How not to plot

Thinking up the plot for a story seldom comes easy and it is sometimes a struggle to dream up something that will captivate the reader. The following is from the author C. S. Forester, who is quoted in Bryan Perrett’s introduction to his biographical work: The Real Hornblower: The Life and Times of Admiral Sir James Gordon GCB.

“There is no more futile exercise than sitting down to think of a plot. Plots cannot be summoned; they appear in their own time and in the place of their choosing, and if they are not jotted down at once they will probably escape forever.”

How often have you sat in your favorite spot, in front of your keyboard or with pen in hand, and just not been able to conjure up the muse? Sometimes, perhaps, it would be better just to go for a walk or, like Agatha Christie, do the washing up, to get your head in the right space.

The introduction to Perrett’s biographical work also provides valuable insight into how Forester created his character the naval officer Horatio Hornblower and plotted the various Hornblower historical adventure stories. It can be read for free in preview on Amazon. In Perrett’s view, Forrester based his naval captain hero on Admiral Gordon.

As an aside, Gordon was the Royal Navy commander who led the 1814 bombardment of Fort McHenry. Francis Scott Key, who witnessed the heroic defence of McHenry, wrote the poem "Defence of Fort M'Henry" which, later set to music, came to be known as "The Star-Spangled Banner".

For those who are into action and adventure and historical fiction it might be interesting to note that Perrett's introduction (read it for free on Amazon) gives an account of how Forester came up with the plot for his first Hornblower novel The Happy Return (Beat to Quarters in the US). Forester, already a successful author, was travelling the Pacific Coast of Central America by ship, thence through the Panama Canal. In his book, set in the early 1800s, Forester describes the volcanoes and 'tortured coastline' he saw. No doubt the long journey across the Isthmus helped the plot to brew. The result was one of my least favorite Hornblower tales and I suspect it was written with due regard for the need to include such features as an epic sea battle, a femme fatal, struggle between duty and personal needs (it was published 1937) and such other expectations of the book-reading public at the time.

For what it is worth, I think that Gregory Peck gave a much better account of the eponymous hero in the 1951 movie Captain Horatio Hornblower than that of Ioan Gruffudd in the 1998-2003 ITV Meridian (UK) series. Although Robert Lindsay's Sir Edward Pellew, I thought, was brilliant. I suspect the TV series was an attempt to capitalize on the 'Sharpe' TV series that was (based on Bernard Cornwall's novels) that preceded it. This might explain the sometimes-garbled story lines in the TV show that owed nothing to the books.

If you have ever wondered how an author like Forester can capture so much authentic technical detail, use of language and habits and customs from history, you need to read Perrett's intro to this biographical work. Check it out in Amazon preview.

Sometimes the real job of writing stories, imagining the fictional world you are about to create, is best done away from the keyboard.

Bryan Perrett, The Real Hornblower: The Life and Times of Admiral Sir James Gordon GCB. R ead the intro for free on Amazon

C. S. Forrester, The Happy Return (Beat to Quarters in the US).