Writing.Com General Discussion

As Tolkien said of stories, "All is in the telling." Which for me means keeping your reader turning the pages as they reach that most desired of states: "Gosh, I wonder what's going to happen next."

To trigger that response, you need characters with skin in the game. Don't worry so much about genre or plot. From the start, you need to engineer into your characters an instability in their universe that needs to be set right, something that gets them up off their butts and compels them to make decisions and take actions.They either want something that they don't now have, or they are avoiding or resisting something that they don't want. Fight or flight. I think all plots come down to these two choices, however they may be decorated with the trappings of a given genre.

Of course, if all they had to do to attain their goal is to simply go out and claim it, you wouldn't have much of a story.

Problem identified ----> Problem solved ----> End

Is not a compelling template. Be hard on your characters. Give them problems. Problems are your coin of the realm. Lawrence Block described plots as "one damn thing after another." These "things" are the problems that must be dealt with and the likely unintended consequences that result in new problems.

Try recasting your original post, not about a genre, but instead, a character who wants something. And a character(s) who is in their way. If you think of them in these dynamic terms, just set them in motion, then get out of their way. They'll tell you what their story is. (This last bit courtesy of Elmore Leonard.)