Writing Tips

Creating a Plot - Request

Everyone knows that a plot drives a story, and it's also what draws readers in when they're trying to find a new book to read.

Plots can be tricky to create, but I do have methods of my own that may help you out.

First off, when you're coming up with a plot, you need to know what your main conflict is going to be. Did someone steal an item from the main character? Was there an apocalypse and the main got separated from his/her family? Are there aliens invading earth? Does the main have depression?

These are conflicts, and there can be many more to think up as well. Conflicts are generally a force against your main character/group, physical, mental, or abstract.

Once you have the idea of the main conflict, you should think about how your character is going to go at solving the issue. We will use the examples from earlier here.

Theif: The main is going to find the person who stole their item.

Apocalypse & lost family: The main must survive in the new world while looking for their family.

Aliens: The main joins the human army against the aliens.

Depression: The main tries to find ways to cope it.

Now, we have their basic motive and the conflict down, but it's not enough for making a plot. It's still a bland plot line.

To add more on, you want to add something else that will oppose the main character(s) goal. Adding in this will help them struggle to get to their main goal: the conflict.

Let's add on to what we already have.

Theif: The antagonist sends goons after the main to stop them.

Apocalypse & family: The main struggles with other people attacking them.

Aliens: The main finds out the army is corrupted.

Depression: People are bullying the main.

These help to make the plot have more to it than a basic conflict and goal. Some of these extra bits are more subtle than others, but they do help to add more interest.

Now, how do we come up with ideas?

Ideas for a plot can be difficult, but they're actually everywhere. It sprout from a small scene in a video game. Maybe you're thinking about pollution. Maybe a certain word from the dictionary will trigger the idea.

Just for example, I'll give you how I came up with Colliding Elements's plot.

First, I read a few stories where people ended up in different dimensions. That made me become a bit obsessed with that idea for a book.

Second, I'm a huge zodiac fan, western and Chinese. My obsession with these made me a bit crazy with figuring out what signs people are.

Third, I love the idea of Elementals.

So, what I came up with was this: A world separate from ours where the elements of your two zodiacs were the elements you controlled. A group of friends would fall into this dimension and become Elementals.

It was then I had to come up with the conflict. Since I was making the world a medieval place, I went with the simple mad king craving power.

There, I had my plot.

Now, that's how I came up with mine. You go with what you want in your book and what interests you. And if you still have troubles, try online generators of anything. Those can help make ideas too. (I recommend art idea generators)

I hope this chapter helped with plot creation!