Write Great Fiction--Plot & Structure

by James Scott Bell

  I mean getting together in the permanent sense. If your lovers do get together in the middle, they need to be driven apart by something.

  So you might want to try plotting by thinking up all the ways your hero and heroine can be frustrated in their desire to be together.

  It’s easy to fall into romantic clichés. So work hard to freshen things up. Characters’ pasts are good places to find original material. Give people dark secrets that are unique.

  Restraint is often the most romantic choice. The longer characters who want to be together are kept apart, the sweeter the romance at the end.

  Graphic sex scenes are passé.

  Experimental

  The very nature of an experiment is to try new things. When you finish that first draft in a gust of experimental glory, put it away for a month. Come back to it, and pretend you are a starving student who has only a couple of bucks to spend on a book. Start reading and see if you would buy this book. Maybe there are some plot elements you can add that will make this stronger and more readable.

  But it’s your experiment. If it blows up, then at least you know one way that doesn’t work. And that’s how we eventually got the light bulb.

  I said earlier that experimental fiction, by definition, defies plot conventions and structure. But that doesn’t mean you can’t approach it systematically, in a way that brings out your most original material.

  If you want to write experimentally, here’s a method for your madness: Each morning, says Ray Bradbury, “I get out of bed and step on a land mine. The land mine is me. I spend the rest of the day picking up the pieces.”

  Which is to say, your material is lodged in your brain, and at night it floats around in ways you don’t control. When you first get up, the sooner you can get something down on paper, the more likely you are to capture the stuff that skitters away, like trout going upstream, when you’re fully awake.

  Writing for ten to twenty minutes, without stopping to think about what you’re writing, is the best way to do this. Just write. Those are the pieces. You pick them up later.

  Science Fiction and Fantasy

  The joy of science (or speculative) fiction and fantasy is that anything can happen. And that is the danger as well. You have to work harder both to justify the “rules” of your story world and to keep them naturally woven into the narrative.

  This kind of fiction can be bad when elements jump out, seemingly on a whim.

  The rules of good plot apply here as well. Give us the LOCK elements, and justify them.

  That is to say, it’s not enough that someone has magic or access to advanced technology. That character has to be full in her own right. Give her a life beyond the speculative elements of the story.

  Also, science fiction and fantasy are perhaps the best genres to write about ideas. You can put forth a view of the world as it exists through the creation of a world that does not exist. Because of this, it can be tempting to make the idea primary and pay less attention to the plot. A big mistake.

  Don’t get lost in the grandeur of your own imaginative vision. Get down and do the work of plot, and your story will be the better for it.

  One of the books I read early in my attempts to learn the craft of fiction was Brenda Ueland’s If You Want to Write. In this inspirational work, Ueland makes a startling assertion: “Everybody is talented, original and has something important to say. … Everybody is original, if he tells the truth, if he speaks from himself. But it must be from his true self and not from the self he thinks he should be.”

  I believed that then, and I do now. And with the tools of plot and structure, you will be able to pour your original voice into a novel that really connects with readers.

  I wish you great success. Start pouring.

  EXERCISE 1

  Pick two of the above tools at random, and apply them to your work immediately. Assess the results.

  EXERCISE 2

  Choose a genre (not one with which you are familiar). Come up with a plot summary in that genre. This will stretch your plotting muscles.

  EXERCISE 3

  Create your own file of tools and techniques as you learn new things. Accumulate and record as much material as you can. Every now and then, do a short outline of your material. What is a short outline? In law school, I used to create outlines for my classes, and then do short outlines based on that. When studying for finals, I’d mostly depend on the short outline, which was a quick way to go over the material.

  Let’s say you’re reading Greg Iles’s The Quiet Game, and you’re hooked from the start. So you jot down what you’ve picked up. For example, you might have something like: “Capture readers by the emotion of the Lead in a first-person point-of-view novel, as Greg Iles does in the opening of The Quiet Game”:

  Annie jerks taut in my arms and points into the crowd.

  “Daddy! I saw Mama! Hurry!”

  I do not look. I don’t ask where. I don’t because Annie’s mother died seven months ago. I stand motionless in the line, looking just like everyone else except for the hot tears that have begun to sting my eyes.

  When you’ve collected enough of these tools, organize them into sections: Plotting, Characters, Description, Dialogue, etc. Then you can make a short outline. The above I would classify under Plotting, with a subsection, Openings. My short outline entry would look like this:

  PLOTTING

  Openings

  In First Person, grab with EMOTION

  That’s enough of a reminder for me. If I forget what I meant, I can go to the main outline and remember.

  Appendix A

  Checklist: Critical Points

  PLOT

  Plot happens, and it’s best if you know what the critical elements are and how to master them. If you decide, for artistic purposes, to ignore them, you’ll know what you’re doing.

  The basic plot elements are summarized by the acronym LOCK. That stands for Lead, Objective, Confrontation, and Knockout.

  Readers are drawn into a story primarily through a Lead.

  You can create a Lead readers care about via identification, sympathy, likability, and inner conflict.

  The objective is what gives the Lead a reason for being in the story. There are two types of objectives: to get something (information, love, etc.) or to get away from something (the law, a killer, etc.). It must be crucial to the Lead’s well-being.

  Confrontation is the engine of the major part of your plot. It is the battle between the Lead and the opposition. The opposition should be as strong as, but preferably stronger than, the Lead.

  A knockout ending in a commercial novel leaves the reader satisfied that the major questions have been answered, and most often that the Lead has triumphed. In a literary novel, there is room for ambiguity at the end, but the reader must feel knocked out by the feelings created.

  STRUCTURE

  The three-act structure is solid and will never steer you wrong. It is simply another way of saying beginning, middle, and end. When the story unfolds in this three-act fashion, readers are able to connect with it better.

  Beginnings are always about the who of the story. The entry point is a Lead character, and the writer should begin by connecting reader to Lead as quickly as possible.

  Beginnings also present the story world, establish tone, introduce the opposition, and compel readers to move on to the middle.

  Middles are about confrontation. It is a series of battles between the Lead and the opposition. Middles deepen character relationships, keep us caring about what happens to the Lead, and sets up the final battle to come at the end.

  The best endings wrap up all the strands of the story, give us the outcome of the final battle, and leave a sense of resonance.

  Early in Act I (the beginning), something has to disturb the status quo, to make us feel there’s a threat or challenge happening to the characters. This doesn’t have to be a big disturbance, just something to indicate problems to come.

  The Lead moves into the c
onfrontation of the middle by going through “a doorway of no return.” This transition creates the feeling that the Lead must go into the conflict of Act II.

  The transition from Act II to Act III is another doorway of no return. Usually it’s some major clue or discovery, or a major crisis or setback, that sets the story heading toward the climax.

  PLOT IDEAS

  There are dozens of ways to come up with plot ideas. The key is to have a regular creativity time and use exercises to come with lots of ideas without editing yourself. Later, you choose the best ones.

  Nurture your ideas by looking for ways to make characters, setting, and plot elements unique.

  Write your novel only if you have a passion for the story, see its potential, and are precise in your plot goals.

  BEGINNINGS

  The first task of your beginning is to hook the reader.

  Use great opening lines, action, teasers, attitude, story frames, or prologues to grab the reader.

  Watch out for dull exposition at the beginning. Act first; explain later.

  MIDDLES

  The strongest plots have a sense of death hovering over the lead. This can be physical death, psychological death, or professional death.

  Adhesive holds the Lead and opposition together. If the Lead can solve his problem simply by resigning from the action, the reader will wonder why he doesn’t do so.

  Duty is often the adhesive. A professional duty (as in a cop solving a case) or a moral duty (as in a mother fighting to save her child). Physical location can be an adhesive, where it is impossible for the characters to leave a place.

  The fundamental rhythm of a novel is action, reaction, more action (ARM). You control pace by how you control these beats.

  Raise the stakes throughout the middle portion of the novel. Stakes can relate to plot, character, and society.

  ENDINGS

  There are three basic types of ending: the Lead gets his objective; the Lead loses his objective; or we don’t know if the Lead gets it.

  The Lead can gain his objective, but with a negative result attached; or he can lose his objective with some positive result.

  Sacrifice is a powerful element in many endings.

  Some endings focus on the final battle the Lead must fight. Others focus on the final choice the Lead must make.

  SCENES

  A scene is the basic unit of fiction.

  A beat is a smaller unit within a scene.

  There are four chords in fiction: action, reaction, setup, and deepening.

  Action is the major chord in commercial fiction. It involves a scene objective, conflict, and some sort of outcome — usually bad — for the Lead.

  Reaction gives us a character’s emotional response. It slows the action down for reflection. A literary novel may specialize in these types of scenes.

  Setup can be a short scene or beat, which is used in order to give us the essential material for later scenes.

  Deepening is like spice, to be used sparingly since it flavors the story.

  Get HIP — hook, intensity, and prompt — to your scene. The hook at the beginning gets the readers interested; there must be some sort of intensity in the scene; the end of the scene must prompt readers to read on.

  COMPLEXITY

  Add complexity to plots by considering the theme, or meaning, or “take home value” of your story. Use subplots, symbols, and motifs to carry the theme.

  Break long plots into units that use a three-act structure, but don’t resolve until the end.

  A character arc in plot, where the Lead undergoes a major change as a result, is a great way to add complexity and depth.

  Look for the ways the plot impacts a character’s beliefs, values, dominant attitudes, and opinions.

  PLOTTING SYSTEMS

  There are two main types of plotters: the no outline person (NOP) and the outline person (OP). But there are variations on both.

  The NOP has the advantage of spontaneity, but will need to do a lot of work in revision and spend a lot of time on false tangents.

  The OP gains security at the start, but may sacrifice some promising developments because they don’t fit the outline.

  Play with the various systems of plotting until you find one you like. Keep experimenting throughout your writing career.

  There are a number of familiar patterns in plot (such as the quest, revenge, love, etc.). You can borrow these and make them your own, or combine them.

  REVISION

  Write a first draft as quickly as you comfortably can. Then set it aside and let it cool.

  Read it through as a reader, making very few marks or revisions. Use small notations for later reference.

  Now analyze the story. Is this one I want to tell? Is there another, better story trying to get out?

  Move on to analyze structure, Lead character, opposition, adhesive, scenes, minor characters.

  Brood over what you’ve done, make some notes, then right your second draft. Refine that draft.

  Finish with a polish, looking particularly at scene openings and endings and dialogue.

  Continue to add to your writer’s tool chest for the rest of your career. A writer’s education should never stop.

  Appendix B

  Creating Your Own Back Cover Copy

  Step 1: Write Down the Following Information About Your Novel:

  The name of your lead character.

  What your lead does for a living.

  The first doorway of no return.

  Who or what opposition is.

  Why they are opposed, and what’s at stake for each.

  Where the main conflict will take place.

  The story question.

  How you want the story to “feel” to the reader (e.g., creepy, brooding, inspirational, etc.)

  STEP 2: Freewrite for Thirty Minutes

  Don’t worry so much about order or wording at this point. Just freewrite, keeping all the above elements in mind. Don’t stop and edit yourself. Just pour material out onto the page.

  STEP 3: Edit

  Go back over your material and pick out the parts you really like. Now put them into some sort of order. Take your time with this. You may want to do more freewriting or simply refine what you’ve got. It’s your call. But have fun with it.

  Here is one simple template to use. It’s by no means the only way to go, but it will give you three workable paragraphs for your book description:

  Paragraph 1: Begin the first paragraph with your lead character’s name and her current situation:

  ______ is a ______ who ______.

  Write one or two more sentences, describing something of the character’s background and current world.

  Paragraph 2: Start this paragraph with the word Suddenly or But when. Fill in the major turning point, the doorway, that is going to thrust the Lead into Act II. Describe in two or three sentences what happens in Act II.

  Paragraph 3: Begin the last paragraph with the word Now and make it an action sentence (as in David Morrell’s Long Lost: “Now Brad must struggle with a harrowing mystery.”). Or begin with the word Will, and write a couple of questions: “Will Mollie be able to claim her inheritance? Or will she be stopped by a deadly force that she can’t identify? And will these events come crashing down on the Montague family itself?”

  Inspirational Kicker

  Just for your own benefit, add a final kicker that is pure marketing: The Montagues is a stunning debut novel by one of America’s bright new talents, sure to capture your heart and leave you yearning for more.

  STEP 4: Polish

  Now you can polish what you’re left with, giving it a final sparkle. This work will prove to be invaluable to you as you begin the writing or outlining process. Aim for 250–500 words as a final product.

  About the Author

  James Scott Bell is the best-selling author of Breach of Promise, Deadlock, A Greater Glory, and several other thrillers. He is a winner of the Christy Award for Excellence in inspir
ational fiction, and is currently a fiction columnist for Writer’s Digest magazine. A former trial lawyer, Jim now writes and speaks full time. His Web site is www.jamesscottbell.com.

  Write Great Fiction: Plot & Structure © 2004 by James Scott Bell. Manufactured in the United States of America. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Published by Writer’s Digest Books, an imprint of F+W Publications, Inc., 4700 East Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, OH 45236. (800) 289-0963. First edition.

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Bell, James Scott.

  Write great fiction: plot & structure: techniques and exercises for crafting a plot that grips readers from start to finish / by James Scott Bell.

  ISBN-13: 978-1-58297-294-7

  ISBN-10: 1-58297-294-X

  eISBN-13: 978-1-58297-684-6 (EPUB)

  1. Plots (drama, novel, etc.). 2. Fiction — Authorship. I. Title

  PN3378.B45 2004

  2004053032

  Edited by Kelly Nickell

  Print version designed by Stanard Design Partners

  Cover by Nick Gliebe/Design Matters

  Cover illustration © Getty Images

  Production coordinated by Robin Richie and Logan Cummins