Let's talk about plots...

Writers' Corner
1

I used to enjoy writing, especially when i was quite young. I used to have absolutely no problem thinking up a plot of some kind to either match my characters and that I could easily create characters for.

However… it’s a very different story now (pun not intended!). I find it SO easy making up characters and coming up with their personalities and their names etc. I just cannot for the life of me think of a plot that either:
• hasn’t already been thought of (real life book, film or someone else’s plot)
• doesn’t ridiculously suck or is incredibly boring
• exists in my head at all :roll_eyes:

I think this block has come from not enjoying writing in a period of my life that was just awful and I’ve now lost my knack because of it.

[name_f]Do[/name_f] any of you have any handy dandy tips or websites you’ve stumbled upon on the years? I could really use all the help you have to offer.

Thank you.

2

As a fanfic writer I already have a certain plot, I start the story like the original story and later change the things I do not like along the way. Or change the story according to my own theories and headcanons. If it is original story of mine they include magical in some ways and lots of death always.

3

I, too, have had some issues with plots. Here are the questions that helped me:

  1. Who is your MC? What does he/she/they want? What is their motivation?
  2. What is the end goal (what will happen in the end)?
  3. [name_m]How[/name_m] is MC gonna get there (is this a quest? [name_f]Do[/name_f] they go somewhere or do they stay in one place)?
  4. [name_m]How[/name_m] can things go as wrong as possible?

When in doubt, I think it’s helpful to work backwards. Figure out point B, then get your MC from point A to point B.

4

I’ve discovered that Pinterest and Wattpad have great writing ideas! I use them all the time!

5

My tenth grade English teacher drilled in our heads that there is no such thing as an original plot/idea. Examples: [name_m]Romeo[/name_m] and [name_f]Juliet[/name_f] (obvi) + Twilight, Gnomeo and [name_f]Juliet[/name_f] (lol), Titanic ; The Phantom of the [name_f]Opera[/name_f] vs. Beauty and the Beast vs. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (geez what’s with these [name_m]French[/name_m] people? :P) ; The Hunger Games + Battle [name_u]Royal[/name_u] ; etc. etc. etc.

(In fact, there’s a theory that states that every thought you have had/will have has already been thought by someone else in human history. You’re never going to have a truly original idea.) But! That doesn’t mean everyone has already used up all ideas ever. You just have to be the first to publish it.

What I mean by that is, yeah, we all could have made [name_m]Romeo[/name_m] a vampire and renamed him [name_m]Edward[/name_m] who is hellbent on trying to not drink his [name_f]Juliet[/name_f]'s ([name_f]Bella[/name_f]'s) blood, but we didn’t. Someone else did it first. However, you could be the first to make [name_m]Romeo[/name_m] an astronaut named [name_m]Jackson[/name_m] who crashes an intergalactic party where he meets the beautiful alien princess Ryxssp (or any other weird name insert here).

Plot is nothing without characters, motivation, circumstances, and exposition. We don’t keep reading the same story over and over again because of the plot, but because of those other things I mentioned in the previous sentence. Take fanfiction, for example. There’s a bajillion Coffee Shop AUs. Coffee Shop AUs are neither original nor particularly interesting (i.e. it’s boring). But the way the authors write the characters - how the characters are interpreted, how motivated they are to get a phone number, how they ended up where they are, how well written everything it. This is what pulls people in to read the same plot/idea over and over and over and over and over again.

So what if someone thought of it first? All of [name_m]Shakespeare[/name_m]'s plays are in public domain. Go crazy. (And Dracula. Can’t forget good old Dracula. :P) So what if it sucks or it’s boring? Throw a wrench in the dang thing (or zombie apocalypse, or alien invasion, or long-lost twin brother, or dragons, or whatever tickles your fancy) and fix it until the dam breaks into a river of inspiration. So what if it doesn’t exist in your head yet? It’s gonna and you better believe it.

TLDR; No plot is original. Be the first. Make the characters yours. And, most importantly: WORK IT, GIRL/BOY/PERSON.

[name_f]Hope[/name_f] this helps or inspires. [name_f]Happy[/name_f] writing and have a wonderful day! :slight_smile:

6

Thank you all for taking the time to reply and offer your help, I really appreciate it! I will take all of your comments of board.

@superllama, you have made me feel like a new person! Thank you so much for all of that. I CAN do this!!