Does Your Plot Suck?

[@prismatizism]

This channel is a vitamin for writers 🥰. Kudos alyssa

[@ronricooandasan9612]

AMEN!

[@AlyssaMatesic]

I'm glad my videos are helpful! :)

[@rebeccadey]

Plot has always been my weakest area and the element I've been honing the most the last few years. I come from a background in drawing, so I've always been strong with character creation, making backstories and personalities, but weaving together a cohesive plot to showcase a goal and transformation of those characters was elusive for a long time. Thankfully, I found Save the Cat Writes a Novel, which helped me visualize a plot map that I could then customize. Videos like yours are so validating in helping me see I'm on the right track this time. :) Thank you for all you do for this community!

[@appledough3843]

What kind of story are you writing?

[@rebeccadey]

@@appledough3843 I write primarily fantasy stories. The current WIP is a more traditional high fantasy. I also have some urban/contemporary fantasy worlds :)

[@appledough3843]

@@rebeccadey Oh fantasy! I like! Okay to ask for a synopsis? Or is that too confidential 🤫

[@jesbrimer3096]

Ah, I have no stakes! Thank you for making this video!! I so needed this

[@danceluvinmamba94]

I'm working on a fantasy series that follows several main characters and recently hit a wall because I'm trying to tie each of their story lines together and it's making the first book entirely too long. This is super helpful, thank you!

[@grabble7605]

George R.R. Martin ran into that. He called it the 'Mereenese knot' (referencing both the mythological Gordian Knot and that his wall came up during the story events set in Mereen). It stalled him but he's kept going. Stephen King also once ran into that wall of just too many character lines to follow. His solution? He had one of them plant a bomb that killed half of them. That book is The Stand and it's fucking great.

[@grabble7605]

I can figure out setpieces and major scenes. It's the connecting strings between that are the problem. Like what the hell's happening between Bilbo leaving home and running into trolls? He's just...Walking, right. How the hell do you make that any sort of compelling.

[@chloetownsend7364]

Excellent! Thank you!

[@robertbrumbaugh4634]

Thank you for your great insight. Your plot points gave me a new insight into a major revision for my query letter contents. I am grateful for your excellent channel and its lessons.

[@AlyssaMatesic]

Glad it was helpful!

[@deebrown5980]

Thanks Alyssa. Very helpful topic and tips.

[@SydneyKay]

Literally binged your channel this week and am obsessed! Great video!

[@AlyssaMatesic]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@VenturesAdventure]

You are very *helpful* and your *guidance* is lucid, and *crisp clear.* I am a writer in the making and I take you as my *mentor and guide.*

[@jabrilyousef]

you are an absolute gift.

[@megorra]

Excellent advice as always, and I'm pleased to say I got 5 Yes's so I must be doing things right. Thanks Alyssa for another helpful video.

[@alisongood9572]

This video was hugely helpful in focusing one of my novels. I've got plot points, characters, arcs, motivations, etc. It just wasn't coming together. This video helps focus on one character to center everything.

[@grabble7605]

3:22 Simba wanting to take back Pride Rock is not even a thing until the very last scenes of the movie...

[@gilcori1234]

I really appreciate you putting some of these into questions someone can directly apply to their stories and following up with examples. I'm doing a daily NaNoWriMo discussion this month in my discord to help the writers, myself included, build up momentum for NaNo. I jotted down a few of these and will be sharing them. I'm sure everyone will find them useful. Thank you so much for your clear and consistent advice.

[@AlyssaMatesic]

Best of luck with NaNoWriMo!

[@clintoreilly]

Great tips, as always. Thanks, Alyssa.

[@AlyssaMatesic]

Thanks for watching!

[@cjpreach]

Great stuff, Alyssa. In total agreement with the plot advice I found regarding screenwriting.

[@rdrydnghdwolfe1396]

Excellent content, Alyssa!

[@gokux75]

Great video. I have been using them to gauge how well I am doing with my novel. So far it is going good according to your videos lol.

[@autonomyllc9920]

Excellent!

[@michaelbjrklund9304]

Don't you need to have scenes that increase the reader's knowledge about for instance the internal conflicts and relations between the MC /MC's and VIPalmostMC's? Scenes that will be key to how these characters interact for the next 60 chapters and be the key to explaining for instance why almostMC wants/tries to kill the MC near the end of the book?You do not really want to explain that part of their relationship so late but should instead show it earlier and allow the readers' understanding of the chatacters to build up during the book... or what?`! Thanks for some excellent videos, btw. Good stuff, dude/dudess! 🙂

[@andyclark3530]

Well, I wish I'd read this three years ago😀I'm working in the Epic Fantasy realm, and at one point I had 5 POVs. I justified all of them in terms of helping build the plot, but I realized that part of what I was trying to do was to give the reader different experiences of my world, and while they all made some contribution to the overall story, they also fattened it up and got in its way. I've cleaved it down to three, with probably 80% of the scenes coming from the POV of the protagonist, and maybe 15% from the principal antagonist. The balance of the scenes are from the POV of a cotagonist because I think the reader needs to put their shoes on a few times to understand. I think your questions can be a little challenging for a story with a particular type of positive arc. My protagonist has a conflict, but she completely misunderstands it until the end. It's epic fantasy so there are plenty of physical conflicts, but the crucial conflict for the story really occurs within the protagonist herself as she changes in ways she barely recognizes, even at the end. Now, when are you going to let us know about that time machine that would let us go back and recover the lost time from going down blind alleys in our writing?

[@emilyboyer9211]

Here's mine from a dual POV story I'm plotting: 1. Pip wants to be a good Keeper of Knowledge and protect her tribe, but a rare celestial event gets in her way. If she doesn't succeed, the event's effects will change the magical realm and her tribe will go unprotected. 2. Alba wants to prove they aren't dangerous, but they lack magical control. If they can't control their powers, lives are at stake. I'm thinking book 1 will end with them failing to reverse the effects and book 2 will be them navigating the realm, trying to restore magical balance. Probably a dualogy unless my brain explodes and I find a reason for a third book.

[@ninaverseninaverse0190]

GOD MAN I WRITTING COMIC AND U ARE SO HELPFUL!! you litterarly made me understand that my plot is desent 🤣

[@AlyssaMatesic]

Glad I could help!

[@ninaverseninaverse0190]

@@AlyssaMatesic yeah girl u are very specific i like it

[@emilylucas4431]

Love your videos, thank you so much for sharing! All of this information is great! With the example of conflict in the Lion King you mention Simba wanting to take back pride rock as the main point of conflict. If I imagine this as a novel, this conflict is not brought up in the hypothetical first 10 pages / chapter however. What are your tips for effectively hinting at this impending conflict, when the main point of conflict is perhaps not revealed until later on in the story or than the first 10 pages / chapter might allow?

[@coreyhuffman7607]

One tricky thing I'm dealing with in my plot (an epic fantasy with 4 POV's) is showing the connection between two POV's in particular. I know the reader wants to see what connects all the storylines (ideally as soon as possible), but the thing which connects these two is also a mystery that's left as a reveal for at least midway through the story. Curious to know your thoughts on handling this, as I naturally want the reader to feel that all these storylines are connected, but also can't spoil this mystery too early. The other two POV storylines are clearly connected from the beginning, and I like to think each story has the depth to stand on its own, so it might not be an issue. Just thought I'd ask.

[@nicholaslewis862]

It sounds like their plots are connected, but that's only one aspect of making them feel connected. I'm working on a book with two POVs, and I've tried to compare and contrast the character arcs of my two protagonists. One sees a dream for the future, the other a dire warning in the form of a nightmare. One is ambitious and driven, the other is sheltered and reluctant. This also goes with theme - how do your different POVs explore your book's central themes? Maybe they all have the theme of redemption in common, and each story explores that idea in different ways. That way, you don't have to reveal how they're connected by the plot until the end while simultaneously tying the stories together thematically.

[@coreyhuffman7607]

@@nicholaslewis862 Thanks for the thoughtful reply. Connecting them more thematically in the early chapters might be just what's needed. 🙂

[@wind-upboy939]

Is there a big event that starts your story? If something big is at the beginning, it can be interesting, how different people react to that event.

[@billharm6006]

My story's main conflict is a mystery that must initially be uncovered by the POV characters (I'm working to minimize that count while still "plausibly" pulling together the necessary information). An initial mystery (demonstrated in a prologue) is followed by a series of seemingly unrelated events which eventually gel into a linked narrative (Yes. There are conflicts and obstacles to overcome). The initial "Ah-Ha!" comes at the end of Act I when a surprise external event encourages development of a hypothesis. Only then can the main conflict be directly developed for the reader. This event sequence creates a conflict with your advice because the main conflict cannot come by the end of chapter 1. An obvious--and highly unwelcome--solution would be to cut out the discovery and simply say that the main conflict is now known, never mind how the characters became aware of it in the first place. An adjusted form of that solution would be to litter the story with backflashes to explain how particular elements of the conflict were discovered (my wording tells you what I think of that). Obviously, I've had too much fun thinking about this story (it has truly ancient roots). Short of keeping the story for my private enjoyment only, what advice might you have?

[@chiron13]

1:19 Tactical writing ? 😁 Were you a Marine?

[@TrevorJohnson-mo3us]

So the first point is great advice, however what would one do in a situation like mine where the core conflict starts out as one thing (survial), but evolves into directly involving the main villain at the end of act 1 (due to events that take place revenge becomes the MC's motive)?

[@obi1_trq869]

How can I get in touch with you?

[@timesmash]

No, my plot's awesome

[@therapybee]

This apply to non fiction as well?

[@dueling_spectra7270]

Timonne and Pumba had their own movie? How did I miss this?!

[@AlyssaMatesic]

Haha yes--The Lion King 1½!

[@grabble7605]

It's not "their own", really. It's also shit. It's just them stumbling through The Lion King scenes and making all of them worse.

[@sweatchivanswett7995]

Third!

[@micheleharman3460]

My character wants to escape her toxic past and build a better life, but her destructive behaviors and dysfunctional family keep dragging her down. If she fails she’ll lose her chance to graduate, be stuck in a life of chaos, and never break free from the patterns that destroyed her mother.

[@danwylie-sears1134]

No. The reader should be able to relate to the characters as people. People are almost never monomaniacs who want just one thing. The current main plot arc should be clear: in book 1, Mercy has to stop the bad guys who harmed Mac; in book 1, Kate has to figure out who killed her adoptive father*; in book 1, Toby has to solve the murder of Countess Evening Winterrose. But the current main plot arc doesn't have to be the important stuff. In those books, the important stuff is whether the protagonists will get together with Adam, Curran, and Tybalt respectively, whether they'll save their respective worlds, and how they'll resolve things with Bran Cornick, Roland, and Duke Torquill and/or Oberon. Even in a 20-minute TV show there's room for a B plot. A novel has incomparably more room, and insisting that it have an overriding focus on only one plot is just a bad idea. *She refers to him as her "guardian", because she had an earlier adoptive father, who was also killed.

[@melvindodson6827]

You are gorgeous