My Journey to the Plot
I was bad at plots and now I’m not….or at least I think I’m better at them than I was! When I started my writing journey I had a glaring problem with my writing: I had no idea how to plot out the story. I had good characters and lots of ideas of things that they could do but I had no unifying structure to string all that together. I had no plot. However, I ended up getting with a writing partner who, with his crazy ideas, helped me learn how to plot out a story and solve his own gaps. He was very good at ideas but was terrible at the in-between bits. I would get notes from him that would say, “X does Y thing and then blah blah blah, Z happens!” It was my job to fill in “blah blah blah” and through that, it forced my creativity to come out and string those random ideas together. Fortunately, you don’t have to do this, I have some helpful ideas to get you moving.
Read for Structure
You obviously don’t want to copy another book, that would be dishonest, but you can use other books to find out how authors did things. You can read for craft to find this out but you can also analyze the plot. How did Character Y arrive at location Z? What is the story being told? Think of it as an enhanced book report. For a character to transform from one thing to another, a series of events has to happen. For example, you see big character transformations in any coming of age story. Not only does the young protagonist grow up physically due the passage of time but also because of any challenges in their story. Whether it is navigating a special power, ability or just the perils of high school, there is a transit of becoming. You don’t want your characters to stay in the same place through your work, unless you can make that work to prove a greater point about them or about their trauma.
What is the central conflict? Finding these things within books that you enjoy can help you find them in your own story. Some are straightforward while others are less easy to find.
In Moby Dick, the central conflict is between Captain Ahab and the Whale. Captain Ahab wants to kill the Whale and he will do everything to achieve his goal, including kill is crew and sink 3 ships. Some other books are far more simple. In a book like 50 Shades of Grey, the conflict is between Christian Grey and Anastacia Steele and the whole story turns on his desires and their growing relationship. It’s fundamentally romantic in nature (they are meant to get together) but the book(s) turns on whether he can be happy and she can have her needs (that she’s just found she has) fulfilled. Genre books make this easy because there is a format. In a murder mystery book, someone has been murdered and the murder has to be solved. However, there are multiple ways to do that.
In all my reading, I realized I hadn’t really understood what these stories were about, it was just interesting information to keep my brain quiet for a few minutes. It was later that I started to understand what the story was about and what was really going on.
Find Your Why
One of the biggest problems to solve is why characters do things. In acting we would call this motivation. Does your character have a sense of duty? What about a sense or needing someone’s approval? Going in a darker direction there are always the seven deadly sins: greed, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, sloth (laziness) and pride. Whatever the why is for your character, it can be something to hang onto the plot, create difficulties for them to overcome (or fail to overcome) and much more. The “why” can be noble or evil but either way, they need to have a why.
It is also important to remember that even the most evil people can have good qualities and the best people can often do terrible things on the way to their goal. This also prevents you from creating a “Mary Sue” character who falls flat because they have no depth. Humans (or even aliens) are complex creatures who don’t always make the right decision or who can make the right decision that has devastating consequences. This dynamic is what makes for great reading.
Outlines!
I know there are many people have no problem just writing along and they can keep the whole story in their heads and just write. I am not one of those people and my bet is that most people who read this won’t be either! I highly recommend people take time to figure out what kind of story they are telling and to work out the major plot points. It also helps you write more quickly because you’ve done the bulk of the creative stuff in advance and then you can get to work crafting the prose, refining the dialogue and description.
A good outline should include information about what scenes you want to write, how is involved, where it is, and why it’s there. I’ve gotten caught up in writer’s block in the past because I didn’t do enough outlining and I just don’t know what to write. Then I was considering possibilities trying to figure out what to do next and it all led up to a lot of thinking and not much writing happening. This is why outlining is important. You can focus first on crafting the story and then on telling the story effectively. These are two creative processes and they can get conflated and things can get quite mixed up and confusing. If you’re stuck in your story and just don’t know where to turn then doing a solid outline might be just the unlock to get writing again!
Final Thoughts
I had always wanted to be a writer and I struggled with the story I wanted to tell. I was just better at blurting out ideas that all made sense to me but only to me. A good plot gives you a platform to tell your story and give your characters chances to play their role in the story. By reading for structure and doing some outlining, you can find your own way to the plot.
A quick note from Cameron…
If you are interested in writing a book and telling your unique story! My new writing courses: The Power of Story (fiction and non-fiction) are now available! You get year long access to the complete course as well as access to our bi-weekly writing group and 2 coaching sessions with me! To sign up today visit: The Cameron Journal Academy
