How To Write Good: A Lightly Salted Guide to Stepping Up Your Wattpad Game.

Stirring the Plot

The answer to the question in the previous chapter is 2. I'd ask for a show of hands to see how many of you knew this, but I can't see you any more than you can see me typing in my underwear.

Why though? I mean why is it the second one, not why am I typing in my underwear. Mind your own business.

The simple definition of a plot is that it's a series of connected events. While answer number 2 wasn't a complete plot, it was the only one that linked one event - Voldemort trying to kill Harry as an infant, with another, specifically his defeat at the end of book 7. The rest of the choices were themes, settings, and synopses.

The plot is important because it establishes the importance of everything else. You use it to determine whether the scene or chapter you're writing is something the reader actually cares about, or will eventually care about.

I dealt with this recently in my WIP The Autumn Prince. The early chapters tend to drag because I'm setting up the main plot (or A-plot) and a lot of subplots simultaneously. I had included a paragraph that described the protagonist's apartment because I have a very firm picture of it in my mind. And also sketches. And a floor plan. You get the idea; to me, it's very detailed. About half of Act 1 takes place inside that apartment, so I felt I needed to paint that picture as early on as I could, and since the apartment's tiny size is brought up at the beginning I felt it was a good spot to do it. 

Then I asked two honest Wattpad writers to look it over and they both bombed the crap out of that paragraph insisting it was unnecessary. I didn't agree at first, but their criticism made me look at it, then look again, and after an internal debate, I had to conclude they were both right and it needed to go. It did nothing whatsoever to advance the reader toward the next, or ANY plot point.

The paragraph was short and relevant, it just didn't belong, and the ONLY reason I was able to decide that was because I had mapped out the previous plot point (the protagonist meeting a stranger) and the one following it (the protagonist doing something the stranger asked him to).

It's fair to say here that not every paragraph needs to drive the reader directly from point to point like a pinball. 

Though a fabrication, William Goldman's Princess Bride refers to an entire chapter that details the wardrobe of a noblewoman and dedicates 3 whole paragraphs to hats. It has nothing to do with the plot, except as a satirical sidebar that he uses as a kind of character development targeting the nobility as a whole in his story.

Using my own experience again, The Autumn Prince is told in first person, and the protagonist is introspective so you get a lot of his thoughts, some of which might not seem that important. They are different from the piece I cut out, however, because they're establishing traits that justify decisions he makes much later on. The apartment just sits there, and since the cast will spend a lot of time in it I have more than enough opportunity to establish the layout in context.

There are two ways to construct a plot for a story. One is a Plot Outline, which is just a list of linked events. Pixar's formula ensures their writers stay on track...

     Once upon a time there was _____.
     Every day, _____.
     One day, _____.
     Because of that, _____.
     Because of that, _____.
     Until finally _____.

When this was first published everyone said OMG BRILLIANT, but it's not, it's just a plot outline that formalizes the plot points by filling in some of the narrative. It's also not used verbatim - you might see 50 or more because-of-that's in any given Pixar film if you break it down.

The other method is called Pantsing. This is where you just start writing with a general idea of where you want to take the story and then wing it.

In my opinion, this is an advanced method that you should avoid unless you have a clear and prodigious talent for it, like Piers Anthony, but this is also a raging debate in many forums and I'm not going to tell you which is right for you. Just know that if you don't have a clear understanding of your plot, neither will your readers. Even if you're attached to the idea of being a pantser, you're still allowed to create plot outlines so your pantsing doesn't end up around your ankles.

There are a lot of ways to plot your story and I can't even begin to cover them all here, but I personally start by writing down the first and last events. What's the catalyst of the story and how does it end? Then I start deciding how I'm going to get from "boy meets girl" to "man defeats his supernatural father with the power of friendship," and along the way I define important events, plot twists, emotional highs and lows, and so on, bearing in mind things like pacing, and give them a rough order.

Despite what I said, I will admit to a little pantsing here and there. I don't always completely flesh out my plot before I begin writing, and I'll add, remove, or change plot elements as I go.

I don't think this is uncommon and I don't think it dilutes the importance of having a solid map to follow. There aren't many strict rules left in writing, but you shouldn't stand up on the roller coaster just because there's nobody forcing you to keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times.