Thursday, January 20, 2011

Easy Plot Questions

We all know that when we sit down to undertake this huge thing called writing that it isn’t going to be simple. There are so many things to work on and keep in mind. Characterization, development, setting, dialogue.

And plot.

Oh, plot. I’d like to think that this is as difficult for all the rest of you as it is for me. It’s actually intimidating, when you try to look at the bigger picture. Plot is everything. Without it, you have no story. Least I can figure, there are two big questions the writer needs to ask himself/herself when writing a book.

1. What’s the ultimate goal?
2. What’s standing in the way?

Then there are the subplots. Everything would be way too boring with a little drama on the side, right? The story would be less satisfying without the romance or the mystery… plus the word count would be much lower. The questions for this is:

1. How does this tie in with the major plot?
2. What's the ultimate goal?
3. What’s standing in the way?

Sometimes it comes easy, sometimes it doesn’t. For some reason I’m having a lot of trouble with plot for my W.I.P. (I have an outline - I've babbled to you guys before about my outlining.) It's just tough. But I think that as long as we keep looking for inspiration and keep at it with these questions in mind, something great will come out.