So I'm working on a High Fantasy novel, and while I do have a plan for my opening scene and brief notes for my climax scene (or points A and B), I still have no idea what should come in between. I recently found something like THIS on Pinterest... and I think I'm starting to consider trying it as a way to build my plot. Has anyone else ever tried something like this, just to see where your story might go?
Developing secondary plots is something I've struggled with, as well. I have a fantasy trilogy plotted out - I know where each of the three books starts and ends, and I know how to move the main plot along. It's just coming up with secondary plots that actually take up the majority of the novels themselves that I struggle with. I haven't really come up with a solution, but randomly generated plots sounds like something worth playing with. For myself, though, I would see it as more of a writing exercise; I feel like I'd want my second plot to be more intentional. But playing around with the different scenarios can definitely help you find an idea where you weren't expecting it.
Kind of like the Discworld™ gods: “Hey, he’s been smooth sailing for 2 days. Better throw something in his path.” So you have your plan of what you do when all goes smoothly. Figure out what might go wrong, and inject something at the proper dramatic places.
No, but I did used to do this little game where I put my ipod on shuffle and whatever song came up would be but the next section of the story would be about. So say I put on a break-up song, the first part of the story would have to be the character break-up with someone. Say the second song that played was about over coming, then the next part of the story, the character would overcome something, and so on. I'd do this until I had a full story.
I took a screenwriting class where we looked at Blake Snyder's beat sheets, and later I found one adapted for writing novels. That's been really helpful in looking at the pacing of a book, figuring out where subplots should be introduced and resolved, and then figure out what I problem I could introduce that fits that timeline.
That's actually how I get my best ideas. I've a really long playlist with good songs, and I play it perpetually on schuffle; and sometimes the conglomerate of whatever I'm writing and the song I'm hearing coincide on giving me ideas I'd never dream about on my own. More secondary plots that I could ever write or want to write
Start with your main character. What happens to them? How do they handle it? Then go from there. Don't be afraid to let the character drive the bus - it's fun to see where they go.
Presumably your characters have friends, relatives, lovers? Jobs, positions in society, troubles, perhaps illnesses, things they like to do, things they hate doing? They live in an interesting place? Or a boring place? Or are just about to make a major change in their lives? All of these things are sources for subplots, if this is what you're looking for. It's a lot more fun, in my opinion, to develop your own subplots based on what your characters are like and what happens to them than it is to consult some list that somebody else drew up of subplots, and just pick a couple and connect the dots. That sounds more like an assignment to me than creative writing. Creative writing means you can write anything you want about anything you want in any manner that you want. Give it a go on your own, and your own imagination might well be enough to get this off the ground. It's the most risk-free activity I can think of, because nothing you write is set in stone and you can change, alter or discard anything you don't like later on. So why stick to somebody else's ideas of what you should write? Obviously if you get stuck, these kinds of things might be helpful ...but you're not stuck. You're just starting out. Begin to live with your characters and take your time. It'll be worth it.
Presses shuffle ... okay in the next scene Dusty had a brother a Khe Sanh , fighting off the Viet Cong, they're still there but hes all gone .... hmm not exactly what i was going for presses shuffle again .... okay now "he was born down in the valley, where mr when your young, they bring you up to do, like your daddy done" and again now he walks long the railway track, going someplace there's no going back.... yeah ... this would work better if my MP3 player wasnt totally loaded with the complete works of Bruce Springsteen.
Whenever you randomly generate an idea, analyze what it is about the idea that you do or don't like, and that will help you come up with your own ideas that use all of the good parts and none of the bad
