How to plot any novel in 7 easy steps
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- Опубликовано: 10 сен 2024
- Harry Bingham, bestselling author and editorial consultant, explains the 7 key tips to build a strong, compelling plot in any novel.
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1. Give your protagonist an objective
2. It has to be hard and consistent; character has to care about it
3. Jeopardy has to increase
4. Enter late; leave early
5. Always focus on the main character
6. Have a little mystery
7. Keep things moving
Thanks for posting these!
The candles; the flowers; the blazer. I feel like I'm on a date.
😂😂
Yeah, but no microphone :(
I've watched a lot of "plotting" novel videos, and this one is the best. Great job. Thanks for taking the time.
Works for thrillers- the one night stand of plots.
Amazing video here. This author gives us the true essence of a novel in, what, six minutes. I've seen youtube videos that say far less in three times the length.
Well done and appreciated!
Why do the goals have to be consistent? Plenty of great works have evolving goals.
Yes, I was thinking the same thing. I think what he is saying is that is what has worked for him though. I think having evolving goals may be a little bit more difficult, but that is what I am doing for my book. It add's to the suspense in my opinion.
Don't confuse having a consistent goal, with the steps necessary to achieve that goal. Take Star Wars, for example. In the first movie, Luke wants to become a Jedi, but there are a few things he needs to do first. He must rescue a princess, and destroy the Death Star. These may look like evolving goals, but they are only steps on the path to achieving his true goal: Become a Jedi, like his father before him. If you look back over those great works you mentioned, I'll bet you can find an overriding goal that's actually driving the evolving goals of the story.
hagintora I hear yah. It is an evolving goal for the reader, but for the author it is a consistent goal. Also a consistent goal for the reader/viewer once they already know the story.
Yes, because if the main character ends up still wanting what they wanted in the beginning, they haven't really grown as a person.
Lavender Mint Rose (spoilers)
Grapes of Wrath ends that way.
This is proof that the best advice comes from people who've actually done the thing they're teaching! Definitely the best of these videos I've seen, very helpful and practical. Thanks very much!
"We don't have long". Why? This is RUclips.
+Matt Whitby When this video was recorded RUclips only allowed 15 minute videos as the maximum length.
Makes sense.
+Gorguruga 15!? I thought it was 10 in those days,
"We don't have long" because we need to stop playing on the internet and get back to writing our novels.
It was once 10, then 15, and now unlimited. I think.
Enter late, leave early.. good advice.. gonna remember that
Thank you very much.. This was great advice :) and now that I think about it, its common sense :) wish me luck with my first novel
salongirl77 How have you been making out with your first book? Have you completed it yet? If not, how much more do you need to go? I’m anxious to learn how you are doing with it.
Also, Smashwords has lots of great info on how to: create your book, get it formatted into all the major ebook formats, create an eye catching cover, develop a good title, set a good price, get paperbacks printed on demand, and market it. Best wishes! 📚
These points are extremely helpful and clearly presented. Thank you so much. They are going to help me no end. :D
This is sterling stuff. Thank you for being so concise and clear. The best video I've seen so far. Thank you.
Thanks this was a Great video short and easy, subscribed.
Excellent advice. Thanks.
This was really helpful. I'm very grateful for this, thank you :)
There are other styles, but I agree with you, the more emotional character driven stories may need a proper prologue and epilogue to give a better perspective on the MC arc.
thank you so much this was so helpful!!
Thank you Harry. Have taken those points on board, and I know it will help me in my writing.
Terrific. Thank you.
thank you very much
Is someone snoring in the background?
excellent presentation of ideas,,,so many "writers"contributing on RUclips do not even have command of the English language. thanx.
"Enter late, leave early!"
Good video! I agree. I definitely like to know what the story is about by the end of the first chapter if possible, and I do very quickly lose interest when the POV changes to a different character (with a few exceptions). However, it really leaves a bad taste in my mouth when a story ends too abruptly after the climax. I hate it. I like a little falling action and even some resolution. However, I have mixed feelings about denouement. Depends on how the author uses it.
This has solved many of my doubts. Cheers!
Finally a good vid on plot!
If you have multiple protagonists, is it ok for some of them to change their goals mid-story (assuming that they aren't the intended main protagonist and it may become a series)?
What Willer said is an example of a point made by chuck wendig terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/11/05/writing-advice-is-bullshit/
Your characters can change. People in the real world change their goals sometimes. Talk to people outside and ask them to tell a part of their life's story and you will see. Change is an integral part of life. something that is always in our midst. However. That depends on the type o story you are writing. Example if it's a Fantasy survival apocalypse story where there's only one way to survive, then I think the character can stick to one goal, like, Determined to find the cure to save the world. Now, if its a normal city suspense like story. It's pretty likely that goals will change. Heroes become villains, and vice-versa. If you don't want the character to make a big drastic change, you can make Him/Her simply change the approach towards the goal.
I find It keeps the story fresh and thrilling.
My advise if you go for the multiple character approach. Try to keep it balanced. By that I mean, Try not to make someone a favourite. If you do and then kill that character off..... Well, people might give your book the side-eye treatment because Greg or Jessy caught the Axe way to soon. They were the best of the bunch. No fun without them. Keep it balanced.
I am currently in the process o writing a story and it has multiple characters in it.
But here's the crazy part.
I have no stone set main character, I know, it sounds weird but I've decided to create a story about a group of everyday people. Living in a not so everyday world.
Life can change even the best of us.
That most likely depends , is the antagonist the protaganist ?
Thank you
Why did this feel like 11 or 12 points, not 7?
This has been very helpful, thank you!
Thanks a bunch!!! Great info.
That did help, thank you.
I liked the whole video, but the number 3, "Always increasing" seems impractical. some scenes are so powerful that if you follow them up with too much you lose realism.
James Bond, to quote the example you gave, if too many machine guns are always shooting at him, or if he jumps out of an airplane with no parachute, steals the parachute on the way down, and then lives and rescues the heroine, the next scene has to be slightly slower (the two end up in the hot tub at the hotel suite).
Just my opinion, but all none of my zero books published have been best sellers, but I have watched at least 6 RUclips videos by now so that makes me pretty much an expert.
+Data Juggler your comment got cut off for some reason.
Did you click on Read More?
huh, for some reason it wasn't coming up. must have been a glitch.
Since I wrote that comment, I have published my first novel 'The Libertarian Dictator' (On Amazon for 99 cents).
Data Juggler *clicks skip ad*
Great advice. Now let me go back to chapter 1. 😂😅😆😭😢😢
Great video, appreciate it!
Wonderful advice!
Um... am I the only person who does care about the secondary characters? Sometimes they're my favorite part of the book.
That was fabulous. Thank you! :)
Buy a mic..... your sound is imposible to listne to..... you have great points, but get the sound right.
Wow, amazing! Thanks a lot! :)
Great stuff thanks for sharing!
I shall have to look at this when I get home.
You know, watching this, George Er Martin has almost none of these in his books yet they are bestsellers and have inspired a pop pilar tv series....
Go figure
We take the advice we can and tweak it to suit our story.
Take a writing advise as gospel and you'll be a boxed in copy of an already existing author.
George R. Martin, went his own way, created his own path. That's real creativity. Something I aim to achieve.
So yh. Writing advice... Like you said.
"Go Figure"👍
That was helpfu,l and interesting to watch. A lot of 'how tos' on RUclips send me to sleep.
Did I hear somebody snoring?..
When I saw your comment, I thought you meant the video was really boring, but having watched it: there is definitely someone with a nasal issue behind that camera!
I literally went to the comment section just in search for others hearing the snoring sound, thus confirming that I am not mad. Thank you. And yes, it appears the cameraman (or woman) does not find plot scheming all that interesting x)
Helpful stuff - although he obviously doesn’t know about P and P fanfiction!! 😀
Alright then I’ll delete the chapter. But it does seem delightful they get back together again.
This is all well and good but say you are trying to write a memoir or story about someone's life, where objectives and such aren't always present or clear? What if there are two characters? I think this type of advice only applies to people making up a fictional story who wish to sell it. The breathing into the microphone is really annoying.
Your characters can change. People in the real world change their goals sometimes. Talk to people outside and ask them to tell a part of their life's story and you will see. Change is an integral part of life. something that is always in our midst. However. That depends on the type o story you are writing. Example if it's a Fantasy survival apocalypse story where there's only one way to survive, then I think the character can stick to one goal, like, Determined to find the cure to save the world. Now, if its a normal city suspense like story. It's pretty likely that goals will change. Heroes become villains, and vice-versa. If you don't want the character to make a big drastic change, you can make Him/Her simply change the approach towards the goal.
I find It keeps the story fresh and thrilling.
My advise if you go for the multiple character approach. Try to keep it balanced. By that I mean, Try not to make someone a favourite. If you do and then kill that character off..... Well, people might give your book the side-eye treatment because Greg or Jessy caught the Axe way to soon. They were the best of the bunch. No fun without them. Keep it balanced.
I am currently in the process o writing a story and it has multiple characters in it.
But here's the crazy part.
I have no stone set main character, I know, it sounds weird but I've decided to create a story about a group of everyday people. Living in a not so everyday world.
Life can change even the best of us.
Nice video.
DUH! Novel!!!
good vid
you need a better sound...I can hardly hear you
Svetlana Oss you’re deaf then
The clue is in the title, how to plot a NOVEL!
Harry - You said Point 3 twice meaning there were 8 steps, not 7.
@ZachClooney search for him on amazon - got some nice reviews
Did anybody else hear a pet in the background? Maybe a dog or kitten. Either way I heard a leash.
Who's breathing in the background?
Harry who? There is nothing about him on Wikipedia!
A lot of what he said were already ignored by the Song of Ice and Fire series and I bet GRRM sold more books than this guy.
your very practical but slightly forward and i think you babble
I hate when you are reading something online (fan fiction especially) and the author says that 'I'm sorry if the grammar and spelling are bad, English isn't my first language'. Why are you writing in English then!?!?!
Because English is the most widely used language (globally) so the author is trying to make their work reach more people most likely. It's not that hard to connect the dots. Plus they're writing in another language which is pretty impressive!
+Yasmin Warsame Oh no, I am really impressed by that! I wasn't trying to be rude! But in most places you can translate things into your own language. As I can also read and speak German, I just choose English because it's my first language.
+Penny N. Oh okay. It's just that with colonisation (British Empire and what not) English is seen as a "smarter" language and its encouraged in non-English speaking countries that you are able to read, write, and speak English of you want to get further in life. So the author is most likely just practising as well as sharing a story they want to tell. 🙃
+Yasmin Warsame What I really hate is when people say "You're in America, speak English". Really makes my head steam!
+Penny N. So true!! Especially when you expect to find people to speak English when you visit another country. But people get mad when the situations switch. But it's that kind of stuff that makes it unsurprising that people write in English rather than their mother tongue :)
Good advice, many thanks.
Thanks a lot