3 Layers of ‘Layering’ in Fiction
By Victoria Mixon | January 30, 2011 |
Therese here. Today’s guest is A. Victoria Mixon, a professional writer and independent editor with over thirty years’ experience in both fiction and nonfiction. She is the coauthor of Children and the Internet: A Zen Guide for Parents and Educators and author of The
Art & Craft of Fiction: A Practitioner’s Manual. She is also blog mama at her own site, A. Victoria Mixon, Editor, which was named–along with Writer Unboxed–as one of the top ten blogs for writers by Write to Done. We’re thrilled she’s here with us today to discuss layering in fiction. Enjoy!
3 Layers of ‘Layering’ in Fiction
Layering—what is it? How do you do it? And who really needs it?
One of the most complex and conceptually-difficult of the fiction writer’s tools, layering is also one of the most essential. And once you’ve learned it you’ll wonder how you ever did without it.
Like all other aspects of fiction, layering is holographic: it works on the macro as well as the micro level. In fact, layering goes all the way down to the granularity of your telling details.
- Novel-level layeringThe simplest way to think of a novel is in terms of two tracks running almost-but-not-quite parallel to each other. Your main plotline is riding down one track. Your secondary plotline is riding down the other. Your Hook is the point at which first one and then the other pulls out of the station, and the end of Act I is the point at which both heave simultaneously into view. (That’s about 1/4-to-1/3 of the way through your novel.)
The conflicts you throw at your characters throughout the novel are the points at which those tracks almost collide, and the last one, at the end of Act II (about 2/3-to-3/4 of the way), is pretty doggone bad—the plotlines come so close they strike sparks, knocking each other wildly into different directions.
That’s your Faux Resolution, when you psyche your reader into thinking the tracks aren’t going to collide after all. Whew! What a relief! Then your Climax occurs when they over-correct and veer straight back into each others’ paths.
Collision!
So the simplest way to layer these two tracks is to alternate chapters. Chapter One = Track One. Chapter Two = Track Two. Chapter Three = Backstory for Track One. Chapter Four = Backstory for Track Two. Chapter Five = Whoa! Track One just found out about Track Two!
And so it goes, back and forth, sharing a chapter whenever there’s a near-miss, until the Climax, where they SMASH right into each other. You can add a chapter or two for the epiphany after the Climax, but you don’t have to. That epiphany is most powerful when it’s most succinct.
You can also add a third or even fourth track, but be aware you might do yourself bodily injury.
- Scene-level layering
The problem with scenes is that they, like novels, need to go more than one place at once. Every single scene must forward the story’s progress down one or more track toward the inevitable collision. And
every single scene must also pull the reader further in. A tall order!
The way to layer scenes is through a wide spectrum of writerly skills. Are you good with humor? Identify scenes to layer with a character’s humor. Are you good with imagery? Identify scenes for subtle interaction
dependent upon imagery. Are you good with high-adrenalin action? dialog heavy with subtext? inexplicable mystery? poignant honesty?
Identify the scenes best for each of your skills and determine the order in which you’ll yank the reader first one way—hilarious!—then another—oh. . .heart-break!—and yet another—what are they talking about? who did what to whom? what does she mean, “It wasn’t like that at all”?
Don’t use the same skills for consecutive scenes. That numbs the reader and dilutes the impact. Instead, vary them, establish invisible patterns, keep the reader’s experience constantly fresh and multifaceted.
And when you come to the climactic scene of each Act, where your story needs to wrench in a completely unexpected direction, start the scene on one Track, insert the other Track, and end on the first Track again.
Pile up the layers until the reader simply lets go their grip on reality and tumbles, like Alice, down the rabbit-hole of your imagination.
- Detail-level layering
Finally, there is layering on the level of telling details. This is descriptive work, and now more than ever it’s essential to do it right.
There was a time when you could lay it on pretty thick. Describe the clothes, describe the hairstyles, describe the face and hands and feet and furniture and street scenes and pets and different types of haberdashery. Paint us a picture! Oh, boy! Draw us a map!
But it was never really a good idea, and now we’re in the Age of the Infinite Time-Suck it simply doesn’t wash. Say what you’ve got to say, say it quick, and get the heck out of the way.
This—more than anything going on in fiction today—is the key to a new generation of extraordinary literature. Because this forces us to choose only those perfect, significant, telling details that snap scenes
into focus and then rely upon their juxtapositions to reveal the hidden meanings.
It also makes your work two distinct steps on the micro level:
- Record every real, concrete, believable detail in each of your scenes (mis-laced brown shoelaces, extra-wide tortoiseshell bifocals, veined beetle-shaped stains on the waiter’s apron, a scrap of an old book cover under the desk clock, liver spots on the backs of hands).
- Then cross out all of them, except the tiny handful that carry the greatest meaning for your characters at this moment, in this context. These you drop into the scene to first catch the reader’s attention at the beginning and then leave them with an important insight at the end. And near one or the other you drop in just. . .one. . .more. . .telling detail.
That’s the asymmetry that creates unconscious associations between your telling details in the reader’s mind, deepening and revealing hidden meanings—the magic of juxtaposition.
Now, is all this layering one whole heck of a lot of work? Oh, yeah. It certainly is.
And is it the work of crafting great fiction? Oh, yes. It certainly is.
Thanks for a great post, Victora! Readers, you can learn more about Victoria through her blog, her Editing Services, and via Twitter. And, psst, you can get a preview of her book, The Art & Craft of Fiction, HERE via a PDF. Write on!
Victoria Mixon has been a professional writer and editor for more than thirty years and now works as an independent editor through her blog, A. Victoria Mixon, Editor. Most recently she is the author of Art & Craft of Writing: Secret Advice for Writers. She is also the author of The Art & Craft of Fiction: A Practitioner’s Manual, and The Art & Craft of Story: 2nd Practitioner’s Manual, as well as co-author of Children and the Internet: A Zen Guide for Parents and Educators. Always on the look-out for quality editing clients, she can be found on Google+ and Twitter.
Man, did I need this because I’ve been struggling with layering, and I’ve got one big question on this layering business that I have been unable to figure out.
Namely, how does POV come into this??? If my story is in first person POV, and if my narrator’s track is Track One, how can he narrate about Track Two if he doesn’t know it exists (and won’t know it exists until the collision point)?
I can see how the Two Tracks work if you’re using 3rd POV or multiple first person POVs, but I’m lost on how to get this to work in my simple 1st person tale.
Any insight would be GREATLY appreciated!
Such a great post layered with so much information! Thanks, Victoria.
Thank you for this fantastic post. I’ve read about layering of course, and try to incorporate that in my writing, but this post has simplified so much important information.
I love the idea of looking at the writing process in three layers. Sewing them all together is the tough part. I find that I can get the details and scenes working right, but then those two darn tracks…getting them to collide is not as easy as it might seem.
I’d also be interested in hearing thoughts on Anne’s question about POV. Thanks for sharing!
Fantastic post! Thank you for sharing this.
I will especially keep in mind “Your Hook is the point at which first one and then the other pulls out of the station, and the end of Act I is the point at which both heave simultaneously into view.” Perfect summation of how to narrow in on the hook!
‘Now, is all this layering one whole heck of a lot of work? Oh, yeah. It certainly is.’
LOL! Ah, writing…
Wonderful post. It lends such insight to the craft and architecture of novel-writing. Thank you.
Oh, you guys. Thank you! Yes—layering is about as tricky as it gets.
So let me answer Anne’s question about POV for all of you:
When you’re using a single limited POV, no matter what narrative voice, you have to have both tracks running through that protagonist’s experience. Maybe one of them doesn’t make any sense to them at the time, as is true for mysteries (in which case most of that track is in notes on your desk and taped up on your wall around you, not in your manuscript). Or maybe one of them just leaves holes, as when Heathcliff goes off on his merry way smack in the middle of Wuthering Heights. But both tracks must be there.
If your protagonist doesn’t know how the second track relates to the first, the collision points are where something completely bizarre and unexpected happens that leaves everyone scratching their heads. What’s really going on here?
You’re writing toward a very specific point—that point at which total illumination is inevitable.
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What an awesome post!!
Anne, I’m not trying to answer for Victoria, but I think Stephenie Meyer’s THE HOST is an excellent example of a first person POV that successfully narrates 2 (arguably even 3) different layers.
Revelatory! After ten novellas and 1 1/2 novels, I had never even heard of ‘layering’. You caused me to go back and review my work to see if I had unknowingly done it and, to my relief, I had! But, not systematically nor with proper awareness. Your post is a wonderful addition to my sophomoric studies of the craft. Thanks much!
Great! Thanks Victoria–I see what you’re saying now (both tracks from 1st person narrator’s experience, yet not understanding what’s happening in one). Got it. Cool.
Kristan: I’ve read The Host. Good example. thanks!
This was such an important post for me to read. I am just beginning to write my first novel, and this advice was very illuminating. Thank you for sharing your wisdom!
Layers, tracks, threads… call them what you will but what underlies a great piece of storytelling is structure. You’ve nailed here, Victoria, as usual.
I’m currently battling through deep edits, and am totally immersed in the world of ‘the micro details that carry the greatest meaning’.
This is a fantastic post, and I love how you brought it back to trusting your reader. Make conscious decisions in your writing to put in or omit, and allow your reader (consciously or unconsciously) to put those connections together. It makes for an extremely rewarding author-reader experience and will keep them coming back for more.
Wow, you weren’t kidding about going big, Victoria. Thank you! This is so incredibly helpful. Layering – a whole heck of a lot of work. Yes. Fun, exciting, challenging work. Articles like this get me excited to write!
Great post, Victoria. Thanks.
What a fantastic post! The imagery of the two tracks almost colliding and eventually colliding helps tremendously.
This is a stellar article/post. And, yes, layering takes me the most time and thought.
Well done!
~Lola
Layering – the beauty of creating complexity within a tale. Easily noticed when present. Empty of depth when void.
You people are all so kind! I’m so happy Therese let me guest post for you.
I don’t have the ability to answer you each individually, but please know I’m reading all of these and appreciating your responses so much. And I can answer questions. Throw ’em at me!
[…] Unboxed has an interesting article on Layering in fiction. The author talks about three types of […]
As always, Victoria’s advice is like so many pearls in the thick molasses of the how-to genre. Articulate and intricately layered. Thank-you.
Wow. This is gold you’re sharing Victoria! And I thought gold was just supposed to be shared between us writing pirates. :) Hehe.
Listen to her, folks. She knows what she is talking about! You know what work I was thinking of when I was reading this? A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. There is so much scene layering in that play, it really needs to be studied over and over again.
I just read a book which does this exceptionally well. Your timing couldn’t have been more perfect. I’m going to do a plot analysis on this one, given your tips. Thanks.
Thank you for this great post. I think I layer, but I just don’t think about it. I write the book, go back through it and clean up scenes and then do what I’ve always called, “Adding salt and pepper; the sounds, colors, smells, thoughts and tastes that add depth and flavor.” Thanks for your wisdom!
I’ve always had this frame of mind when writing, surprise to see everyone else catching on too. Very good article on a complex subject,
take care,
Surprising to see how much people think alike.
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[…] found an article on this technique: 3 Layers of ‘Layering’ in Fiction by A. Victoria Mixon for Writer Unboxed This—more than anything going on in fiction today—is […]
[…] —Writer Unboxed:3 Layers of 'Layering' in Fiction […]
Victoria, this straight-forward advice is exactly what I needed, thank you so much! Especially for making it super-easy to understand, (if not so super-easy to do).
Thanks!
How great to learn more about layering!
[…] of three parts – novel-level layering, scene-level layering and detail-level layering. This excellent piece from the experienced editor – Victoria Mixon – throws light on this challenging and […]