Plotting

According to Wikipedia, narrative plot is: “a literary term defined as the events that make up a story, particularly as they relate to one another in a pattern, in a sequence, through cause and effect, or by coincidence. One is generally interested in how well this pattern of events accomplishes some artistic or emotional effect.”

In D*I*Y Planner, Chris Brogan posted this on plotting: “When writing a story, you have an obligation to fulfill: your main character(s) must experience the events you lay before them, and they must react to the conflicts those events provide. Further, the state in which your focal characters find themselves must be either improving or degrading, as a means of moving the story forward towards a conclusion. Without that, the reader is merely being dragged along a flat line towards an ending that they can see a mile away.”

Pottery in the Rio Grande Valley

Sounds like a mouthful, right? But without a plot, you don’t have a story. A post by Zachary Petit on the Writer’s Digest blog very simply lists eight points on how to plot a bestseller. If you’re struggling with plot, visit both blogs mentioned here and see if that helps. If not, you might consider a book that I’ve used: Blockbuster Plots, Pure & Simple, by Martha Alderson, M.A. 

“Does your story contain character conflict, change, and growth? If you are just relating a series of events that involve one or more characters, your story is likely underdeveloped.” – Writing Tip from Writer’s Digest Weekly Planner