Part 2 of the Ultimate Cheat Sheet to Writing Stories
Do You Know Your Plot?
The problem with beginner writers is that they never know what their plot is, they don't know who the bad guy is or how the book is going to end. With some writers, this is just how they write and they get their best work from doing this. But there are other ways to write that will make it more fulfilling.
First things first, you need an idea, the tiniest seeds are able to produce some of the world's most magnificent sights, such as the Redwoods of California. Your plot should be simple enough that you can expand on it as much as your heart desires, but complex enough that it doesn't sound like one of those generic kind of plots, similar to the prince saving the princess, or rags to riches kind of thing. You can still have your plot based in the Seven Basic Plots (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheSevenBasicPlots about Christopher Booker's The Seven Basic Plots book) but make it a tad more complex than just saying 'overcoming the monster.' You can get your basic plot idea from nearly anything, such as maybe there is an evil witch who is making the land an eternal winter and your character has to defeat her (from the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis.), or maybe your plot is somebody cast a spell over someone your character has a deep connection with and your character has to free them. Your plot could be as simple as an alien invasion or the zombie apocalypse, but expand just a little on those ideas if you're going to use them.
Next, you need a main character, the protagonist. You don't even have to know who any of your main characters are, you can figure that out later, but you cannot have a book without a main character. Try not to have your main character be something like depression or anger, that would not allow the readers to connect with the main character and would make it boring for them. Maybe your main character suffers from depression, or a side character could have a really bad temper sometimes. That will add to the story, because instead of the character just having one big trial to go through, put in lots of little trials that make the big trial even harder.
Now, you need somebody to go against your main character, your antagonist. Most times the story will be around where the protagonist has to defeat the antagonist, but the antagonist can be someone in the protagonist's inner circle, someone the protagonist clashes with. Never, ever, make a large organization or something be the antagonist, it does not end well. It's like a story of a girl that has to defeat society and make everyone see that it is better without society, not very interesting and practically impossible. But if you change the story to a girl who has to convince the chief editor of a magazine not to publish certain kinds of things, now that is a more plausible plot line.
The ending. I know, this is a scary topic, especially for those of us who prefer to just go on a free whim. Thing is, if you have a beginning and an ending, even if you're writing just free style, there is always someplace to move the story to. It will keep the story from going to far in a direction you don't want it to go. It's like with a jungle, there are many, very many, paths going from one point in the jungle to another point in the jungle. If you get a little lost along the way, you can always find a new path to where you're going. But if you only have a start point and no end point, you will get so lost you won't know where you turned wrong and you'll be forced to start from scratch.
Hope you are enjoying the Ultimate Cheat Sheet to Writing, I have more coming soon. Don't forget to check out the next part: The Quest For Characters. Did you catch Before You Start?
Have a British day -Kac
Do You Know Your Plot?
The problem with beginner writers is that they never know what their plot is, they don't know who the bad guy is or how the book is going to end. With some writers, this is just how they write and they get their best work from doing this. But there are other ways to write that will make it more fulfilling.
First things first, you need an idea, the tiniest seeds are able to produce some of the world's most magnificent sights, such as the Redwoods of California. Your plot should be simple enough that you can expand on it as much as your heart desires, but complex enough that it doesn't sound like one of those generic kind of plots, similar to the prince saving the princess, or rags to riches kind of thing. You can still have your plot based in the Seven Basic Plots (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheSevenBasicPlots about Christopher Booker's The Seven Basic Plots book) but make it a tad more complex than just saying 'overcoming the monster.' You can get your basic plot idea from nearly anything, such as maybe there is an evil witch who is making the land an eternal winter and your character has to defeat her (from the Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis.), or maybe your plot is somebody cast a spell over someone your character has a deep connection with and your character has to free them. Your plot could be as simple as an alien invasion or the zombie apocalypse, but expand just a little on those ideas if you're going to use them.
Next, you need a main character, the protagonist. You don't even have to know who any of your main characters are, you can figure that out later, but you cannot have a book without a main character. Try not to have your main character be something like depression or anger, that would not allow the readers to connect with the main character and would make it boring for them. Maybe your main character suffers from depression, or a side character could have a really bad temper sometimes. That will add to the story, because instead of the character just having one big trial to go through, put in lots of little trials that make the big trial even harder.
Now, you need somebody to go against your main character, your antagonist. Most times the story will be around where the protagonist has to defeat the antagonist, but the antagonist can be someone in the protagonist's inner circle, someone the protagonist clashes with. Never, ever, make a large organization or something be the antagonist, it does not end well. It's like a story of a girl that has to defeat society and make everyone see that it is better without society, not very interesting and practically impossible. But if you change the story to a girl who has to convince the chief editor of a magazine not to publish certain kinds of things, now that is a more plausible plot line.
The ending. I know, this is a scary topic, especially for those of us who prefer to just go on a free whim. Thing is, if you have a beginning and an ending, even if you're writing just free style, there is always someplace to move the story to. It will keep the story from going to far in a direction you don't want it to go. It's like with a jungle, there are many, very many, paths going from one point in the jungle to another point in the jungle. If you get a little lost along the way, you can always find a new path to where you're going. But if you only have a start point and no end point, you will get so lost you won't know where you turned wrong and you'll be forced to start from scratch.
Hope you are enjoying the Ultimate Cheat Sheet to Writing, I have more coming soon. Don't forget to check out the next part: The Quest For Characters. Did you catch Before You Start?
Have a British day -Kac
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