4 Plot. Just remember a plot is
just a plan to take your characters from the beginning to the end.
Now you have your major actors, the secondary characters and those who
are there for a purpose. The last group you may not know much about until you
reach a point where they are needed. In my current work, some of the secondary
characters are barefy mentioned except by name in the opening paragraphs but
they will play a role later in the story.
You know the time and the where of the story and the what the characters
want and the reasons they want these things.
What you’ve reaches is the how.
The How or the plot has a beginning, a middle and an end. Each of these
parts has some important tasks for the writer to complete. Both the beginning and the end are shorter
than the dreaded middle and this is where you can get bogged down.
In general, the Beginning shows the major characters, the things like the
season of the year and a bit about the where the characters are. The problems
of the major characters need to be touched on and their reasons for the action
they are about to take should be hinted about.
The middle is where the complications come in. In the book I’m working on
now, the middle is where the main characters have a change in their goals. This
change comes at the end of the beginning. During this time, you can show them
coming close to their goal only to have something happen that takes them away
from that goal. Often this can become boring and I have a solution to this.
When my characters seem to be cruising along, I bring in an incident that may
or may not impinge on their goal. One such incident shows my heroine’s bihorn (her
riding beast) injured so there must be a stop in what can be dangerous
territory.
Then you come to the end. During this time one character or perhaps both
experience a moment when they know they will fail. This is called the black
moment. From there they have to hike up their britches and decide to fight.
This leads to the defining moment and the conclusion. While in romance, this is
usually a happily ever after or a happy for now it must be satisfactory.
What you need to do here is list your five ingredients.
Characters, Settings, Time, Desires and Reasons. Then you’re ready for
the next steps. Listing them and adding
things to what you’ve written in the other exercises will give you a stronger
story and help when you plan each section.
For me, this is the question asking time. Where should I start the story?
Should it be the hero or the heroine up front? How do the pair met? How do they
react to each other? Are there problems I can think of to throw in the middle
that will advance the plot or delay the ending?
Let’s look at a few of my answers. There were several possibilities for
the start. I could begin with the scene with her father telling her she’s to be
bonded to Petan. I could start with the meet between the heroine and the hero?
I could start with the hero leaving the Desert Riders. I could use the
heroine’s escape. After looking these over, I decided the heroine had the
greatest need at the beginning of the story so starting with her would make for
more tension. Knowing the hero has nothing more than feeling restless, that
wouldn’t drive the story forward.
More questions. Did I want the villain to have a viewpoint. I decided
against this.
For your assignment consider which character should open the story and
how the story should begin. If you can think of any complications to throw in
further in the story, do.
Some of the further complications I thought of were either hero or
heroine being caught by the villain. An illness for one of the major
characters. A quarrel between the pair sending them in different directions.
Not being believed. A duel between the hero and heroine. A second duel. I knew
there could be chances for more duels in the book since duels were the way
problems were solved in the culture of this world.
Once I had a number of questions and possible complications. I was ready
to move on.
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