Stuck for plot

Sounds like you've got everything but conflict. And conflict is what stories are made of.

Simply put, conflict happens as a result of characters wanting things that are out of reach and what they do to obtain those things. A good story has several conflicts, not just one, and characters should bump up against each other when their agendas don't agree. You need an antagonist -- a person, an organization, a force. A character at war with himself can become his own antagonist.

To start the conflict off you need an inciting incident. This is the pebble that starts the avalanche. It's the moment with the status quo of the main character's life changes to a state of flux.

Hublocker said:

I have a cast of characters and an awesome setting and have started writing scenes involving my characters but alas, I'm missing one small component of a novel.

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You're not actually looking for a plot.
You're looking for story.

Story is what the book is about. You can summarize it in fifty words.

Plot is all the little stuff that happens.

(The same story can be told using many different plots.)


Story is -- Two kids fall in love but their parents won't let them be together.

Plot is -- They meet at a dance and talk. He comes to her room. They talk. They plan to run away together. They manage to find somebody to marry them. But when she goes home, her parents have arranged for her to marry somebody and she doesn't dare explain that she's already married. So she goes to ...

Story is -- He has to recover a dangerous and powerful object before it falls into evil hands.

Plot is -- He sets off to find the lost ark. It's in Egypt, but Egypt is held by the enemy. So he sneaks into the pyramid where the ark is ...



So. What's your story?

Hublocker said:

A group of mammal researchers with some Native guides in a remote part of Alaska out to prove that a rare left-hand cross-eyed purple-hued marmot in danger of being extirpated by a huge unobtanium mine project are attacked evil thugs working for the mine which will be banned from mining if the animals are found.

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That's a lot of info crammed into one sentence - actually I think it's several sentences crammed into one sentence. I lost track of what it means. Can you simplify that?

There's a sandbox forum on absolute write -- maybe if you're looking for help with your story. You can explain all of the amazing qualities, and people try to help get the fire started.

I just don't know what you're exactly asking for in this thread.

The password is vista. Good luck

Hublocker said:

Okay Job, here it is, translated to a land-based story.

A group of mammal researchers with some Native guides in a remote part of Alaska out to prove that a rare left-handed cross-eyed purple-hued marmot in danger of being extirpated by a huge unobtanium mine project are attacked by evil thugs working for the mine which will be banned from mining if the animals are found.

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That's not so much a story.
Story happens to people.
And story is something people do and feel.

So story might be:

Shy wildlife biologist Jane Geotret discovers she has both strength and courage as she sets out to rescue native tracker Feodor Talldeer from international bad guys. On the long trek of their escape, she experiences bittersweet love for Talldeer, but he dies before they can reach Fairbanks. In Fairbanks, Jane faces down thugs and bullying colleagues to bring the crooks to justice.

Hublocker said:

A group of mammal researchers out to prove that a rare marmot is in danger of being extirpated by a huge mine are attacked by murderous thugs working for the mine.

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That sounds like an interesting beginning. But it's just that, a beginning. The story needs to have a person who faces some kind of personal challenge and is transformed by it. The person is your main character, the challenge is connected to the character's vulnerability/ies. As a result of whatever happens in the beginning, the MC's is stuck with some kind of problem to solve. The actions the MC takes to solve the problem and what the MC's opponents do to stop him/her are the events of your story.

And leading up to the abduction of Tracker Talldeer, the house fire etc, would be a gradually escalating campaign to drive the biologists off.
My thought was tree-planters, which is not exactly exciting work. Unless you run into bears.

Hublocker said:

Sorry Layla.

A group of mammal researchers out to prove that a rare marmot is in danger of being extirpated by a huge mine are attacked by murderous thugs working for the mine.

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That's a premise, not a story. As Job said, story happens to individuals.

Hublocker said:

So I've got a premise.

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Premise is:
(This is what you have.)

The forest stretches for miles and miles. It's filled with dangerous animals -- lions and tigers and bears, oh my. And sneaky wolves. People who live next to the forest had better watch their step. Mamma, Red Riding Hood and Granny are some of these people who live on the edges of the Forest. They keep in touch with each other through a network of goodie baskets passed back and forth. The Woodchopper Neighborhood Watch takes responsibility for policing these remote farmsteads. They can be seen everywhere, walking with an ax over their shoulder.

Premise stands still. It's the backdrop of the play.

Plot is:

Little Red Riding Hood leaves the house with her basket. She walks off the path. She meets the Big Bad Wolf. She talks to him, which is against the rules. She goes further down the path. Meanwhile, Big Bad runs along a shortcut to Grandma's house. He knocks on the door. Granny answers. He tricks his way into the house and 'slurp' swallows her whole ... etc.

Plot is a list of actions that tell the story.

Story is:

Red Riding Hood is growing up. Mamma's rules don't make sense any more. Red wants to escape the humdrum of her world. She wants to take chances. But when she does, she puts not only herself, but the Grandmother she loves, in danger. Red's courage and quick wits defeat the powerful villain who menaces her, but Red will never be so innocent and carefree again. Red has to take responsibility for her acts and admit that she made a mistake in being so reckless. She's grown up a lot in a single day.

Story is human drama.


If you look at the story --
see how that exact story could be about a young girl who gets drunk, takes granny's car joyriding, and gets picked up by some drug runners who kidnap her and granny over the border into Mexico to bring back heroin. The girl tricks the drug thugs and escapes with the help of a border patrolman.

Same story!

Girl in the future disobeys her mother's advice and goes into the ruins of the Martian city. She gets infected by an alien ghost that she carries back to Granny's condo where it begins to tear the oxygen barrier apart. She and Granny trick it into a salt shaker and trap it. Red is now sadder but wiser and will listen to Mamma's rule about not going into the ruins.

Same story, different plot.



You have a stage setting. You have backstory. You have characters standing around.
Now you need to put some fire inside the characters so they will want to do stuff.

job said:

You have a stage setting. You have backstory. You have characters standing around.
Now you need to put some fire inside the characters so they will want to do stuff.

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Brilliant as always, Jo.

BethS said:

Brilliant as always, Jo.

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Storytelling is so special. So important. It's the basis of everything fiction. I can't love it enough.

That was really great advice from Job. I've been having problems with my plot as well, but after reading this thread I think I'm focusing too much on the plot instead of the story. Or maybe I just had them confused. Either way, I think that writing out the premise, plot, and story individually would be a great exercise.

Good luck with figuring it out.

I find it also helps to get inspiration, not just from books, but from other mediums like movies and video games for effective plot and all that breathes life into it. The largest inspiration for me regarding character development and interaction was the video game Mass Effect 2, not so much any book, aside from LoTR's. That game focuses almost exclusively on characters, and it does it breathlessly. (Also, anyone who is a fan of ME like me, I did not enjoy the ending to the trilogy like most everyone else it seems. I still love the series regardless.).

How to connect everything together, right at the start, I always develop the primary factor for what drives my characters forward, which often as happens to arise the conclusion for my novels. This is the assistance I need to help spur my characters onwards, as, otherwise, for me at least, it's like a headless chicken running around aimlessly: my characters lack the overt motivation for why they're doing what they're doing. And even if all characters do not share in the same impetus, if one character looms large over them all and has more of a commanding influence, or if a majority rules, the others have little choice but to follow him/her or them–if I want them to.

Try and then find the impetus for your character(s). If you can do that, you can further develop their personalities, connections will be made and possibly subplots will arise in the process. Creating their backstories would also be of assistance; and creating that eminent motivation could help with this, including the emotions that define them.

You've already gotten some really sound advice here. Another thing that could help if you're struggling with story is to ask the "three questions" that are popular in QLH. (That's query letter hell, by the way.)

What does the main character want? How is she going to get it? Who or what is standing in her way?

By looking at it from a character-driven standpoint, you can sometimes get a better idea of the story. Hope that helps.

What about, just before the ultimate climax, when you're gripping onto the book and leaning in at the big moment, a big meteorite falls on them. The end.

Hublocker said:

While I appreciate all the advice above and realize that people mean well, I have to admit that I started reading novels 50 years ago with books like Treasure Island, Kidnapped, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer the coastal novels of Roderick Haig Brown (look him up) and People of the deer by Farley Mowat.

Call me a narrow minded curmudgeon if you like, but I've never played a (expletive deleted) video game in my life nor am I going to seek inspiration in one thank you very much.

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??

I'm not sure why you suddenly got all defensive and, frankly, dismissive and disrespectful here. Lego Bono gave a perfectly good suggestion. If you don't agree with it, all you have to do is say something along the lines of, "Thanks, but video games aren't really my thing. I prefer books like Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and so on." Nobody is making you do anything you don't want to do.