Plotting and Structure

Your plot is the backbone of your story, and the tighter it is, the better your story will be able to stand on its own. This section will help you understand what goes into a great plot, ways to weave subplots into your story, and how to structure your overall novel. It will also cover the basics of scene structure, and show you how to use goals, conflicts, and stakes.

Prologues

• Prologues: Keep of Kill?
• Start With the Prologue or the Circumstance?

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Inciting Events

• Understanding the Inciting Event

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Popular Articles on Beginnings

• The First 250 Words of Your Novel
• Common Problems in a First Chapter
• The Importance of First Lines
• Overcoming False Starts

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The Middle of the Story

• Avoiding the Boggy Middle Syndrome

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Good Endings

• What Makes a Good Ending?
• Setting Up Your Ending

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Goals, Conflicts, and Stakes

• Why You Need Goals, Conflicts, and Stakes
• Giving Your Characters Goals
• Making Readers Care
• Pacing Your Stakes
• Starting With the Action
• Adding Conflict to Your Scenes

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Understanding Narrative Drive

• Plotting and Narrative Drive

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About Plots and Subplots

• Planning Your Novel With Plot
• Tips on Plotting Your Novel
• Filling in Plot Holes
• Things to Remember When Plotting
• Juggling Subplots

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Scenes and Story Structure

• The Three Act Structure: Overview
• The Three Act Structure: Part One
• The Three Act Structure: Part Two
• Basic Scene Structure
• Getting Past Hard to Write Scenes
• Fixing Flat Scenes
• Getting Stalled Scenes Moving Again

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Scene and Chapter Transitions

• Moving From Scene to Scene and Chapter to Chapter
• Scene Flow

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Writer's Block

• Dealing With Writer's Block
• Getting Unstuck

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