Plotting

The plot is the backbone of your story, and the tighter it is, the better your story will be able to stand on its own. Here are some articles that cover what goes into a great plot, ways to weave subplots into your story, and how to make the most of your beginnings, middles, and endings.

A sampling of articles on plots and subplots

• I Have an Idea. Kinda. Tips On Plotting Your Novel
• Parts is Parts: Plotting Your Novel
• Look! It's An Idea: Going From Premise to Plot
• What a Concept! Plotting Your Novel Conceptually
• The Best Advice on Plotting I've Ever Heard: Two Tips That Will Make Plotting Easier
• Author, We Have a Problem: 4 Tips on Plotting Your Novel
• How to Plot With the Three-Act Structure
• Plotting With Michael Hague's Six Stage Plot Structure
• Plotting With the Save the Cat Beat Sheet Structure
• Plotting With the Hero's Journey
• Where Do I Go From Here? Plotting Through “What Happens Next?”
• Too Much of a Good Thing: Over Plotting Your Novel
• Query First? The Query as a Plotting Tool
• Come On, What's the Worst That Can Happen?: Plotting Your Novel
• Being Evil: Plotting From the Antagonist's Perspective
• Actions vs Choices: Crafting Better Plots
• Arc Enemy: Defining Story Arcs

See all articles on plot

A sampling of articles on subplots

• Stay On Target: When is a Subplot Leading You Astray?
• Oh, What a Tangled Web We Weave: Crafting Subplots

See all articles on subplots

A sampling of articles on prologues

• Pondering the Prologue: Keep of Kill?
• Prologues: Not as Evil as You Think
• Start With the Prologue or the Circumstance?

See all articles on prologues

A sampling of articles on beginnings and opening scenes

• Open Up! Writing the Opening Scene
• NaNoWriMo Prep: Planning Your Novel’s Beginning
• In the Beginning: Which Type of Opening Works Best?
• Overcoming False Starts on Your First Chapter
• The Line Forms Where? Knowing Where to Start Your Novel
• On Your Mark. Get Set. Go! Writing the First Line of Your Novel
• The First 250 Words of Your Manuscript
• Seven Deadly Sins (If You're a First Chapter)

See all articles on beginnings
See all articles on opening scenes

A sampling of articles on the inciting event

• Something to Get Inciting About: The Inciting Event

See all articles on the inciting event

A sampling of articles on middles

• Stuck in the Middle: What Makes a Good Middle
• NaNoWriMo Prep: Planning Your Novel’s Middle
• Moping in the Middle: Dealing With Saggy Middles
• The Middle of Our Books

See all articles on middles

A sampling of articles on endings

• The End is Near: What Makes a Good Ending?
• NaNoWriMo Prep: Planning Your Novel’s Ending
• It’s Over: Getting Readers to the Ending, and Making Them Glad They Came
• Who Ordered the Happily Ever After? Writing Endings
• The End: Talking About Endings -- And Not Just the Big One

See all articles on endings

A sampling of articles on narrative drive

• Baby You Can Drive My Plot: Narrative Drive

See all articles on narrative drive