Plots Rule!

A story, fact or fiction, is mush without action at every corner. But too much action only makes thicker glop.

Whether I’m writing a How-to or a tale, it’s characters and their antics (the plot) that make the read get read.

Say you’re writing a family history. Even Uncle George, twice removed, has a personality. He had an occupation. He had physical and emotional dimension. Turn Uncle George into a character and let him write his own story. But be careful. You’re not remaking Uncle George in your own image. Help him be himself. Here’s how:

• If he’s short for his age, let him figure out how to reach the paint can on the top shelf; but include the words that identify your imagination at work. Such as:
  • I, being short, can see him sticking a stack of books on a chair to reach the paint can some impish tall person stuck on the top shelf.
  • Short people, especially men, are taunted for their minimal stature. Uncle George was probably teased all his life about being height compromised. His brother, Uncle Jim, could have intentionally placed tools on the top shelf just to make him mad.
  • At 5’4”, Uncle George could fit into tiny places where others could not go.
• If he was sickly, imagine the frustration he must have lived daily when he couldn’t run out and play with others.
• If Uncle George was an ornery sort; was married several times; or was never married, use your best guesses as to why he was the way he was. But label it as your best guess. A could be. Unless you want to destroy your credibility, never state fiction – your imagination at work – as fact. Be clear, but make it fun.

Use scenery if it forwards the story. Dense forest, albeit beautiful, is boring unless it slams at least one character with a wall so thick he/she/ or they cannot escape through. Or if a character can use it for cover from their antagonist. OR if the heady, soothing aroma of the pine forest tells the blind person where they are… Get the picture?

Detail the weather if it requires the characters to slog through or hide from. A monsoon storm is just a noisy, dusty, wet storm – until it maroons my children and I with no way out and darkness racing in on us.

Lucky for us, there are several books available to goose the writer’s imagination to build plot. They don’t write the book for you, but they smash through the block when it’s time for action.

Start with search engines for plot generators.

But search engines aren’t your only option.

For those of us who don’t always have Google and other search engines at their fingertips, here’s where you can grab books – even a deck of cards (an affiliate link)– to bust through writer’s block and get more meat into your story. Snag the book or cards now, before you head out to your mountain top retreat with no internet.

On that note…

Happy Trails and Tales,

Alexie Linn

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