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Learning to Plot

BabsWriter

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I identify the main conflict, and how it will get resolved (subject to change while writing, of course). After I have all that on paper, I know what themes I need to touch on and I begin writing an actual outline of the book at the chapter level - again not being too concerned about anything but the ideas themselves. Sometimes some of the detail work happens at this stage, but most often these are really rough, covering only the basic events that take place.
ID the main conflict, good. ID the main antagonist also and her/his agenda? I recommend doing that before attempting the outline. What is her/his end game? How will he/she control the environment? Apply fuel and a match to the story?

Consider outlining as you would for a screenplay. What is the inciting incident? First major plot point? First major reversal? First pinch point? And so forth. Thinking of the outline in this manner rather than by chapter and it will nudge you into considering the most important plot elements.

Also, consider outlining a scene at a time, each scene performing a specific function in the novel. Chapter divisions can follow later, much later. If you know your first major reversal, for example, you can sketch the scene that depicts it.
 

scifi_boy2002

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I never really think about the plot so I may be the worst plotter ever. That is, I don't worry about it. I begin with a simple plot and build on it. Actually, I think of the plot before anything else. I just naturally do it. It's like connecting the dots. I have a plot that the mcs must solve. Then I have a begining and there will be several obsticles they must go through before they get to solving the problem. You start at A then draw lines until you get to Z. Connect the dots. Everything in between are the obsticle keeping them from overcoming whatever the plot is.

As I said, I may the worst plotter ever. But in all the critiques I've ever gotten, and I have many writing problems I need to work on, no one has ever said anything negative about my plot. I don't know, though.
 

Mikilao

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Pet my plot

I have 2 ways to get through a plot. 1) I take a piece of paper or more. draw columns boxes whatever and place characters, conflict and solutions in those spaces then add little notes about the individual characters and how they solve conflict. the ending can always change as you go so you can keep it blank. it serves as a diagram for my storyline incase I lose my way.
2) to make sure you have a complete plot I think of a story in the simplest terms I can. WWMCD=What would my cat do! animals have the simplest mind to reach a conclusion. My cat wants a treat from the hiding spot. Desire! but he has to climb the kitchen counters jump to the top of the fridge and open the cabinet. Adventure and conflict! he gets caught. Suspense! Climax! he gets the treat anyways. the end.
:D

The Might-Be Aphrodite coming soon
 

beccajw2

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Forcing Conflict

I'm finding that in an attempt to up the stakes for my characters, I'm forcing conflict, even if some of the motivations of the characters creating that conflict don't make sense. (Ex- my antagonist does something to hinder the protagonists, even if logically he would do the opposite. It doesn't make for an interesting story, but it makes more sense).
I'm already planning out large rewrites to fix this (and I'm in draft 2 outlining stage anyway), but does anyone have any advice for avoiding this in the future? Or is it simply a matter of being more vigilant about what my characters would/wouldn't do?
 

Day Agent

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Basically, plot is why things happen, or why people do what they do, emotionally. Events are endpoints between lines of emotion, leading inexorably one to the other. Those lines don't have to straight, and may even go out of sight, as with an unreliable narrator.
 

JustSarah

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I might end up falling back on how I used to plot. I based most of my stories in the past around a thematic enigma. The protagonist would presumably grow to understand their situation -- what I come up with randomly -- better.

I sort of indirectly solved my writers block, by realizing that my protagonist don't really grow to understand anything, as they have already understood what it is they need to learn.
 

L.David

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This has been an interesting read. In a nutshell, my technique is to first outline the events, based on the idea I have, and then order them by smallest to largest impact. If there's not enough, or if the events are significant enough, I'll think of things to throw in the way of the MC.

And then of course I think of the 3 act stages.
 

rikg73

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I tend to outline a little (a few characters, a few scenes, basic plot--a couple of sentences and maybe a blurb) and then leave it alone. In a week or so it'll have come together more in my mind and then I can start a couple of chapters. Following this, it's easier to look back at it as a whole and start to plot it seriously (doing a rough chapter-by-chapter outline--though only a few words for each). I prefer to keep it fairly loose, as I find the characters often start to write their own story, though I do like an idea where it is heading and what the major themes and conflicts are.
 

anastasia091

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I tend to outline a little (a few characters, a few scenes, basic plot--a couple of sentences and maybe a blurb) and then leave it alone. In a week or so it'll have come together more in my mind and then I can start a couple of chapters. Following this, it's easier to look back at it as a whole and start to plot it seriously (doing a rough chapter-by-chapter outline--though only a few words for each). I prefer to keep it fairly loose, as I find the characters often start to write their own story, though I do like an idea where it is heading and what the major themes and conflicts are.

I am also a fan of planning only loosely, and then seeing where the story takes me. The times that I tried to plan in too much detail, I ended up with a major case of writer's block, because I couldn't figure out the way to make the story flow with what I had planned, and have it still be interesting. In the end, I set for myself an 'end goal,' of sorts, representing where I want my characters to get to - whether physically or emotionally - and I weave my story around it that way. I find it flows a lot more naturally than when I plotted every detail.
 

D S LILLICO

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I struggle with plot. I am good at starting with an original idea but I get carried away easily.

I over think things and can go off on multiple tangents. Some work and it becomes a plot line but most ends up on the cutting floor. It can hinder when it doesn't work but create some magic when it does
 

ColdWintersNight

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What if your plot is boring? Especially when it's a fantasy story and it's really more about the characters and less about finding that magical Harry Porter horax?
 

Samsonet

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Good characters deserve fitting plots. A character-driven plot isn't necessarily going to be boring, the same way plot-driven characters aren't automatically unlikable. ;)
 

Fitch

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Very instructive thread. Thanks.

Really enjoyed this thread. Read it from beginning to end. Learned a lot.

I took up writing fiction after I retired (Aerospace Engineer) to keep my brain from turning to oatmeal.

I'd read Books on structure (Brooks and others), dialog, setting, POV, plot and character development. But knowing the elements of structure and creating a story to hang on that structure are two very different things. It's like the difference between the building code (rules to keep the building from falling down) and pleasing architectural design.

When I learned of this forum, on the Scrivener forum, I'd gotten bogged down in the middle of my first novel. I had the beginning, the end and a few elements of the story in between. But after a good start, followed by a month of thrashing, progress had stopped.

Enter a contributor's suggestion to try the freeware mind mapping program, FreeMind. That turned out to be an excellent suggestion. I installed it yesterday, spent an hour or so becoming familiar with it, then used it to explore ideas for the plot of my novel between the first plot point and the second. It turned out to be a remarkably useful tool for exploring options. The net result is I'm off dead center and the outline of the novel is progressing.

FreeMind will never replace the use of annotated flow charting and outlines in my writing process, but it is a very good tool for quickly and thoroughly exploring ideas. It's easy enough to use that it quickly becomes transparent to the user.

Thanks Again
Fitch
 

adevereux

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I am the worst plotter in existence. Still and all, I've had 3 short stories published, and all of them have a plot. I didn't outline them, or even think about them at all, I just started writing. This may do for short stories, but not, I think, for novels. I've started at least 6 novels, and only made it to around 15,000 words before I realized I had no idea where the plot was going. I will of course read through this thread, but any suggestions for plot help would be greatly appreciated.
 

Hunter S Johnson

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I have never published anything yet, other than writing a blog, but here's my suggestion, something I read years ago... Tell your entire story in one sentence, ie, "a bored farm boy on a planet far, far away finds a robot, and it leads him to study an arcane martial art and discover an unknown power inside himself, and that leads him to join a rebellion against impossible odds, and by trusting his training and believing in himself, he becomes the hero of the rebellion." Recognize that story?

Now ask yourself, "How the heck does that happen? Who helps him? Who's trying to stop him?"

Many people cite King in this thread... maybe I am misunderstanding him (and I love the work, read a lot of it), but I don't think he dreamed up a mousey, telekinetic teenager and said, "Ok, what can I do with her?" He had to know she was going to exact revenge on her tormentors... that's the "one sentence story" of Carrie. I believe the shower scene came to him on the fly, and a lot of the supporting characters and scenes, but he had to have the "one sentence story" before that came to him.

I could be wrong... maybe he just loaded a piece of paper in a typewriter one day and typed "Carrie" at the top, and it all just flowed out of him. Maybe that's just the kind of genius he is. But as for this noob, I started with the "one sentence story" of my novel, populated it with the people my protagonist would encounter, established their goals and motivations, laid out the settings, and I am now perhaps a week or two from completing my first draft.

Your mileage may vary, but this technique worked for me. I had the characters, the problems, and the final destination laid out before I wrote the first chapter. I made a few deviations from my map, but they were necessitated by actions and events I wrote, knowing my my characters and being true to them. But all the while, I knew where my protagonist would end up.

If you don't know where you are going, how will you get there?
 
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brianjanuary

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One of the most critical tasks for plotting is to understand story structure (plot points, etc.).
 

JC4085

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How you don't mind but I just printed out your response and it's now hanging on the board over my desk. Thanks for the excellent guidance.
 

JC4085

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Every plot needs a starting point. Most storys of a certain level of sophistication have more than one trigger event. And several story threads.

Each trigger has to set up a cascade of action like dominoes falling. The dominoe that falls has to relate logically to the one directly before it. A plot is simply the story laid out-- "John sees Mary at the soda shop" triggers "John asks Mary out for a date." What coud his obsticles logically be? Several. Mary might be married. Mary might be a cross dresser. Mary might be a KGB agent. Mary's parents might object. This could be a war zone and both could be enemies.

Obsticles control the direction of the plot. Whether you create or choose one or another is really up to the type of writer you are. If you are a romance writer, you would go with a different obsticle than an action adventure writer (or you might not as many genres mix). You can use basic "plots" in any genre. John and Mary's plot can be used in both a romance novel or a action adventure-- only the obsticles would be different. In a love story, you might use "parents object." In an action adventure, you might choose "KGB agent."

What is their Goal? John might want to date Mary in a love story, but in an action adventure he might want to get information about a spy network out of her. The Goal is tightly bound to the choice of obsticles. It also is bound to the "result." Did he or did he not get his way? How did the story conclude?

Yes. He got the information and diverted the threat.
No. He did not get the information, and was captured by the enemy.

If you have the elements of a trigger, a set of obsticles, and a goal, you can generally build a plot.

Obsticles are usually done in 3's each getting a bit "worse" than the last. They don't need to be 3s but that is one of those silly magical numbers people use. I like 5's and 7's too. For some reason symmetry looks fake. Obsticles getting worse and worse is calld "upping the ante" in some writing books.

I feel when your story is absolutely forcing you in some direction you have to set up a new obsticle. Your MC recognizes it, re-groups and tries to figure his way around it. Once he overcomes that obsticle the anti is raised. What does John do if he dosen't have enough change to buy the six pack? Does he go go rooting in the sofa cushions, or you drop the idea and drink tap water. Does he rob a bank? A character who really wants his beer is going to go for the sofa cushions first (in this story). What if there is a black widow spider in the sofa cushions? The MC's hand swells up and he gets the clammy sweats. Does he 1) Die? 2) Call 911? 3) Get a friend to take him to the doctors? 4)Wake up and realize it was all a dream (don't use this option). 5) get really high and see a magical elf who gives him instructions to some secret door that links two worlds? (Hmmm)

While plotting keep asking yourself "what happens next?"

As the author, you know (or should know) the end of the story. It is not as fun as reading the story-- and that is the difference between a reader and a writer. I've always thought a writer writes backward what the reader reads forward. This is just cryptic advice, but might come in handy on day.

Once I figured out these "rules" so to speak, I started to read for plot, and watch movies for the plot. Read/ watch drama with a pencil and paper at hand. When you see a plot point, write it down.

How you don't mind but I just printed out your response and it's now hanging on the board over my desk. Thanks for the excellent guidance.
 

ladyfickle

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it's a very peculiar feature of my writing that I jump from scene to scene. They do not seem to flow organically and logically in each other. It looks like I have skipped enormous amount of information and I am dropping my reader along the way. Have you fought this symptom? It's like following the events chronologically, but with no real connection, or "thread." It's like having the magic in each scene, but it is by itself an entity, whole and doesn't make you wonder what will happen next. I feel I lack something very basic and very little, and I summon everyone who has been on this way to discuss it with me in PM. Thanks, guys!
 
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I think that one way to deal with this is keep the story question firmly in mind as you are plotting, and making sure that you relate the scene questions directly to it. Another is to keep a certain scene structure roughly in mind: character enters scene with a purpose, works towards it, sees the result, and formulates his next move (which will begin his next scene, thereby ensuring a connection).
 

roswell1828

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With my first novel (unpublished - it was for practice more than anything) I didn't plot. I just wrote the story out and then I had to go through the arduous task of cutting it and splicing it. It worked, don't get me wrong. But it was a lot of work. It went from 140,000 words down to 99,000 after many revisions. With my second, the idea was fully formed so I took the time to write out a basic timeline of events. That's it, and it helped a lot.
 

mayaone

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Even though I don't write fiction, I've found this thread very helpful. In memoir it's your story but you must sift and find a theme, a plot that makes it interesting for readers. In my first memoir, it was a diary that my mother left me in her own words that had a mystery to it and fit into the main theme of the story. In my next memoir it is a trip I took to Asia during Desert Storm that fits in the main theme of the memoir. The plot is the way the two true stories interweave and come together at the end. I have read so many crime thrillers and detective fiction, I picked up plot by osmosis. But memoir is different. I can't make things up. I am a memoir writer and a poet.
 
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There's no need to be so technical about plot. How do I know this? Because storytelling has been around since the beginning of time. If you have a properly developed character, a proper ending, and proper conflict with proper stakes, the plot should happen automatically.

You think Oog the caveman considered "plot points" and "reversals" when he told the tale about the warrior who fed his starving tribe by slaying the Very Powerful And Dangerous Animal? Nope! If you have all the proper elements of a story in place at the beginning, plot will happen by itself, and if it doesn't happen by itself, then something is wrong.

Just remember that plot is entertainment. The ultimate point of fiction of entertainment.

**THE RULES** of storytelling haven't changed since Oog's day.

So be confident in your tales. If you've entertained your audience, you've fulfilled your duty.
 
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