TECH: Surefire Can't Fail Plotting In Five Easy Steps

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original Posting 6 June 2009

Hum. I could have sworn I saw a posting asking for "can't fail" plotting help. Okay, so I'm answering a plea that wasn't posted. Oh, well, I enjoyed writing it up :-)

1. Remember the advice that the King gives to the White Rabbit: "Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop."
2. I've forgotten where I picked this up, but I like steppingstones plotting. What do I mean? Put down a word or phrase for a starting scene at the top of a sheet of paper, do the same for a climax at the bottom, then sketch in the key scenes to get from one to the other. Rearrange the steppingstones as needed. Then write adding smaller scenes and details as you go. A rough plan, but my own, and then write, write, write.
3. How about ye olde three act structure? Still a good solid framework to work from. Start with an inciting incident -- a disturbance that sets things going. Move along to the first doorway of no return -- a confrontation that forces the character out of the ordinary into conflicts. And then there's the middle, where we fill in with conflicts -- throwing rocks at the character up in the tree? Until we get to the second doorway of no return, the final confrontation where the stakes are so high that the character must make a total commitment to win or lose in the climax. The rest, as they say, is left as an exercise for the student.
4. 20 Master plots, seven basic plots, Heinlein's trio of romance -- the little tailor -- and the man who came to realize -- pick your favorite basic plot skeletons. Yes, you've seen them before, and you will see them again. Why? Because they work, and work, and work. Rescue the victim, Slay the monster, Find the treasure, Boy meets Girl, Sin and Redemption, Betrayal and Revenge, Impersonation, Overcoming High Odds, Quest... use them. No charge.
5. Last, but not least. Start with "Once upon a time..." and finish with "And they lived happily ever after." You fill in the middle. And then revise as needed. Works every time.

Plot: arranging scenes and events in a meaningful order. Luckily, you don't have to know the order to start. You are free to revise to improve the plot. So if you think you know what you want to write, do it. Then if you think of something better along the way, change it.

The real key is to write and finish what you write. Then do it again.

Hope that helps.

last night upon the list, I saw a posting that wasn't there. It wasn't there again today, oh gosh, I hope it stays away, that nagging posting that isn't here...