After you have explored all the important ideas for writing a book,and believe you have got the basis for your story well in hand, it's time to get down the task of actually writing your book. As I have touched on in other articles, characters are an important element linked with this process. However , a similarly significant feature is plot structure. How does one develop a plot that's engaging enough to keep your audience turning pages? In my view, the answer to this question still revolves around charaters: knowing how they will act in a predetermined set of circumstances and, most significantly, knowing what they desire.
Let's face it: understanding what drives your characters has more to do with creating an engaging plot than almost anything else. That is due to the fact that understanding this vital piece of knowledge helps you with the second essential element of plot development: establishing conflict.
Let's suppose for example that your lead personality is a soldier who has been wounded in Afganistanâ€"perhaps he's lost a leg. Let's also imagine he thinks foul play is involved with his injuries; he believes they were the result of another service man wanting to kill himâ€"perhaps someone who's got something to gain by his demise.
What is our protagonist inclined to do with this info? Here is where conflict comes in. Does he research the circumstances and confront the person he thinks is setting him up? Does he even know who it is that did it, and why? And if he does have this knowledge, will facing this person be adequate. Maybe our hero suspects a friend he joined the division with, one he discovers has been having an affair with his bride. This of course would add a totally new layer of conflict, with its own set of possible resolutions.
These conflicts will inevitably lead us to another essential element of plot development: suspense. As your protagonist maneuvers the numerous roadblocks placed in front of him, readers will be forced to keep turning pages to learn how things are going to turn out. Additionally, as your personality reacts to these obstacles, he will endure change, another strong element of plot development, and a key to creating great suspense. How will these conflicts change him? Can he remain a decent individual and use restraint when he learns that his sweetheart has been cheating on him with his best friend and that this person tried to kill him? Or, alternatively, will he take action to try and settle the score?
However you decide to end your story, if it is done right it will build the suspense necessary to keep your readers turning pages. And, after all, that's the goal here: the goal of developing a highly engaging plot.
Let's face it: understanding what drives your characters has more to do with creating an engaging plot than almost anything else. That is due to the fact that understanding this vital piece of knowledge helps you with the second essential element of plot development: establishing conflict.
Let's suppose for example that your lead personality is a soldier who has been wounded in Afganistanâ€"perhaps he's lost a leg. Let's also imagine he thinks foul play is involved with his injuries; he believes they were the result of another service man wanting to kill himâ€"perhaps someone who's got something to gain by his demise.
What is our protagonist inclined to do with this info? Here is where conflict comes in. Does he research the circumstances and confront the person he thinks is setting him up? Does he even know who it is that did it, and why? And if he does have this knowledge, will facing this person be adequate. Maybe our hero suspects a friend he joined the division with, one he discovers has been having an affair with his bride. This of course would add a totally new layer of conflict, with its own set of possible resolutions.
These conflicts will inevitably lead us to another essential element of plot development: suspense. As your protagonist maneuvers the numerous roadblocks placed in front of him, readers will be forced to keep turning pages to learn how things are going to turn out. Additionally, as your personality reacts to these obstacles, he will endure change, another strong element of plot development, and a key to creating great suspense. How will these conflicts change him? Can he remain a decent individual and use restraint when he learns that his sweetheart has been cheating on him with his best friend and that this person tried to kill him? Or, alternatively, will he take action to try and settle the score?
However you decide to end your story, if it is done right it will build the suspense necessary to keep your readers turning pages. And, after all, that's the goal here: the goal of developing a highly engaging plot.
About the Author:
Michael Snow is the writer of ZION'S WEB, the premier novel in the Zachariah Burton detective series. As well as writing novels, Michael maintains a blog site which contains some engaging and illuminating blogs including tips on writing a book.
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