Each week, I’ll offer a tip you can take and apply to your WIP to help improve it. They’ll be easy to do and shouldn’t take long, so they’ll be tips you can do without taking up your Sunday. Though I do reserve the right to offer a good tip now and then that will take longer—but only because it would apply to the entire manuscript.
This week, look at each major turning point in your plot and make sure it advances the story the way you want it to.
While it’s okay to ignore structure and even plot in a first draft, on draft two, you really need to start nailing down what the plot is and how it unfolds. It’s not uncommon to discover the first draft wanders a bit and doesn’t hit the plot marks it ought to for the strongest story and pacing.
Identify your major turning points and make sure they’re building upon each other to form the plot. What structure you use is up to you, as is what specific points you choose, but every story is going to have a beginning—middle—ending, which means problem discovered—attempt to solve problem—resolution of problem.
For more on structure and turning points in your novel, try these articles:
- Plotter or Pantser, You Really Should Outline the Second Draft
- 6 Ways to Structure (and Plot) Your Novel
- As Basic As Plotting Gets: The Three-Point Structure
- 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
- The Plot Clock: The Structure Template that Saved my Career
- 6 Questions to Help You Gut Check Your Story Structure
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