Attention Grabbing Plots

Plot is the problem in a work of fiction. The writer has numerous paths to go down in figuring-out a solution. He/she sifts through the "fiction world" picking and plucking up ways to resolve it. Good plots are woven through action, suspense and conflict.

Action between opposing characters can be intense, and it's one way for characters to learn about the other character's position. The characters spill some or all of their plan. It leads to an attention grabbing path for a writer to take. It is showing rather than telling. 

• A good plot grabs attention.
• People keep reading.
• A character's plight moves the story forward.
• The incident has a chain reaction.
• A shake up in "fiction world" for some.

Suspense happens each time a character almost succeeds, stumbling blocks are thrown in the main character's path. A character's path to success is not easy. He/she must try to succeed, at least, three times.

• Characters probe for answers to a murder.
• Someone sprinkles false clues around "fiction world."
• Frustrated, but determination pulls the character along.
• The same character makes a desperate move.
• Suspense builds as to what will happen.

Conflict means a clash while differences surface.

• At this point, the two opposing forces meet. 
• Betrayal and bitter words are exchanged.
• Each knows the position of the other.
• One wins or loses in this particular round.
• Respect can come from this encounter.

Opposing parties prepare to out-do each other to the end. The conclusion is not always a happy one for characters, but should be fair to readers and exciting. Or, the end is not expected by readers.  

Fictional Characters

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Fictional characters are products of a writer's imagination. The characters are mixed into a make believe setting for entertainment or learning. The character isn't a real person in the sense that he/she really lives, but some fictional characters can seem like actual people. Take a look at how fictional characters become memorable.  

• Fictional characters must be believable and interesting.
• Writers must know their characters to tell attention grabbing stories.
• A major character's trait or quality is the "stuff" that brings him/her to life.  

 The focus of this post is on major characters, because they move the story forward. The choices of main characters are very important. Why? The choices of main characters move secondary characters to action, gossip or more problems. The profile of my character begins. The character hacks into any business computer system at random intervals, in hopes of not being caught.   

• The character stole his/her way into employment.
• He/she gained access to the computer system and stole money.
• This fictional character lived a life-style far beyond his/her means.

A character's profile holds all the information about him/her. The name, his/her mannerisms, flaws and attributes. As with people, my fictional character gets greedy and goes too far. You, too, jot down any feature or trait that you want to dress-up the character with.   

• What will the character's eye color be?
• Will he/she have a limp? 
• The strengths, ambitions or weaknesses of the character?

The above character that stole into his employer's computer system have the weaknesses of hacking and thinking he/she's smarter than most people. This character is always trying to dig information out of people, especially secrets.   

•  The character looks for information to accounts.
•  The character tends to brag about how easy it's to steal credit card information.   
• Social security numbers are a favorite of this character too.

Look-over your character profiles. Is more needed to make a character well rounded? You have too much information which isn't show-casing the character. It's information that can be uttered by his/her actions or secondary characters?

• Character profiles are sprinkled in.
• Memorable characters display a certain flaw or trait.
• Fictional characters grab attention when the flaw or trait is believable.

Places Characters Come From

Places characters come from are the people you know, memories and strangers who step into our paths and we weave it all through creative flow to form interesting fictional characters. The life you lead, places explored and your unique experiences stirred together are the mixture for memorable characters. They are the places characters live and wait to be discovered.

Let's take a closer look.

People You Know

Places characters come from appears in the person who brings laughter to everyone, even in times of sadness. He/she finds a thread of humor to slice away some of the tension in the room. Or, the person who can piece together a dinner or impromptu gathering with what is already in the kitchen. How about the individual who recalls people, places and preferences with only a bit of information. A character in one of my mysteries, for example, has an arthritic knee. She limps and have been seen rubbing it. I noticed it in a family member. The condition took hold of the body, and had a toll on simple activities that others take for granted.

• Many writers take traits and qualities from friends or family.
• You know their strengths and weaknesses.
• The key is to pluck away enough information for a starting point.
• Work with the flaw or trait that stands out. 
• The person who is called a character by family is a good choice.
• How about the person who is first to volunteer, no matter what.

Memories

Memories are the happy and sad accounts of your life. A life lived captures too many moments to remember. There are ways to let memories live when some have been forgotten. A picture, video or journal will bring back memories lost due to time.

• Memories provide for many possible writing ideas.
• It's an endless source for creating characters.
• Recall the picture of a lady that no one knows?
• The video of a get-together when everyone wore green.
• A pet's pose.
• Journal entry about the creepy (fill in the blank) ____________?

Strangers

Begin by selecting an incident, time, from memory. An incident from your first job is worth exploring. Select from an odd incident at the store, mall or at home. Focus on the stranger's behavior. The mentioned paths lends itself to creating characters.

• The stranger that gave you an ice-cold stare can twist down paths.
• The character could be a stalker.
• A character is paid to scare someone? Who?
• It started at 12 midnight.
• The wind hollered at the same time each night.
• Day quickly melted into night when the door shook.

A writer peeling away exact traits and qualities stands a chance of hurting feelings. The possibility of facing a law-suit detailing the theft of another writer's work taps you on the back when your creative flow strays. Therefore, characters should be the "stuff" of a writer's creative flow. Allow your style to awaken and shine. Finally, fictional characters come from various places, and sprinkling in people you know, memory or strangers you've seen can create exciting fiction.

Critique And Write Fiction

There's one more step to the writing process before sharing. Few, if any, can skip it. Often, it's not the mot fun prt of writing.

It's the critique and write of fiction process. The initial writing centers around developing characters, scenes and peeling-out an exciting plot. The main focus isn't on sentence structure and weak writing.

Now, attention has to be given to all sentences. Sentences must move the plot forward, connect and stimulate a reader's imagination.

Put aside your manuscript. Start a new project. Make the calls you meant to weeks ago. The longer a work of fiction is, the more time needed away from it. Of course, pay attention to dead-lines.

Return to your manuscript. The second time work through critique and write by making sure characters read like real people. A character, for example, could tap his/her fingers anywhere when stressed.

Sometimes, dialogue helps.

Take a look at a simple morning greeting.

"How are you?" Mary asked.

People don't necessarily use those exact words.

Some say:

"What up?"

"Hiya."

"How ya doin'?"

Dialogue, too, should glide plot along with conflict and suspense. A fiction community's language should mimic real language.

There isn't room for words, lines or paragraphs that fail to show-case an action packed story.

A good place to start stories is on page one. Begin conflict as the reader is hooked. Establish a viewpoint, characters are exposed for who they are and the type of story being told is displayed.

The final words are that when writers critique and write better fiction comes to life.

How Best To Write Fiction

Have a question? Agree, disagree,
with me? Leave me your opinion.

Before deciding on a writing idea,
look at it from every possible view
and then pick how best to write
fiction.

Fiction is thought-of, imagined or
created stories. Characters are
sprinkled in a setting to solve a
problem. Before deciding on a writing
idea, look at it from every possible
view and then pick how best to write
fiction.

Ask yourself questions. Is there a
specific problem to address? How will it
be aprroached?

Look around the problems, situations,
in your life. Is there a mystery at work
to explore in writing? A haunted house
everyone talks about? Interesting headline?

Every work of fiction starts, has a middle
and ends.

Characters are stirred-in. Let the characters
show and tell the story through their actions,
dialogue.

Long fiction has a major problem and a minor
one. Short fiction handles one problem. Work
with as many problems as you're comfortable
with in long fiction.

Suspense is sifted in. Stack-up suspense,
and let a situation blow-up. A scene is two
paragraphs or pages long.

Any problem introduced must be given a fair,
satisfactory, conclusion.

Source: http://hubpages.com/hub/How-Best-To-Write-Fiction

They Said I Couldn't Write

"They say I can't write a novel." Someone explained to me. "Keep gettin' rejection slips."
In our society, people want to see it happen now, not tomorrow. Likewise, success is wanted this second. It takes time to get from writing to finished novel. It is rare for anyone to create a story, and the piece is publication ready.
The process of finding the right publisher is a challenge. Many will not accept manuscripts unless from an agent.
The question, you must address is, should I get an agent?
I suggest doing research on it before making a decision. As with anything else, there are good ones, and bad agents.
Rejection slips takes a spot on every writer's desk, sooner or later. The key is to continue to write. Figure out why. Did you send your work to the wrong publisher? Grammatical errors? You tie-up all the loose ends in the novel? Does the story flow smoothly? Make sure you have a beginning, middle, and a satisfying ending.
I mean do not cheat the reader. It must be reasonable, and in accordance with your creation.
I sent work out, many times, and received rejection slips.
Once, I snail-mailed a short story to a publication. They forwarded me materials for stuffing envelopes. Yes, I felt bad, but it gave me the incentive to keep trying. It signaled do better, learn more.
I threw the items in the wastebasket, their rightful place.
Deep inside, I had what it took to flourish through non-fiction, fiction, and poems. The stumble served to strengthen my resolve.
After all, I wrote, entertained using all three. However, my work had to meet industry standards. The only way for that to happen was practice.
The area I live tend to be noisy. So, I shut-out that buzz, concentrated on my work. It took time. More importantly, I dared to believe.
Yes, you must take yourself seriously. All kinds of people will come along to remind you of the rejection slips.
"Maybe, you should just give-up writing." Someone will say. "Get a real job."
It is nothing wrong with getting a job. Find a time to write, day or night. Continue to build on your writings. Take a writing course. Read the work of authors you like, or write in same genre as you.
Take note of how the plot unfolds, use of sentence structure, dialogue, and the technique used to tell a tale. Put it under a microscope. How would you spell-out the plot? Use a different main character? Have more than one plot? How different could your characters be from the original?
Jot down notes. When finished analyzing, start writing your own novel. Take it step by step. The very first paragraph must grab the reader's attention.
Know your characters. How? Make a profile of each. How does the main character look? What quirk(s)? Put in as much information as you want. You determine when or how it is sectioned to the story-line.
Dialogue mimics speech.
"Whatcha doin'?"
"Save it. Talk to the hand."
Some people drop letters in words like doing. Instead of saying what are you, whatcha takes the place of three words.
Simply, use different vocal patterns for characters. It gives a realistic flavor to the novel.
Toss in suspense, obstacles. Allow a story person to escape an issue, and then have him/her bombarded with another problem. It keeps happening, stops when he/she figures out a solution. Remember, the struggle goes on three or more times.
Look at how I handled characters, dialogue, etc. Read my novel Grave Street House. The website link is: http://www.thedigitalword.com
I would like to hear from you. Contact me at writer.feedback@gmail.com
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