Free Printables for Plotting

It's hard to get ideas to stop swirling around in your head and down on paper, isn't it? I find it next to impossible to get all my scenes and facts in order. Sometimes details need to be slowly dropped into the storyline like breadcrumbs. I don't like erasing and rewriting my plot plans, so I've been using index cards to record my ideas, which is good as far as it goes. Today I designed a set of cards to print on card stock that should help us get those ideas down and in the right order. I've put them on my website: under Free Printables. Let me know how they work for you.

Break habits and build suspense

Since so many of you are interested in the mystery/suspense genre, I thought I'd write a bit about suspense, the tension that keeps readers avidly turning pages. How do you get it in your writing? First, you need a good handle on what suspense is. Suspense isn't curiosity. Curiosity is when you wonder what will happen next. Suspense is when you know exactly what might happen next, but you don't know if it will happen. You need these factors in place for good suspense:
1) Anticipation. That's the "if" factor. The reader must expect something to happen by experience, habit or hope. If you do not establish that your character eats eggs for breakfast every day, your reader may not notice or care if toast crusts on left on the plate one Tuesday, which leads me to the next point...
2) Make a habit, break a habit. Something was anticipated and it didn't happen. That's suspense. The reader is on alert.
3) Make sure the reader knows what's at stake. What is the main character trying to achieve? What are the obstacles? What is that black cloud looming on the horizon? Let the reader get good and worried. (Remember, if the reader doesn't have an inclination of what will happen next, that's just curiosity.)
4) Don't let your plot unravel! If you've got unresolved questions and side stories, tie them up neatly. Don't leave the reader with loose ends.
Even if you aren't planning on writing a mystery, tuck these tips away. Suspense is useful in all genres.

A Magic Formula for Plot?

Is there really a magic formula for a perfect plot? Today I am going back to the Mystery Writer's Handbook edited by Herbert Brean (published in 1956) to take a closer look at the chapter from Lester Dent written in 1936. Mr. Dent, if you are reading this blog, I apologize in advance for the liberties I am taking in condensing your article. Those of you who would prefer to read the original may find it here:
http://www.biblio.com/details.php?dcx=74056597&aid=frg

Bear in mind that this is a guide for mystery writers; literary fiction can cool down the heat a bit.

First, divide your book into four sections.

Section #1
In the first line (or as soon as possible) introduce the hero, get him in trouble, hint at a mystery and begin the menace. Next, get the hero in action, as he tries to cope with the trouble, fathom the mystery, solve problem or defeat menace. All characters are stirred into the mix. The hero's actions land him into conflict with antagonist. End section with a surprise plot twist.

Section #2 and #3
(same structure, just ratchet up the intensity)
Give the hero more trouble, then allow him to make some headway in the conflict with antagonist. End with a plot twist that results in the hero getting smacked down hard.

Section #4
Even more trouble! The hero is in absolute despair of achieving goal. Then, he manages to save himself by his own skills and wit. The remaining mysteries are cleared up. Give the reader one last plot twist for the road and a perfect line to end it.

Okay, I admit my synopsis sounds a bit humorous. But honestly, haven't you read lots of books that follow this outline fairly closely?

7 ways to perfect your plot

What makes a novel worth reading--or publishing? That was the quest that sent me into the dim, musty stacks of the library this afternoon. I hoped that serendipity would lead me to the answer. I found plenty of possibilities. (And a few sleeping homeless people, one paranoid man in fatigues and a handful of dealers on cell phones. Busy place, the library.) From one little beige hardback--The Mystery Writer's Handbook, edited by Herbert Brean, published in 1956--I gleaned these tips:
1) Bad plots kill more books than bad writing.
2) Spend as much time on plot as you do on the writing.
3) Ensure that your plot has suspense, menace, and conflict. ("menace" in this case, being some looming difficulty that hangs over the main character's head.)
4) Don't deal with conflict in your plot the same way you do with conflict in your own life. We don't like problems and try solve them (or avoid them) as quickly as possible. A good plot increases the conflicts and drags out the solutions.
5) Be tough on your characters. Let your plot challenge them, test them, and subject them to failure before they succeed.
6) Roll up your sleeves. A good plot is hard work. It's more rewarding to tinker with a phrase or create backstory, but you get out what you put in.
7) Don't let your plot be a swayback. Throw in a few complications in the middle.

In the same book is an article from 1936 by Lester Dent who describes a master plot formula. I'll comment on that next time!