Release: TBD
Status: draft two
Release: TBD
Status: draft two
Release: posted, complete
Status: draft three
Theme: peggyscarter
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–relocated
A plot is merely a series of plot points, so for this, we need to answer the following questions:
What is a plot point?
What makes a plot point strong?In order for something to be a plot point to begin with, it must provide a point within the plot where the story could go in more then one direction. In most situations, it’s the character’s choices (generally those of the main character, though not necessarily) which pick the direction the plot takes from this point.
Looking at a plot point from this angle, we can deduce that the plot has a lot to do with who our character is. This makes sense. Goals are absolutely necessary for almost every story imaginable, because if your character doesn’t want something then you have no plot.
So we have a character who’s striving towards their goal. How do we turn that into a strong plot point? Characters who have goals should also have beliefs, (or in some cases, secondary goals), and these two things must conflict somewhere. Anywhere the character must choose between them, we have a foundation on which to build an interesting, strong plot point. On the other hand, if we don’t have these things, our plot point won’t ever be as strong as it might otherwise have been, no matter how many cool things we throw into it.
So to create a strong plot point we can start with a character who needs to make a choice in order to reach their goal. We make this choice more interesting by throwing road blocks at the character. It might help to ask yourself these sorts of questions:
- What can we throw at this character to make them change their choice partway through?
- What can we throw at this character which we know will stress them out personally?
- What can we throw at this character after they’ve made their choice, which they’ll have to now overcome because of the choice they’ve made?
- What sort of consequences will come out of this choice and how do we show them?
- And if you’re willing to do some work in order to find a realistic way for your character to get out of the situation: What can we throw at this character which will turn this into their worst nightmare; the most awful possible version of this situation?
Knowing what makes a strong plot point, we can finally answer the question: Are weak plot points – and the weak plots they create – really bad?
Plot points and plots with weak foundations are really bad, yes. Weak plot points which don’t revolve around a character making tough choices in order to reach their goals will generally fall flat to readers.
But, not every plot point needs to be a crazy, chaotic mind blowing twist either.
Sometimes the choices we find most emotional and stressful are the ones everyone else tells up should be easy. The key to engaging your reader in a plot point is to convince them that this is emotional and stressful for your character and that your character believes there will be consequences to making a bad choice, and to instill in them the need to know what choice your character will make and what outcome that choice will bring.
tl;dr Plots don’t have to be constantly unique or fancy or even action-packed in order to engage a reader. They simply need to show a series of plot points where a character the reader is already engaged with has to make a decision which will change the course of the plot.
jesse lincoln || crumpled paper and glowing computer screens; fires on summer evenings and the smell of spring in bloom; the first breath before a big speech; the feel of wind against your skin; warming your soul in the sunrise
♬ Love Somebody - Maroon 5 // Pretend That You’re Alone - Keane // Summer Skin - Death Cab for Cutie // Always Be - Jimmy Eat World // Toxic - Britney Spears
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matthew riley || dark rooms and undeveloped negatives; cold autumn mornings and the smell of blood in your nostrils; viewing the world from the safety behind the camera lens; the taste of freedom on the tip of your tongue; creating yourself in the chaos of the unknown
♬ I Am the Highway - Audioslave // Have You Seen Me Lately? - Counting Crows // Father - The Front Bottoms // Wishing (You) Well - Born Without Bones // Windowsill - Arcade Fire
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- describe the plot in 1 sentence.
- Matt learns to create himself in the aftermath of his abusive father’s hold.
- pick one sight, smell, sound, feel, and taste to describe the aesthetic of your novel.
- city lights at night, autumn leaves, paper scratching, skin-on-skin, and peaches
- which 3+ songs would make up a playlist for the novel?
- audioslave’s I Am the Highway; counting crows’ Have You Seen Me Lately?; The Decemberists’ Make You Better
- what’s the time period and location in which the novel takes place?
- Minnesota, 2000s
- is this a standalone or a part in a series?
- technically a part in a series, but I don’t have a plan for the third book yet. so… just a sequel.
- are there any former titles you’ve considered but discarded?
- I’m not sure if Shadowed should be discarded… I think it’s an important story to tell.
- how many times does the word ____ appear in the novel?
- ‘father’ - 66 times;
- ‘kindness’ - 1 time;
- ‘love’ - 70 times;
- ‘panic’ - 25 times;
- ‘alone’ - 40 times
- what’s the first line that comes up when you search _____?
- smile - Matt manages a polite smile in return, not that he thinks the guy notices, and heads towards the entrance of the school, trying and failing not to bump into anyone.
- Jesse - “No problem,” he says, and sticks his hand out to shake. “I’m Jesse. You must be a freshman.”
- kiss - She smiles at their grandmother, who, while bending down to kiss her on the top of her head, sends a nasty look to Matt.
- what’s the first line of your novel?
- Friday.
- For fairness’ sake: It’s been five months of shit with his maternal grandparents, of last-minute GED classes to meet minimum requirements for admission, of trying to find his place in a world that still treats him as That Poor Kid from Shadowbrook, but he leaves for school on Friday.
- what’s a line of dialogue you’re particularly proud of?
- “It’s okay,” he says, then, because he thinks she needs to hear it, adds, “I’m okay.”
- which line from the novel most represents it as a whole?
- who are your character faceclaims?
- Matt is logan lerman. jesse’s hunter parrish. I’ve played with the idea of chris pine as dallas, but that’s just because I have a big ol crush on him. In reality he could be pretty much anybody. no one else really has a specific face claim, because I can’t find anyone that fits them well enough.
- sort your characters into harry potter houses!
- matt’s a gryffindor, y’all can fight me. the others… I’m nowhere near as certain on them.
- which character’s name do you like the most?
- dallas. I like that his full name feels like a mouthful. I also like matt, but that’s just because of the cruel ‘he’s named after his father’ I gave him.
- describe each character’s daily outfit.
- jesse’s a jeans and a t-shirt guy, matt’s usually the same but he likes long-sleeves or hoodies. utari likes dresses. leon does too, but doesn’t wear them until the end of the book. steve and sheppard are casuals too. they’re college aged yknow cmon.
- do any characters have distinctive birthmarks/scars?
- matt’s still got the brand he got in high school.
- pick a color to represent each character.
- matt - green
- jesse - blue
- steve - yellow
- utari - yellow
- dallas - red
- sheppard - blue
- dani - yellow
- pick a font to represent each character.
- oh, jeez.
- which character most fits a character trope? which trope?
- oh, jeez.
- which character is the best writer? worst?
- jesse’s the best writer. matt’s probably the worst.
- which character is the best liar? worst?
- matt–but not because he likes to be. dani is maybe the worst.
- which character swears the most? least?
- sheppard probably swears the most. matt I think swears the least.
- which character has the best handwriting? worst?
- jesse’s is basically chicken scrawl. matt’s not much better. utari, maybe.
- which character is most like you? least like you?
- I share a lot of matt’s anxiety, but for different reasons. I think dallas is maybe least like me. he’s arrogant and inserts himself in situations he necessarily doesn’t need to.
- which character would you most like to be?
- dallas, lol. he’s confident in ways I wouldn’t be.
“You are… more than fine.”
Matt still isn’t sure he believes him; thinks he probably has something wrong in his head, something that was made worse with the abuse, with Jon. Maybe he hadn’t found the right girl, and Jon happened, and–and–
“I know it’s hard to believe, but you gotta trust me. We have queer kids all around the world killing themselves because they think they’re unfixable or broken, and they’re not. We’re all all right. Whatever you’re feeling… It’s normal.”
Three years after leaving his abusive father, Matt’s life has finally settled back into something resembling normal. He has a family, again, even if they aren’t all convinced of what happened. And he has goals: college. But Matt lost out on a lot of years where people learn to find themselves. Everyone else has a headstart. That’s no big issue, and Matt’s not worried about it, but it does mean he doesn’t figure out until his first semester that he’s not interested in sex. Or at least, it seems that way. But Jesse’s different. Matt never understood why people care about who others fall in love with, but with his history, it’s difficult to convince himself his feelings towards Jesse are something real.
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