: What is the trickiest aspect of devising a plot for your novel? A plot is a very complex thing consisting of complicated interactions between the fuzzy characters and situations, each of whom

1. Know Your Goal

First of all you have to really know the story you want to tell. Don't get bogged down with side issues in the beginning while you're initially plotting.

NOTE: For you pantsers out there, this does not mean you have to have a full outline of everything that will happen in your story. It simply means that you know what type of story you are telling and where it will all end.

What Type of Story You Are Telling

Consider the book, Twenty Master Plots, by Ronald Tobias - amazon link

There you'll find the major types of plots (quest, pursuit, rescue, revenge, riddle, metamorphosis, etc)

2. Write In Scenes

Next, break down the story showing your main character in action (make her do something on "screen" and not just sit there thinking about what your plot is).

The reader will "watch" your character in action and want to know what happens next.

Each Scene Must

Each scene must put the main character further behind the goal she is trying to achieve. It must build tension.

Learn more about how scenes should really work from Jack Bickham's great book Scene & Structure -- amazon link.

Keep it simple and you can plot great novels.

Here's a bit more about writing in scenes from another of my entries here:
Write In Scenes

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