Process
Status Items Highlights Done See section below Claims None Questions None Output None
Highlights
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LOCK system. A Lead with an intense objective, thrust into confrontation, runs through the story until it ends.
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In a novel, we must get to know some things in Act I before we can move on in the story. Then the problem is presented, and the Lead spends the greater part of the book wrestling with the problem (Act II). But the book has to end sometime, with the problem solved (Act III).
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“The Hero’s Journey”
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The key question to ask yourself is this: Can my Lead walk away from the plot right now and go on as he has before? If the answer is yes, you haven’t gone through the first doorway yet.
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“personality filter”
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some rules:
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THE TOP TWENTY WAYS TO GET HUNDREDS OF PLOT IDEAS
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Ways to Establish the Bond After conceiving a compelling Lead character, you must go a step further and figure out how to create an emotional bond with the reader. You can accomplish this by mastering four dynamics — identification, sympathy, likability, and inner conflict.
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Bickham warns of three beginning motifs that can stall your story on the very first page.
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Rule 1: Act first, explain later. Begin with a character in motion. Readers will follow a character who is doing something, and won’t demand to know everything about the character up front. You then drop in information as necessary, in little bits as you go along. Rule 2: When you explain, do the iceberg. Don’t tell us everything about the character’s past history or current situation. Give us the 10 percent above the surface that is necessary to understand what’s going on, and leave 90 percent hidden and mysterious below the surface. Later in the story, you can reveal more of that information. Until the right time, however, withhold it. Rule 3: Set information inside confrontation. Often, the best way to let information come out is within a scene of intense conflict. Using the characters’ thoughts or words, you can have crucial information ripped out and thrown in front of the reader.
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Three keys will help you come up with good opposition: Make the opposition a person. (A master like Stephen King can make the opposition nonpersonal, as in Tom Gordon, where it’s Trisha against the woods. But don’t try this at home until you’ve had lots of practice.) If it is a group, like the law firm in The Rainmaker, select one person in that group to take the lead role for the opposition. Make the opposition stronger than the Lead. If the opposition can be easily matched, why should the reader worry?
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Your confrontation still needs one more crucial ingredient: adhesive. Because if your Lead can simply walk away from the opponent and still be able to realize her objective, the reader will be asking, “Well, why doesn’t she?”
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stands for Action, Reaction, More action. It is the fundamental rhythm of the novel.
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It will help enormously if you think about two principles all the time:(1) stretching the tension and (2) raising the stakes.
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alternate between action, thoughts, dialogue, and description. Take your time with each one. Milk them.
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three key questions to ask before you write a tense scene involving physical action: What is the worst thing from the outside that can happen to my character? This may be in the form of another person, a physical object, or a circumstance outside the character’s control. What is the worst trouble my character can get into in this scene? You may come up with an instant answer. Pause a moment and ratchet it up a notch. This may suggest further possibilities. Have I sufficiently set up the danger for readers before the scene? Remember, they need to know what’s at stake before they start worrying.
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What physical harm can come to my Lead? How far can I take that threat? What new forces can come into play against my Lead? What other characters can I introduce that will make things worse? How would these outside forces operate? What tactics would they use? Is there some professional duty at stake here? What’s the worst thing that can happen to my Lead’s career life?
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do four things. I call these the four chords of fiction. The two major chords are: (1) action and (2) reaction. The two minor chords are: (1) setup and (2) deepening.
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master these three essentials: hook, intensity, and prompt (HIP).
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If a scene seems to sputter to a close and you’re not sure what to do, here’s a great tip: try cutting the last paragraph or two. You don’t have to write every scene to its logical conclusion. In fact, it’s often the best choice not to. Cutting creates interest, a feeling of something left hanging — and that makes readers want to find out why.
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A good character arc has: A beginning point, where we meet the character and get a sense of his interior layers (more on layers in a moment) A doorway through which the character must pass, almost always reluctantly Incidents that impact the layers A deepening disturbance A moment of change, sometimes via an “epiphany” An aftermath
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we surround that core with layers that are in harmony with our essential self. Working from the core outward, these layers include: (1) beliefs; (2) values; (3) dominant attitudes; and (4) opinions.
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Ending First
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Major Scenes Now spend some time thinking about the major scenes that your plot will require. You will no doubt have in mind a number of these. They may be less than fully formed, but you have a feeling about them. Give them as much detail as possible, but don’t sweat it. Come up with a gripping opening scene (if you haven’t already), and put that on a card. Then figure out the disturbance, and put that on a card. Next, create the doorway of no return that leads into Act II, and the second doorway that leads into Act III.
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Put your opening scene card on the left, and your climactic scene card on the right. Put the disturbance card near the opening, and the first doorway a bit after that. Put the second doorway card near the end. Now fill in your story in between. Space out your big scenes in the most logical order, usually meaning that the scenes grow progressively more intense as you move toward that last card. If there seems to be a gap between scenes, space that needs filling, put a blank card or cards there. Try to get a feel for the rhythm of the story this way. You should be getting an idea of the big picture now. Your plot will begin to feel like a cohesive whole.
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Generate scene ideas by asking the following questions: What is my character’s emotional state at the end of the scene? How will he react in the next scene? What is the next action my character needs to take? What strong scene up ahead needs transitional scenes before it? Do I need to add any new characters? Has a character in the scene I’ve just written suggested other plot developments?
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You write a letter to yourself. You ask yourself questions about your idea. The most important question is, Why? Keep asking that one over and over.
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The Borg Outline
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analyze your story, asking the following questions: Are there places that surprised you as you read the draft? Why do you suppose that is? Is there material there you’d like to expand? What are the characters really doing in this story? Might they have issues you haven’t explored fully yet? Look to the places that drag. These might be scenes where you have avoided dealing with something deeper. What are the characters really thinking in these places? What are their passions, frustrations, and desires? Imagine alternative plotlines. How might your plot be different if it headed off on another tangent from various points in the story? You don’t have to follow them, but they might suggest other streams that can flow into the main plot.
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Next, think about structure: Does your story play out naturally in three acts? Is there an immediate disturbance to the Lead’s world? Does the first doorway of no return occur before the one-fifth mark? Are the stakes being raised sufficiently? Does the second doorway of no return put the Lead on the path to the climax? Does the rhythm of the story match your intent? If this is an action novel, does the plot move relentlessly forward? If this is a character-driven novel, do the scenes delve deeply enough? Are there strongly motivated characters? Have coincidences been established? Is something happening immediately at the beginning? Did you establish a person in a setting with a problem, confronted with change or threat? Is the timeline logical? Is the story too predictable in terms of sequence? Should it be rearranged?
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Develop a vision for yourself as a writer. Make it something that excites you. Turn that into a mission statement — one paragraph that sums up your hopes and dreams as a writer.
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SHOW AND TELL
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Switch your first two chapters. Make any changes you have to so the new first chapter makes sense. Consider scrapping your original chapter one altogether. Let the exposition come out later, naturally. You’ll probably find you don’t need it all anyway.
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UNANTICIPATE
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HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR PLOTTING EXPONENTIALLY
✏️ This looks like a good exercise to do. DO THIS! 🔗 Location 3781
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INVERTING THE “RIFLE RULE”
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YOUR WRITER’S NOTEBOOK
✏️ Good idea. DO THIS! 🔗 Location 3834
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GENRE PLOT TIPS
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Appendix A Checklist: Critical Points
✏️ Good checklist to keep in mind. 🔗 Location 3943
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Appendix B Creating Your Own Back Cover Copy
✏️ Good exercise. 🔗 Location 4037