How to Write a Good Story

Interlude: Joy on Plotting and Characters (I)

How can you make your plot as solid as J R R Tolkien's, as fantastic as Roald Dahl's, as believable as George R R Martin's? Suspension of disbelief is one of the most important elements (if not the most important) when writing fictional works.

If the reader does not believe what they are reading, if they are not captivated by the book so much that they forget about the writing and get involved with the characters and the plot, then we as writers have failed. After all, people read books to escape the everyday. They want to care for your character and they want you to sweep them into a drama or fantasy that's out of this world.

With that in mind, here are a few tips on how to make your plot (and characters) believable, and how to keep the suspension of disbelief going.

1. Ask 'Why'

When considering a characters actions and motivations, the easiest way to make sure the reader will find your plot and your character's decisions convincing, is to give it the ol' 'Why' test. The idea is that when you ask 'why' enough, you will discover the gaps in your plot (or the reasonability of your character's choices).

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Here's a random example. This is a quick summary of a storyline, and thereafter we ask 'why':

Walter is a man who believes that if he doesn't climb Mount Everest he will break his father's heart. Trouble is, Walter doesn't really want to climb anything; he's afraid of heights. What he wants is to make his father proud. Failing his dad scares him more than Mount Everest.

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So we ask ourselves, why does Walter believe he must climb mount everest?

A: Because he believes if he doesn't do it, he will break his father's heart.

So, why does he believe this? 

A: Well, he wants to make his father proud, doesn't want to fail him....

Yes, but the question remains why. Why does he believe he has to climb the mountain, and why does failing his dad scare him more than anything? And mind you, if he's so scared of disappointing his father, why hasn't he tried to climb the mountain before?

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Let's look at a second version of the same story, this time addressing the 'why':

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Walter's father is the most renowned explorer of his time, Andrew Baltimore. He was the first man to climb Mount Everest alone, the first to live at the North Pole for a week, and the first at a ton of other lofty things. Because he was always exploring, he was not home to build a relationship with his young son. When Walter was four, his dad called him from the peak of Mount Everest using the latest satellite technology.

Much of his father's words were fuzzy and distant, but one sentence stayed in Walter's mind forever. 'One day when you have climbed this peak, son, you will be a man, and that will be your proudest day.' Since then Walter believed that if he didn't climb Mount Everest, he would break his father's heart. When his father came home from trips, Walter swore he could see the disappointment in his eyes, and instead of feeling encouraged to take on new challenges, he withdrew into self-pity.

The problem was that he'd been afraid of heights since the day of his third birthday, when Freddie (his neighbour's son) had shoved him off the jungle gym. Walter'd broken his arm and developed a tidy fear of heights that he just couldn't shake.

He could never bring himself to face this fear for his father's sake, even though he tried many times to convince himself that he would. Not until today that is. Today his father was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia. The thought of his father dying without thinking him a man crushed him, and the disappointment lurking in his father's eyes drilled this one fact deep into his heart. He had to make the climb. 

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Right, so that was a long example, but when your plot can answer questions about why things happen or why characters make a specific choice, the plot will be solid, believable, and likely more exciting. You don't have to tell us all the answers out right (in fact, don't do that!), but they need to exist and come out eventually.

more coming soon...

P.S.

Why why why? (get it) *bland expression* Fine, don't laugh. I'll just go over here then *walks to dark corner* (And thanks for reading guys ;D)