How not to write a plot
Plot; the storyline, the main idea, the scheme. Plot is the most important part of your fan fiction. It sets the action of your story and gives your characters a goal to follow; and though thinking of a plot might seem easy many things can go wrong when dealing with one. Okay, Ocha, give us your ideal for a plot.
Ocha: “Okay, I want to write a story where this guy fall in loves with a princess, but the princess is also a thief who gets capture by aliens. So the guy have to travel all the across the world in search for an
scientist who can build him a big enough ship to get to the aliens planet so he can save the princess.”
That sounds like a very interesting story, Ocha, but I'm afraid theres something wrong with it.
Ocha: What?
It has to much plot. Theres so much action going on in the story that readers might get confused on what is exactly going on. Good way to see if you have too much plot for a story is too see if you can divide your original plot into main ideas. Give it a try.
Ocha: “Okay.”
Ocha: “Guy falls in love with a princess. Princess whose a thief. Princess who gets captured by aliens. Guy travels the world in search for a scientist.”
Ocha: “Woah, that is a lot!”
Exactly, but there are ways to combine these ideals into one. Have you ever though about having a guy fall in love with a princess who gets captured by alien, so in order to get her back he searches for a scientist to build a spaceship big enough to travel to aliens planet, only when he get there he finds out that the only reason the alien kidnapped the princess was because she stole something from them long ago. You see. Though I didn't do much the storyline is much more easier to follow now.
Another way not to write a plot is to not have a enough series of cause and effect. The basic of a plot is for one event to lead to another. Lets take a classic love story for example:
Cause: Hendrik and Madeline has been friends since childhood and share the same interest in things. Effect: Hendrik falls in love with Madeline. Cause: Hendrik tries to express his feelings to Madeline. Effect: Madeline realizes her feeling for Hendrik.
You see how one cause and effect opens up a door for another one. Cause and effects make plots more easier to write. If we didn't have them well have plenty of stories like this.
Hendrik love Madeline and Madeline loves Hendrik.
Story like these aren't worth writing.
Also don't forget the important part of a plot is it structure, which most of you should have learned by now if your in high school or college.
Ocha: “Exposition - introduction of the main characters and setting, Rising Action - one (or more) characters in crisis, Climax - point of highest emotion; turning point , Falling Action - resolution of character’s crisis , and denouement - “untying of plot treads”; resolution.”
- Updated 12/29/07
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