A story without good plot structure is like a body without a skeleton—an unworkable pile of goo. Even if it has strong muscles (great characters) and perfect skin (great writing), without the bones attached correctly in the right places, it just won’t work.
So here's my very brief take on putting the skeleton of your plot together the right way.
1. By the end of the first chapter at the latest, introduce the central problem of the novel—a problem that forces the main character to ACT.
I can't stress that last verb enough. Characters that just wander around while the story happens to them cause one of the most common plot problems I come across.
2. Have your main character take action to try to solve his problem. These actions either fail or, if they succeed, introduce new problems that keep him from solving the central problem you introduced in chapter one. Either way, the problem becomes more complex and harder to solve as your story progresses.
3. Somewhere around the end of the first third of the novel, the story needs to change direction. For example, a main character thought his problem was X, and could be solved in X way, but now he learns that it's really X plus Y, and that he has to do something different to solve it.
4. Have your character try to solve the newly complicated problem and continue to fail, thus making the new problem grow in complexity.
4½. It doesn't hurt if the plot changes direction again, and maybe even again, during this process.
5. Finally, your character gets to the “Dark Moment,” which occurs right before the climax. The problem has become so big it seems impossible to resolve. In order to solve the problem, he needs to summon up a personal quality, preferably one he has previously had a problem with (this is where character arc comes in). By personal quality, I mean something like courage, loyalty, insight, persistence, devotion, compassion, intelligence, or cleverness. The real source of the victory must come from within the protagonist, and he must grow or change to make it happen. Just being stronger or having better weapons, doesn't count. In fact, it’s much better if the problem, whatever it may be, has the protagonist completely outgunned. Going into the climax, you want your main character to be the underdog, with all the odds stacked against him.
5. Your main character should use that personal quality to overcome the problem in the most dramatic scene in the book. He can have help, but your main character has to be the one it all hinges on—he can't be saved by someone else. After a desperate struggle, he should win. (Or if you're writing tragedy he can lose, but I'm not big on tragedy.)
6. After the climax, show how the main character has grown from this experience, and how his life—and possibly his world—has changed for the better.
And that, in a nutshell, is the skeleton of a novel.
Hilari Bell was born in Denver in 1958. Hilari used to be a part-time reference librarian for a mid-sized public library, but in the beginning of ’05 she achieved a writer’s dream and quit the day job. Hilari is best known for her Farsala series.
