How to Generate Plot Material | Writing Tips

hey everyone its shaylen and i'm here today with another reading video today I wanted to make a video on the topic that is I would probably say without a doubt my most frequently asked question for a while it was also the question I was most frustrated to get because it was so frequently asked but I really didn't have an answer you know like people kept asking me and I was like guys like if I knew life would be so easy but I really don't have an answer for this and it's how do i generate plot material or develop my idea for some writers this is very naturally easy they get an idea and the plot material like everything that will happen in the plot is kind of just there for me I'm more of a character slash mood slash emotion slash image based writer less than ape-like that's kind of what fuels me more so than plot like obviously plus important I'm not saying I don't care about plot and you know the plot is important to me but it takes me a long time so you uncover since it's not usually where my brains start and the fact that this is my most frequently asked question to me is a sign that this is really really hard for a lot of people I do have some tips for you this is gonna be my best shot at answering this question but by no means is there a magic formula I really wish there was that would be awesome but there isn't one and I think a lot of people are sinking one because it's so hard but the reason this is so hard is that there is really no magic formula that I'm aware of it's kind of just something that requires a lot of thought and reflection and work it will come more naturally to some writers it will take more effort or more time for others I don't really have a simple method for this you know so before I get into the tips I want to make it clear that if you were struggling with developing your plot 90% of it in my opinion is just thinking you know it can take a long time for ideas to fully marinate in your mind like they really they need time and so for some writers they need less time and for others they need more so if you're really struggling and you feel like it's just not there this isn't an instant overnight thing for most people it's not just gonna be there the entire plot of a novel you know probably 100 plus scenes that you will need won't just a here magically in your mind overnight it's gonna take work and it's gonna take time so if you feel like this isn't working for you but the idea is really fresh first of all give it time first of all allow it time to just ruminate in your brain I think in most cases that will generate quite a lot for you however that said I do have some tips that can be helpful but by no means is this a the the easy way to creating a plot because there really isn't an easy way unless you write like very formulaic stuff study story structure now in my opinion studying story structure in different story structures so like the hero's journey there's like 27 chapter I personally like 15 beat it makes a lot of sense to me but use whatever one you like is one of the most helpful things you can do to help develop content now one of the main criticisms of these kinds of stories structures is they just lead to formulaic reading I don't really find that because most stories naturally even without using these will just fall into place we all kind of have understanding of story structure because we consume so many stories and for that reason stories generally fall into this path even ones that are kind of unconventionally structured will often fit these molds pretty closely the molds are actually pretty vague like 15 beats that's not a lot of things to happen in a single novel like a novel has over 100 scenes in most cases so it's not like you're gonna just automatically write super formulaic books because you understand these structures like I said I like 15 me the most because it's what I was taught you know like I have a bit of a screenwriting background so that's what I was taught in screenwriting classes and it made sense to me I don't actually plot out my stories each single one like on each single beat I'm like so that's breaking it - and now it's be plot and now it's like I don't do that it's just studying it gives you a more solid internal framework and understanding of what stories are and how they're paced and how they work and that can really strengthen your understanding of building your own story whether you actually lay it out with this plot or not you know you don't have to actually pull out your book out beat by beat if you don't want to it's not necessary I don't do it but I think it's just having that understanding of structure helps you see things that might be missing because it helps you understand the shape of the story better so I like to see these kind of story structuring templates more as tools to help me understand structure better rather than just like templates where you have to check them all off but studying them can help you see things that you are missing number two this is a process related one I find it's actually it's very simple but it really does work magic and it's just get into your documents and start writing stuff as much as a large part of brainstorming might just come to you while you're sitting there actively working on your book is probably the best thing you can do when I think of the major brainstorming breaks that I have had for my own work most of them have happened when I was like okay well I don't really know what to do with this book so I'm just gonna name the characters or I'm like all the side characters and start you know taking notes on character profiles and as soon as I started doing that I was like oh wait this and then this and then this and then this and suddenly things are starting to happen and fit together getting your brain working on the story even if it's not something relatively simple like I said I like to just name characters if I have characters that need naming or otherwise just look at my document and start jotting down notes and it's just the act of actually doing it really kind of jogs your brain along with that get yourself organized if your notes are a mess it might be harder to see obvious gaps in the plot because you can't really see the plot but when in doubt like this is a good one for the last thing if you don't know what to do but you want to work on your book to help kind of jog your mind just start organizing your notes you don't even have to write anything new just organizing things and I almost guarantee you that you will probably have some sort of idea literally just by organizing stuff I mean maybe I shouldn't guarantee like no money back gaurantee you really get a night like for me that usually does something anyway you can actively engage with your story just kind of like powers up that area of your brain where the book is stored and kind of gets things working so for example I usually take notes in an unordered list where I just write everything literally as soon as I start putting things in order it can click ideas for me literally I can just move one thing I could be like this is gonna go there and it'll be like Oh idea next one you don't have to work through it linearly work backwards or from the inside out you know your book isn't it's not just a succession of events it's a series of events that are all interlocked and cause each other so that means if you know the end you can work backwards if you know some points in the middle you can work outwards from those points I actually think working outwards works really well for me sometimes if I'm writing something more structural so not like a Vicki thing but something like quite structured rule iana's like can identify identify my inciting incident act to act one break midpoint act to break and the book's climax and then work outwards from those points because it kind of gives you like you've got a leapfrog you know from one point to the other number five research almost all books will require some level of research on some topic you know it might be very minimal it might be very very in-depth for others but usually you probably have to research something I find researching doing research that I need to do gets me a lot of ideas especially if it's a more research intensive book it's not knowledge base that you have if you have to do the research you don't already have the knowledge it can kind of show you things your story might need or just give you a lot of ideas like I have had so many ideas for plots and helped generate material for my plot lines and build and expand on my ideas literally just by doing the research and also you get the research done number six work on character instead of plot if you struggle with plot and you're more of a character based writer like myself sometimes you can develop your plot via your character I find it much easier to brainstorm character stuff I don't know do character related work then plot related work because that's just where my brain goes and a lot of the time they go hand in hand you know so if you're struggling with plot but you feel pretty solid on character work more on character and it will probably give you ideas for plot because character informs plot and vice-versa you can do the same if you're struggling with character but you've got a lot of plot work on plot and it will probably reveal something little your characters they work back and forth they work together so if you're struggling with one but not the other work on the one that you actually feel like you have something solid and great to work with because it will feed into the other if you know what your characters arc is their change you can kind of reverse-engineer a plot from that based on what's going to be needed to make them change talk about your story with someone people who don't know anything about your book will ask you questions just out of curiosity that you've never even considered because they don't have any background they don't know anything about this this book find someone willing to listen to you and just ask them if you can tell them about your book and start telling them about their about your book and just the act of talking about it I find usually gives me some ideas help some things click but also they will just ask you questions you never even considered and those questions can really help open up some possibilities finally probably the most cliched cheesy one go back to the thing that inspires you you know we all have different things that inspire us for me music is a big one I'm always making a playlist for different books and kind of you know building that mood because I'm a very like mood and atmosphere based writer right so for me music is really important to get me into the feel of my book because my book is so based on the feel that I want it to have and capture because that's kind of where the idea starts for me I don't know my ideas start from weird places other people start with Oh concepts I'm like I start with a vague intangible feeling yeah I love it just kidding I hate myself whatever it is that usually gets you thinking you know different people are inspired by different things don't let this go too far if you're like TV inspires me instead of working on my book what if I've been to watch all how many seasons of supernatural are there and why was supernatural to show that my brain went to you I think it's just because there are so many seasons of it but I I've never watched it and I don't even know how many seasons era anyways go back to the thing that inspired you inspired you originally things that remind you of your book what ever it is that you feel kind of ignites your brain I know for me the outdoors like inspires me a lot like I will go for the longest walks and just wander aimlessly and hopefully get some ideas I live about a half hour walk from my University I treasure that walk that hour that I walk to University it's probably the most productive out of my day in some ways I mean I'm not actually doing any work but it's where I get the work done in here you know everyone has their different means of cultivating ideas different environments that cultivate ideas for them for me it's being outside but it's different for everyone so go back to that thing if you don't know what it is go see the world and I don't know find it anyways guys I'm gonna wrap up this video now now of course this is basically for outliners like now being a pantser I kind of just crossed these bridges as I come to them rather than trying to figure out the entire thing before I start but back when I used to outline it would take me years to outline a book entirely it takes a long time for me to come up with these things so anyways guys thank you so much for watching if you have any questions you can always send me an ask on tumblr and I'll see you in another video you could send me ask on tumblr as long as it's not how do I come on I choose from and I will see you in another video bye [Music] [Music]

Channel: ShaelinWrites

Views: 29,145

Rating: 4.9789696 out of 5

Keywords: writer, writing, author, novelist, creative writing, writetube, writetuber, writing advice, how to write a book, how to write a novel, writing vlog, creative writing degree, books, nanowrimo, plot, plot material, how to develop plot, how to develop an idea, plotting, structure, writing tips

Id: VwOD8hoE85A

Length: 12min 42sec (762 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 05 2019