Plotting stories has always been my weakest spot in my estimation. I don't have so much trouble with designing characters or settings, but complete plots seldom come naturally to me. However, I think I've finally devised a formula to help me with plotting, or at least developing characters.
The central idea behind this formula is that characters evolve in response to challenges that take them out of their comfort zone or original state in one way or another. Therefore what I intend to do is present my protagonists with some kind of challenge. It can be a physical or psychological external threat, a moral dilemma, or anything else that forces the protagonists to change their character or revise their views. The story's core theme involves how protagonists respond to the challenges confronting them. They can react in at least three ways:
1) Answer the challenge the wrong way early on, centering the rest of the story on their incorrect choices' consequences, how they learn from those mistakes, and their eventual redemption.
2) Answer the challenge the right way early on, but then struggle to conquer the challenge until the story's end.
3) Answer the challenge the right way, but only after a series of experiences in the middle part which persuade them to make the right choices in the end.
I'm sure there are more ways to tackle the challenge question, but those are the ones I can think off the top of my head.
Anyway, as much as I like the challenge-based formula I've devised, I worry that using it too much might eventually make my stories too predictable. On the other hand, I can't for the life of me figure out how a protagonist could evolve without experiencing one form of challenge or another.
Plotting stories has always been my weakest spot in my estimation. I don't have so much trouble with designing characters or settings, but complete plots seldom come naturally to me. However, I think I've finally devised a formula to help me with plotting, or at least developing characters.
The central idea behind this formula is that characters evolve in response to challenges that take them out of their comfort zone or original state in one way or another. Therefore what I intend to do is present my protagonists with some kind of challenge. It can be a physical or psychological external threat, a moral dilemma, or anything else that forces the protagonists to change their character or revise their views. The story's core theme involves how protagonists respond to the challenges confronting them. They can react in at least three ways:
1) Answer the challenge the wrong way early on, centering the rest of the story on their incorrect choices' consequences, how they learn from those mistakes, and their eventual redemption.
2) Answer the challenge the right way early on, but then struggle to conquer the challenge until the story's end.
3) Answer the challenge the right way, but only after a series of experiences in the middle part which persuade them to make the right choices in the end.
I'm sure there are more ways to tackle the challenge question, but those are the ones I can think off the top of my head.
Anyway, as much as I like the challenge-based formula I've devised, I worry that using it too much might eventually make my stories too predictable. On the other hand, I can't for the life of me figure out how a protagonist could evolve without experiencing one form of challenge or another.
Do you like the formula I've thought up?
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