Fleshing Out Your Plot

Keep Your Story Focused

A carefully crafted plot will make your story
impossible to put down.

There are many ways to put the meat on the bones of your plot skeleton. Your selection of setting and character will do a lot in this department, but you also have to carefully craft the sequence of events that will take place between the event that sets the story in motion and the event that brings it to its conclusion. A straight path between the two is rarely interesting. Twists and turns that increase the sense of struggle provide an opportunity for the readers to build stronger emotional bonds with the character and build suspense.

Craft a complication and follow it up with a resolution

Our novel and manuscript proofreaders define "plot" in simple terms—it is a complication and the complication's resolution. How you go about creating the complication and the resolution is entirely up to you. Your character doesn't even need to be aware of the forces moving him or her along through the various steps leading to the resolution of the complication—or that the complication itself even exists. The sad teenage girl in your novel likely won't know that she is searching for a sense of identity. She might be selfishly seeking all forms of self-gratification in her quest for popularity without truly knowing what it is she really wants. It could be a complete surprise to her that she enjoys volunteering at the hospital with the girl who has been socially outcast from her class—that she is willing to befriend her when no one else will.

Don't lose the focus of your manuscript

The most important thing in fleshing out your story is that you don't lose focus. Remember: A plot is a complication and its resolution. Everything that happens in your novel must, in some way, move your story forward toward that resolution. Let's consider the following plot:

Detective X arrives at the scene of a crime and is charged with catching the killer (this is the complication). Detective X then goes through a number of events that provide him with clues to the killer's identity. Any scenes that develop his relationship with his rookie sidekick or his romance with the sexy District Attorney have to play some role that is specific to the case.

For example, let's say the rookie has botched something up in the past and now Detective X doesn't trust his partner's abilities or insights. They end up arguing a lot and that affects how efficiently they do their job. Maybe the rookie is on to something and X ignores it—allowing the killer to escape and further complicating the plot. Maybe after that he is consoled by the lovely DA and is then able to pick up the reins and get the investigation going again. An occasional flashback to his childhood may explain how he reacts to a particular situation. However, everything must be related to the case at hand, or the story will get bogged down with extraneous "stuff."

Don't be general!

Following in this vein, the plot of "the story of Character X's life" is never a strong plot because it lacks the focus that keeps the story and interest going. Our manuscript and novel proofreading professionals remind all authors that they must give their character a particular aspect of his or her life through which to tell the story. If your story is about a woman who was sexually abused as a child, you will need to flashback to some areas of her childhood and relate them to how she is reacting to something happening in the present. Take the following example: A man who passes her is wearing the same cologne that her father did—this sets off a memory of him coming into her room on the nights that her mother went out to her church meetings or her bridge club. After going through a series of events—meeting with a good friend or a therapist, etc.—that help her find the road to healing, the story ends with a sense of hope for the future.

Know when to stop

One of the most common issues that we encounter at Scribendi.com is plot overkill. Once you've resolved the complications in your story, STOP! Consider the example of the abused woman from the above section. Does it make sense to include another chapter or two talking about how the woman's children turned out and how she eventually died a happy old woman? No—these issues have no connection to the central complication of abuse. The story was over when this complication had been resolved. Don't drag it out.

Are you worried that your plot has strayed off topic, and that your complication has no resolution? Submit your story to one of our manuscript and novel editing services, and our expert editors will check to make sure your plot is on track.