RuneScape Forum Archive | Your First Story

May

2022

MJT2-0

Posts: 234 Silver Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Plot - An Overview
The plot is, quite literally, the bones of your story – without it, your story would not have any support, and would be a useless heap of flesh. It truly is the most important aspect of your story.

Now, of course, you want to know what the plot is. Quite simply, it is the story that your story tells: the central idea. In Lord of the Rings, it’s that Frodo has to destroy the ring. A good plot is what makes a good story, for a story is only as good as the plot.

Creating a plot is not always an easy thing, and making a good one is downright difficult, mainly because for a plot to be good it has to be original; nobody wants to read a story with a plot that’s been recycled so many times they can recite it from memory. You know Eragon? One of the reasons many people dislike is because Pa*lini used a plot that everybody already knows – Star Wars. This is one thing you should definitely avoid doing.

Now, this may seem complicated, but making an original plot is not as hard as it may seem. Often all it takes for a plot to seem completely original is to simply tweak a simple idea – for my first story, I made it about a war, but with a sufficient tweak that it was different and interesting. Try to find something you can work with, then give it a unique twist and bang, you’ve got your plot.

This point is one I will never be able to stress enough – don’t start a story unless you have a general idea of what the plot will be. Now, I’m by no means saying you should have the whole thing planned out ahead of time, with every miniscule detail planned, but if you don’t know what the cli<c>max will be, or what will happen in the end, don’t write the story. A lot of the problems caused by not having a clear plot are flow-related (see the subsection "Flow" for more details.)

The next post will contain information on twists in the plot, an essential ingredients indeed.

18-Jun-2015 18:10:11 - Last edited on 18-Jun-2015 19:26:10 by MJT2-0

May

2022

MJT2-0

Posts: 234 Silver Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Plot – Twists
Your plot is rather like a road. A straight road you can just cruise straight down, with no other traffic, while easy to drive, is also… boring. If people feel like they can just cruise down the plot of your story, and accurately guess what will happen, then they will, quite probably, become bored with it. Just like someone cruising down the aforementioned straight road will become bored and drowsy, so too will your reader if the plot is too straight forward. You need to make it more interesting.

This is where the plot twists come in. You need to throw some twists, some curves and sharp turns, into your road. In a similar way to how this will shock the driver into wakefulness as they twist the wheel to make the turn, it will also make your reader more alert and interested in your story. A sudden attack, perhaps, or the discovery that one of the prominent protagonists is a spy are both twists that will make your readers more excited by your story. However, twists are not always easy to pull off.

Twists are a varied thing, and come in differing magnitudes – again, much like turns in a road. There are small ones, gentle curves that do little to excite the reader, then there are sharp turns off at right angles that jerk the driver into sudden wakefulness and excite and intrigue the reader. The bigger the twist, though, the harder it is to pull off.

The road analogy is by now getting more and more strenuous, and so no longer will you have to put up with it. As I just said, the larger a twist is, the harder it is to make it work properly. Twists are perhaps the largest area in plot where pre-planning is required, for to make one work you need to set it up properly through the previous parts of the story.

18-Jun-2015 18:10:14 - Last edited on 18-Jun-2015 19:26:55 by MJT2-0

May

2022

MJT2-0

Posts: 234 Silver Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Setting up a major twist while keeping the all-too-important points that make it logical but while keeping it low-key enough that it is not immediately picked up can be the most challenging aspect of writing twists into your plot. Practice, more than anything, produces talent in this area.

A few very good examples of stories that include major twists foreshadowed by small and easy to overlook points are Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. The major revelation at the end of Deathly Hallows (I’ll not spoil it for those who do not know) has foreshadowing all the way back in the second book, and of a nature so easy to overlook speculation about the point did not arise until a few months before DH was published. In Lord of the Rings we are introduced to the one ring in The Hobbit (I know, not quite part of LoTR, but same thing ) and Gollum is shown as obsessing over it – the explanation given sates our curiosity, but once we discover the true nature of the ring and the depths of his depravity it makes much more sense.

Remember, sometimes it is best to place a twist in your story that has no foreshadowing – this should be done at your own discretion, and however you feel best. At no point think that I am “telling” you how to craft the perfect twist – this is merely advice.

Placing too many twists in your story is something you most definitely want to avoid, as they can make the story too hard to follow and turn the reader off of the story, something which you most certainly do not want. A good balance between the twists and straight sections can be hard to discover sometimes, but just do what feels natural to you * practice, again, helps you figure out how best you can manage this.

18-Jun-2015 18:10:59 - Last edited on 18-Jun-2015 19:27:23 by MJT2-0

May

2022

MJT2-0

Posts: 234 Silver Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Plot - Scene Changes
A story is, on a very, very basic level, just a bunch of scenes put together to form something that is greater than the sum of its parts. However, it can at times be hard to change scenes well, or in a smooth way that doesn’t really disrupt the flow of the story.

Oftentimes on this forum an author will only change scenes with the beginning of a new chapter, which is a perfectly fine method. However, it is worth bearing in mind that this can both result in really short chapters and some chapters that seem to drag on forever – sometimes carrying on a scene across a whole chapter gets tedious, especially if it is an important but not particularly stimulating scene. You must know when to change scenes.

When changing scenes mid-chapter, I always use some sort of symbol to let people know I have changed scene (this can be done the easiest using three asterisks: ***). Doing it this way helps avoid confusion by making sure the reader knows the scene has been changed. Few things are more annoying than having to re-read part of a scene because you never noticed it had changed.

Choosing when to change scenes can sometimes be hard, and it really depends on what sort of effect you’re going for. In a highly suspenseful scene, you might want to change it right before the cli/max, or in a shorter scene you might want to change it at the end. It’s really up to your discretion, but don’t be afraid to spend a few minutes thinking about it.

Plot changes can also be used as actual elements in the story, especially in climactic scenes. As I mentioned before, cliff-hangers and suspense can easily be created by changing scenes at the right points. As with many of the other points in this section, practice above all else helps you to do this to its maximum effect.

18-Jun-2015 18:11:18 - Last edited on 18-Jun-2015 19:27:59 by MJT2-0

May

2022

MJT2-0

Posts: 234 Silver Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Plot – Flashbacks
Depending on your story, flashbacks may be a common thing, a rare thing, or, in many cases, not appear at all. They are by no means necessary, but can add another dimension either to the plot or to the backstory of one of the characters. Flashbacks don't come in many forms, but the forms are very different both in nature and in how they must be executed in your story; in all forms, though, it should always be clearly separated from the preceding scene (see Scene Changes, above).

Probably the most common flashback would be the one that comes in the form of a dream to one of the characters. Oftentimes this is a nightmare, but of course it could be a good dream as well (though these are often less dramatic, and a nightmare normally gives a good point for the character to wake up and end the flashback). This type of flashback is most commonly placed at the beginning of a scene; however, you may place it anywhere in a scene if you feel it fits – flashbacks of this type are very, very awkward to place anywhere else than the beginning or end of a scene, though.

Very similar in nature to dream flashbacks would be the musings of a character, and these can be executed in very much the same matter, and again can most easily be placed at the beginning or end of the scene – though with proper setting up it could be placed in the middle with more ease than a dream might. Using this type it is easier to show happier times in the past, as these are more likely to be mused upon. Events of great importance are also easiest expressed in this way, and through the character thinking on them you can express some viewpoints on the matter to get your readers thinking in the right (or wrong, if that's your intent) direction.

18-Jun-2015 18:12:04 - Last edited on 18-Jun-2015 19:28:25 by MJT2-0

May

2022

MJT2-0

Posts: 234 Silver Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Another type would be a flashback to a traumatic event in a character's past triggered by a site, smell, sound, or… anything, really. The site of a massacred village might awaken in one of your characters the memory of their own massacred village, for example. Or the scent of a certain flower might recall to them the death of their lover, who used to wear that flower in her hair (of course, it could be a him, but really ). Anything you can think of really. This type can generally only fit into the middle of a scene, though this can be changed with proper scene changing (see the above article). The scene would continue after the flashback, often with someone asking the character if they're all right, or the character finding that they've collapsed; these are but examples, and feel free to do whatever feels best for you in the certain scene.

These are the more common methods of executing a flashback, but by no means the only ways. Rowling's pensieve, for example, is merely a method of showing flashbacks, albeit a less than conventional one. Perhaps your character will see something of the past in a crystal ball; perhaps you'll invent an item with which they might see something which has passed. Don't be afraid to be imaginative: you're meant to be. Never forget that, in writing, your imagination is your greatest asset.

18-Jun-2015 18:12:55 - Last edited on 18-Jun-2015 19:28:51 by MJT2-0

May

2022

MJT2-0

Posts: 234 Silver Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Plot – Structure
Plot structure, while perhaps not as important as some of the aforementioned topics, is still something which warrants some thought. You probably remember that at some point in your English class, your teacher drew something that looked like a ramp in profile on the board, and introduced you to plot structure. Well, when you write your own story, instead of trying to figure out where all the parts of the story fit into the structure, with cli/maxes and mini cli/maxes everywhere.

I will now admit to having never drawn one of these before beginning to write my story, but drawn or undrawn the same concepts apply. You must decide if you want a certain section to be fast-paced or slow paced, if you want multiple cliff hangers and pseudo-cli/maxes or if you want it to be smoother; decide how long you want to draw up to the cli/max, and how massive you want it to be. The more pseudo-cli/maxes there are, the less impact the final one will have less impact, which may or may not be what you want.

This is a very difficult thing to help you do, as it is entirely at your own discretion how you plan it out, and is linked intrinsically to your plot, and in the same way I can't tell you how to make your plot, I can't tell you how to do this. You must decide this for yourself, and make it fit both your writing style and the story in general as best you may. Having a solid plot structure planned out will help in a way not far removed from having your plot planned out – you'll have significantly fewer flow issues. As with everything else in story writing, the more you plan out plots and their structures, the easier it will become; practice truly does yield results in story writing.

18-Jun-2015 18:13:01 - Last edited on 18-Jun-2015 19:29:13 by MJT2-0

May

2022

MJT2-0

Posts: 234 Silver Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Flow
If you have seen Disney’s “Pocahontas”, you should remember the song, “Just around the River Bend.” Pocahontas sings it as she paddles along a river. Think for a moment—do you remember Pocahontas hitting an enormous rock, falling into the water, and drowning? Or do you remember her coming to the end of the world and falling off? If you do, you need to watch the movie again. She, most certainly, does NOT die during that song.

Unfortunately, this is what happens to some readers of your stories as they “paddle” along. They hit a point where something doesn’t a make sense and they stop reading, or they abruptly run out of story and fall off the edge.

That is what we’re going to talk about in this chapter*letting your story flow.

Section 1 – Maps are everything!
Have you ever began writing a story and gotten a *air way into it and then suddenly realized that you did*’t know what to do next? Some people refer to this as, *Writing yourself into a corner’. Actually, this problem is easily avoided if you spend a few minutes before you start writing at a key stage in the writing process, appropriately titled, “pre-writing”.

This can be as simple as creating a basic outline of key plot points, or you can get as detailed as outlining each individual chapter. However you choose to do this, the few minutes you spend at this point can save you from a major headache later.

You may be thinking, “But I prefer to write as I imagine it.” This leads to another problem within your story, that I call Extremely Rambling Syndrome. Without some sort of plan, your story will branch off at every chance it gets into something random that isn’t necessary. As a rule, every word within your story should advance it one step closer to the resolution. Sub-plots ought to be worked into the main plot so that they don’t distract the reader from the main plot. If something doesn’t accomplish this purpose, throw it out! Your readers will appreciate your discretion.

18-Jun-2015 18:13:45 - Last edited on 18-Jun-2015 19:31:04 by MJT2-0

May

2022

MJT2-0

Posts: 234 Silver Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

I am not saying that you have to plan ever detail of your story before hand. Marking out a basic path, however, will help you to create a story that is as long and concise as it needs to be. Does anyone really want to sift through a bunch of trash to find the treasure hidden beneath? I don’t know about you, but I prefer to keep my hands clean.

Section 2 -- Flowing Past Obstacles and Around Bends Smoothly
As you move your story along, you should be coming to various things in the lives of your characters that affect them in some way. The affected could simply be their actions or it could even be as drastic as their personalities. These things could, potentially, change the flow of your story.

Everything that happens in your *tory should be described in detail. However, turning points in your story, things that could seriously alter the outcome, should be described in great detail. By doing this, you should be able to avoid any confusion amongst your readers.

On another note, your story should have varied speeds of flow. Sometimes things should move quickly, such as in a battle scene, and sometimes things should move more slowly, maybe whilst walking through a difficult forest.

Remember, during a battle scene, we expect that things should be moving at a fast pace. IT would be kind of odd if the opponent’* next move came 2 hours later. But also remember that, during other slower scenes, it would also be weird if we walked into a forest and instantly appeared on the other side.

The pace of your story can be altered by events in the plot sequence or simply by the amount of time you spend narrating. A relatively brief event can be expanded by the author depending on the amount of time they spend describing it. If it’s important, then you should probably do this. If an event isn’t important, then give us the basics and move along speedily.

18-Jun-2015 18:14:53 - Last edited on 18-Jun-2015 19:30:29 by MJT2-0

May

2022

MJT2-0

Posts: 234 Silver Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Section 3 -- Steering Clear of the Edge of the World
Imagine that you are a reader who is approaching the end of a story. You keep going and going and, finally, you get to the last chapter. After you’ve read it, you think to yourself, “That was lame! I don’t even know what happened to the main character!”

No author wants their reader’s reaction to be like this. The last chapter of a book should be the grand finale, where the river finally meets the ocean. If that river abruptly falls off the edge of the world, not giving us any sort of reason as to why, we are not going to be pleased. We are not going to want to read your stories anymore. That is not a good thing.

Be sure to bring your story to a complete close if it is the only one you are going to write. Tie up most of the loose ends. If you are about to write the next one in a series, you can be a little more abrupt. Resolve the conflict of the first tale, but leave one open so that you can continue. Bring the story to more of a pause for the time being. Be sure to lay the foundation for the next story in the series during the first one so that you have the material needed to continue the plot line!

Think about the movies; usually, when a movie goes well, the producers will make another one to further increase their profits. In some movies, where the plot did*’t quite come to a close, this makes perfect sense. In other movies, though, the sequel(s) aren’t necessary and end up being bad. This is the kind of “flop” that you really want to avoid.

In conclusion, lots of detail will helps us to steer clear of rocks in the river but abrupt plunges dishearten many.

18-Jun-2015 18:14:57 - Last edited on 18-Jun-2015 19:30:51 by MJT2-0

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Your First Story