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 |   A month-long novel-planning challenge with prizes galore. |
Plotting your Story Whether you're a discovery writer who prefers just sit down and write your story without any planning or you're an inveterate outliner who needs to know pretty much everything about your story before you start on the actual writing of it, or somewhere in between, at some point in the writing process you need to work out the plot. Since it is NaNoWriMo, it is probably better to stick to one main plot for now. Afterwards, in your revision, you can add in sub-plots. The process for sub-plots is the same as for the main plot though they must tie in with said main plot in some way. A story plot is, in essence, the struggle or conflict between a protagonist and an antagonist. It is the foundation on which a story is constructed. The antagonist can be either external - usually a character, but can be something else like a creature, the environment or even the weather, or internal - such as a dire character flaw which the protagonist needs to struggle with to attain their story goal, or better, both. You need to start with some sort of premise. For example, you want a character to go on a quest to destroy a magical item which will save the world from an evil overlord, or maybe you want a story about a hero or heroine who has to rescue someone from captivity to put the world to rights. But whatever story premise you decide on you will need a chain of cause-and-effect events, circumstances and relationships which answer the question of why this premise came about and how it is resolved, or not, depending on whether you want a happy ending or a tragedy. Here is a set of questions which you need to know the answers to give you a strong story plot. Obviously, with a short story, things need to be kept more simple than if you are tackling a novel, where you will need more than one plot, but your approach to should be similar. 1) What is your protagonist's story goal? This goal needs to be something worthwhile, something life-changing for the protagonist (a short story plot) or something huge which will save or change the world and changes the protagonist in some way (a novel plot). 2) What is the dire consequence if he/she fails to reach his/her goal? The reader will need to get an idea of the bad situation which will continue as a result of failure or of the tragedy which will ensue if the story goal is not achieved. 3) What are the requirements needed to reach this goal? Requirements are active things which can include some or all of these sorts of things - learning, overcoming, realising, finding, fighting, killing, making or putting together, etc. The protagonist needs to strive hard to earn his or her success. Alternatively, you need to make their failure seem worse for having had them strive for their goal will all their will and might yet still fail. 4) What are the costs? What sacrifices does your protagonist need to make to achieve their goal? To do anything worthwhile in life you need to make some sort of sacrifice. Perhaps the protagonist can't marry the love of his or her life until they have solved the story problem and must be parted from each other for the duration. Or maybe they have to give up something like their fondness for loutish behaviour, heavy drinking and larking around. Perhaps they have to sacrifice some dignity, but whatever, they need to pay some sort of price to enable them to succeed. 5) What are the dividends? What does the protagonist gain? E.g, knowledge, a key, an ally, a new perspective on the problem. So, the protagonist must make sacrifices, but they also need to get some sort of reward for their efforts. Maybe the drunken lout gets a girlfriend who can help in his quest, or after doing something manifestly risky, they get a big knowledge or financial pay-off. 6) What will the forewarnings be? These show the consequence is getting closer. Even though the protagonist is striving as hard as ever they can to attain their story goal, there needs to be things thrown in their path by the antagonist and/or their character flaw(s) to slow them down or to try stop them completely. Although they may take two steps forwards they also need to take one step back each time. The nearer they get to the goal the harder it should be for them to reach it and the threat of disaster should be worse and more palpable each time. 7) What prerequisites are needed for the requirements to happen? These are necessary things or people which need to exist in the story to allow the protagonist to do earn their dividends or rewards. These could be things like a school where the protagonist must learn a skill they will need or a tutor of some sort who teaches them something vital, or maybe they need to find an ally who'll watch their back, or maybe they must find a key or a set of clues which will set them on the right path. 8) What preconditions are required to be overcome before the protagonist can attain their goal? What impediments does the protagonist have? These should be both internal, such as a character flaw, and external such as trials and tribulations stemming from the antagonist's need to thwart the protagonist and attain their own opposing goal. 9) Who is the antagonist and what is their goal? This can be either the same goal as the protagonist's e.g. rival, or underdog plots, or it can be directly in opposition e.g. revenge or escape plots. Whatever you choose plot-wise, the antagonist should be as strong/powerful or stronger/more powerful than the protagonist and have the upper hand for most of the story. The other thing you need to remember is that it is the protagonist who should drive the plot. Make sure they are actively pursuing their goal, they are making things happen. Don't let them be passive puppets who do nothing except react to events all the time. It is inevitable you will need reactive scenes, especially early in the novel before the protagonist has got properly to grips with what they need to do to combat the antagonist, but even those scenes need to be ended with a decision by the protagonist about what to do next. Don't make those decisions easy. For a great, memorable story which grips the reader and holds them from the beginning to the end, the protagonist needs both inner and outer conflict which should be difficult and there must be plenty of it. Basic Plots Each short plot description starts with the title of the plot pattern. After a hyphen the main characters to be found in the plot are given, separated by commas. 1. Supplication - Persecutor, Suppliant, a Power in Authority 2. Deliverance - Unfortunates, Threatener, Rescuer 3. Revenge - Avenger, Criminal 4. Vengeance by Family upon Family - Avenging Kinsman, Guilty Kinsman, Relative 5. Pursuit - Fugitive from Punishment, Pursuer 6. Victim of Cruelty or Misfortune - Unfortunates, Master or Unlucky Person 7. Disaster - Vanquished Power, Victorious Power or Messenger 8. Revolt - Tyrant, Conspirator(s) 9. Daring Enterprise - Bold Leader, Goal, Adversary 10. Abduction - Abductor, Abducted, Guardian 11. Enigma - Interrogator, Seeker, Problem 12. Obtaining - Two or more Opposing Parties, Object, maybe an Arbitrator 13. Familial Hatred - Two Family Members who hate each other 14. Familial Rivalry - Preferred Kinsman, Rejected Kinsman, Object 15. Murderous Adultery - Two Adulterers, the Betrayed 16. Madness - Madman, Victim 17. Fatal Imprudence - Imprudent person, Victim or lost object 18. Involuntary Crimes of Love - Lover, Beloved, Revealer 19. Kinsman Kills Unrecognised Kinsman - Killer, Unrecognised Victim, Revealer 20. Self Sacrifice for an Ideal - Hero, Ideal, Person or Thing Sacrificed 21. Self Sacrifice for Kindred - Hero, Kinsman, Person or Thing Sacrificed 22. All Sacrificed for Passion - Lover, Object of Passion, Person or Thing Sacrificed 23. Sacrifice of Loved Ones - Hero, Beloved Victim, Need for Sacrifice 24. Rivalry Between Superior and Inferior - Superior, Inferior, Object 25. Adultery - Deceived Spouse, Two Adulterers 26. Crimes of Love - Lover, Beloved, theme of Dissolution 27. Discovery of Dishonor of a Loved One - Discoverer, Guilty One 28. Obstacles to Love - Two Lovers, Obstacle 29. An Enemy Loved - Beloved Enemy, Lover, Hater 30. Ambition - An Ambitious Person, Coveted Thing, Adversary 31. Conflict with a God - Mortal, Immortal 32. Mistaken Jealousy - Jealous One, Object of Jealousy, Supposed Accomplice, Author of Mistake 33. Faulty Judgment - Mistaken One, Victim of Mistake, Author of Mistake, Guilty Person 34. Remorse - Culprit, Victim, Interrogator 35. Recovery of a Lost One - Seeker, One Found 36. Loss of Loved Ones - Kinsman Slain, Kinsman Witness, Executioner. If you have any questions please link my handle in your post - {user:poulnoe} so I can find it    
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