Plot Development for Novels: Tips and Techniques to Get Your Story Back on Track

The Everything® Writing Series

Plot Development for Novels

Tips and Techniques to Get Your Story Back on Track

Adams Media, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Avon, Massachusetts

Contents

Introduction

Elements of a Novel: An Overview

The Origins of the Novel

Plot

Character

Setting

Narrative Voice

Theme

Building the Plot

What Is Plot?

Coming Up with a Plot

Scenes

Planning Strategies: The Method for Your Madness

Writing a Detailed Synopsis

Storyboarding

Using Software Tools to Plan

Shaping Scenes

Little Story Arcs

Starting a Scene

Ending a Scene

The Essential Change in a Scene

Conflict in a Scene

For Each Scene, Picking the Viewpoint Character

Connective Tissue Between Scenes

Also Available

Copyright Page

Introduction

For more than 10 years, millions of readers have trusted the bestselling Everything® series for expert advice and important information on writing topics ranging from plot and scenes to characters and dialogue. Packed with the most recent, up-to-date data, these Everything® writing books help you get over your writer’s block, develop the story that you want, and create a book that you can publish.

The Everything® Writing Series books are concise guides, focusing on only the essential information you need to write the book that you’ve always dreamed of. Whether you’re looking for an overview of storyboarding, advice on starting a first draft, or suggestions for revising, there’s an Everything® writing book for you.

Plot Development for Novels concentrates on how you can create the perfect plot for your book idea. Starting with the broader elements of a novel then diving into specific ways to build your plot and shape your scenes, Plot Development for Novels is a great quick reference to make sure your story becomes as exciting and thrilling as it can be.

If you’d like to learn more about plot writing, check out The Everything® Guide to Writing Your First Novel, available in print (978-1-4405-0957-5) and eBook (978-1-4405-1063-2) formats.

Elements of a Novel: An Overview

Novels can be 250 or 600 pages long; they can be stories of love, adventure, or horror. They can span a day or a century. A core of elements distinguishes novels from memoirs and from nonfiction. These elements include plot, character, setting, narrative voice, and theme.

The Origins of the Novel

People have been making up stories for centuries. In the early 1600s, what many consider literature’s first modern novel was published with Miguel De Cervantes’s Don Quixote. Its hero, Alonso Quijano, is an Everyman who reinvents himself as knight errant Don Quixote de la Mancha and sets off to redress all manner of wrongs. Battered by reality, finally (after 900-plus pages) he gives up, returns to being Alonso Quijano, and dies. Most modern novelists give their readers more upbeat endings, but they are still giving readers the quest, the hero’s journey, and the obstacles along the way.

The format of Don Quixote and of other early novels like Gulliver’s Travels, Tom Jones, and Moll