Writing The Levitz Paradigm

[kiplet]

Paul Levitz has written a lot of superhero comics, and he has a neat trick for keeping track of multiple plots that's useful for anybody who's doing longform, episodic, serial work. This is how another comicbook writer describes it:

The writer has two, three, or even four plots going at once. The main plot—call it Plot A—occupies most of the pages and the characters’ energies. The secondary plot—Plot B—functions as a subplot. Plot C and Plot D, if any, are given minimum space and attention—a few panels. As Plot A concludes, Plot B is “promoted”; it becomes Plot A, and Plot C becomes Plot B, and so forth. Thus, there is a constant upward plot progression; each plot develops in interest and complexity as the year’s issues appear.

And this is one way to visualize it:

So each row is a plot, each column is a chapter or an episode or an issue or what-have-you, and you can keep track of how your characters are going to bounce along through each.

 

[TotallyHuman]

I don't really like spreadsheets. I have no idea why, I just don't. Weird

 

[NotaNuffian]

Paul Levitz has written a lot of superhero comics, and he has a neat trick for keeping track of multiple plots that's useful for anybody who's doing longform, episodic, serial work. This is how another comicbook writer describes it:

And this is one way to visualize it:
View attachment 12195
So each row is a plot, each column is a chapter or an episode or an issue or what-have-you, and you can keep track of how your characters are going to bounce along through each.

This is nice, one issue though, I would assume one plot for one major character and whatever that is his surrounding like the secondary characters and such. What happens when/ if these second characters cross streams with the other secondary characters of other plots.

Also, why are there big gaps in the subsequent plots?

I don't really like spreadsheets. I have no idea why, I just don't. Weird

Cuz it either looks messy or complicated?

 

[Agentt]

Also, why are there big gaps in the subsequent plots?

Beach episodes

 

[kiplet]

What happens when/ if these second characters cross streams with the other secondary characters of other plots.

You get a bigger piece of paper.

Also, why are there big gaps in the subsequent plots?

That grid's for comicbook issues, which tend to have a bit more room for plotting than webserial chapters: so plot 3, in that grid, is teased in the first issue, doesn't appear at all in the second issue, warms up in the third issue, and goes off in the fourth issue. A webserial would be a bit more intricate.

Here's an image of what I'm using at the moment, squished to hide any spoilers:

 

[NotaNuffian]

Beach episodes

Fillers you mean.

You get a bigger piece of paper.

That grid's for comicbook issues, which tend to have a bit more room for plotting than webserial chapters: so plot 3, in that grid, is teased in the first issue, doesn't appear at all in the second issue, warms up in the third issue, and goes off in the fourth issue. A webserial would be a bit more intricate.

Here's an image of what I'm using at the moment, squished to hide any spoilers:

View attachment 12196

It looks like my company's project chart.

I hate it.

Ps. Can the thing be more blurry? I can't even focus or zoom to it.

 

[kiplet]

Can the thing be more blurry? I can't even focus or zoom to it.

Spoilers! (—The rows are my main characters for the current run; the columns are chapbooks; the colors indicate that character will appear in that chapbook, and whether they're main or secondary.)

 

[greyblob]

you can use bars to make things easier, visually. there's probably free websites you can use instead of excel

 

[TotallyHuman]

Ah, the soul-crushing spirit of corporatism in a fun hobby that requires creativity! Isn't it lovely?

 

[BenJepheneT]

Ah, the soul-crushing spirit of corporatism in a fun hobby that requires creativity! Isn't it lovely?

if i ever see you pull up ANY number crunching in a LitRPG fic, I will personally find it that your kneecaps get shattered, pounded to ash, and force snorted by an orphan in rwanda.

 

[TotallyHuman]

if i ever see you pull up ANY number crunching in a LitRPG fic, I will personally find it that your kneecaps get shattered, pounded to ash, and force snorted by an orphan in rwanda.

Sheesh, you need help?

 

[BenJepheneT]

Sheesh, you need help?

i don't, but it seems like your kneecaps might need some

which one do you prefer

 

[TotallyHuman]

i don't, but it seems like your kneecaps might need some

which one do you prefer

Reminds me of last night with your mom

 

[BenJepheneT]

Reminds me of last night with your mom

i recall, your dick game was so weak she had to wheel you out of the hotel room and call for a replacement

 

[TotallyHuman]

i recall, your dick game was so weak she had to wheel you out of the hotel room and call for a replacement

So it was you in the closet? I thought it was your dad. Oh, sorry. I recall he is still buying milk

 

[BenJepheneT]

So it was you in the closet? I thought it was your dad.

it was your dad, actually. i had to plug his mouth shut while I peg him nice and raw.

 

[TotallyHuman]

it was your dad, actually. i had to plug his mouth shut while I peg him nice and raw.

But you were in the closet. Oh, well.

 

[BenJepheneT]

But you were in the closet. Oh, well.

it was of courtesy. your dad requested I join him in so your other dad wouldn't find out.

 

[SakeVision]

Nice. But it isn't helpful to me. Despite what I wrote on my resume on a couple of occasions, I never quite mastered Excel.