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Anticipation's Tips on Plot.
Here are a few tips on plot that I've picked up from the books and courses I've taken. Some are quite obvious and others are not so much. I hope these help out you as much as I have benefited from them.
1) Plot: I write for entertainment so that is they type of plot I'll talk about. In a plot for entertainment the characters needs to have a mission.
This mission needs to be believeable.
The characters need to carry out that believable mission in cleaver, determined, and resourceful ways.
That is pretty simple, but my favorite phrase is "simply complex," which is what I think plot is. When the characters have a mission that they are determined to accomplish, it makes the entertaining story exactly that: entertaining! You'll want to follow the character's actions to see how the story ends.
2) Point of Departure: This is a place in the story that starts the complication.
It is a place where the character can:
discover something, transform him/her/itself, realize a truth, reject a truth, right a wrong, make a mistake, or come to terms, to name a few.
There are others but these are the main ones that are quite common. These points of departure are wonderful setups for the stories complication.
3) Complication: A good complication will:
engage the reader, get the story going, and form the beginning of a dramitic arc that will eventually lead to the stories conclusion.
Remember though, just because the complication is exciting, doesn't mean your story will be good. A good complication will do the following:
illuminate, twart, or alter what the character wants.
It will put emotional pressure on a character prompting that character not only to act, but to act with purpose.
With out that, the character is most likely reacting to whatever the complication is. If that is the case, the complication is not a complication at all but is instead a scenario.
Good complications are connected to the character and usually stir up some kind of desire or regret that is conscious or unconscious in the character.
It will also raise the stakes for the character, and usually provide a choice for the character to make.
An even better complication will pave the road for even more complications to pile upon the first. Dramatic tension helps with this. Also remember that complications can be internal as well as external. The internal complications tend to be shorter and are resolved inside the character. External complications are longer because they require actions on behalf of the character.
Those are a few notes I myself have taken on plot from various sources. Again, some are obvious and others are not so much. I do hope they illuminate and help anyone who is stuck in a rut!
Anticipation
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