Thread: Having problems with my plot, would love some input.

Hi everyone

I am writing my first novel and everything has been going great so far but it seems like I have hit a tough spot. I have been working on my outline so that I have a clear picture of how my novel will work. It is almost finished but there is a part in the beginning that is bothering me and would love to have some input or advice how I can solve it.

In the beginning I introduce the antagonist and he is in search of a thing that he has been looking for for over x years that is over x thousand years old. He is close to getting every thing that he needs but there are a few last components that he needs. He gets one of them by stealing it from a place and in the process kills a few people of a certain nationality that are not used to violence. The people he does this to are over come with grief and send for an outside help who tries to track down the people who did this but soon looses the trail and goes back and decides to see what they stole and find out why they stole it. The thing they stole turns out to be certain things over x thousands of years old and he can't understand why they want these things. He goes to see a friend that is a keeper of a place and there finds old thing that hint to this thing that the antagonist is after and from there he goes in search of it him self to see if this is what they were after.


To me there seems to be something is wrong. Like that it is too much of a chance that the character stumbles upon this old reference too the thing and slowly form there gets on the trail of the antagonist. The man I am talking about is only one of the main characters and is supposed to be the one that brings the other main characters together and they try to stop the antagonist form getting what he is after.

I think I have been staring at the problem too long to know if I am over analyzing or too see how I too fix it. I would so much appreciate if someone could give me their input, if only to get another perspective.

I am being vague on purpose in my description, I am very protective of my plot and though I would love to trust people on the internet, my insecurity has taken the driver seat so I hope you can forgive me.

Yes its vague. LOL. The thing in question is something significant to the story I presume. I imagined it was a kind of ancient device with certain powers...

Have you heard of the eight point arc? All stories must have 8 particular stages - Stasis, trigger, quest, surprise, critical choice, climax, resolution, reversal.

The start of the story is the stasis - this shows the reader how things normally are for the characters in their particular setting. It sounds to me like you are implying the stasis and have started off with a trigger (the antagonist has gone in search of somthing).

Maybe it would be good to start the story with the protagonist - let the reader get to know them first?

Plots are not always unique, it's the writing that makes each one unique.

As to you're plot. Why don't the people who owned the item know anything about it? There are many things sitting in museums now that no one knows much about, but there is plenty of speculation, myths, ect. Instead of the character finding out one particular thing, what if he has several things, that together give him an idea of what the item is, or might be used for? To happen to have a friend that knows what an item is, but the owners know nothing would bother me as a reader.

Thank you both so much for the advice. It is very refreshing to see it from another perspective.

I think I have heard about the eight point arc before but not given it much thought, what I find interesting is that with out knowing it I have been building the story in that way. It is only the beginning that has been bothering me because I wanted to start of the book with a teaser chapter and then the story would begin for the protagonist and how their lives and from there they would get on the trail of the antagonist.

Lord Darkstorm you saw the problem. It did bother me as well that he just happens to have a friend who can help in on the right track. The pointers you made earlier in your reply are extremely helpful. I was unconsciously stuck on them not knowing what exactly had been stolen, but to give them more of a specific idea of what the things are and the consequences of them having it would work better. As I see it that would give my character even more reason to go find them and take back what they stole as well as stop them from completing what they are doing. From there I think I can work on connecting the rest of the main characters together.

Thanks so much for the help, with out it I could have been stuck on this problem for a few weeks before coming to a solution.

Originally Posted by Robdemanc

Have you heard of the eight point arc? All stories must have 8 particular stages - Stasis, trigger, quest, surprise, critical choice, climax, resolution, reversal.

I hadn't heard of it until your post. I think "must" is a little strong, but I was surprised to see that my own story hit every single one of those points. So much for being original.

Hmm, don't think all stories must have it. While I do believe most good stories do follow well established techniques for doing so, I am currently reading a book that doesn't define structure in quite that way. Not implying it might not be good, but there are more than single ways to do any particular technique...or all stories would be pretty much identical.

Maybe you should make it more personal to the Pro, such as, it was one of his relatives that got killed, it happened in his birth place, etc. or maybe the object is related to his family (i.e. they were the guardians of it or something like that), located in his home town, or connected to his religion. That would give him a better reason to go after it than just him being called in (I am assuming that he will have to go far to get the stuff back). Hope this helps

S.M. grimbldoo thanks so much for the input. It is a very valid point you are making. It would make more sense if the man were connected to them in some way. I had made a connection between the people and the protagonist but it was not much more intimate than him being their connection too the outside world. (This nation does not socialize with the rest of the world. Most of the world don't know they exist.)

Oh, I get it. It's basically his responsibility or even obligation to get it back since he is the only one that really can. And him having a extream or just big sense of justice would also be another motivator. So basically in the end he is obliged and probably wants to do it (making assumptions XD). It's on the edge of a being a cliche (everything's a cliche nowadays) but it's also different than those few stories that follow the same plot. Keep it up, I'm rooting for you.

Would you mind critiquing me also?

Admin note: Link and thread removed. New users need at least 10 posts on the site before they can post work for critique.

Thanks S.M and I would be glad to take time to go over your work.

You are right almost everything is cliche these days. But I try my best to catch it when it goes too far. Hopefully the rest of the plot and in the end the story it self will be original. That has much to do with how long it has taken me to create it. Originality is a must these days if you want to make it the through the tough market that is publishing these days.

Yup. And to be honest the only story that I can recall being similar is Dylan Dog as he is the only moderator but that one was fueled mostly by things getting personal. So for me this story would be pretty original. When it comes out I'll buy it