A Free, Easy Way to Make Sure Your Story Works (and Why Plot Matters)
Why Plot Isn’t Lowbrow—It’s Fundamental
As a reader, I have always loved plot. In that way, I’m like many readers (I’d argue most regular readers of novels). But as a novelist myself, I was brainwashed very early on in my fiction-writing to look down on plot, to see it as sort of lowbrow, a kind of cheat sheet for writers who lack true talent and therefore have to rely on deploying catnip for the masses. In this view, plot is a kind of manipulative sales tactic, a get rich quick scheme or one of those fundraisers that sends you a dime in the mail to make you feel bad unless you send money back.
Whenever there’s a disconnect between how two groups of people look at something, I think it warrants further investigation. And that's the case with plot.
Indisputably, readers shamelessly love plot, as they should—we should read what we love to read, because that’s the purpose of it! No one is handing out grades for reading books you don’t enjoy. And yet within writer circles, there exists a fairly prominent view that plot is some kind of creative compromise on the part of the writer.
It took me a long time—like three published novels—to see how truly BS this is. And that's what I want to talk about today. I’m going to cover:
why plot is actually the opposite of lowbrow,
why anyone who tells you you don't need to worry about plot is probably setting you up for failure,
and why I think this false belief exists in the first place.
Finally, I’m going to share a great strategy for developing your story that anyone can do, no matter who you are or where you are.
The Real Reason Plot Gets a Bad Rap
Rufi Thorpe is a fellow novelist; she is also my good friend and teaches with me in The Book Incubator™. She and I have both written and published several novels—her most recent, Margo’s Got Money Troubles, was a Kirkus Prize finalist, by the way, and she’s been on other prestigious shortlists as well.
I share her accolades because they’re relevant to restoring plot’s reputation, since Rufi agrees with me on this: Plot gets a bad rap because it’s easier to be dismissive about something hard than to learn to do it well yourself.
Because plot is really hard to do well. It takes practice, it takes trial and error, it takes intentionality, and it requires that one take it seriously. None of these are easy things to do. It also requires respecting the reader's experience enough to want the reader to experience the specific pleasure that plot has to offer—to want the reader to want to turn pages because they're propelled forward, not because they feel obliged.
I want a reader to turn the pages because they want to, not because they feel like the fact that it’s hard to keep going somehow makes the book smarter and them smarter for reading it, just like I want people to come to my house for a party because they like me, not because they feel like they have to, and I want my kid to not act like an asshole because he’s learned that from watching me, not because he’s terrified I’ll assault him.
Judging someone else is always easier than trying to do that thing yourself, and so condescension is a common defense mechanism. When people don’t know how to write something, they act derisive about it and say things like, “Do you really need plot?” Or “does a character really have to change?”
Yes. They do. Because 99% of us don’t write strong enough prose to get published without writing plot. And in my view, the other 1% would be well-served—they’d write better stories—if they knew how to write plot.
Writing classes that espouse the ideology that you can write good fiction without worrying about plot or learning plot are misleading. They’re teaching you to write inferior stories that publishers won’t publish because readers don’t want them.
Am I coming in hot? You bet! Have I had a long time to develop this spicy opinion? You bet!
Real Editor Rejection Letters
I actually shared these in the previous episode of this podcast where I talked about the concept of premature optimization, but I want to do it again here because I think they are a powerful example of what I'm talking about.
Here are a few recent excerpts from rejection notes received by a friend whose book was on submission, meaning her agent had sent it out to editors at publishing houses.
One editor at a “Big 5” publishing house said this:
Thank you so much for sending _________ my way. This is such a fabulous title, first of all, and _______ is indeed an impressive writer. While I really enjoyed the setting and character development, I found the plot lacked a little momentum.
Another senior editor at another “Big 5”:
I hope this finds you well! Thank you again for sending _________ my way. ________ has crafted an engaging and delightfully messy protagonist. I found the voice both endearing and entertaining, pulling me right into the heart of her world. That said, while I enjoyed the read, I did find myself struggling with the pacing of the manuscript.
Finally, an executive editor at yet another “Big 5” said:
Thanks so much again for sending ________ my way. _______ does a terrific job of bringing this town and community to life, and the balance of humor and poignancy here is really lovely. But I'm afraid the story just didn't quite pull me in and surprise me in a way that would convince me I'd be able to break this out as it deserves.
Notice how complimentary these editors were of the writing itself. They loved it! I actually cut more text in which they sang her praises as a writer because they were just too long to read. (And she’s an outstanding writer; the book made me cry.)
But fantastic writing wasn’t enough, these editors are saying. They were looking for story, a.k.a. plot.
Now, because I know what you’re thinking—you’re thinking of the one book you read without a plot that you loved. And maybe you’re thinking, that’s the book I want to write too.
Great! I very much believe you should write the book you want to write, 100%. But I also want you to go into it eyes wide open about the publishing challenges, because it’s a real bummer to devote months or years of your life to a project under the false belief that it’s just as easy to get a book without a plot published as it is one with a plot.
Someone whose prose is exquisite though to write a publishable book with no plot is insanely rare—that’s not something that can be taught in a class, because what we’re talking about is a kind of magical, stands-on-its-own prose, which is something as unique as a meal that gets by with only one ingredient: there might be a chef out there who can pull it off, but not even the majority of Michelin star holders are going to be able to pull that off. Plus…why? (And by the way, even the prose genius could still probably write something cool if he learned to write plot.)
Plot Isn’t a Compromise—It’s a Craft
If I have convinced you that you should learn to write plot, great! I’ve achieved my goal. It’s going to make your fiction better, and it’s going to make you more likely to get published. Plus, it’s fun. Readers will enjoy your book more. You’ll feel proud. You’ll have the tool in your toolkit whether you want to use it or not. It’s a win all around.
The awesome thing is that you don't have to choose between fantastic writing and great plot. You don't have to choose between stunning, literary prose that transforms the reader and is deserving of the highest literary prizes, and plot.
You get to do both.
I'm not arguing against good prose. I am arguing that plot gets a seat at the table too.
After all, a book can only be transformative/important/life-changing…if someone actually finishes reading it.
A Free, Easy Way to Develop Plot That Actually Works
Now for the good part—how do you write plot well?
There are various tools you can use—some that are more well-known than others.
Outlining is a common one, though it’s not my preference and not what I do or teach.
I teach a process I came up with called The Four Notebooks Method, which is based on the 3-act structure and helps you pace your story. You can find that in this podcast episode, or you can get my more extensive training on it by applying to The Book Incubator™. If you're accepted, we’ll send you the free training. Just go to thebookincubator.com to apply.
But also, the most free and easy tool you can use is something you don’t have to download or do anything to get. In our community, we call it Salmon Salads, because Rufi used to meet her friends over salmon salads to do this.
Here it is. Ready? It’s very complicated so have a pen handy:
Brainstorm your story with friends.
That’s it.
That’s the secret recipe.
Don’t give them your writing to read—that’s not the point. And in fact, that’s a distraction. This kind of conversation (without the writing!!!!) can be a really useful way to incorporate feedback without getting derailed by premature optimization. You just tell them a bit about your story (you don’t even need to know it yet beyond the premise) and ask questions like: Does that sound interesting to you? What would you expect to happen next? What would you want to happen next? What would you be wondering about?
I often find that when I do this, it's humbling because someone will throw out a better idea than what I had. That happened recently with my sister and the novel I'm working on. She got excited and said, “Oh, what if this happened…” and it changed the entire course of the story. (There’s a reason we offer strategy sessions in The Book Incubator where you do just this—meet with a mentor to just shoot the breeze about your book and troubleshoot plot.)
In sum, let’s accept as a writing community that plot is actually not the friend we need to pretend not to be friends with. We can bring him out in the open and call him our bestie, because he’s actually really great, he just wears weird clothes sometimes and says strange things in mixed company. But that’s why people like him. He keeps things interesting.
Want access to a free training on my Four Notebooks Method for writing your book? Apply for my 12-month program The Book Incubator, and I'll send it over! (Applying takes <5 minutes, and there’s no obligation to enroll to get the free training.)