Fiction Writing Exercises – Ideas for Writing Fiction #9

Your stories now have people in them who have motives for what they’re doing (they do, don’t they?), and places to do them, so it’s time for the next Fiction Writing Exercises – Ideas for Writing Fiction #9:

9. Events and situations:

Here is a sample list of events and situations: a job interview; a pop concert; a telephone call; the arrival of a stray cat; a car breaking down; going on holiday; losing a purse or wallet; finding a body; an eye test; a party; going on a blind date; a birthday party; a child starting school; a circus arriving in town; moving house; starting a new job; a family meal; a football match; a car park; a long car journey; an argument; going back to your old school; a telephone call; attending a funeral; breaking an ornament; a diary or calendar; mowing the grass; visiting a fairground; writing a letter; going round a supermarket.

Take any two of these and think about how they could be combined in a plot. Ask yourself ‘What if..?’ or ‘Supposing…?’ type questions to help develop the plot.

Plotting is one of the hardest things out there for many writers. You may know how you want the story to begin and hopefully how it will end, but you need a way for the characters to get there. The plot becomes the events and situations that occur between the first and last paragraphs… You can come up with interesting characters, fascinating venues, but if the plot has major holes in it, or is too confusing, or doesn’t seem to serve the story’s needs in a way that makes sense, the rest usually won’t save it.

However, the plot doesn’t need to be highly convoluted (unless you’re writing an Agatha Christie-type murder mystery), but it does need to work for the characters and motives you’ve assigned the people who populate your story. Jarring readers out of their ‘willing suspension of disbelief’ by throwing in a plot twist or situation just because you can, but that doesn’t fit the things you’ve already established, tends to tick them off. You want the reader to follow along, staying with the story until the very end, whether it’s a screenplay, short story, a novel, or a Stephen King-sized doorstop, I mean, tome.

So, while asking ‘what if’ or ’suppose’ this or that happens in the story as you build your plot, make sure you’re doing it from your character(s)’ point of view and motives, not your own, for a better fit.

BTW, one way to know your plotting has worked is when someone reads your stuff and says they couldn’t put it down until they finished it…

(These ideas are adapted from the work of Nick Daws, who is a best-selling author living in Staffordshire, England. His book, “Write Any Book in Just 28 Days OR LESS” is available at writequickly.com )