Plot is the backbone of a story.
Even the most character driven tales, and those with the most intricate and intoxicating settings, rely on plot to push a consistent line from start to finish. A good plot gives an author the scope to flesh out the characters and themes, even if the plot isn’t the main focus. In doing so, having a good plot contributes massively to reader interest. Reader interest, of course, has its own benefits.
With that in mind, there will always be exceptions. There are success stories out there with plot issues, and each author will have their own focus they place on each element. However, ensuring your story has a strong, interesting plot, it will only serve to bring in more readers. This list is by no means exhaustive, but even just doing a few of these things can help not only ring in readers, but keep them engaged throughout, and after the story is finished.
1. Integrate the plot
No plot exists in isolation. It may sound obvious, but the plot, the characters and the setting all need to playoff each other. If the plot goes along without interacting with either of the other components, then it severely weakens your story.
Creating a link between character and plot is instinctive to many writers, but what about the setting? Whilst stories are almost all character or plot driven, by making the setting essential as well, your story will be better for it. A classic example is Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo. The position of everyone within society, the relationships, the culture, to the geography, contributes to Edmond Dantes’ revenge. The setting adds conflict due to locations, adds time through trade routes, and is used to compliment the plot. While it was all based on real locations, the integration of the plot with this made both more interesting. Just like the way characters and plot build off each other, so can the plot and setting. You don’t have to write as intricately as Dumas, but if you can get those basic reliances going, it will make your plot far more interesting to readers.
2. Don’t confuse it with action
The plot relies on a consistent line of actions from start to finish. The action itself is written around the plot to make it more interesting. Many stories confuse the two. It can be difficult to separate them in more action-packed genres, but it comes down to a simple question; does the action contribute to the overall picture, or is it just filler? Some readers may forgive this, particularly if the writing is good, but not all. This simple question can help ensure you don’t get caught out writing action for the sake of action, at the expense of plot. Because in the end, to take time out from the plot to throw in a fight or a chase removes the readers from the story. This is not interesting. It is frustrating. Even if some readers stick with you for it, others will little patience for frustrating.
3. Surprise them- but not all of them
Everyone loves a good surprise, but they also like to understand it. Some of the greatest mystery writers out there confess to changing their endings just to mess with readers. What they had to do though, was to make sure it still tied in with all the clues, all the foreshadowing. In doing so, they are ensuring that some readers will inevitably work it out before the end.
In this, while giving away the entire ending is not ideal, it should not be a surprise to all. If everyone is surprised, then it means the plot doesn’t make sense. Try to keep them guessing right to the end, but don’t make it impossible. People like to be right.
4. Stick to the rules
This is one of those pieces of advice that relies very heavily on context. It can also have the opposite effect of making a plot interesting if taken wrong, so it’s best considered in the context of the next tip;
5. DON’T stick to the rules
Seems a bit contradictory, so perhaps it is best, to sum up both in a single statement; Understand the rules, then pick your times to break them.
Sticking to the rules with plotting means following the basic outlines. Whether a ‘hero’s journey’, ‘three act’ structure, or a different structure, there will be basic, if loose, parameters around how your plot works. Knowing these and writing to them will write a story that readers are familiar with. Familiarity is good, to a point. In the same way that tropes give an anchor to readers, so does a recognisable plot. However, few writers have made their mark writing stories that stick safely to the same old plotlines. Hence the second component; don’t stick to the rules.
Even within a familiar plot, it only takes a few changes to make a difference. By using the rules to create a familiar plot, then breaking the rules you decide to break them gives you a very tight control over where your story goes. It puts you in charge of where the interest is generated, and that awareness can be utilised to capitalise and maximise that interest.
Whether adding zombies to an Austen classic or changing Shakespearian characters to lions and adding a happier ending, simple changes have big impacts. The same goes for plots.
6. Stick to a theme- and revisit it
A plot without a theme is like a follow-up single of a one hit wonder. It might be fun, but it is soulless and makes no lasting impression. While the characters may explore the theme, and the setting accommodates it, the plot drives theme. It creates the situations that bring it to the fore and challenges the integrity of the theme. Too often though, the theme is not apparent at the start, wanders throughout, or is abandoned entirely. The plot is like the spine that keeps the theme relevant and on track. Revisiting it at the end is what ties it all together and keeps the plotline strong throughout.
7. Make it matter
The best stories are relevant not simply in their own time, but over decades, sometimes even centuries. Characters and settings can be memorable, and themes may be forever relevant, but by making the plot matter to the reader in more than a simple ‘I want to see how this goes’ kind of way is critical in maintaining long-term interest.Think of Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird. The theme, characters, setting and plot are all written with lasting relevance. The theme of equality and the destruction of innocence are still relevant in various ways. The plot itself though is essentially that of a young child growing in her understanding of and impact on the world around her. It is a classic plot used hundreds of time before. Even Tolkien’s The Lord Of The Rings is based around a (relatively) young character learning about their impact on the larger world. It persists because it is always relevant, and the acknowledgement of the transition from a child’s viewpoint to that of an adult will always matter to readers. The detailed plot is, of course, less so, but the overall summary of the plot is of one that mattered to Lee’s readers in the 1960s, and still matters now.