Plotting

In this step, we’re going to ask: what needs to happen in my story? And how do I structure it? You’ve had a great idea, you’ve got your characters, you know your setting and, fired with enthusiasm, you’ve hit the screen running, bashing out a great chunk of writing. And then your flurry of inspiration dries up, and the inevitable thought hits you: What happens next? Where am I going with this? So in this step, we’re going to look at how you can create a structure to map out your story that will see you from beginning to end, and keep readers interested all along the way.

If you create a map for your story, it will help you to see where you’re going and stop you from losing your way.

Change is essential

In any story that you write, the process of change or transformation is essential. Something needs to happen so that by the end of the story, your lead character, or protagonist, has undergone a process of change. They will not be the same at the end as they were at the beginning of your story. They will have something motivating them (a ‘want’) that will provoke the events in your story. They will have been through a process that has entailed any or all of the following: they will have learned something about themselves that has altered their understanding; a problem or dilemma will have been solved or resolved; they will have experienced an event or circumstance that has changed their outlook or perspective; they have overcome an obstacle; been through events that have ‘forged them in the fire’. Change might come about because of a force of events, personality crisis, interior knowledge or breakdown of an existing situation, but in any kind of story there will be a sense that the character is working their way through circumstances, problems or dilemmas and that the end of the story will provide a resolution of the situation facing them in the first place.

Some types of story are much more plot-driven than others. Crime stories need to have a distinct plot structure that relates to the crime in question being solved. A romance novel needs to have a plot that leads two people through various trials and tribulations to a happy ending. In a tragic story, someone’s personality flaw sets off a train of events that leads to terrible consequences. A literary story may involve a much more subtle and nuanced change that relates to the character’s interior perspective. But although different genres may have their own requirements about the kind of change that takes place, whatever story you write, you will need to know what change needs to happen, and how it is going to come about.

Plotting your story will help you to understand your character’s process of change, and when the key events need to occur for maximum storytelling impact.