Plots and Plotting:
How to create stories that work
This book is about the techniques I've learned during my career as a professional author.. But it's not a set of rules for you to follow - that would kill your creativity. Instead it's a set of tools that you can use in whichever way fits best with the way your mind works.
I know that examples always make explanations clearer so I developed a new plot in real time while I was writing the book to show you how my ideas work in practice. This lets you see the plotting process in action, complete with mistakes, changes of mind and flashes of inspiration - something you can never discover by looking at a finished story.
To make the book as useful as possible, I've presented my ideas in a clear, friendly style and tried to avoid waffle and jargon. This makes it easy to pick out the particular information you need and to dip back in when you want to look something up.
I like your direct approach, your refusal to be dogmatic and the way you root your advice in personal experience. I will certainly recommend the book to my students.
Professor Matthew Francis
Dept of English & Creative Writing
Aberystwyth University
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Full Contents List
Introduction
1: To plot or not to plot
2: When’s the right time to write
3: The basic components of a good story
4: How theory works in practice
5: The magic of three
6: Finding ideas
Brainstorming and Mind Maps
Analysing the results
Using real events
7: A note about themes
8: Starting to develop your story
Why you always need characters
What defines characters?
Setting
Why there must be a problem
9: It’s never too soon to think of the ending
What makes a good ending?
10: Step outlines – the powerful way to plot
The practicalities of step outlining
11: Step outlining in action
12: Research
The value of first-hand experience
Research in action
13: Developing characters
Age
Gender
Names
Using real names
Appearance
Backstory
Family issues
The problem with parents
14: Making characters believable
Providing information in good time
Motivation matters
15: Character arcs
16: Character development in action
17: Sorting out the setting
Period
Place
Inventing a place
Inventing worlds
Maps and records
18: Setting development in action
Sorting out the world
The effect on the plot
19: Making your story original
Putting the search for originality into action
20: Adding humour
21: Special issues with series
The pros and cons of series
Freestanding series
Freestanding series without regular characters
Series that tell a story
Keeping the reader up to date
Putting series planning into action
22: Viewpoint
Viewpoint problems
Using multiple viewpoints
Viewpoint issues in children’s books
How viewpoint affects plotting
23: Choosing where to start
What about prologues?
Putting theory into practice
24: Making every step count
What about description?
Show, don’t tell
25: Subplots and story strands
How many strands does a book need?
Mirrored strands Unconnected strands
Weaving strands together
26: Creating story strands
Making strands relevant
Story strand creation in action
Staying flexible
27: Conflict, dilemmas and problems
The problem/dilemma connection
Types of problem
The trouble with phones
Putting theory into practice
28: Pacing your book
Tension can be tiring
Keeping interest going
29: What’s at stake?
Increasing the stakes
30: Handling time
Time jumps
Time travel
Timelines
Flashbacks
Time pressure
31: When the plot goes wrong
Dealing with feedback
32: Troubleshooting the beginning
33: Troubleshooting the middle
34: Troubleshooting the end
35: Troubleshooting the length
36: Choosing the title
37: A final update on Future Proof
Conclusion
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