How to: Develop a basic plot.

Hello,

Every story, whether it be a comic book or a play, has a plot. And a plot is the basis of your story, hence it needs to be the strength in your book. Whilst many say characters can equally be the most importt factor, Characters are emphasised by your plot.

Step One: Genre.
A Genre is the style of your story and this can play a vital role in how your story plans out. These are the top ten Genres of recent times. As most things, they come with sub genres which is where your imagination has free reign.
Top Ten:
Young Adult
Fantasy
Middle Grade
Literary Fiction
Thrillers/Suspense
Romance
Children's
Science Fiction
Women's Fiction
Historical

Step Two: The Plot Rollacoaster.
I remember in primary school when the teacher would ask you to plan your story you'd be given a mountain shaped planning sheet, with a climax at the top. As childish as it seems, for initial, unorganized ideas, I swear by this method.

As You can see it starts wih a background, which is essentially your beginning where you set the 'scene' of your plot. This includes usually the setting and main characters unless you want your story to be totally ambiguous.

The next bit Is the rising action, this is where you start to build 'tension' or begin your conflicts between characters which will eventually lead to...The Climax.

 Climax,Dilemma, problem. Whatever you're preference is the one rule when it comes to Climax is not to rush. This is probably the main aspect of your story and if you rush this, the rest of it becomes downgraded as a whole. By rushing I do not mean it cannot be a fast paced thriller-it can- I mean that you shouldn't leave the reader completely lost as you rushed your problem.

 The Falling action, is much the opposite of the rising action, instead of building things up, things tend to fall apart, leading to the resolution.

Then for the dreaded...Ending. As many people know writing an ending is probably one of the hardest task as a writer as, much like Climax's it can be rushed and so for ruined. This is something to avoid at all costs as readers often expect a great ending and can often.be extremely disappointed if you finish with 'And it was all a dream'.

Quick Tips

Be Original.

 Don't rush.

Plan.

Don't write a disappointing ending.