#advice: plot

[portraiits]

this is kind of a strange question, but how do you make plot ??? i always get stuck because i can either see the story going in 167873 different directions or even none at all ! do you have any advice on how to overcome this ??

not a strange question! every writer struggles with this at some point because some stories are so expansive before you even start. i think the best thing to do when developing your plot is figuring out how you want it to start and how you want it to end. it’s totally normal to be able to see the story going down multiple different paths. that’s how you can even write considering writing is ultimately a critical thinking activity where you’re weighing out different alternatives and choosing to expand upon the “best outcome” for what you have in mind.

once you have your beginning and ending, it narrows down the paths of the story quite a bit. the next thing is to just take it one scene at a time. you finished the opening so what do you want to happen next? you’ll find that the more your story progresses and the more your characters develop, there really is only a few ways for you to tell the story the way you want to tell it. in my case, it usually ends up being narrowed down to one path about a quarter of the way through. other options just become unrealistic with the way the plot has moved and others are unreasonable because the characters just wouldn’t do that anymore. i’ve deleted plenty of scenes because i will revisit the idea and think “well that won’t work because this happened earlier and my character wouldn’t actually react that way”. this is normal, this is okay, this is good. it means you’re in touch with your characters and your story enough that you know something just won't fit and the door is now open to find something that does. 

if a story has endless ideas when you first start it, good. it means you’re going to have a well thought out story that has a ton of detail and enough content to make a decent length book or story. if there’s nothing going on up there but you really like the concept, maybe consider putting that particular idea on the back burner for a bit. every time you think of that story and have an idea for it, add it to the list for you to eventually come back to develop the plot (this is the reason i have a ton of wips that haven’t even made it to google docs yet).

[referenceforwriters]

I have this issue where I come up with "world bunnies" instead of plot bunnies, aka concepts for worlds/tech/etc, but not actual plot. Do you have any tips for developing world concepts into plot? (Apologies if you've answered similarly before.)

What to Do When You Have No Plot

I have characters and world, but no plot!

How to make a story based around a character 

Have some idea/plot generators 

Beginning and developing plot

How to make a plot

20 Basic Plots

If you have a world bunny, continue developing it. You write down every single idea you have of this world and analyze it. What kind of world is this? What's good about it? What's wrong about it? The more you think about it, the worlds you create are a playground for the characters you craft and place in them. 

Make a character want something—that’s how you begin. -- Kurt Vonnegut

If there's something bad about this world, make your character want to fix it. If there's something good, make them want to destroy it. If they want something completely unrelated to whether this world is good or bad, make the world get in the way. 

-Alex

[referenceforwriters]

Hello, I just started writing the beginning of a zombie themed novel, and I was hoping that you may be able to direct me to some resources that you know of on that topic. I understand this may be too broad, but if you have anything related to zombies, that would be terrific. Honestly, my main concern is being original when there are so many zombie stories out there. If you have anything that may also help me with that, I will be very grateful. Thank you so much, have a wonderful day (:

I did this on survival stories and zombie apocalypses

How to write a good zombie book

Writing the zombie novel

A good ending for a zombie novel

How to write a zombie apocalypse novel

Types of zombies

The different types of zombies

Do not worry about your story being original or not. Worry about you liking it enough to write it at all. You’re right, zombies have been a quite recurring topic (much like vampires and dystopias) but this is also good. It means there’s a market for the thing you’re writing about. 

Just make sure it is the story you want, and if you’re concerned about it being like a copy of popular zombie novels, study them. Study zombies. Study the characters you want to have and make them diverse. Make your own type or focus on a different angle to them. 

But really, as long as you like this story, it is worth writing about. Do it your own way, not how you think it should be done or how others have done it.

On originality

On beginnings

-Alex

[referenceforwriters]

Do you have any tips on how to further develop a new story idea? Thank you! :)

Outlining and planning

Brainstormming

Making Ideas Into Words

Starting Up Already

Generating and Developing Ideas

Coming up with plots 

-Alex

[referenceforwriters]

So I'm having some problems. With all of my writing I create characters and put them in a situation. The problem is, I can never get a happy ending. Can you help me with this?

The first question you need to answer is why do you want a happy ending. Endings to that—they end the story. Readers, no matter what they say, don’t want a happy ending—they want a satisfying one. They want the guy they’ve hated for the whole novel to die end up in a bad situation and the protagonist (or any character they like) to end up fine, even if it that’s not the case in many stories. Even if it’s not the case, you can still make it satisfying, regardless of the angst—sometimes because of the angst. Simply write the ending your story needs.

How to write the ending of your novel has very good advice and strong points which I agree with. 

About (not so) happy endings by WAW

Different ways to end a story

Dos and Don’ts of ending stories

-Alex

[referenceforwriters]

I have narrowed my problem. It came to me while I was composing a song: I just don't know what to make things about. Sure, I can make cool characters and an amazingly in-depth world, but I can't for the life of me come up with plots. None that interest me, none that aren't "girl saves the world" or "boy overthrows government". Help?

How to make a story based around a character 

What to do when you have no plot

Have some idea/plot generators 

Beginning and developing plot

How to make a plot

There you go!

Also, food for thought: why would the girl save the world? Why does the world need to be saved? Why is the goverment worth overthrowing or what makes the boy want to do such thing? Do they do it on their own? How are the girl and the boy like?

It’s easy to believe an idea is ridiculous or simple when you’ve condensed it into one sentence. When you give it a why, a how, a when, a who, a where, and invest all your imagination in it- it becomes a story.

And, if you are already able to create good, dimensional characters, make them create the plot. Make the in-depth world and the dimensional characters create your plot. 

E.g: your setting or world is a dystopian society. Everyone but a small group is struggling for survival, and this small group -the goverment, corporations, etc- has sucked the life out of most people. Your character or group of characters want to overthrow the government. 

Now: Why? When? How? Who are these characters? These questions, and some other, make your plot.

-Alex

[referenceforwriters]

Hello! I have a question about plot twists. My main character's significant other stays with him for a good year and a half or so, and it appears that he's in love with him, but it's revealed suddenly that he was using him to achieve a goal, and he's incapable of good emotions and love. How would I go about doing this? On a side note, how can I ensure that their relationship isn't abusive to make it more a surprise?

5 tips for writing a plot twist / Signs of unhealthy relationship / Signs of healthy relationships

I think you’re pretty much set. 

Basically, you said it yourself. It apears that he’s in love. So just make him pretend. 

-Alex

[referenceforwriters]

Hello! I'm quite good at coming up with sometimes whole families of characters who I like to -think- are quite interesting, but...I just can't think of anything to write about. I can't seem to choose a main character, for a start, and plus it...just feels like every good idea has already been done. I've been wanting to write about La Cosa Nostra (Sicilian Mafia), for example, but that's been done to death! Any advice? ):

I think that you already have done the hardest part, which is coming up with characters. Now, you need to start developing them. You need to write your characters’ back stories, to start understanding their personalities and how they feel about each other. The plot will come easily to you if you do that. When you get to know your characters, they’ll tell you their story. You don’t need to push yourself too hard!

Also, you don’t need a main character. Many stories have multiple main characters, while others don’t have any. Your story doesn’t have to focus on one specific person; in fact, your novel could focus on the story of a family or the generational gap between grandmother and granddaughter… Who knows? Not having a main character is not necessarily bad. In reality, it could help setting you apart from other writers writing about the same subject. However, you need to be careful in order not to leave your readers confused. They need to understand that you don’t have a main character and they need to be rooting for all the people equally. This can be hard to achieve, but if you have well-built characters it will probably appeal to the reader.

Feeling like every good idea has already been done is normal. What you need to do is to try to stay away from stereotypes and to let your characters speak for themselves. If your characters are unique are well built, you’ll be able to write an also unique setting and plot. You need to go beyond the obvious and create storylines that are unpredictable and keep the reader interested. Here, you’ll find some good information on how to avoid stereotypes and what’s predictable: (1)

-philosophie-s 

“It’s been done to death” is no excuse for not writing. Probably, yeah, many people have written about the thing you want to write, but those people ain’t you, mate. 

I love clichés. Wait, wait, don’t cut me there- I don’t love them per se, I love the kind of twists and ideas writers can put into them. It’s a way to turn overused things into something fresh, and I believe you can do that. 

-Alex