Plot Development Guide

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Plot Development Guide; And other mechanics
Topic Started: Apr 18 2007, 03:33 PM (131 Views)
nya_chan	Apr 18 2007, 03:33 PM Post #1
TeH g00fy admin (I wonder why no one takes me seriously...) Posts: 749 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: December 14, 2006	Welcome to the plot development guide! So, you've got your story idea, you have fairly good grasp on grammar and the English language, but as soon as your pen hits paper/fingers hit keyboard, you freeze up. How to go on? You have a literal "novel" idea, yet you just can't seem to be able to get it onto paper. This guide is here to help. First, you need to know some of the key elements that will keep a reader interested. The major ones are comedy, romance, action, adventure, and mystery. You don't need all of them in one story, and some stories really don't need all five. It depends on what audience you're aiming for. Step one: Come up with a general idea for your story. This is important for any story: short, long, or even epic poem, for all I care. They all need to convey a message to your readers. However, you don't want to write something that's been seen hundreds of times before. Just because Harry Potter was successful, not every story about students going to a magical academy will be. You need to be unique if you want to capture attention. Let's use the most classic of all genres, the humble adventure story.... Good: Normal Person gets magical powers. Person gets adventure. Person saves the world. Say... sounds a bit like Harry Potter when you think about it, doesn't it? After you've had more experience as a writer, some of the more boring plot lines suddenly become usable. But without experience, most people would have a hard time coming up with a viable, interesting story line. People turning magical isn't exactly the newest thing around. You need to know what you're doing and what your standing is as a writer. Better: Normal Person wants adventure. Person gets adventure. Person saves world. It's okay, but it's been done before. Normal people obviously will face more challenges than people with special abilities, but still, this has been over-emphasized and beaten to the ground by people who only think they know how to develop a plot. Remember, you're trying to be unique. You'll have to be a little more out-of-the-box than that. People bore easily. You need an engaging plot line, or people will fall asleep reading your book. Sorry, it's the truth. Best: Normal person does not want to have an adventure. Person gets one anyway. By the time Person realizes he/she's on an adventure, it's too late to pull out. Person accidentally saves the world. That is a story more people would want to read. Already, the elements of adventure and comedy are obvious, and possibly mystery. However, comedy could be left out. It's just that most people would add humor, due to the "accidental" part. Worst: Magical Person wants to have an adventure. Person gets adventure. Person saves the world. No no no! This is too common. Would you* want to read something that's been written hundreds of times before?* (Note: As people gain experience, they can twist even the most basic plots into a best-seller. If you're a new writer, you'll have to wait a while. It's not meant as an insult, it's the truth. Practice makes perfect.) Creative juices already flowing? Soon, I'll post some ideas to get your idea onto paper, and eventually, a little help with parody writing. It's harder than you would think....



Anthezar	Apr 20 2007, 11:15 PM Post #2
Advanced Member Posts: 632 Group: Moderators Member #20 Joined: January 13, 2007	Ooo, nice. You should also talk about more than the three plot lines you gave. There are many more out there. When writing, your plot can be many different thing other than "Normal Person gets magical powers. Person gets adventure. Person saves the world." What if the person didn't save the world? What would happen then? What happen if the hero's objective didn't happen but it was ok? Like a sacrifice. There's a few ideas. ^-^



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