Position:Home>Books & Authors> How do I turn good story idea's into a plot?

Take your basic idea and write a list (just in notes) of the basic scenes that have to happen to make the story work!. Write them in order, but leaving spaces in between to slot other things in later (or write them on post-it notes that you can move around)!. Remember that every story needs an introduction (the shorter the better), an inciting incident that kicks off the action, a series of events which raise the stakes progressively for the main character, a final crisis, or climax, and a resolution!.
Now think about whether you're going to add a subplot to the story!. This is often a love-story (unless your story is already a romance) or a story which either emphasises or argues the theme of your story!. The subplot also usually has some effect on the resolution!.
Weave the subplot(s) into your list of scenes!. Shuffle things around until you're happy!. Try things in different orders for the sake of experiment - you never know what you might come up with! And while you're at it, look carefully for any holes in your plot or other things that need putting in!.

Now!. The writing!. Rushing is a common problem for beginners and it really does just take a lot of practice to find your own style!. The best advice I can give is to stay in-the-moment with your character, experiencing story-events at the same rate he/she does, drawing suspenseful moments and moments of great impact out for the greatest effect on the reader, including only what's essential for the story and skipping over parts with no action!. Focus on action and emotion - these are the two things that draw readers into your story!.

But overall, practice, practice, practice!

Good luck xWww@QuestionHome@Com

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A lot of authors say that they start with good characters rather than a plot!.

So focus on someone we want to stay around with for thousands of words!. And they must want or need something that takes them out of their comfort zone of everyday life, something that will challenge them and make us care whether they get it or not!. The journey of getting it or failing to get it will change the main character in some way by the end of the story!.

A spoiled ditzy blond wealthy socialite with a caffeine craving in a big city needs to cross an empty two lane street with her yappy dog to get to Starbucks, and mocks a poor disheveled person with no shoes -- not so much!.

A spoiled ditzy blond wealthy socialite with a caffeine craving needs to cross a busy four lane street in a big city with her yappy dog to get to Starbucks -- when her dog runs off after something across the street in another direction, because it's not on a leash!. She charges after the dog, into traffic, but loses sight of the animal and nearly gets run over herself!. She tries offering money to everyone around her who might have seen where the animal went, because she believes that money gets you what you want, and she has plenty!. People take the money, but she is no closer to finding her dog!. She wanders the city, her expensive designer shoes pain her so she gets rid of them, walking painfully barefoot and then tying rags on her feet, her make-up is smudged and runny, her designer clothes made gaudy rags by sweat and dirty with exhaust fumes and body odor!. She witnesses the poor, the lost and forgotten people, the addicts, the homeless, and those who prey on them!. Finally, she finds her dog, dead, run over by a car whose driver probably didn't even notice!. She picks up the small ruined body in her delicate slight hands, her eyes red and swollen from crying and heads back to the Starbucks!. Some friends she knows are leaving, and she approaches them desperate for their comfort and sympathy!. Not recognizing her, they make fun of her in passing, call her names, tell her to get a job!.!.!.much as she did to the person she saw across the street before she lost her dog, her only real friend, she realizes, the one money couldn't help her find, and will never really replace!. She is alone and poor, even with all the money she has, what is of real value to her is gone!. She realizes that her life is shallow and vain, and she decides she will help people with her money and her time, even if it makes her unpopular with her "friends", because she has seen a deeper truth about life, and the world around her!.

There can be good endings, too, of course!. Maybe she finds her dog happy and alive with some poor person, but seeing how life looks for the first time in her own life has changed her!.

There have been literally books written about the subject, and your local library may be of some help -- but what might be of even more help is examining to yourself on paper, of the books you like -- why do you like them!? What makes you come back to them, own them, cherish them!? Answering those questions may help you more than anything, with the books you already have and may lead you to define what makes a story good, so you can apply these things to your own stories!.

Hope this helps -- keep writing, keep learning!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Start with your characters!.
What do they want!?
Why do they want it!?
How are they going to get it!?
What's standing in their way!?

And there's your plot!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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you would want to turn everyday life into sth unexpected!. Www@QuestionHome@Com

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