Advanced Elements of Plot
If you have stumbled upon this section on the Advanced Elements of Plot without first reading about the Basics of How to Plot a Novel, go visit that section first.
Still here? That means you have already mastered the fundamentals of creating a strong beginning, middle, and ending for your novel. It also means you have done most of the hard work. The next step is simply to refine your plot, to make it more elaborate and professional - and almost certainly more publishable.
"Without the skeleton-plot, on which everything grows, develops and ends, the result is what I call nouvelle numb, a piece of writing which is only 'mood' or a vague impression and not a story at all."
- Taylor Caldwell
Advanced Elements of Plot Articles
Adding Subplots
Subplots in a novel are exactly the same thing as a Main Plot, except smaller. They run parallel to it, weaving their way through it, and they are an essential part of long fiction.
Foreshadowing in Fiction
Foreshadowing is about creating excitement by "signposting" your novel's big events. The biggest danger here is heavy-handedness, and this article shows you how to avoid it.
The Exposition of a Story
What is exposition? In short, it is information - on a character's past, on some technical aspect of your novel's setting, on anything. This article explains what it is in more detail and shows you how to handle it.
How to Write Fiction Using Flashbacks
Exposition is telling the reader information, usually about a character's past. In Flashbacks, you show the reader the incident from the past in the form of a dramatized scene..
On Character Change
In real life, I have found, people rarely change, but in novels they must. A transformed character is often the whole point of the story.
Story Plots and Chronology
And finally, some advice on how to alter the "running order" of the story you want to tell - perhaps in small and subtle ways, perhaps in a way which tosses the rulebook out of the window.
"Deus ex Machina" Endings
Yes, yes, I know - more Latin! But it is important that you understand what these endings are and how you should avoid them.
Happy Endings in Novel Plots
A nice gentle one to end on. For some, a novel without a happy ending is unthinkable. For others, they represent storytelling at its worst. So who is right? The answer, as ever, lies somewhere in the middle.
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