Thread: Lost Plot...

Hello.
I'm currently writing a science-fiction story about a young girl who has to stop a man from infecting the planet. I have all the characters planned out and I have the end and the beginning all planned out. I just don't know about an actual plot to the whole story. Has this ever happened to anyone else where they know what they want but can't put it into words? PLEASE HELP ME!

You could try the 'Snowflake Method', as that's designed to work from a one-paragraph description to a detailed outline. I don't have the URL, but a web search will find it for you.

Originally Posted by fantasyfeather

Hello.
I'm currently writing a science-fiction story about a young girl who has to stop a man from infecting the planet. I have all the characters planned out and I have the end and the beginning all planned out. I just don't know about an actual plot to the whole story. Has this ever happened to anyone else where they know what they want but can't put it into words? PLEASE HELP ME!

That's how a lot of stories develop, I'm sure. My solution to the problem was gradually filling in the blanks over the course of three years (though I had enough to start writing after two), adding ideas as they came to me. However, if you want it to occur a little faster, there are a couple of things you can do.

1) Determine the characters' motivations and how they fit into the story. Why is the man infecting the planet? How does the girl know him? Why is she the one who has to stop him? What sort of support does she have? What sort of opposition does she have to face? How do all the characters get together? What needs to happen for the villain's plan to be carried out? What needs to happen for him to be stopped? By answering the questions that will get you from the start the the end, you'll be able to fill out the middle.

2) Draw inspiration from other artistic works: books, movies, TV shows, songs, and so on. Decide what you like about those things, and make it a point to adapt those things into your story. That way, the story will contain the things you care about, and by adapting situations for the characters and plot you already have in place, you'll make it your own.

It sounds like you already have a plot: young girl must prevent the planet from being infected (presumably by a virus?). So do as Gamer_24 says and ask where did this man come from and why is he going to infect the planet. One thing that worked for me was to just write it, don't expect it to be right first time just keep writing until you have a first draft. Then its time to review and that should be when the ideas come fast - the plot will then be refined, a sub plot will occur to you, the characters will come alive...

You aren't lost, you just need to write out what you the author know about the characters, the setting, the politics, every last detail that you can conjure up that is in the story. Then set a story without having to necessarily add all of that detail. The story in a story should always leave a bit of the information in the author's head without force feeding it to the reader.

I'm a firm believer that if create characters with strong characterization the story practically writes itself. I would suggest just sitting down and start writing. That's the hardest part IMHO.

I was in your situation too. I obsessed over planning, creating character profiles, mythology, maps, themes, and a complete system of magic for my fantasy story. It wasn't until I attempted to write out the outline that I realized that I had no real plot. I had general ideas, and a few very powerful scenes in mind, but I didn't know how I was going to get it all on paper. So I trashed the outline and just jumped into my first draft. What has resulted is that my story is thus far very different than the one I had planned (one of those books that seems to write itself), but it is a lot more interesting (at least to me) than I expected.

My advice to you, start writing. The first chapter will be the hardest, because you have very little to go off of, but once you get some momentum, it will get going. A word of caution, though. Don't try to force your story. In my limited experience, when my story became derailed, it was because it needed to be derailed. If that happens to you, follow the sidetrack to its conclusion. You can always edit it out later if you don't like it, but chances are it will make your story a lot richer and more believable too.

If you want to plan it out scene by scene, I recommend focusing heavily on cause and effect.

MC is at point A and needs develop to be at point B. To get there, there are problems that must be overcome. Every problem has a cause, every action has an effect. If you can focus well enough to map them all out (well, the important ones at least), you'll have a tight-knit story, and it will be relatively easy to fill in the scenes.

Sounds like you need an Act II of classic three act structure. Act II is usually the middle 50% of the story during which the protagonist progressively overcomes several problems that move them toward completing the overall challenge of the story. You already have your Act III conclusion. Ask yourself, how does your protagonist get there? Think of five steps that would get your protagonist to the brink of success. Have you considered both a first and second culmination? Usually Act II ends with the protagonist about to succeed but then everything goes wrong. In Act III your protagonist tries again and this time is successful (usually). C.M.