Get Published - Building the Plot Outline

By Jaci Gwyn

Before beginning the process of building the plot outline, let us take a look at matters concerning writing the novel which will not sustain articles of their own.

You may have noticed that the reader is mentioned many times in these articles. The reader is everything to the writer and should be taken into consideration at all times. The writer must ask - have I made myself clear? Will my readers understand what I am driving at? This must be asked constantly especially in relation to characters for instance. Avoid choosing similar names for characters particularly avoid names starting with the same letter. This may sound trifling, but when the reader is immersed in the book similarity in names can suddenly cause confusion and instantly the reader is wrenched out of the story and the spell is broken.

Another spell-breaker is to have multiple points-of-view happening in the same scene - but that is a subject to be gone into more thoroughly while discussing plotting. It is the writer's job to first hook the reader with a juicy worm at the start and then never let up on the tension, keeping the reader dangling at the end of the line until the denouement.

Keeping the reader immersed in the story must be the author's main aim. This brings us nicely to the question of 'style'. Many new writers agonise over style, asking, is my writing good or bad? The writing may be considered 'bad' when it is overblown with flowery language - the old 'purple prose'; when it is stilted and inflexible and full of itself; language for language sake. This often happens when new writers strive to write like their favourite author, or to make them appear erudite. But, as has been pointed out in another article, every writer is unique, whether he/she wants to be or not. Imitating another author's style is doomed to failure.

New writers should forget about 'style' and instead employ simplicity in language in their writing. Say what you mean - in the 'language of men' as Wordsworth put it. The plot can be as intricate and complex as you like, but everything must be done in plain, simple language. The erudite writer may have problems with this notion when his or her scholarliness gets in the way of simplicity. But then scholars may have little interest in the commercial novel which can sell in thousands and which is the subject of this series of articles.

New writers must aim to find their own 'voice'. This is comparatively easy to do, since everyone is unique. Be yourself. An author's individual voice comes with confidence and expertise. It is through dogged persistence, practice and gaining experience in writing that makes an author's voice distinctive. This is his style of writing. A writer must keep faith in himself and believe in his talent especially in the face of repeated rejection of his manuscripts. No one said it was going to be easy. The writer who believes in himself implicitly and refuses to give in will eventually find success. Woe is the writer who having written five chapters tears them up because in his eyes they are not good enough. After all, a writer's first success comes in completing a manuscript. Many would-be writers fall by the wayside here.

Now we finally come to the building of the plot outline. As already discussed novels, are built in scenes - one scene following another, and so must the outline be built in similar fashion. But the scenes here are skeletons - merely aiding the writer in what he intends to achieve in each scene (what the scene is about and what is revealed to the reader to enable him to understand what is going on.) It is worth noting that it is easier for the writer to think in small chunks of plot in the form of scenes than in whole chapters which can be unwieldy. Each scene must push the plot forward relentlessly. There are devices to aid the writer here such as dialogue and pace which will be discussed in another article.

This very first scene must contain the hook and it must be strong enough to capture the reader and hold him. The key character is introduced, along with his/her desire to attain that special goal or achieve that heartfelt aspiration. Also contained here is the insurmountable obstacle that is preventing this. Note - there will be further obstacles along the way in the plot which the key character will overcome after much struggling, but this first impediment cannot be overcome until the denouement. The writer must plan for this.

The thing to be avoided in this first scene is a plethora of characters. Some characters are in the novel to help the key character achieve his goals and other characters are there to prevent his success. Introducing a bunch of characters with similar 'voices' in the first scene makes the reader's head spin and he will not take the worm.

The writer builds up a series of skeletal scenes in the outline which are, in fact, lists of things to achieve or present to the reader in each particular scene. There will be many such skeletal scenes, some short, some long depending of what the writer must convey to the reader. Thus the plot develops scene by scene, so it goes without saying that the outline should be completed first as a guide to the actual writing.

Let us not be confused as to what scenes are or should be. Scenes must be dynamic. That is to say, something is happening all the time. The action in a scene is pushing it towards the promised action in the next scene. While the reader is craving for action, there must be some scenes where the pace slows, just a little. Slow the pace too much though and the whole thing can grind to a halt. The reader must be in anticipation of the next exciting event. There should be a few surprises awaiting the reader along the way and now and then a shock that he had not anticipated.
It is advisable to avoid long paragraphs of description. These may be colourful but can add very little drama to the plot, and can hamper the all-important device 'pace'.

A pacy novel is one where the reader cannot put the book down. He has to know what happens next, even if it means getting up late for work the next morning. In the next article we will discuss the devices that aid pace - dialogue, action, strong characterisation and meatiness of the story line.

About the Author:
Jaci Gwyn is another name for the professional author Gwen Madoc, the author of twelve published novels of historical romance and family sagas. Gwen has an keen understanding of how to put a novel together and is very willing to pass her expert knowledge and experience on to aspiring writers. http://www.AuthorsDen.com/gwenmadoc