’t help but expect a great interview. Here’s what Cashmere had to say on plot and originality…

I absolutely adore the originality of your plot in ‘I Am Chloe’. When writing ‘I Am Chloe’, how did you develop your plot? Is it structured or freeform and how did you get inspired?

“Well basically it's a 'web of series'. It may sound weird to you but when I was about 6 or 7, I started making up stories in my head about a simple, everyday family. With the years I improved the plot, changed and added many different characters, and Chloe's story is just a part of that complex series that I have in mind about that family. Though the story of that family makes a pretty good series, but I have no plans of writing it. Some things are better kept in mind!”

Wow, so this has been an ongoing idea. How did you get into writing 'I Am Chloe' and have you written other stories off 抖阴社区?

"Yep; 12 years! I don't know, I guess I just wanted to share one tiny bit of my series for the world to read, and I really love reading so I asked myself, why not? I did post one story which is another bit of the series, ‘Back To Me’. It's about a woman, Jessica, her husband left for a sabbatical that was supposed to last for six months but lasted nine years. He sent her the divorce papers and married another woman, she's devastated and still has feelings for him, but I deleted that story to concentrate on ‘I Am Chloe’. Kicker? Jessica's husband, Jeremy is Chloe's uncle. (Her mother is Jeremy's sister)."

So all the stories you write correlate? I think it’s amazing how you've managed to intertwine sub-plots into this story. Staying consistent with the same characters must require a lot of focus. Do you ever get writer’s block and if so, how do you get around it?

"I love that word yet hate it at the same time! Hmm yes a couple of times, but I eventually come to a solution, thankfully! But I must keep in mind that every single sub-plot should be related to other sub-plots."

After putting so much effort into your story, do you have any hopes for publishing it in the future? Or do you have other goals, like making the ‘What’s Hot’ list or the ‘Featured’ list?

"Well I'm thinking about it and I still haven't come up with a final answer yet. Yep definitely the what's hot and featured list, that would be so sweet! I'm almost on the first page of both Teen Fiction and Watty Awards, so I hope they'll pay off!"

Well done! A lot of the stories on the ‘What’s hot’ list can very generic but can appeal to a large audience on 抖阴社区 (vampires, werewolves, etcetera). Have these genres of stories caused any difficulties in getting your story noticed? Also, how do you manage to appeal to your audience?

"Thank you! Well most of the stories on 抖阴社区 are fantasy/paranormal stories, but no they haven't really caused any difficulties in getting my story noticed! Hmm that's a good question! I don't really know, I guess I try to keep it as realistic and as interesting as possible."

People on 抖阴社区 must recognise a good writer when they see one, eh? So would you have any advice for aspiring writers?

"Definitely, though there are lots of underrated writers on here, I think every story should be read! Well my advice is [to] keep writing, don't give up. If you don't get it right, keep trying, you'll eventually get somewhere you never imagined to be!"

I definitely have to agree with you on that one Cashmere! Thank you so much for your wonderful interview. I really enjoyed talking with you and I wish ‘I Am Chloe’ the best.

‘I Am Chloe’ is a superbly written story, with a great example of an effective and original plot. I really advise you guys to read it. The link can be found in the external link, on cashmerepoison’s user account and near the top of the charts in teen fiction, the ‘Watty Awards’ and the ‘What’s Hot’ list.

Well I hope that was as exciting as it was for me. This week’s question is ‘What type of characters do you like the least in a story, and why?’ Send me an answer (3+ sentences) and I will include it in next week’s episode on creating realistic and individual characters. Also, send me a message if you are interested in working with me on an edition and I’ll check you out.

Notice how my questions change depending on the subject’s answer. To all you other interviewers, remember to do a good interview, your questions need to be adaptable.