Creating a Heart-Pounding,
Page-Turning Plot

Every novel has a plot. But what you may not know is that there is a lot more to plotting your novel then just recounting a series of events in the order they happened. If that was the case, everyone could learn how to write a novel by learning how to tell a story.

But it isn't quite as easy as that.


Not That One Again!

When you listen to Aunt Agnes telling you (yet again) that old story about the time the stranger came to her house when she was little and the geese almost killed him, you probably sigh because you've heard it before. (Or you groan loudly because she's deaf and can't hear you anyway.)

Well, the same holds true if you always tell your stories in chronological, simple recounting order. You'll bore your readers, just like Aunt Agnes bored you. (Sorry, all of you named Agnes!)

So just how can you make your novel structure more compelling?


Be Manipulative

You see, a plot is not a simple recounting of events. It's the manipulation of those events to suit the story.

It's the turns and twists, the drama , the events out of order, the things emphasized and not emphasized that make your readers' pulses pound (or their mouths to salivate for more, as the case may be). It's an entire "symphony" of finely ordered parts that make the whole a lot more than those parts.

So, if you're not walking a straight line (I do hope you're not writing drunk again...), how are you to get from point A to point B, much less all the way to point Z?

By creating a plan ( developing a plot , in other words).

Choose which events truly lead your story forward, and which are just byways you can pass with a brief glance. Leave out bits of information to tease your readers' curiosity, then pop those out when they least expect them. Your readers will thank you for manipulating them (as no one in your day life will).


Toeing the "Outline"

Should you use a novel outline to help you lay out your plot?

Well, that's going to depend entirely on your method of writing. For some, outlining ruins the writing process entirely, taking all the fun out of it.

For others, the blueprint they create, whether sketchy or bursting with details, is the only way they can stay on track and figure out where they're going. If they use book themes to build their entire plot, this may be more important than if they let the theme handle itself.

I find myself using a combination of outline and no outline. Often, when I sit down to write, I have ideas literally flooding from mind to fingertips. So I just ride the tidal wave until it exhausts itself.

But, once that flood stops, I usually need to go back, think it through and do a bit of outlining to get the order of events right for the story I'm writing. I do find myself straying from the outline often enough (especially if I've played "what if" to heighten the action ).

So then I revise the outline (or just the novel) and tighten the loose ends to keep my readers reading.


Just the "Facts", Ma'am

What about all that data you collected on your army of characters and their previous lives? How much of that goes into your plot?

Yes, you may have reams about what "really" happened, but your readers never need to know as much as you need to know about your characters and their back-stories.

Again, you have to be choosey about what goes in and what stays out. Does it matter to your novel that Edward's great-great grandfather fought in the Civil War?

If your novel is about Edward's struggle with whether or not to go fight in Vietnam, maybe it needs to be in there. If Edward, on the other hand, is an artist, struggling to sell his first sculpture, probably not.

Either way, only you can decide what should and should not go into your novel.

So, plot carefully, and keep me on the edge of my seat.