Helping Writers Become Authors S16:E13: Checklist for Beginning Your Story: Plot Considerations
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Apr 15, 2024 Explore the checklist for beginning your story, focusing on plot development, character desires, conflicts, and establishing a strong beginning. Delve into the significance of setting the stage with foreshadowing, creating hooks, and engaging readers through action and dialogue.
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First Scene Is The First Domino
- Plot functions like a row of dominoes where the first scene must trigger a chain reaction that leads to later plot points.
- K.M. Weiland compares the first scene to the first domino and urges that it meaningfully foreshadows the first plot point rather than being arbitrary.
Start With The Character's Want
- Begin by defining what the character wants: a specific plot goal that will face obstacles and produce conflict.
- Use the character's deeper want (rooted in their thematic lie) to fuel early scenes even before the full plot goal appears.
Want Versus Need Drives Emotional Plot
- Contrast the character's want with their deeper need (the thematic truth) and show how they try to substitute the want for the need.
- Example: a character seeks fame to get love, letting pursuit of fame dramatize the underlying lack of love.