I've been struggling to make any headway in my WIP for several months and I've finally figured out why. There's just not enough plot. At first I thought it was an issue with my characters, but they're all well-developed; there's just nothing for them to DO because there's so little plot. I feel like this is driving me insane and I'm not sure how to fix it. I already have my plot outlined beginning to end, so I hope I won't have to rewrite it from scratch if I don't have to. For whatever the reason, I have always struggled to create a viable plot. I can create characters and develop their relationships with ease, but I'm at a loss when it comes to stringing a plot together. It's ironic, since most writers (from what I've heard, at least) have the opposite problem. Has anyone else here had difficulty with this? I'd really appreciate some advice. Especially about developing a plot in general, so I don't make this mistake in the future.
-
Basic Writing questions is not a crit forum. All crits belong in Share Your Work
Too little plot
- Thread starter Some Lonely Scorpio
- Start date
It may help to know what genre you're writing in. Do you feel that the plot you've already outlined is tied directly to the inner struggles of the characters and their relationships?
To clarify, I'm writing historical fiction set during World War II. A lot of the characters' struggles are internal rather than external, and I suspect that might be another reason the plot is struggling along like it is.
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2013
- Messages
- 11,729
- Reaction score
- 10,506
- Location
- In my head
- Website
- thewanderingquille.blogspot.com
I like to ask myself "What's the worst thing that can happen right now?" As long as it's not "the main character dies", then I do that. Basically, internal or external struggles, everyone has something they want in any particular scene. Something needs to get in the way of them getting that.
Have you tried writing a list of everything that occurred during the span of your story, that your characters could have heard of, if not been involved in, and considering how that knowledge would have affected them?
If you're an Englishwoman, coping with rationing, seeing foreign soldiers, how do you go through your day?
If you're fighting in the Pacific, and hearing that there's no more fighting in Europe, how do you feel? If you're about to invade Europe and have no idea of the geography, how do you feel? If you've just heard reliable stories of the concentration camps? If you're a minority, and you first hear the stories?
Even if the characters aren't fighting, it affects them. If you're writing people, not actions, the action still affects them.
That's a solid point! Most of my characters are at the home front. So there won't be any battles, combat scenes or anything of that nature; it's more about how the war effects and changes them psychologically.
I don't write HF and i am a novice.
But, my understanding is that the protagonist should start out with a goal and make decisions towards that goal and ultimately succeed or fail. Do you have this setup in your novel? Do we know what your character wants in Chapter 1?
THere's usually an internal and external conflict, as well. Like, I want to have a career (external) but doing so means putting my kids in daycare (internal).
r
But, my understanding is that the protagonist should start out with a goal and make decisions towards that goal and ultimately succeed or fail. Do you have this setup in your novel? Do we know what your character wants in Chapter 1?
THere's usually an internal and external conflict, as well. Like, I want to have a career (external) but doing so means putting my kids in daycare (internal).
r
Is it a question that you don't have enough plot or is it that your plot is character-driven rather than action driven? Not having enough plot is an issue but as you mention internal struggles, having a character-driven plot is fine.
For example, take Ian McEwan's On Chesil Beach, the whole story unfolds over the evening after a young couple's just got married and explore their anxiety, desire and worries about having sex for the first time and that main scene is broken up with flashbacks where the reader slowing discover their past relationship and their inner struggle. So action wise, not much is happening and some people will say there is little plot but it's a book when the characters drive the plot not the action.
So you have to decide what kind of book your are writing action or character lead and then assess how your plot compare based on that.
For example, take Ian McEwan's On Chesil Beach, the whole story unfolds over the evening after a young couple's just got married and explore their anxiety, desire and worries about having sex for the first time and that main scene is broken up with flashbacks where the reader slowing discover their past relationship and their inner struggle. So action wise, not much is happening and some people will say there is little plot but it's a book when the characters drive the plot not the action.
So you have to decide what kind of book your are writing action or character lead and then assess how your plot compare based on that.
Even in North America, people would worry about their loved ones, and read or hear battle reports. (My dad, as a kid, heard Edward R. Murrow's broadcasts of the London Blitz.) Most of the 'bigger' broadcasts are probably archived somewhere. Ditto stuff in the papers.
Whether you have friends or family in danger, always wanted to see the old place, or are just worried about not stopping the Nazis and the same happening wherever you are, it's going to affect you. Did you just kill someone, and have to decide whether the chunk of metal you used as a weapon should be chucked in the lake, or given to a scrap-metal drive? How's your 'victory garden' doing?
Did you always ignore foreign geography, but now avidly follow news reports of where the 'fronts' are, because your boy is in it?
Internal conflict is often more interesting and complex than external. I suggest you consider your character's internal struggles, memories, and thoughts for inspiration.
Many years ago there was a NY Times book of the year (or some similar award, I don't follow such things) with the plot simply being of a man picking up his dry cleaning and bringing it back to his work office. That's it, but the plot was more about his thought process... how his shirts were folded reminded him of childhood; sights and sounds triggered memories.
Many years ago there was a NY Times book of the year (or some similar award, I don't follow such things) with the plot simply being of a man picking up his dry cleaning and bringing it back to his work office. That's it, but the plot was more about his thought process... how his shirts were folded reminded him of childhood; sights and sounds triggered memories.
Have you tried listing the tension points, internal conflicts, wrestling with a decision, a difficult or emotional encounter or confrontation to see a) if they are spread throughout and b) if they are increasing in intensity until the main climax? It might show you where you are lacking and if there are any gaps or regressions.
Character led doesn't mean the plot needs to struggle. Characters can only do stuff, if stuff is happening (as you've discovered).
A common possible pitfall is characters who aren't proactive enough, and are waiting for things to happen to them so they can react. If all they are doing is reacting, then the story will stall pretty quickly. In a nutshell, if your characters are leading, then they need to, well, lead. It's up to them to take the narrative places.
The more character driven your story, the more proactive your characters need to be.
A common possible pitfall is characters who aren't proactive enough, and are waiting for things to happen to them so they can react. If all they are doing is reacting, then the story will stall pretty quickly. In a nutshell, if your characters are leading, then they need to, well, lead. It's up to them to take the narrative places.
The more character driven your story, the more proactive your characters need to be.
Last edited:
I second this advice.
Another possibility is to try to attach some of your character's motivations and struggles to physical aspects of your story. It sounds like you have your characters' internal goals, motivations, and conflicts sorted out, but you might want to try to flesh out those external counterparts. For example, if your character wants to go home, that's internal. The external counterpart of that might be to make it to the Germany checkpoint (I don't know what I'm talking about historically but just go with it), and then to stay in the back for the next fight, and then to survive through the night cold. Those external motivations are the manifestations of the internal ones. Those are what actually drive the plot along, fueled by the internal.
THIS article helped me a lot when trying to flesh out my plot. I am a chronic under-writer as well, and this article really helped me nail some of my conceptual ideas to actual physical plot.
Sounds like you could be going about this backwards. Stories are made of conflict, and conflict, simply put, comes about when the characters' goals are thwarted and they have to struggle and suffer in order to succeed. IOW, the characters need to drive the story, rather than being the backseat passengers of the plot, which is what seems to be going on in your situation.
So for the moment, try setting aside the plot you've outlined, and turn your characters loose to create their own story. (Yes, it will mean rewriting. But I'll bet you end up with something you're a lot happier with.) What does your MC want more than anything? To what lengths will s/he go to get it? What will s/he lose and gain along the way? What happens if s/he fails? It needs to matter. Dig deep into your characters' motivations, inhibitions, fears, desires. You say they're well-developed, but to me, it doesn't sound as if you've scratched the surface yet. Characters are developed in the crucible of the story--refined, reformed, even remade sometimes. But at the beginning they're all shiny-new and untested. They think they're strong; they think they know who they are. They have no idea. The story will turn them inside out.
IMO, that's what you need to be thinking about when you tackle this again.
If nothing is happening, it's not character-led. Your characters may have internal struggles, but they don't seem to be acting on them. They need to act, because actions have consequences, and consequences give birth to plot.
Last edited:
+1000
Listen to Beth and you'll get it. It may take many drafts and a lot of heartache, but this is what it's all about if you want to write good drama.
Here are a few more things to keep in mind considering your genre and topic:
WW2 is pretty ancient history, so it might be useful to keep in mind that it's just context and it doesn't relate directly to most people. This is true of most historicals, of course, so if your story doesn't deal with historical events and real historical personages, you should ask yourself why any modern person would want to read your story. Go deep with this. Assume your reader is not at all interested in WW2. That's just the backdrop for a drama that ideally will touch people *now.* That means the story should deal with universal human dilemmas, things that are timeless. This is often something that looks very simple on the surface. I think it was The Nightingale that started with a French woman's deep love for her husband on the day he was mobilized, and her fearing she won't be strong enough to endure alone what the war might bring. That's it. That's her dilemma, her fear, the stakes all in chapter 1. The character's "plot" evolves from that question: What will she have to endure? Will she be strong enough? Is she stronger than she thought? Each event (plot) reflects this, and her actions are driven by those issues. She will change over the story, sometimes strong, sometimes less so, but in the end, she will be different than when her husband went off to war. That's story. That's also something modern readers could relate to -- a woman who overcomes her fears for the sake of her family, who changes her own view of herself.
Now look at your main characters and be sure they are truly *driven* by their internal conflicts. Driven = movement = action. Characters with passion, great loves or great fears or whatnot, *act* on them. They're compelled to do it. And that drives plot. If your main character currently seems to have complex, abstract internal conflict, simplify it, add some passion, and tie it directly to concrete things, usually people, in their world. That will help clarify your story. It may involve radically changing who the character is, or her relationships. Maybe the person you thought was the protagonist isn't; some formerly secondary character is the most fascinating and has more at stake. You're early in the process -- it's okay to make these big changes. You should be making them now so there's less heartache later.
Also it might help to remember why you chose your particular setting and characters to begin with. What was *your* motivation? What fascinates you about them?
Last edited:
Aside: I wouldn't say WWII is ancient history at all.
I'd say it was the prime force that shaped the global alliances that everyone reading this thread grew up with, the very alliances that are crumbling before our eyes.
I could be wrong.
I'd say it was the prime force that shaped the global alliances that everyone reading this thread grew up with, the very alliances that are crumbling before our eyes.
I could be wrong.
- Joined
- May 11, 2016
- Messages
- 370
- Reaction score
- 75
Second, third, and fourth this! It's my go to trick when I'm stuck. It's the slightly saner version of "if you're stuck, have ninjas burst through the window and attack." I also like that this advice forces you to hone in on your characters goal, as you really need to know what they want in order to determine what the worst possible scenario is.
And I do not consider WWII ancient history in the slightest. Still very relevant and people are likely familiar with the setting through pop culture alone, if not knowing people who were there/ having been there themselves
A story is about a person with a problem. The events of the story are the steps the person takes to overcome the obstacles in the way of his/her accomplishing that solution. Even a 'character driven' story has a 'visible goal'. ('Visible goal' is an action that could be described by an eye-witness - forex 'Your honor, I saw the MC sign the lease' 'Your honor, I saw Mr. Skywaker shoot a torpedo into the exhaust vent of the aforesaid Death Star')
fwiw - I'm not writing a character driven story, but I have yet to figure out the visible goal for my story. I've been writing the beginning since February. I keep trying it from different points of view (and I keep coming up with a slightly different story).
Good luck
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2018
- Messages
- 201
- Reaction score
- 40
There's nothing wrong with taking a Hero's Journey template and adapting it to one's needs. It can arguably work in any plot, even about someone musing if they want to quit their current job or not.
Use this as scaffolding, throw on top layers of character development and you got a story.
There's no need to reinvent the wheel when such tools are avaliable to save the effort for those of us for whom this is indeed an effort.
Use this as scaffolding, throw on top layers of character development and you got a story.
There's no need to reinvent the wheel when such tools are avaliable to save the effort for those of us for whom this is indeed an effort.
Last edited:
Given the continued popularity of books, movies, television series, computer games, and documentaries set in WW2, I don't think this makes for a good assumption.
I'm glad to hear people disagree with me on this; my books are war-related. My point was that the OP could broaden his or her concept of the story by focussing on universal drama within the context of the war. This is just a way to look at story development, a shift of focus.
NateCrow
Registered
This is what I was going to say. It provides a structure and, while it may sound a little formulaic, your options for fleshing it out are basically limitless so there's still lots of room to exercise our creativity.
If you're interested, you can also check out Dan Harmon's Plot Circle, which is based on the Hero's Journey template, but simplified/updated a little. There's a pretty good description here.
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2011
- Messages
- 11,740
- Reaction score
- 12,178
- Location
- Atherton Tablelands
- Website
- snailseyeview.medium.com
Which home front? If it's the USA, how would you characters respond to the internment of their Japanese American friends or neighbours? And why would they respond that way? Are they volunteering for anything? Is there anything along those lines to examine for plot? (You've probably already thought of these.)