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There are many ways to start constructing a plot for a story.
There are also a lot of ways to structure a plot from Freytag’s Pyramid to the three
act structure.
Some of those structures, such as the hero’s template...
Whoops!
I meant to say Hero’s Journey will likely be the subject of their own video one day.
But first, I would like cover some of the common ways to ‘improve’ the story’s
plot…
I mean other than keeping our focus solely on Mary Sue which, you know, a writer should
be doing by default.
So ready your inciting incident as we cross the threshold into how to plot a story.
One of the first things a new author should consider is what kind of writer they are.
Are you a writer who designs their plot carefully, designing the story with careful planning
and precision like a skilled architect.
Or are you a writer who creates stories by the seat of their pants, sowing ideas and
character moments and letting them grow organically without a ridged outline?
Finding out whether you are a planner AKA architect writer of if you are a pantster
AKA gardener AKA discovery writer can be very useful in terms of knowing how to approach
a plot.
Normally, finding out where a writer falls on this scale can be useful, but the best
kind of writer is the third type; the Ego Tripper AKA the writer who never needs to
revise their plot no matter how mangled the first draft is.
Architects need not worry about their ridged outline strangling the characters.
Why must the heroes seek the legendary Lore Stones?
Because it says right here in the outline!
Is there a character motive to seek the Lore Stones?
No time to think about that!
Got to have the robotic drone like characters move onto the next set piece in our check
list.
Characterization must yield to the almighty outline for its power is absolute!
Hmm.
That’s kind of strange.
I wonder why the story feels stale?
Adhering religiously to the outline might have caused a case of Slideshow Syndrome.
Good.
I was worried I might have had a real problem for a second.
Slideshow Syndrome is what I call a story that has a rigid plot that consists of a series
of events that are only loosely connected together if at all and that lacks smooth transitions
between scenes.
Here we are crossing the threshold.
Here we are at the symbolic death and rebirth.
Oh.
Here is were we found a great elixir.
See.
Like a slide show.
Also like a slide show, they require little to no effort to make and I am all about that.
Now another potential problem with an outline is that a writer might have to take the effort
to actually plan something.
Sometimes there isn’t time to layout the plot in an organized fashion when in the throes
of creativity.
Writers on this end of the scale simply discover the story as they write.
Being a discovery writer can be thrilling as they explore the story without knowing
what lies ahead, kind of like driving off a cliff.
This can produce excellent characterization even if discovery writers have a bad habit
where they keep writing.
And writing...
And writing…
Huh.
This is getting kind of bogged down and I can’t seem to find the climax.
Should I take a moment and regroup to get a better sense of direction?
Where does the story end?
I don’t know.
Ask the characters.
They are a the ones driving the plot and they refuse to stop and ask for directions no matter
how lost the plot gets.
See!
It’s not my fault my characters have taken on a life of their own.
That will be a great comeback to a one star review.
“The voices in my head told me to write that!”
Oh.
No wait.
The heroes are not allowed to drive the plot.
Only the villains are allowed to do that.
The protagonists should never take initiative.
They should be stuck endlessly reacting for the entire story even if they end up looking
like chumps and the reader starts to share their frustration.
Endlessly hitting the reader with new elements out of left field is a great way to advance
the plot and will be as fun as for the audience as stumbling through a dark room full of Lego
blocks barefoot.
Whether the writer is blazing away discovery style or carefully planning their story, both
methods shouldn’t worry about silly things like structure or their scenes not really
having a point.
I mean, why is this scene here?
Does it add to the world building?
Is there character development or characterization?
Do the events portrayed in the scene advance the plot in any way at all?
If this scene were cut from the story, would the story be any worse?
A writer shouldn’t worry about any of these.
The scene need only to be cool in order to merit inclusion within the story.
Can’t murder that precious darling.
But how does an author even construct a scene?
Why that’s easy.
Just have a bunch of characters stand around talking to one another and nothing else.
No actions to punctuate the dialog, no characters actually doing anything other than blab on
and on, probably dispensing expository dialog.
No sense of progression, no central conflict to even drive the dialog.
Nope.
Just a bunch of characters standing around and talking about the plot rather than moving
it along, at least until the writer suddenly springs an action scene upon them with a transition
as smooth as sandpaper in a gravel pit.
Then have an action scene followed up by another scene where all of the characters stand around
and talk about what just happened even though the reader literally just read it a few moments
ago because obviously we need a space filling recap to explain everything.
All this meandering could lead to another story condition I call saggy middle syndrome.
This is when plot in the middle of a story stalls out.
There are a lot of tools for kicking the plot back into gear; springing new information
on the characters that change the context of their core conflict, add a new obstacle
or complication, create a new interesting minor character, shorten the middle to bring
the climax closer, dig into major character’s backstory.
Or we can add a subplot that goes nowhere!
Adding a subplot to a story that is a natural outgrowth from the main plot and merges seamlessly
into the story’s final climax can work, but by this point I’m sick of looking at
the main plot.
I think I’ll become enamored with my subplot and have it take over the story.
Kind of like kudzu.
Keep building up this subplot at the expense of the main one until the our primary plot
is but a shadowy memory.
Then get bored and abandon the subplot and leave that thread just dangling with no satisfying
conclusion.
Fans of the main plot won’t be angry and neither will fans of the sub plot because
they will be too busy fighting each other to focus on the author.
Oh.
Hey!
With our subplot awkwardly discarded, its time to starting thinking about the finale.
But before that, we need to reveal our stunning plot twist!
Did I foreshadow this plot twist?
Ha!
No.
That would ruin the surprise.
Why would a writer want to build up their narrative with subtle clues and foreshadowing
that reward the reader for paying attention to the story’s fine details when we can
instead smack the audience in the face with it from nowhere.
The best plot twist is the plot twist introduced for the sake of having a plot twist.
Does the plot twist recontextualized the central conflict?
Does the twist pull together all of the loose plot threads and neatly tie them together?
Does it offer new insight into one or more of the major characters and give them a new
perspective.
No, but it makes me feel really clever and that should be enough.
With the twist revealed, all the cards are on the table now.
It’s time for the story’s climax!
Did I introduce villain?
I guess I should get around to that now.
Better shove the Dark Lord in there the last minute and awkwardly spill his backstory to
everyone.
Am I forgetting anything else?
Oh right.
I forget to establish the stakes.
Um.
The fate of the world hangs in the balance!
Huh.
Probably should have uped those stakes as the plot progressed along instead of saving
that for the last minute, but oh well.
No one will notice.
They will be too distracted by the cool final confrontation.
I hope this doesn’t feel too rushed.
Got to save just enough room for a sequel hook.
And there you have it!
Just fill any remaining plot holes with weak excuses and it’s done!
Trust me.
No one will notice that the plot is so awful that they can’t even look away because it
resembles a train wreck that collided with a bus full of screaming clowns, and the clowns
are on fire.
Hut hut hut hut hut Hut!
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