Coming up with new story ideas is easy for some writers – they have trouble narrowing their ideas down to just one!

However, some writers have more trouble figuring out a good plot to go with their characters. For those who do, here are some tried and true tips:

• Ask “what if?” – look at any ordinary situation and imagine what would happen if …. What if the blind date that man is waiting for at the table next to yours turns out to be a psychopath — or his soulmate? What if that off-the-beaten-path trail leads to a murder scene? What if the train derails just as it pulls into the station?
• Finish this quote: _____ was not what it seemed. You can make an unlimited number of stories this way. The new neighbors were not what they seemed. The charming hotel was not what it seemed. The road trip was not what it seemed.
• Finish this quote as well: If only she/he hadn’t ______. This is another practically infinite prompt. If only he hadn’t taken that short cut. If only she hadn’t tried that new restaurant. If only they hadn’t decided to vacation here.
• Eavesdrop. This is always a great way to get story ideas. You hear the oddest things in a public location, and any one of them could turn into a great story for you.
• Reinvent a scene from a book or movie. Take an insignificant scene from a book or movie and imagine that as the opening scene for your story.
• Surf the net. Type a subject into your search engine and just start clicking anything that looks interesting. You’re bound to come up with something that stirs your imagination pretty quickly.
• Catch up with the news. Watch online or on TV, or read the newspaper. Something’s sure to catch your eye and trigger your emotions.

These aren’t all the ways a writer can come up with great story ideas, of course, but they’re ones that have always worked.

What are your tried and true idea generating ideas?

Writing a catchy first paragraph is a must for every writer, but especially for fiction writers. If the reader isn’t hooked in the first paragraph, sometimes the first two or three if they’re generous, they’re not going to be interested in finishing the story.

“The first sentence can’t be written until the final sentence is written.”
—Joyce Carol Oates, April 1986

The first thing you need to keep in mind is this quote from Joyce Carol Oates. She’s right: in order to craft a really fascinating first sentence or paragraph, you must have your ending already crafted. All this means, of course, is that you finish your first draft before you wrack your brain trying to find that perfect  opening scene. Get the story down, then worry about creating your “hook.”

A good first paragraph starts in the midst of the action. Don’t begin your story with the character waking up and brushing his teeth, then eating breakfast and going to work. Start with the body falling past the window in his office. The reader will wait a bit to learn more about your protagonist if you give them a good enough story.

Once you’ve completed your first draft, find the scene that starts your action, and lead with that scene. That’s your hook.

Are you a plot-driven or character-driven writer? By this I mean what sorts of stories do you typically write?

It all depends on what sorts of questions you ask. Do you find yourself asking “What if” questions, such as “What if a tornado hit my town?” or “What if that man suddenly started running down the street toward me?” These are plot questions, questions about the story itself. Stories that answer this sort of question are plot-driven stories.

If you find yourself asking “Why” questions, such as “Why did that woman just laugh?” or “Why does that man feel the need to step in and help that person?” then you’re asking character questions. Stories that deal with internal struggles are character-driven stories.

Good stories have a mix of both plot and character – they have an external plot driving the story, but they also have internal character struggles going on at the same time. The trick is to pay attention to what you’re doing so you can have an even mix of character-driven scenes and plot-driven scenes.

The arc of a story is the overall plot of the whole thing – from exposition to denouement. The character arc is how the character changes within that story.

Your story should have a captivating arc to it. Everything should change during the course of the story. By the time you reach the end, there should be a distinct difference between the baseline there and the one at the beginning.

The same holds true for your characters. They should change during the story. This doesn’t have to be a huge personality shift, but they ought to learn and grow during your tale.

Here’s an example of how this would work in a story:

• Act 1: at the beginning of your story, the character is resistant to change – things are fine the way they are, so why should he or she change?
• Plot Point 1: a surprise happens that throws the character’s life into a whole new direction
• Act 2: the character’s emotional journey. This is perhaps the hardest part of your story to write. The key is conflict – have a list of several obstacles (both internal and external) that will raise the stakes of the game for your character as time passes. This should end at a low point, where it seems that the character is never going to be able to succeed.
• Plot Point 2: a second surprise twist that makes the character’s goal reachable after all.
• Act 3: the dramatic enactment of the character’s success (followed by resolution or denouement).

Conflict is a necessary part of any story. Without conflict and tension, you’ve got a boring description and no story.

Along with conflict, though, you must have character reaction. If your characters don’t grow and change in response to the conflict, you’ve got another boring story. In order to really hook your readers and keep them rooting for the characters, those characters must react like real people. They must change – even if it is in small ways.

During your story, the characters must reach a point at which they must decide to make that change. This is the Point of No Return. Beyond this point, they can stay the same, go back to their lives as if nothing happened, and “keep on keeping on.”

The Point of No Return is that place in the conflict where the characters cannot react any further without making some sort of change – emotional, spiritual, physical, or mental. And with that change, they cannot “undo” their reaction. They can’t just pretend it never happened and go back to the way they were before.

This is a key part of a good story. Build your conflict to the point where the characters have to make a change, and your readers will follow right along, cheering for the characters. One good way to figure out if your story is progressing properly is to create a number system for your conflict, with 10 being a Point of No Return moment and 1 being no tension at all.

Number your scenes according to the tension and conflict in each one. You should see the numbers increasing until they reach 10. You can certainly have little dips where you slack off on the tension to give your characters a brief rest, but the overall curve should be uphill.

Once the Point of No Return is reached, you should be at or near the action climax of the tale as well – and it’s all downhill from there.

Stephen Bly has a nice little blog with some realistic plot kickers for those of you who also write Westerns!

You may have noticed that the site is being revamped. Sometimes it’s good to shake things up and have a makeover.

Sometimes your story needs a makeover as well. How do you tell if you need to shake things up and make a change?

• You find the writing increasingly difficult
• Your writing just seems boring and humdrum
• You can’t think of any way to solve a problem the characters have gotten into
• You’re having trouble ending a scene or chapter
• You find yourself describing the weather
• You find yourself describing a character’s typical day
• You can’t imagine where to go next

If you find yourself in any of the above situations, try going back to the last place where things made sense. Ask yourself: what can I change here?

Go forward in a new direction from that last scene. You might have to try this several times before you find something that works, but you’ll end up with a better story.

What are some of your tips for changing dull writing?

 

 

I think I have finished the poker story for the Wolf Creek anthology. Notice the operative word “think.” Sometimes it’s hard to know when you’ve really finished something.

I had some trouble with this story, so I thought I’d share the journey with you. Every writer can benefit from another writer’s trials, right?

To start with, this is the first time I’ve submitted to another editor’s anthology in years. I’m nervous about whether they’ll even accept the thing. I started over about five times – trying different openings, starting at different points in the story, having Kye and Chance do different things. I like to begin in the middle of the action, so I usually start with them either in the middle of an argument, or in the middle of some sort of struggle. This time, I opted for argument, then “panned out” to show where they were and why they were fighting.

I tried for a spare, stripped-down story when I usually prefer the more descriptive style – there’s a word limit for the anthology. This was another difficulty. How sparse is too sparse? You do need some backstory, some description, if your readers are going to see the images in their heads.

Then there’s the last sentence. I usually end with something indicative of the character’s personality. As I usually write from Chance’s POV, this means the end is usually something snarky or sneaky or tricky. I had some trouble finding the perfect line this time, and I’m still not as confident in the one I picked as I usually am.

I’ve cut about as much as I’ve kept, too. I deleted whole scenes, dropped dialogue that was going nowhere, cut redundant words and phrases. I have tried to be ruthless, though this is hard with your own writing sometimes. You get so close that you can’t really see the whole work any longer, so it’s hard to tell what’s integral to the plot and what isn’t.

This is why I rely on my “beta readers.” Always pass your work by at least one friend or family member who will give you an honest critique. You don’t want “I loved it” or “It’s great” here. You want someone to say “This part didn’t work for me and here’s why,” or “You can get rid of this part because it doesn’t do anything for the story.” Find a Grammar Nazi to check your sentence structure and word choice – those spell-check programs can’t decide if you’ve used the totally wrong word or mixed your tenses.

I’m at that stage now – the story is out to the beta readers and I’m waiting for their judgement. Then one final edit, some finger-crossing and maybe a little prayer, and it’s off to the editors.

 

Do you have any particular stories that were really difficult for you? What made them hard to write?

I’ve spent a lovely three days hob-nobbing with other authors and attending writing panels. Here are some gems from the classes.

• The day I stop learning about my characters is the day I become bored with them — Margaret Coel
• Good beginnings and endings are like good art: I know it when I see it, but it’s awfully hard to define — Jamie McGrath Morris
• One of the biggest dialogue mistakes I see is when all the characters sound alike — Craig Johnson
• Write the kind of novel that, once the reader picks it up, he cannot bear to put it down; not the kind of novel that, once he puts it down, he cannot bear to pick it back up — Margaret Coel
• Before you even sit down to write, know — in this order — what the ending is, and what the beginning will be — Kirk Ellis
• Writing is not a profession, but a vocation. Think bigger than just a contract, a published book. Ask yourself ‘Is this worth one to three years of my life?’ before you begin that novel — David Morrell
• Try this: gather a stack of award-winning novels and read the ending first. Then, read the book to see how the author gets from Point A to Point Z. Do that 500 times. Can you imagine how much you’ll learn about the art of plotting? — Steve Havill
• Here’s a big secret: have someone read your dialogue back to you — Craig Johnson
• ‘Let me tell you a story’ is a very powerful lure — Jamie McGrath Morris
• It’s never as good as it could be. And ‘spoiler alert:’ it’s never going to be — Kirk Ellis
• Become a student of human nature — Craig Johnson

What is the best advice you’ve ever heard from another writer?

Having trouble thinking of plots? Twisted around when it comes to twists? Here are some tips and tricks to help you solve your problems.

1. Brainstorm. This is the number one way I come up with plots. Just sit down and write out everything that comes to your mind about your topic. That’s everything. Doesn’t matter how off-the-wall it seems, or how boring. Write it down anyway. You’ll end up with a list of possibilities. Some of them will turn out to be worthless, but lots of them will pan out. You might end up with an idea for a scene, or for an entire novel. And the more ideas you come up with, the more your brain will toss out. It’s like exercising a muscle: use your creative mind and it’ll reward you with more creativity.
2. Ask questions. Go through your outline (or read through your plot if you’re a “pantser”) and ask yourself as many questions as you can. What if the villain finds out about the hero’s plan? What would I do in this situation? Why does the character make this decision? What would happen if the villain’s plot was discovered by a third character? Then, come up with answers to those questions. The more questions you have, the more plot ideas you’ll find to answer them with.
3. Wonder. One of the things that makes writers special is their curiosity. Give yours free rein. Surf the internet for new information. Ask people about their jobs or hobbies. Pick up a magazine about a subject unfamiliar to you, or browse a new section of your bookstore. The more information you have, the more plot ideas you can come up with.
4. Scheme. A great way to improve your plot is to plan ways to thwart your characters. Life is rough, and people don’t want to read about characters who get everything they want without a struggle. Throw roadblocks on the path to their goals. Complicate their lives. Make your characters miserable: it’ll make a more interesting plot.
5. Turn things around. Try outlining your plot from the point of view of your antagonist, or of a secondary character. This is also a good way to expose plot holes, such as having the villain be an evil genius until it’s time for the hero to defeat him, when he suddenly forgets how to think. Look at your book from another angle and you’ll find new plot twists to play with.

Get started with these ideas and you’ll probably come up with other ways to plot. Turn on your brain and let ‘er rip!

What is the most unusual way a plot has come to you?