Mentor Monday - Fixing the Fizzle - From Idea, to Plot, to Story

Ooh. I just had a great idea for a story!

If you’re like me, you probably say that a lot. So many things I come across give me ideas for multitudes of stories. Sometimes, I’d get so caught up in an idea, I’d sit down and begin writing to see where it took me, and the next thing I’d know, I’d be into chapter five or six of a new novel. I might even make it to chapter twelve or fifteen. And then, suddenly - the novel fizzled.

Why? I wondered. It was a cool idea. Why couldn’t I make the story work?

The answer, I have since leaned, is because I didn’t have a story. I didn’t even have a plot. All I had was an idea, and an idea is nothing more than a sudden thought with potential, which is why an idea can’t be copyrighted. It’s too vague and malleable. I will turn it into one thing, and you will make it into something else, which is why you should never be afraid of someone stealing an idea of yours. An idea is -

Ooh. What if the government could control the weather?

And the potential?
All the what ifs.

What if a secret government organization got hold of it?
What if it was run by an egomaniac who went rogue?
What if he wanted to take over the world?
What if he threatened the whole planet with hurricanes and earthquakes?
What if, just to give us an example of how powerful he was, he bombarded Japan with one earthquake after another until it sank into the ocean? (Hmm. I seem to remember a Bond movie with a similar plot.)

As you can see, my idea certainly has the potential to grow into something more, and you may have gone in a totally different direction. As a beginning writer (and sometimes, even now) I’d sit down and start writing, thinking I had a story. I would throw in some perfunctory characters and get the ball rolling. Eventually the novel, like so many others of mine, would have withered away and ended up as a half-finished manuscript taking up space on my hard drive for years and years and years - all because I didn’t realize that an idea wasn’t a plot.

Ideas tend to be broad, while plots are more specific, and story is even more sharply defined. If I narrow my focus from the broad to the specific, I might come up with a character who is a reporter, who learns of this organization and takes steps to expose them while trying to save himself from their death squads. I still don’t have a plot or a story, but I do have a log line of sorts, an overall premise. I need to get even more specific.



I zoom in closer and give my reporter the tools he needs to work within my overall idea. I give him a name and a newspaper. I give him a city to live in. And because he needs a real reason to do what I’m going to make him do, I give him a burning desire to become famous for his work, or perhaps he has a deep mistrust of the government. Maybe I’ll give him both. But there have to be complications, so I invent a family for him and make him a drug addict. I give him a history with baggage. And then, to get the story started, I give him an opportunity to learn of the secret government organization and what they plan to do.

But I’m still not ready for a plot. Every protagonist needs a foil. So I create one. I give him a name and a government organization to work for. I give him a city where his operation is based. And because he needs motivation, too, I give him a superiority complex. I make him a perfectionist with the need to always be in control, and I give him a deep mistrust of the government. And the complications? I give him a cadre of followers, not all of whom are totally loyal. And I make him a narcissist. I give him a history with baggage. And to get his story started, I give him the opportunity to put his evil plan in motion.

Now I’m ready for plot. And for me, plot is the road map that gets my character from point A (discovering the scheme) to point B (destroying the weather machine and saving the world.) I have a beginning and an end, (yes, it's cliche and corny, but it works with the pictures) and now I have to fill in the middle. The middle will simply be a series of actions and reactions between the two players that goes over the major plot points.

Hero discovers organization and writes about it.
Villain feels his hand is forced and starts the sinking of Japan and orders hero killed.

Hero discovers where organization is and sneaks in as a new recruit.
Villain begins to make life miserable for the countries of the world.

Hero snoops around and learns all he can about villain and weather machine but withdrawal kicks in.
Other soldiers become suspicious and capture him.

Villain decides to kill hero, but the narcissist in him wants the world to know all about his superior genius.
Hero agrees to write Villain’s biography in return for drugs, and because if he ever gets out of this, the book will make him famous.

Japan sinks and Hero is mortified. He decides to kill the villain and destroy the weather machine. With the help of an unloyal security guard, he escapes within the confines of the compound.
Villain’s goons search for him. Villain flashes photos of his captured family on compound tvs.

In the throes of withdrawal, the hero risks his life to save his family and find the weather machine.
Villain is furious that the hero has gotten away and goes to the weather machine to take his anger out on the world.


The two meet for the climax at the weather machine. The battle between them is fought, the weather machine is destroyed and the world is saved.

Notice the plot isn’t ultra-detailed. For me, that leaves room for side trips and detours, and like following any road map, I might even get lost a time or two, but I do have the map that enables me to find my way back. And as I write and fill in the specifics between plot points, my world becomes more defined and my plot slowly turns into story. Yes, it will have to be revised and reworked, but in the end, it will be a story - a finished story that won’t languish on my hard drive.

Save the World Today v2 by voythas
see more of his work at deviantart
type voythas into the search box

Mentor Monday - Building A Plot In 8 Easy Steps (More or Less)

According to Aristotle, every plot needs three things - action, character, and thought, which basically means - who is doing what, and how and why is she doing it? But the type of plot we end up with depends on which of those three things we choose as most important. For instance -

Mary likes to drive fast. She searches out a race car driver, gets him to give her lessons, enters the Indie 5oo and wins.

If the emphasis is on the action, on all the things Mary does to get what she wants, we have a plot driven novel.

If the emphasis is on why Mary wants to be a pro racer, and how and why she makes the decisions she does, and what she learns from her experience, we have a character driven novel.

If the emphasis is on the message, the moral or point the writer is trying to get across, (Follow your dream) we have a theme driven novel. So . . . .

Step 1 - Decide

Choose what kind of novel you want to write - plot driven, character driven, or theme driven.

Step 2 - Set Up

Where does the story take place? At what time/era? Who are the main characters and how do they all relate to one another?

Step 3 - Problem

What is the catalyst that sets the story in motion? Everything is going along just fine, just like any other day until . . . . . (fill in the blank.)

Step 4 - Conflict and Tension

Depending on the type of novel, one of three things should happen. In a plot driven novel the MC should act to solve the problem. In a character driven novel, she should think first, then act. In a theme driven novel she should do something that totally contrasts with the message the writer wants to send because she will eventually come around to the writer’s way of thinking. The object is to create opposing forces which will then create conflict and tension.

Step 5 - Foreshadowing

This should actually take place all through the novel. If the story isn’t over until the fat lady sings, we need to see her taking voice lessons in an earlier chapter.

Step 6 - Complication

The MC reacts to the original problem and resolves it (it doesn’t necessarily have to be resolved right away) but solving the problem should create another, slightly more difficult problem.

(More or Less)

This keeps happening, with each problem becoming worse than the last, and with each problem arising from the last, until the MC is up to her neck in it, and then . . . .

Step 7 - Crisis & Climax

It’s do or die time. The ultimate action must be taken. Everything is at stake for the MC and she has to make a choice. Does she go for it (whatever it is) or does she simply fade away?

Step 8 - The End

How does it all turn out? Did the MC get what she wanted? In a plot driven novel, the problem is solved. In a character driven novel, the problem is solved and the MC learns something about life or herself. In a theme driven novel the writer proves his point. (See. Honesty really is the best policy.)

Writers have been using the above method (or some derivative) for thousands of years, even before Aristotle. He just happened to be the guy who wrote the method down and brought it to everyone’s attention. If it worked for everyone else, it can work for you, too. Follow the formula and you will almost certainly end up with a logical story that has a beginning, a middle, and an end that works.