Craft Chat CRAFT CHAT: Story Plotting

[Carol Rose]

STORY PLOTTING​

There are almost as many books and articles on how to plot a story as there are books themselves. If you search the topic on Google or Amazon, intent on finding THE BOOK that teaches you how to plot the story you have in your head, you could easily become overwhelmed.

Which one is right? Why are there so many? What’s the best one for me to use?

Before we explore the most popular methods, and the ones that have stood the test of time, let’s first define plot.

The British author E.M. Forster is credited with having said plot is a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality.

“The king died and then the queen died” is a story.
“The king died and then the queen died of grief” is a plot.

A plot is the what and the why of a story.

One popular writing blog suggests there are 7 steps to understanding how to plot, no matter what method you choose:

1. Understand the hallmarks of a great plot. These are:

Raise questions in the reader…
Why did the man hide that gun?
Why did the woman in the bridal gown get out of that car and run?

Show cohesion…
Different parts of the story relate to or illuminate each other.
In other words, nothing happens without a reason for it being part of the story.

Obey internal logic…
If you give a tyrant complete power in your fictional universe, they have a reason for wanting that power, and they should use it.

Favor surprise over cliché…
Some genres use clichés by nature – by reader expectation.
Give common tropes your own personal stamp so the reader forgets they’re reading a common story type.

Reward readers’ persistence…
Give readers an entertaining adventure, a mind-expanding subject, or an emotional journey with unforgettable characters.

2. Create structured plot outlines. This helps because it lets you step back and get a broad view. It lets you see how each elements fits together.

3. Plan illustrative, interesting subplots. Secondary or subplots are useful when you want a novel of greater complexity. However, they should support the main plots points, not wander too far from it. Otherwise you risk writing a book that meanders and has no discernable plot.

4. Make every character in your novel want something and pursue it. If your characters have clear motivations, they will inevitably lead to major story events. For example, if two secondary characters have a claim to the throne, as does a main character, and each are trying to claim it, they will at some point face off.

5. Plot each scene’s purpose before you start. What will each scene contribute to the overall story arc? If it doesn’t contribute, it doesn’t belong in your story.

6. Plot characters, story events, and settings with equal care. Is it clear to your readers who your characters are, and what motivates them? Can the reader make an educated guess where your plot might be heading? Do your characters and settings change in a way that logically fits unfolding events?

7. Use your plot outline as a guide, not an iron grid. Remember, it’s your story. Let it unfold naturally as you write. You can always revise your outline again to help you stay on track.

Now that we’ve defined plot, and have looked at elements to consider when choosing a method for plotting, let’s look at some methods.

One 7-step method suggests the following parts to a plot outline:
Main character
Status quo
Motivation
Inciting Incident
Developments
Crisis
Resolution

Are you beginning to see a pattern already? We’ll be talking about GMC – Goal, Motivation, and Conflictin another Craft Chat post. But you can probably already see how important character motivation and resolution of conflictis to a story. These are essential to your plot because without them, you don’t have a story.

Unless you’re writing a memoir, or trying some of sort of stream of consciousness idea, you need to know who your characters are. You need to understand what they’re trying to accomplish in the story. And you need to know how they will accomplish it.

How you show all this makes up the rest of your plot. That’s what provides the entertainment. The reasons your readers keep turning the pages to find out what happens next.

But if the what happens next makes no sense – if there is no overalls story arc – you will confuse and lose readers.

Let’s plug in a well-known example, using the 7-step method described above:

Main character
Elizabeth (Lizzy) Bennet, one of five daughters in Regency England

Status quo
Lizzy and her sisters will be plunged into poverty if her father dies, so they need to marry well

Motivation
Lizzy wants to marry for love

Inciting Incident
Two wealthy gentlemen, Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy, arrive in town

Developments
Lizzy meets proud Mr Darcy and dashing stranger Mr Wickham. She despises Mr Darcy and likes Mr Wickham. She discovers Darcy loves her and that Wickham isn’t all he seems.

Crisis
Lizzy’s sister elopes, threatening the social ruin of her family. It now looks like Lizzy can’t marry anyone.

Resolution
Mr Darcy helps Lizzy’s sister. Lizzy agrees to marry him, deciding now that she loves him, after all.

Can we add in a few subplots so the story has additional layers? Absolutely!

Subplot 1
Jane Bennet (Lizzy’s caring sister) and Mr Bingley fall in love, but Bingley moves away, then comes back. Jane and Bingley marry.

Subplot 2
Lydia Bennet (Lizzy’s reckless sister) elopes with Wickham. She is later found and helped by Darcy.

Subplot 3
Odious Mr Collins proposes marriage to Lizzy. She says no. Her more pragmatic friend, Charlotte Lucas, says yes.

Three-Act Structure
This is another popular method, and comes from screenplay writing.
At the simplest level, the three acts look like this:

The beginning - the story’s main character decides to act on a goal.
The middle - the action itself.
The ending - the consequences of the action.

Let’s expand those acts, using the classic “boy meets girl” plot:

The beginning: The boy meets the girl and falls hopelessly in love with her. He decides that he must either win her heart or die trying.

The middle: So he sets out on his quest. This being a novel, though, nothing comes easy. He takes several steps forward but even more steps back, and he eventually loses her. In romance, the point at which is seems hopeless for the couple is called the “black moment.”

The ending: Actions have consequences in fiction, and in a novel this usually takes the form of the central character changing.In other words, the boy recognizes his flaws, changes his ways and wins the girl. Big sloppy kiss, stirring music, the end.

The last method I want to introduce is the very popular Hero’s Journey.
Rather than rehash this multi-step method, I’m going to link it HERE so you can read further for an in-depth discussion. For our purposes, I’ll do my best to summarize it. Several versions of it exist online, but at the core it includes 12 stages. The Star Warsstories are often used as examples to illustrate these stages.

The term was coined by Joseph Campbell in 1949, and it refers to a wide-ranging category of tales in which a character ventures out to get what they need, faces conflict, and ultimately triumphs over adversity.

Ordinary world
Call to adventure
Refusal of the call
Meeting the mentor
Crossing the threshold
Tests, allies, enemies
Approach to the inmost cave
Ordeal
Reward (seizing the sword)
The road back
Resurrection
Return with the elixir

As you’ve probably figured out by now, conflict is essential to each of these. Without conflict, there is no story. In order for conflict to resolve, something or someone has to change.

As you can probably also see, not every method lends itself well to every particular genre. That’s why it’s important to first understand what you’re writing, and to also know that genre’s reader expectations.

For example, I write romance, and because I know my reader expectations, I also know that either the three-act structure or the 7 step method fit well when writing in that genre.

If I was writing an epic fantasy, I would likely use the hero’s journey method. And I might use it for more than one main character in that fantasy, depending on how complex I wanted that story to be, or whether it would be a continuing series.

That’s it! Let’s discuss. Have you used any of these methods? What did you like about them? What other methods have you used? Why did you prefer them? How did they help you stay on track as you wrote?

 

[Barbara]

Great post @Carol Rose. I used to be a pantser and hence I'm fairly new to plotting and structure, so this is perfect.

I'm not sure this following can be considered as a plotting method:

My current WIP was inspired by flash fiction. I wrote a piece of flash and thought this would be a good ending to a novel. So in a sense I started with the final scene. I then worked backwards to figure out how the MC arrived at this moment, i.e. which problem gets the MC into this situation. I built the steps backwards. Why would he end up here? Because of this. Why would he end up with this? Because of that. What has to happened to get him to be here ... I asked a lot of 'why's and 'how's to find a core question at the beginning. Once I did that, I then worked forwards using the Snowflake Method to make sure it all fits and has the crisis points, the worsening of the situation, etc. Doing all this helped me stay on track because I know where the MC has to end up: that one scene that promted the novel.

Also, I wanted to have the core question on my first few pages because to me, focusing on the core quest keeps the MC's motivation / driving force in the foreground of the story. The question remains until it is answered at the end.

I find the inciting incident one of the most interesting plot points in a novel. If that incident doesn't grab me, the chances of me liking the rest of the book are slim.

 

[Carol Rose]

What a great idea! And obviously it worked, because the beginning of your novel definitely pulls people right in.

 

[Leonora]

I used to write instinctively to a reasonable approximation of plot, but had terrible trouble with my last WIP. I had a setting and characters and a real historical context, but it took me months to work out the plot. Dealing with real history was very problematic, even with these plotting templates.
I used Jami Gold's beat sheet, I think based on Blake Snyder, in the end. When I could fill in each slot with a single sentence I thought I'd just about cracked it.

 

[CageSage]

So in a sence I started with the final scene. I then worked backwards to figure out how the MC arrived at this moment

This is one of the ways I find to start a story - a simple piece, a short, a slice-of-life moment, a paragraph, or some dialogue - and then find out 'where it fits' in one of many potential 'shaping' tools.
Starting from the end is how police work (the real ones, as well as the storytellers). They start with the end result of something and work backwards through the things that happened before the beginning to get to the end! [I know, thinking like that can drive a person nuts!]

And I have a few fav methods of planning, but each story may be different in what tool I use to bring the whole story out - and may even change after the story is partially written. It happens. If I start with one method and get to the midpoint and discover the rest of it isn't strong enough based on the early part, I start a new plan for the second half of the story, maybe even with a different method of planning.

It's quite fun. Being flexible is a good plan. Having lots of different planning tools is a form of freedom - changing how I view the process of the story can highlight so much.

And, as a matter of complete honesty, no plan ends the way it starts. There are always changes because the writing of the story highlights things that don't fit, or that need more, or that are either over-familiar or too 'left-field'. Planning is the opportunity to weed out the bits like this, even half-way through a story.

A deep, dark secret - I often use a plan to write out all the things I expect from that type of story, and then work from that to avoid everything I've written in it. Why? Because the first plan is usually the same ideas as everyone else, and to work at a tangent from expectation can offer up a lot more power in the story that comes out at 'the end'.
I love planning, I love tossing plans out the window, I love working towards the mastery of my words.

 

[Carol Rose]

I used to write instinctively to a reasonable approximation of plot, but had terrible trouble with my last WIP. I had a setting and characters and a real historical context, but it took me months to work out the plot. Dealing with real history was very problematic, even with these plotting templates.
I used Jami Gold's beat sheet, I think based on Blake Snyder, in the end. When I could fill in each slot with a single sentence I thought I'd just about cracked it.

That's another popular method. Thanks for mentioning it!

 

[Carol Rose]

This is one of the ways I find to start a story - a simple piece, a short, a slice-of-life moment, a paragraph, or some dialogue - and then find out 'where it fits' in one of many potential 'shaping' tools.
Starting from the end is how police work (the real ones, as well as the storytellers). They start with the end result of something and work backwards through the things that happened before the beginning to get to the end! [I know, thinking like that can drive a person nuts!]

And I have a few fav methods of planning, but each story may be different in what tool I use to bring the whole story out - and may even change after the story is partially written. It happens. If I start with one method and get to the midpoint and discover the rest of it isn't strong enough based on the early part, I start a new plan for the second half of the story, maybe even with a different method of planning.

It's quite fun. Being flexible is a good plan. Having lots of different planning tools is a form of freedom - changing how I view the process of the story can highlight so much.

And, as a matter of complete honesty, no plan ends the way it starts. There are always changes because the writing of the story highlights things that don't fit, or that need more, or that are either over-familiar or too 'left-field'. Planning is the opportunity to weed out the bits like this, even half-way through a story.

A deep, dark secret - I often use a plan to write out all the things I expect from that type of story, and then work from that to avoid everything I've written in it. Why? Because the first plan is usually the same ideas as everyone else, and to work at a tangent from expectation can offer up a lot more power in the story that comes out at 'the end'.
I love planning, I love tossing plans out the window, I love working towards the mastery of my words.

Sounds like you've come up with a great plan that works well for you.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

I generally use the 7 step method, but I put it in a visual format (the old graph of rising action and falling action). I scribble the scenes in the main plot along the curve, and subplots along the timeline at the bottom. It gives me road markers. Most of the time I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to get from each point to the next, but I know what direction to point the characters in, and I let them take their own path from plot point to plot point.

 

[Rich.]

I used to write instinctively to a reasonable approximation of plot, but had terrible trouble with my last WIP [...] I used Jami Gold's beat sheet, I think based on Blake Snyder, in the end.

I've used Blake Snyder. The method (a take on the 3-act structure) is highly prescriptive, but once I realised I didn't need to follow it slavishly, I found it useful (that's to say, once I realised it was the beats that were important, and not so much their specific timing and placement).

Most of the time I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to get from each point to the next, but I know what direction to point the characters in, and I let them take their own path from plot point to plot point.

I do this too. I like to have the main beats mapped out, but after that I'm happy to discovery-write my way between them, at least in the first draft.

I'm currently playing with the Hero's Journey, which is more like a meta-structure. You can fit it into a 3-act structure, 4-act, 5-act, pretty much anything, I imagine. For anyone who's interested in delving into it, I'd recommend going back to the source material and taking it from there. Joseph Campbell's book isn't a writing manual; it's a book about comparative mythology. Hollywood screenwriter Christopher Vogler came along later and turned Campbell's ideas into a screenwriting manual. Most online sources, at least those I've seen, that talk about the Hero's Journey are shallow summaries, and they come across as plotting-by-numbers.

Another thing I've been playing with is plotting individual elements, specifically my protagonist's inner and outer journeys, the outer being the external happenings and the inner the character's emotional journey. None of this is new, but it is new to me, and I find the possibilities tremendously exciting. What did Aristotle say? (Apparently, I haven't researched this much...) PLOT is CHARACTER revealed by ACTION. For the first time that pithy statement is starting to make some sense to me.

 

[RK Wallis]

@Rich. if you liked Save the Cat, you might like Save the Cat Writes a Novel.

I've dabbled with the Hero's Journey (Brandon Sanderson does a great job explaining it on Youtube), planning character arcs using JK Rowling's format in excel (I find that really useful for seeing the snap shot of a plot point), I've used Jami Gold's beat sheet in excel and worked out word count for beats (it helped me know where to look for something to be trimmed, though there's give and take with that bit). Recently, I found Story Engineering by Larry Brooks incredible. He works with 4 Acts, and describes them as this:

In her book The Hero Within: Six Archetypes We Live By, author Carol S. Pearson labels these four stages of character status as orphan, wanderer, warrior, and martyr. While I like all these labels, I don’t think the hero needs to die in the end; he just needs to be willing to. You could also think of them as any number of other four-part descriptors: clueless, scared, angry, and smart … unaware, surprised, focused, and courageous … ignorant, confused, focused, and heroic … destined, responder, attacker, and savior.

Brooks, Larry. Story Engineering (pp. 111-112). F+W Media. Kindle Edition.

I like to work out from the midpoint. If I know what happens that ends the "fun and games", the rest flows. I think Harry Potter is a well known example. His "fun and games" learning to be a wizard end when someone tries to kill him at Quidditch.

Rachel Aaron in her 2k book describes plot simply. She says put your protag in a tree, set the tree on fire, then get your protag out. Personally, I prefer the Story Engineering method best. Whatever works though, hey?

 

[Carol Rose]

I generally use the 7 step method, but I put it in a visual format (the old graph of rising action and falling action). I scribble the scenes in the main plot along the curve, and subplots along the timeline at the bottom. It gives me road markers. Most of the time I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to get from each point to the next, but I know what direction to point the characters in, and I let them take their own path from plot point to plot point.

Sounds like that’s working well for you.

 

[Carol Rose]

I've used Blake Snyder. The method (a take on the 3-act structure) is highly prescriptive, but once I realised I didn't need to follow it slavishly, I found it useful (that's to say, once I realised it was the beats that were important, and not so much their specific timing and placement).


I do this too. I like to have the main beats mapped out, but after that I'm happy to discovery-write my way between them, at least in the first draft.

I'm currently playing with the Hero's Journey, which is more like a meta-structure. You can fit it into a 3-act structure, 4-act, 5-act, pretty much anything, I imagine. For anyone who's interested in delving into it, I'd recommend going back to the source material and taking it from there. Joseph Campbell's book isn't a writing manual; it's a book about comparative mythology. Hollywood screenwriter Christopher Vogler came along later and turned Campbell's ideas into a screenwriting manual. Most online sources, at least those I've seen, that talk about the Hero's Journey are shallow summaries, and they come across as plotting-by-numbers.

Another thing I've been playing with is plotting individual elements, specifically my protagonist's inner and outer journeys, the outer being the external happenings and the inner the character's emotional journey. None of this is new, but it is new to me, and I find the possibilities tremendously exciting. What did Aristotle say? (Apparently, I haven't researched this much...) PLOT is CHARACTER revealed by ACTION. For the first time that pithy statement is starting to make some sense to me.

Great stuff! Thank you!

 

[Carol Rose]

@Rich. if you liked Save the Cat, you might like Save the Cat Writes a Novel.

I've dabbled with the Hero's Journey (Brandon Sanderson does a great job explaining it on Youtube), planning character arcs using JK Rowling's format in excel (I find that really useful for seeing the snap shot of a plot point), I've used Jami Gold's beat sheet in excel and worked out word count for beats (it helped me know where to look for something to be trimmed, though there's give and take with that bit). Recently, I found Story Engineering by Larry Brooks incredible. He works with 4 Acts, and describes them as this:

In her book The Hero Within: Six Archetypes We Live By, author Carol S. Pearson labels these four stages of character status as orphan, wanderer, warrior, and martyr. While I like all these labels, I don’t think the hero needs to die in the end; he just needs to be willing to. You could also think of them as any number of other four-part descriptors: clueless, scared, angry, and smart … unaware, surprised, focused, and courageous … ignorant, confused, focused, and heroic … destined, responder, attacker, and savior.

Brooks, Larry. Story Engineering (pp. 111-112). F+W Media. Kindle Edition.

I like to work out from the midpoint. If I know what happens that ends the "fun and games", the rest flows. I think Harry Potter is a well known example. His "fun and games" learning to be a wizard end when someone tries to kill him at Quidditch.

Rachel Aaron in her 2k book describes plot simply. She says put your protag in a tree, set the tree on fire, then get your protag out. Personally, I prefer the Story Engineering method best. Whatever works though, hey?

Thanks so much for sharing this!

 

[AliG]

JKR is interesting, if basic plotting
It's trying to get all your arcs lined up that's a real headache. Plugging on...

 

[Ancora Imparo]

Thanks @Carol Rose, another great read, and lots to think about. I feel a wee bit inadequate reading all this, though I just sit down and start typing (long ago and far away I used to sit down with a fountain pen and start writing). I've read a lot of good books on the craft of writing (Stephen King, Dorothea Brande, John Yorke, the one about the 7 basic plots, some on script writing, and a whole cartload of others). Some in the cart were rubbish, but a lot were informative and worth reading. I liked the advice from a film director to put your protagonist up a tree and keep throwing rocks at them. But if you did that for 200 pages, readers would grow weary.

I'm definitely a pantser though when I realise I've lost the plot I have the discipline now to stop writing and start making notes, and think more about the story – because if I lose the thread it usually means I haven't thought the story through properly. That, or I'm writing crap and also need to stop.

One writer I knew used index cards with plot points on them and would lay them out on the floor to see where the plot arced, or flatlined, and where the sub-plot merged with the main plot. I liked that idea too.

Another friend uses a chapter by chapter plot plan, so the book is planned start to finish before he even puts finger to keyboard... but this, he says, is only because it gives him the confidence to get on with it. The plot always changes. He stays flexible. Goes where the story and characters take him, but the 'plan' is in the desk drawer, just in case.

I know myself. If I start writing index cards, or chapter plans with the entire plot on it, or start counting pages to see where the last up-beat was, I'd go bloody mad. Seems to me that's also a really good procrastination tool for people like me – I'd end up doing lots of pretty index cards, or graphs, or colour-coded character plans... oh, and maybe a journal, like a story board with pictures in it (I like that idea actually). And I'd get nothing written. So, I just sit down and start typing.

However, I'm going to follow the links you and others have kindly given – it's good to learn new things

 

[Carol Rose]

Thanks @Carol Rose, another great read, and lots to think about. I feel a wee bit inadequate reading all this, though I just sit down and start typing (long ago and far away I used to sit down with a fountain pen and start writing). I've read a lot of good books on the craft of writing (Stephen King, Dorothea Brande, John Yorke, the one about the 7 basic plots, some on script writing, and a whole cartload of others). Some in the cart were rubbish, but a lot were informative and worth reading. I liked the advice from a film director to put your protagonist up a tree and keep throwing rocks at them. But if you did that for 200 pages, readers would grow weary.

I'm definitely a pantser though when I realise I've lost the plot I have the discipline now to stop writing and start making notes, and think more about the story – because if I lose the thread it usually means I haven't thought the story through properly. That, or I'm writing crap and also need to stop.

One writer I knew used index cards with plot points on them and would lay them out on the floor to see where the plot arced, or flatlined, and where the sub-plot merged with the main plot. I liked that idea too.

Another friend uses a chapter by chapter plot plan, so the book is planned start to finish before he even puts finger to keyboard... but this, he says, is only because it gives him the confidence to get on with it. The plot always changes. He stays flexible. Goes where the story and characters take him, but the 'plan' is in the desk drawer, just in case.

I know myself. If I start writing index cards, or chapter plans with the entire plot on it, or start counting pages to see where the last up-beat was, I'd go bloody mad. Seems to me that's also a really good procrastination tool for people like me – I'd end up doing lots of pretty index cards, or graphs, or colour-coded character plans... oh, and maybe a journal, like a story board with pictures in it (I like that idea actually). And I'd get nothing written. So, I just sit down and start typing.

However, I'm going to follow the links you and others have kindly given – it's good to learn new things

It’s all good! There are so many methods, and the great thing is that you can take what works for you and ignore the rest.

 

[Carol Rose]

JKR is interesting, if basic plotting
It's trying to get all your arcs lined up that's a real headache. Plugging on...

Awesome! Thanks for sharing this.

 

[Deleted member 604]

@Carol Rose a very informative post indeed, must have taken you ages to do. So, for that thank you for your time.
I'm very OCD when it comes to plotting. I don't know if that is a good or bad thing.
I do the whole lot, the Character Profiles even illustrations/pictures of my characters with help from a good friend of mine who is such a talented artist. I summarise each Chapter in one paragraph to just make sure I'm still on track.
I have written the Plot with all its secrets, twists and turns for my eyes only and written the Plot in another doc without them.
I write the Synopsis even before I have written my story and I tweak it as I go along, never straying too far from the original story though.
In that regard I rarely suffer from writers block just the energy to write more than anything.
So, when it comes to submitting to agents and editing the final manuscript has saved me so much time which is hard when you work full-time and live life to the fullest.
Also, I'm not shy when it comes to trying new, inventive things and I absolutely swear by regular writing exercises.
Does that sound OCD? LOL.

The Seven Basic Plots - Book by Christopher Booker
Covers pretty much everything plotting wise with some of the greats as examples - Lord Of The Rings is one amongst many others.
A great read also. Highly recommended.

 

[Carol Rose]

@Carol Rose a very informative post indeed, must have taken you ages to do. So, for that thank you for your time.
I'm very OCD when it comes to plotting. I don't know if that is a good or bad thing.
I do the whole lot, the Character Profiles even illustrations/pictures of my characters with help from a good friend of mine who is such a talented artist. I summarise each Chapter in one paragraph to just make sure I'm still on track.
I have written the Plot with all its secrets, twists and turns for my eyes only and written the Plot in another doc without them.
I write the Synopsis even before I have written my story and I tweak it as I go along, never straying too far from the original story though.
In that regard I rarely suffer from writers block just the energy to write more than anything.
So, when it comes to submitting to agents and editing the final manuscript has saved me so much time which is hard when you work full-time and live life to the fullest.
Also, I'm not shy when it comes to trying new, inventive things and I absolutely swear by regular writing exercises.
Does that sound OCD? LOL.

The Seven Basic Plots - Book by Christopher Booker
Covers pretty much everything plotting wise with some of the greats as examples - Lord Of The Rings is one amongst many others.
A great read also. Highly recommended.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Robinne Weiss]

I write the Synopsis even before I have written my story and I tweak it as I go along

I've done this for the first time with my current WIP. It occurred to me that it would be good to do this while I had only the skeleton of the plot in my head, rather than after my brain was stuffed full of the details that get in the way of a succinct synopsis. I'm curious to see what I think of it after the book is written.

 

[Carol Rose]

I've done this for the first time with my current WIP. It occurred to me that it would be good to do this while I had only the skeleton of the plot in my head, rather than after my brain was stuffed full of the details that get in the way of a succinct synopsis. I'm curious to see what I think of it after the book is written.

Let us know!