How to Write Plot—Wielding Your Writing: A Guide Series For Writers

---

“Writing fiction is the act of weaving a series of lies to arrive at a greater truth.” ― Khaled Hosseini

---

We’re on our second post of the Wielding Your Writing series, and I have not been more excited and nervous to write a post than this one.

Plot, for a lot of writers, is a very challenging part of the writing/outlining process. You want to be original, but it seems like every idea has been done before, and it has, but not the way you're going to write it.

Like people all pieces of writing--every book, every poem, every story is unique. So forget the idea of coming up with an "original" idea because stories are only as "original" as your imagination.

When outlining your plot, there are a lot of different ways to do it, but I would like to start off this post by asking, "What is plot?"

The Oxford dictionary defines plot as the main events of a play, novel, movie, or similar work, devised and presented by the writer as an interrelated sequence.

There is a very important word in there that I underlined and that is interrelated.

A good plot is like a row of dominions and as the writer we are the giant hand that comes out of nowhere and sets the dominions into action.

A good plot should contain scenes that are tied to each other. You shouldn't be able to move them around or take one away because it would mess up the story.

Well how do we build this magical and inter-twined sequence of scenes and story lines you ask? By planning, using a structure, and lots and lots of drafts.

I'm telling you right now that there is no easy way that guarantees you a stellar plot. It's going to take hard work and a lot of patience both with yourself and your work, but that's what writing is, and the final product is going to out way the cons. When you can say "I wrote a book," you won't look back and wish you never tried. Below is my plotting process, other ways you can plot, and many more tips to help you tackle this part of the writing process.

Plot

By this point in the writing process, I'm going to assume you have brainstormed some concepts and scene ideas. You probably also have a character or two in mind. Now that you have all of those ideas either in a notebook or on your computer, you're going to start putting them in an order.

Personally I like to use a detailed plot structure called the 15 Point Plot Structure. This was first introduced to me when a beta reader of mine (If you don't know what that is, don't worry! We will cover it later) pointed it out to me when I was writing my first novel. He used it for his own books and said it was really helpful. It gives you a list of things that should happen in your story and where each of them should occur.

There are other plot structures you can use. You can use 4 plot points, or an act 1, act 2, and act 3 style, or a beginning, middle, and end style. The things I find peoples' plots lack most are conflict and and a sense of direction. Readers like when they can guess or make predictions of what's going to happen next. You, as the author, should be able to do that, but also throw plot twists in that they didn't think about, but make sense.

Beginning:

In the beginning of the story, your goal is to introduce your main character and their ordinary life. Beginnings can be a lot longer than they have to be, so focus on making the beginning of your story right to the point, and introduce the first conflict or inciting incident as quickly as possible. This first conflict should push your character into the story. They can't go back to the status-quo anymore.

Middle:

The middle can be a tricky part of the story for writers. A lot of times we know what's going to happen at the beginning and the end, but we don't know how to connect the pieces. What's going to be between the points, and how are we going to get there? Almost all stories follow a basic structure--protagonist is introduced and we see their everyday life. Then something comes in and forces them to change, but they don't have to like it at first. The second plot point, or during act two, the protagonist is going to learn more information which raises the stakes, forcing them to be all in on this quest. They have to care now because they have too much to lose. Conflict and stakes. Make them BIG!!!! Whatever your brain goes to, whatever idea your like, "Wouldn't it be cool if ___." DO THAT. Put yourself in the reader's shoes, and either do the thing you as the reader would want to see, or do the opposite. WE ARE EVIL! Make your characters struggle through the middle of the story. They will have time to talk and rest and sit around later. No one wants to read a story where the characters do nothing.

Another thing is not all conflict has to be external. Some of it should be internal, and should be something the main character struggles with on the inside.

End:

If I had to give you one piece of advice for finishing your story--just make it memorable. Make the reader feel something during those last few pages. Make them remember the characters and the journey and how they felt after they turned the last page.

Writing a good book is hard, but loving a good one is easy. Make your readers never forget the ending. Whether they remember it for being happy or for it being sad.

Those are my plotting tips. Coming up with a good plot is so hard especially if you're writing your first book. Remember it's all trial and error, and with a lot of work your will come up with a great plot for your story. Reading helps plotting so so much. As you read, your mind becomes used to seeing the different story structures and ways to write. You pick up on so much from reading other books, and most of it you don't even realize until you look back at your own work, and are like, "Where did that come from?"

It becomes more natural and subconscious.

Remember conflict, interrelated, and stakes, and you will come up with a good plot in the end.

What's your least favorite thing about plotting? Let's rant in the comments.

It's been a pleasure writing for you, and until next time--stay weird and stay writing. - Lexi