Wednesday - Plots Finishing up

Been discussing plot for many weeks and I thought I'd finish up, maybe this week or maybe enxt. Depends on how much I want to say. The first thing is that A Plot Is Just A plan. A plot is the journey a character or characters take on the way to a goal. There are two ways to plot a story. One is to make an extensive plan and the other is to just write. Neither way is the right way. The right way is what workd for you, but there are some things a writer can look at to make their story become more than a series of scenes or a muddled mess.

Does your story have a basic premise. Can you state this in just a few words? I often do a short passage when I've begun a story. This consists of a question. Can Mary find true happiness with a man she fears isn't what he says he was? This tells me what I'm writing is a love story and allows me a lot of room to explore. Or try this. Can Katherine discover who has murdered an obnoxious woman and bring peace to the people the woman tried to destroy? Now this screams mystery and allows me room to explore the heroine's search. This is something to explore.

Another part of the plot is what the main character wants and why. Here exploring the characters desire or desires can lead to scenes that flow together. The reason a character wants a specific object means looking at their life and actions. This produces scenes that carry the plot further along. Can you state the desire and the reason in a few sentences, probably no more than a paragraph? You're on the way to producing a plot.

Then there must be someone or something that obstructs the charscter. Do you know what this is? It could be another person or person, it could be an event of nature, it could be a social happening. Another short paragraph writing this out is another part of the plot.

A short paragraph letting yourself know if the main conflict is an internal one or an external one will help clarify the main plot. There can be both in a story but one is the main one. Take the time to decide which or can the two kinds of conflict work together or in opposition?

Then decide what kind of story this is going to be will it be an action story or one of character. Do a short paragraph deciding this and you're on the way to having a plot for your story.