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Writing a Plot

Fiction without a plot closely resembles a car without wheels. Ignore it and your characters aren't going anywhere - and neither are your readers.

One of the difficulties when considering plot is trying to work out exactly what 'plot' is. It's more than just the story you're working with. E. M. Forster puts it better than I ever could: '"The king died and then the queen died", is a story. "The king died and then the queen died of grief", is a plot. The time sequence is preserved, but the sense of causality overshadows it.' You don't just want a list of events and happenings, you need to include the links between them, the causal chain of events, decisions, responses and repercussions. A good plot is like a chain - only as strong as its weakest link. Without the connections and interactions, it's just a hunk of junk.

NO COPYING AT THE BACK!

You can't really appreciate the unique qualities of a specific plot until you become aware of how alike novels are in terms of the basic stories and structures they use. It may not seem like it at first glance, but almost all novels use the classical narrative structure: employing a beginning, a middle and an end. In Forster's terms again: 'The queen died, noone knew why, until it was discovered it was through grief at the death of the king.' Beginning (death), middle (investigation), and end (revelation). Unlike the story, which simply ends without taking the time to answer all the niggling questions, the plot gives an explanation, fills in the links, makes it complete and, more importantly, unique. The story you're thinking of using may very well have been used before, but a good plot is the key to making it your own.

A TRAIL OF CRUMBS

If you're anything like me, you'll hate plotting out your work. I'm extremely impatient when I'm writing and just want to leap in with all limbs flailing. But, just like jumping into a pool, if you do this, you'll go under. When embarking on any piece of writing it's always best to plot out events, even if it's just an outline - in other words, decide how you are going to tell your story step by step. It doesn't matter if you sketch this out roughly in your head, or fill a shelf of notepads with every single detail: without this map, you stand a very good chance of getting lost.

That isn't to say create a straitjacket for your characters that they have no way of escaping. As ever, your characters have to be the driving force behind your fiction, and no matter how well you delineate your plot they must be allowed a certain freedom to act, grow and develop naturally. When plotting, focus on your characters' feelings, emotions, reactions and thoughts as much as outside events. Don't just write 'character x races to character y's rescue'. Fill in the blanks, add notes about how the characters feel, what their fears and reservations are, whether they think they have the strength to rescue character y. This way, your plot line will develop more naturally, and you won't be tempted to steamroll past all of the important character depths when actually writing.

If you do decide to go for a generic plot, then think of ways to twist and subvert it. Readers will be expecting things to happen in a certain way, and by creating characters that do things differently, or by playing with a reader's expectations, you can create riveting surprises. By paying close attention to your characters and their inner drives, you can allow a plot to evolve that feels much more organic than one simply driven by events. Don't worry about learning your story by heart, just get to know your characters. Know their motives, know their passions, and a plot will form.


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