#plot tag: plot points

(And why hinges rock.)

Please excuse me while I assign already well-loved terms new meanings for my own benefit. (This is to say, writing terminology means something slightly different or goes by slightly different terms depending on who you ask. Two of the definitions I use here are based ones that stuck with me, while the third is something I pulled right out of my backside because it didn’t quite fit with my acquired definitions of the other two. Other terms and definitions are equally valid; I’m just using these ones until I figure out how to telepathically funnel wordless concepts.)

First let’s get basic: What’s a plot anyway? Tis a bunch of things that happen to move your character toward something. Usually this something is a goal. Win the war. Find the killer. Survive the winter. Get through the wedding. Kill the dragon.

Plots (should) have important scenes within them which propel them along. A full book that’s just a knight walking on a path for twenty-five chapters thinking about killing a dragon and then finally reaching the dragon to do so it boring. A book about a knight facing random trials that have nothing to do with the dragon she’s set out to kill is more interesting then walking. But the most engaging version of this plot would be if each trial she faced was connected to the dragon killing in some way.

We could, if we wanted to, label each of these trials with terms like plot point, a plot twist, or a plot hinge, depending on how they interact with the story as a whole. (Now I have to define what each of these terms mean to me. I set myself up here, didn’t I?)

We probably all know what a plot twist is. A big reveal. A shocking conclusion. A revelation that puts the whole story into a new light. (Luke, I am your father!)

When you struggle to connect the main plot points.

Anonymous asked:

Hi, I have a big problem with details and little events, like I know the main events that will happen, but I struggle to write between them, do you have any tips on that? Thank you so much for everything you are doing on this blog and I wish you the best of luck with your writing!

Fore word: This is how I do the thing. It’s not the only way to do the thing, nor the “right way,” just one way, which happens to work really well for me. I hope it helps you too, but if it doesn’t, there’s still a good method out there for you. Don’t give up; keep searching and trying new techniques!

Coming out of a main event (plot point) you should have a mix of these things:

A protagonist who made choices they were unsure about, and now carries an emotional burden of some kind.

Multiple primary and secondary characters who are emotionally and/or physically effected by the event.

Characters whose actions and choices during the event conflicted and who are now at odds in some way.

Unresolved plot details.

You also likely have new plot information to set up prior to the next main plot point, which might include anything from the main characters sitting down and physically deciding what to do next, to traveling long distances, to the reveal of information which will lead the characters to the next main plot point.

Usually this connective segment, which can range anywhere from one short scene to many chapters, creates a sense of “downtime,” or a lower point of tension which lets your reader relax after the trauma of the last plot point. 

Not all of them will actually be low in tension. That’s good! We don’t want to drop all tension at any point in the story. We want to let the reader breathe without losing their interest.

How do we actually create these “downtime” sections?

I had to write two of these exact sections to connect a plot point in AFS last week, and this is the progressions it went through:

A plot is merely a series of plot points, so for this, we need to answer the following questions: 

What is a plot point?What makes a plot point strong? 

In order for something to be a plot point to begin with, it must provide a point within the plot where the story could go in more then one direction. In most situations, it’s the character’s choices (generally those of the main character, though not necessarily) which pick the direction the plot takes from this point. 

Looking at a plot point from this angle, we can deduce that the plot has a lot to do with who our character is. This makes sense. Goals are absolutely necessary for almost every story imaginable, because if your character doesn’t want something then you have no plot.

So we have a character who’s striving towards their goal. How do we turn that into a strong plot point? Characters who have goals should also have beliefs, (or in some cases, secondary goals), and these two things must conflict somewhere. Anywhere the character must choose between them, we have a foundation on which to build an interesting, strong plot point. On the other hand, if we don’t have these things, our plot point won’t ever be as strong as it might otherwise have been, no matter how many cool things we throw into it. 

So to create a strong plot point we can start with a character who needs to make a choice in order to reach their goal. We make this choice more interesting by throwing road blocks at the character. It might help to ask yourself these sorts of questions:

What can we throw at this character to make them change their choice partway through?

What can we throw at this character which we know will stress them out personally?

What can we throw at this character after they’ve made their choice, which they’ll have to now overcome because of the choice they’ve made? 

What sort of consequences will come out of this choice and how do we show them?

And if you’re willing to do some work in order to find a realistic way for your character to get out of the situation: What can we throw at this character which will turn this into their worst nightmare; the most awful possible version of this situation?

Knowing what makes a strong plot point, we can finally answer the question: Are weak plot points – and the weak plots they create – really bad?

Plot points and plots with weak foundations are really bad, yes. Weak plot points which don’t revolve around a character making tough choices in order to reach their goals will generally fall flat to readers.

But, not every plot point needs to be a crazy, chaotic mind blowing twist either. 

Sometimes the choices we find most emotional and stressful are the ones everyone else tells up should be easy. The key to engaging your reader in a plot point is to convince them that this is emotional and stressful for your character and that your character believes there will be consequences to making a bad choice, and to instill in them the need to know what choice your character will make and what outcome that choice will bring.

A minor note: Your entire story should be your main arc, unless you’re writing an anthology or a television show. The other, smaller arcs all build towards the climax, but they’re a part of the main arc. 

How do you know you have the right number of plot arcs?

There’s no set number of plot arcs you should have in a story. Some novels have few or one, some have a large handful of consecutive arcs, some have multiple pov characters going through their own unique arcs simultaneously.

The ‘right number’ or arcs is how ever many it takes to guide your characters to the climax while sufficiently amping the tension.

Other things to thing about:

More plot arcs will equal a longer novel.

All plot arcs should have something to do with the main arc.

All plot arcs should allow for character development.

Each plot arc should build on the last plot arc.

Individual plot arcs don’t need to be distinct from each other. (They blur together and overlap. Sometimes smaller plot arcs fit inside larger plot arcs. Sometimes multiple plot arcs run at the same time.)

How Many Plot Points Are Enough?

This is a tricky question, because every single book is different, and ever plot point takes a different amount of words to cover. But if you already have your beginning and end, then you’re off to a great start.

My advice would be to turn those smaller, character developing plot points into something larger. Every plot point (and scene) needs to have a direct effect on what comes after it, and on the book’s ending. Which is to say that if you take out anything in your outline, the ending should be changed drastically. 

I’m assuming that if you have an ending, you have an antagonist, and if you have an antagonist, you have a Big Bad Thing your protagonist wants to prevent. Every plot point should be a step your protagonist takes in the processes of preventing that Big Bad Thing, in which the antagonist subsequentially makes that Big Bad Thing more Big or more Bad and harder to prevent. 

Sometimes the protagonist knows all the steps ahead of time (like in a heist or a quest), though most of the time they only know the next step they’re going to take, which they may believe will be the final step. But you as the writer should know the entire process already.

If you’re struggling with not having enough meat in your book, try taking a couple of these steps, and throwing a wrench into them. How does your protagonist deal with having their plan utterly fail? What happens when you take away all the resources they were counting on? If they sacrifice everything to try to accomplish what they think will prevent the Big Bad Thing, but still fail, what do they do next? How do they recover, to come back harder and stronger the next time?

You don’t want to push your protagonist to their breaking point until the end of the story, just before the climax, but you still want to fracture a few bones along the way. Every time you hit them with something that throws them off their path, they have to find a new and better method of getting to the next step.