Posts tagged plot
I have this girl in my story, who is around 12 years old, who is the main character of the story, or one of the main characters. She is captured by the bad guys very often, and I fear this might ge...
I have an idea for a novel series that I want to write. I'm into the first one, and I've got a pretty good idea of all that I want to happen in it. I also have some ideas as to events that I want t...
There is an answer here from FraEnrico which is the cause for my question: What is the difference between character-driven stories and plot-driven stories?. Here he explains a bit of what an "arena...
I’ve written a plot for a long story. But it’s not easy for anybody to review because my characters’ dialogue and goals are all over the place, it’s often usually mixed up and I struggle to structu...
I have googled this question several times but I'm just not clear on the answers I'm getting. For example, I know that screenplays/plays/books such as A Streetcar Named Desire, Enough Said, The Spa...
My question is if you run into characterization vs. plot conflicts, or unlikeable characters, do you do major changes to your characters to fit the plot or do you make major changes to your pl...
Are there good examples of the hero's journey that don't include any physical deaths within them? My hero has crisis and 'death' of self/ideals/psyche; hero prevails in the end, all good. But, I j...
so I've been working on this story for about two years, and I have a whole world and set of characters built. I have extensive lore and descriptions on the world (it's a fantasy setting), and exten...
My main characters finally met. Officially... They still don't know who the others are, and are from different cultural backgrounds, too different for the others to seem normal. Although they ar...
I looked at a few questions regarding time lapse, but I didn't find one that helped. In my story I skip parts of the life of my main character, because they don't drive the plot, but of course wri...
I am trying to create a game that has a small plot (maybe more of a theme). The plot just describes why the characters are fighting each other. Other than that I have not fleshed out the story. Ho...
I haven't written anything horror, but I have had scenes in my past stories that my friends have stated was 'creepy,' so I've decided I wanted to attempt to write something scary. I tend to lean in...
So I recently had a discussion with a reader and who pointed out a significant flaw in my work that I hadn't seen. When I first started writing my series, I had a trilogy in mind - based on explor...
I have no idea what to write for this certain chapter in my book, and I don't know how to plot it out. I have a general idea that the character somehow betrays another, resulting in him being kic...
Wondering if anyone with great wisdom can help me... I have 2 problems really that have pretty much stopped me writing anything decent for a few weeks. I'm on my first ever novel and have no exper...
I'm a casual writer at best and tend to write in fits and starts when motivation hits. I tend to lack resolve and this leads to writer's block. I've been off-and-on writing a series of little vign...
I'm conceptualising a story involving two heroes who go on an epic journey and return bitter rivals etc. etc. and form their own forces in a sort of civil war. My issue is that I want them to both...
Okay, so I have a weak motivation for a god character whose son (whom he tried to prevent his birth) seems like he is an apt tool to be used for a plot that will only be brought into fruition about...
I love creating characters and my plots generally focus greatly on their inner conflicts and their relationships with other characters (my experience has almost exclusively been writing romance). T...
I am capable of dreaming up interesting settings and even placing things in a world, but I have trouble dreaming up characters and plot. Example: my first aborted attempt at a steampunk story ended...
I've been advised to sharpen my sidekick from an "intriguing second tier" character to the delegate for the readers. Is there a tried and tested formula succinctly captured somewhere? I'm looking t...
I just started to plot out my scenes like this in bullet points Tess runs away Tess fights the bad guy Tess gets injured and so it goes on. So far I got 30. I know that I need a lot more. I am...
Many writers find that mastering a genre of writing, such as the novel, requires that at some point they break down other writers' pieces of work in the genre in order to study their structure: to ...
I'm writing a novel where I imagined two or three subplots (or storylines). Now I found that one of the subplots has evolved and grown so big that It can be an independant plot itself and could (or...
I currently have the choice of two routes with my novel - to lead with a knives-and-poisons main conflict, with reference to the protagonist's emotional conflict, or to lead with him conquering his...
I am drafting a novel outline. The interesting part (and thus the part I should be writing) would come with several characters with preexisting romantic relationships. The choices they make will ha...
I have read in a few books about writing science fiction that a compelling concept should override considerations for character, and possibly other things like setting or plot. I have the notion t...
I've written a fictional story and the way my characters are coming together and forming a bond seems way too coincidental to me. A lady lives on the first floor while her tenant, a guy, lives ...
My brain is probably just broken, but it has a question. It tends to invent odd scenarios that become quite interesting. It also knows that the story will only be interesting to others if it has ...
I am writing a short story that has very little action that focuses mainly on the main character's development. I have tried outlining some of the major interactions with characters, the important ...
I'm writing a somewhat depressive story that has no comic reliefs and no happy scenes/moments (except the ending and one or two in the beginning). The only scenes that aren't sad or negative are th...
I will supply you with some character information and some context for my specific project, though I'm thinking my question could be relevant for almost any story. I am writing a story involving ...
There are many ways to do a sequel, though for this question I'm only interested in one... The Post Hero's Journey/Apotheosis-Story. Lacking a proper name for this narrative frame work "PHJ" is w...
I have an idea for a novel that is told from two, first person viewpoints. One of these viewpoints would be Character 1's and take place in her past, and the other viewpoint would be Character 2's,...
Before I started writing my fantasy story (80,000 words so far) I had a pretty strong outline prepared. Within the structure of my plot, I wrote relatively organically and my characters started to ...
I was asking myself this question while writing a novel that don't imply any death or even really dramatic event ! The novel tells about the main character's strugglings and conflictuous relationsh...
I'm reading daily crime stories in newspapers, just to have an idea to write a detective story. But the crimes I read about aren't helpful to create a plot. I mean, they are really boring and all ...
I have a main character, I'm attempting to disguise this fact. But it is tricky. Out of nowhere, the character rises up as a successful military leader. The events that lead up to that are plausibl...
Remember the end of the Godfather, where they spliced all the different assassinations with the christening? Or any film with good cutting, where they swap between different characters and what the...
I hope this isn't too general. I wanted to ask for advice on making it unclear which characters will survive to the end. The first arc of the story involves a lot of characters, more than 12, but o...
In the story I am writing, the main character is not in control of the events of the story, I did this to create a strong sense of powerlessness, but I have found a problem. I am having difficultie...
Say there is a small detail in the beginning of the book that has a big effect later on. The reader might've forgotten about that by the time they get to that part. How should I remind the reader a...
I've just recently finished building the setting and plot of a fantasy coming-of-age story. I'm happy with the way it turned out; the character arcs feel compelling and the setting supports the plo...
I'm working on a plot-driven novel. The plot stands, and the changes the characters undergo, that is, the character arcs have been devised. What I need now is the lack or fault that makes my chara...
I should start by saying that this question is not this question, How to decide if a plot twist worth doing despite how similar they sound. And, the answer I'm looking for was not at this question ...
In genre fiction, the antagonist is usually either known throughout the book or revealed before the end, so that protagonist and antagonist can battle it out during climax. What I am wondering is,...
What is important to keep in mind when planning a book? Is it important to create every character and it's abilities before you start to write the actual book? How hard is it to start writing if yo...
I have always been poor at writing things without including excessive detail, but I managed to rewrite my synopsis with very little detail and with personal detailed side notes not included within ...
I am trying to create a documentary about the history of a sports team, and have identified some compelling story arcs. However, as we know in reality, stories do not begin and end one at a time: ...
The Background: I'm writing a novel that is set in the working quarters of a cruise ship. It's named after the "stage identitiy" of the main characters. (Let's call her Nancy.) All the subplots I h...
