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Scribblers! I need advice. As I was working through Jumpstart Your Novel, I was amazed at how much I didn’t know about plotting. Can you give me your favorite free resources and favorite resources for sale on plots? I think I’m going to go buy the Weiland ebooks as @daeus suggested, but what else has helped you?
@BethanySinkyRoses welp, the resources you already have are great. I learned the hard way— trial, error, and observation 😛 — so I don’t have any others to suggest, but let me tag a few of our more *cough* knowledgeable members and see if they have any suggestions for you.
@Mark-Kamibaya
@GabrielleMassman
@DBHGodReignsAaaaand… I apologize if any of you don’t know a thing about that, but I seem to recall all three of you being really into plot especially. 😉
Oh, and the best way to learn is to observe. So… read. Basically read. Yep.
@kate-flournoy Thanks! I’ve been doing the trial and error approach already! 😛 Do you have any good books I should read?
@BethanySinkyRoses hmmm… specifically for plot… *wrinkles nose* Hm. Plot isn’t actually what I care about most so most of my favorites… I don’t really notice. 😛
Hm.
If you have a huge chunk of time on your hands, try The Count of Monte Cristo. Also Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby. I’ll let you know if I think of any others. 😉@kate-flournoy I just think it’s hilarious how you were like “Plotting! Oh, yeah. There’s that guy who can’t shut up about plot. Lemme tag ‘im.”
Anyways . . .
@BethanySinkyRoses The Weiland books will basically have you covered (The Structure one is better than the Outlining one). I’d also suggest getting these two books by James Scott Bell: Plot & Structure (it’s a bit expensive) and Write Your Novel From The Middle (four bucks on Kindle). And then, if you’re eighteen or above because language, read Story: Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting to make you rethink story in general.Those are stuff you’ll pay for. What about free stuff? Okaaay . . .
The most entertaining video (in my opinion) on Youtube concerning 3 Act Structure is this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6QD5Pbc50I&t
You know KM Weiland already so I don’t need to talk about her website-blog being boss.
Blake Snyder has a very paint by the numbers structure: https://timstout.wordpress.com/story-structure/blake-snyders-beat-sheet/. Start with this, but don’t let it inhibit you.
If you want you can check out the the Hero’s Journey (although I don’t adhere to it), http://www.thewritersjourney.com/hero%27s_journey.htm http://mythologyteacher.com/documents/TheHeroJourney.pdf
Now those are resources, but what would I tell you? I’ll tell you next post.
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–As a bonus I’ll give you something only slightly related to plotting
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<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/Kf3nPajdLk8″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>
I blog on story and spiritual things at mkami.weebly.com
@bethanysinkyroses the bonus video was defunct. Here’s the link https://youtu.be/Kf3nPajdLk8
Okay, so what I’m gonna tell you is what I’d personally advise people who don’t know plotting. It’s not anything professional just my personal opinion.
What @Kate-flournoy said was right. One of the best ways to learn plot is to read. But not just read. You have to analyse it obsessively. That’s great and all, but sometimes you make wrong conclusions and your story becomes defunct because of it. And if you’re lazy (like me) you’d rather learn from other people.
So that’s what I did. I read all those books I recommended to you, and went throughout the interwebz looking for everything on plot. But after awhile I was sick and tired of it because there are many different plot structures that say their way is the best.
Using the knowledge of about twelve different plot structures, I used a more chaotic approach: out of the many different plot structures available, what did I like and dislike? You could say I selected the most common elements but that would be only a half-truth.
And I came up with a hybrid way to approach plot:
See this?
That’s plot structure at its most basic form: a scene. Not a story, but a scene. Put those scenes together and they’ll look like this:
That’s a sequence. Put those sequences together and you get:
That’s an act. Once you’re there, then you can line up as many acts as you want. The most common is three, but I’ve seen nine in one story. Put those acts together and you get (this same thing? You bet).
You’re escalating story with every scene. Every scene must build up to the climactic scene which is the climax of a whole collection of scenes called a sequence. Build your sequences on top of each other in the same way and you get an act. Build up your acts upon each other until you get the climactic act which has its own climactic scene which is the climax of your sequence, act, and entire story. You may or may not have falling action or a resolution. But that’s basically story in a nutshell.
Once I have all of that down, then I turn to character. I plot out every single character journey using these:
The bigger gaps coincide with the climactic scenes. This is the most chaotic I get, because character transformation is a lot more implicit and spiritual, in my opinion. Once you do that then boom! you’ve got yourself a basic outline to draft on.
I blog on story and spiritual things at mkami.weebly.com
@mark-kamibaya I’m floored! THANK YOU!!!!! I am going to delve into these as soon as I can! And…wow. Your picture descriptions make so much sense. *throws confetti around because this is so helpful and exciting and I’m so grateful!* Clearly I have some study to do. Thanks @kate-flour boy for tagging Mark, who I will now associate with plot forever! 😉
@Mark-Kamibaya *sweeping curtsey* You have my utmost gratitude. 😀
@BethanySinkyRoses *chokes and dies laughing* I’m sorry… I’m sorry… it’s just that’s the first time my very un-spellable last name has translated to ‘Flour boy’. XD
It was correct when I wrote it, I promise!! Autocorrect must have changed it. :] Sorry!!
Ooooh, I too have been struggling to figure out plot and find this extremely helpful! Thanks!
@kate-flournoy
@mark-kamibaya@BethanySinkyRoses not at all. *grins* Your autocorrect afforded me a very good laugh. ;P
You’re welcome. And hit me up if you have any questions, Bethany.
@BethanySinkyRoses
@rachelle
@kate-flournoyI blog on story and spiritual things at mkami.weebly.com
I need as much help as I can get with my plotting. I thought I could write by pantsing, but that hasn’t been working out for me. I tried plotting before, but it didn’t work out, either.
I figured I should try for both at once, but that’s not working, either. My plotting could be improved, but I’m not sure what to do or how to do it.
Help?
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