1. Ghosts in Latin

    Ghosts in Latin New Member

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    I Failed Connect-the-Dots

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by Ghosts in Latin, Feb 18, 2009.

    Hello, folks.

    I've got (and always had) an issue.

    I'm plagued with the skeleton of a couple of phenominal plots. Thought out characters, relationships, etc. I know what the ending will be, the middle, and the beginning; but I can never seem to connect the dots in between them.

    Any advice?
     
  2. Atari

    Atari Active Member

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    A little more information would be helpful, as every situation is different.

    I really think this should be a trivial issue, as you have an infinite number of ways to do anything you want.

    You can make an earthquake occur, or crack the earth in two in order to make the plots come together, if you so choose. (And such a cataclysmic and intriguing event would certainly not deter readers)
     
  3. Xeno

    Xeno Mad and Bitey Contributor

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    You could try coming up with some subplots related to the actual story, maybe involving a supporting character? Don't know if that helps or not. :redface:
     
  4. Rei

    Rei Contributor Contributor

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    Definitely, more information would be helpful. The one thing that always works for me is to not over-think it. The answers are probably locked away in your mind somewhere, but you have to relax to get them out. In one of my stories, I was falling into the tedium of the parts of The Lord of the Rings when they were doing little more than moving from one place to another. Their eventual goal was to get into the underground city safely. I had no idea how they were going to get into the city, though they did have a potion that she was going to drink t o make herself look like one of the beings who lived there(and this city is a bad place for humans to be).

    Earlier in the story, I'd mentioned venomous animals, but with no intention of using them. Just mentioned it to make the place seem more dangerous, like you would remind reader of the bears in the woods whether the characters would be attacked by them or not. The characters had stopped at a point in the river that was about a two-day walk away from the entrance to the city. While I was on the page, barely thinking about it, I decided that while she put her hand in the water to refill her water bottle, a water snake would bite her. While she in passed out from that, the friend she is with gives her the potion, and they encounter two of the city residents who take them to their house and give her the cure for the bite.

    Since she's out from the poison, I managed to relieve the tedium, make it more exciting because she is in more imediate danger, and get her into the city safely. All was explained in half a page once she woke up.
     
  5. Dcoin

    Dcoin New Member

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    Instead of looking at your story as having many plots, try to focus on one or two major plots. Then move your characters through the plots using conflict, motivations, etc.

    By keeping the constants of your story, your characters, moving along it will connect the dots for you.
     
  6. Scarecrow28

    Scarecrow28 New Member

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    I'm not sure if I fully understand exactly what you're asking and more info would be helpful, but maybe fleshing out the plot a little more would help. Try writing a short summary of the story and filling in the spaces between the dots. I'm not sure if you mean that you're having problems writing out hte section between the dots or actually filling in the plot between the dots so I'm not sure if this helps.
     

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