Three questions to ask when you don't know your plot from your story

"The story is the journey for truth. The plot is the road it takes to get there." - Peter Dunne.

Ever known exactly what is going to happen in a scene and yet when you sit down to write it you don't know what the hell to write? That scene you thought was going to be so easy because you had it all plotted out? Why is that?

Quite possibly it's because you don't know your story from your plot.

Defining plot is simple. Socrates called it the 'structure of the incidents' – E.M. Forster described it more simply as 'what happens'. Coming up with a heap of interesting events is easy – what's hard is combining those events into something meaningful, so that one event is a natural and believable consequence of the preceding one – this is what gives a good 'structure of incidents' its narrative propulsion. This is when a plot becomes a story – hence Forster's distinction that plot is what happens, and story is why it happens.

But there's more to a story than why – there's who – who is in the midst of this plot and how are they reacting to it. Peter Dunne, in his accessible and highly recommended book Emotional Structure: Creating the Story beneath the Plot goes further and describes story as what the plot does to the person it's happening to.

So, it's all very well knowing the what, but if we don't know the why or the who, we're screwed. Which brings me back to my original question...

I hit a scene in the short story I'm currently working on that should have been dripping with dramatic potential and yet when it came to it I couldn't take it anywhere. It took me two nights of producing one insipid little paragraph for me to realise I didn't know what the hell I was doing. The problem was, I didn't know the who.

Whenever I get stuck like that I get my trusty Moleskin out and write down the questions I need to answer so that I can finish the WIP while I'm still young enough to breathe. Here are the three questions that got me out of the mess:

What do these characters want?

Which basically means – develop or research your characters so you know them well enough to know how they would react when the what starts happening.

Why do they want it?

This is the background – the character history and make-up that justifies and explains their wants. This will make them believable, whole, and perhaps more importantly, provide further dramatic potential and story threads.

What is the point of conflict in this scene?

Or rather – why the hell am I bothering to write this scene at all? A good rule of thumb – if shit-all happens in a scene, it's a shit scene. The conflict can be external (what), internal (who) – but preferably both i.e. when internal conflict is brought to dramatic fruition by external events. The ideal scene is when the what, why and who are all fused together and that's when a scene starts to write itself.

Problem solved.

Another five ways to an atrocious blog post

Since the last time I posted on the subject people are still putting themselves at risk of getting some decent blog posts together. This will only lead to one thing – a following. You've clearly forgotten why you started blogging in the first place – it's not about them, the readers, it's about you – your ego, your self respect, your self-indulgence. Let's not forget that.

So if you find yourself in the unenviable position of actually entertaining and enlightening your blog readership here are five bullet-proof tips to guarantee your following will stagnate and erode before you can tweet 'new blog post'.

Say nothing in your headline

Hard core readers of blogs will have a list of posts to read that makes their twitter feed look like a walk in the park. Chances are they'll only look at your headline. This is an ideal opportunity to head a potential reader off at the pass by providing an uninteresting, unrevealing and uninformative title for your post. Even better – give it no title at all. You got a hundred and fifty posts in your blog-reader, are you ever going to pick the one that says 'Great News!', or 'A Day in the Life of Iyam Dullasfukovich'. Probably not.

Talk about yourself

It's not about content, it's about you. You don't want readers, you want fans, right? In which case, you must pontificate for ages about what you've done that morning – to the minutest possible detail. Tell people what you're listening to on your iPod, what brand of coffee you use, what you fed your pet for breakfast, what your poor, privacy-invaded child said that was really funny on the way to school. People only care about that kind of stuff when they're obsessed with you – real die-hard fans - and you know how many of those you've got (a clue - it begins with a Z and ends with an O).

Mention your 'product' as often as possible

I've seen some popular and informative blogs masterfully undermined when the blogger attempts to convert their 'platform' into sales. A pushy sales pitch will put off a buyer even if they want the damn thing – never forget that. It's best to mention your 'product' in every post, in every mention of that post, and if possible, within every paragraph of that post. The great thing about that is, not only will they unfollow you in droves, they'll do so with the name of your 'product' ringing in their ears. If you can manage one sale out of those deserting hundreds, you'll have achieved something.

Be inconsistent

It's hard to write on the same subject week after week, so why bother? Write whatever the hell you like – one post can be about writing, the next cooking, the next goat-porn. It's a common misunderstanding that this will increase potential readership because of broader appeal, but it's not true – unpredictable, uninformed posts on unrelated subjects will actually drive readers insane and away. Use that to your advantage.

Don't tailor content for the medium

Who the hell wants to learn about a new medium? And who the hell wants to think up new content all the time for that medium? That's right – that would take time, effort and what would you get out of it? No fandom, no sales, and no Tuscan villa. So, the best way to use your blog is as a dumping ground for all the crappy writing you've done and can't quite bring yourself to put in its rightful place - the shredder. In fact, it helps to think of your blog as your online shredder, because there's every chance some editor may chance upon a hidden gem and make you rich and famous. Think about it.

You know all this makes sense. You start setting higher standards and you'll only end up having to maintain them. You wouldn't want that, right?

Why crap people make crap writers

So if you have no life, no experience, no understanding, no empathy, no perception and no imagination can you still be a good writer? If you are talentless, closed-minded, prejudiced, work-shy, self-involved and self-righteous can you write anything of quality?

Do you need me to answer that? Really?

Ok, here's the long answer:

Even a great story can't be saved from a dullard

We've all been there – some guy at work starts to tell us how he was kidnapped by aliens after managing to escape the bank-robbery he accidentally stumbled upon whilst rescuing the injured nun from the rabid wolf-hound. But because his delivery is dull, his timing absent, his voice monotone and his details irrelevant, we've sloped off to talk to the wall before we die of boredom.

On the other hand, Jane the receptionist has us hanging on her every word as she regales us with tales of how god-awful her ironing pile is, how she overcame the challenge of her ever increasing dirty-dish tower, how she resurrected the roast-dinner she'd sacrificed five minutes before her mother-in-law showed up – because she does it with humour, sensitivity and an ability to engage her audience.

'Write what you know' is awfully close to 'boring your reader senseless'

Ever ask someone something at work and they start banging on about what they know, ad nauseam, rather than what you need to know. Even worse, they tell you even if you know it already, and it's still not the damn thing you asked them about? Imagine that person writing a book. Now, try and imagine yourself buying it…

A happy ending is no ending at all

I'll get closure if I get that promotion. Everything will be all right if I just take a holiday. I will find eternal happiness if I marry that hot girl from marketing. My life will be complete if someone will just publish this horse-shit of a manuscript.

No you won't. Nonsense. Complete tripe. Dream on. Those things aren't goals – they're starting lines.

I could go on, but you'd probably like the short answer now.

No.

I've said it before and I'll keep saying it – writing isn't just about words. They are a small part of it – to become a better writer, you have to become a better person. What that means, only you can decide.

Are you a writer or just a tourist?

There's a huge gap between acting the writer, and being one. Want to know if you're the real deal or just a fake? Read on…

The critique group

A real writer submits and crits with passion. Feels the pain when on the receiving end, and does her utmost to make the most of the feedback she gets. The tourist uses it as an excuse to foist their work on others with no intention of changing a damn thing.

The work

The tourist writes for herself. The writer chooses whether to write for herself, her audience, or both – and is smart enough to know the difference.

The rejection

The tourist subs the first draft and after the first rejection takes up knitting. The real writer keeps working after 50 rejections. The real writer keeps working.

Publication

The tourist wants to get her story published. The writer wants to tell her story in the best way she possibly can.

The sacrifice

The tourist wouldn't dream of writing when ill, tired or supposed to be at work – the writer writes when suffering all three.

Writing advice

The real writer knows when to ignore smart-arse writing advice like all the above.

And finally

The real writer would click the 'follow' button just over on the right there…