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Written by Tannith Perry
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Saturday, 25 March 2006 |
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Your first step along the path to a
plot is to figure out the main character’s goal. How is he or she going to
solve the crisis? A man whose wife disappears will solve his crisis by finding
his wife. A gambler who loses his wife’s life savings could try to earn the
money back before his wife discovers the money is gone. The central character
needs to be aiming at something that will lead to the resolution of the
conflict.
You must create high stakes for
this character. If she can’t reach the goal, then she should face terrible
consequences. If the man cannot find his wife, she will be killed. If the
gambler can’t get the money back, his wife will leave him and he won’t be able
to see his beloved daughter.
The main character should have a
strong, and usually commendable reason for trying to reach the goal. A good
writer can make readers identify and root for a terrible scoundrel (think
Humbert in Nabokov’s Lolita), but for a novice writer, it is usually a good
idea to create characters who the reader can cheer on. When the gambler is
desperately seeking ways to find money, it would be easy for the reader to
understand what he is going through since his motivations (love for his wife
and daughter) are comprehensible and admirable.
Next, you need to make the
likelihood of your lead’s failure very possible. The antagonist, whether it is
a person or thing should be large and overwhelming enough that the readers will
doubt that the main character will ever be able to overcome it. The readers’ doubt that the lead will
be able to face this huge obstacle will keep them reading until the end and
enjoying every page.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 11 July 2006 )
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