{"id":109008,"date":"2023-07-16T17:03:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-16T21:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=109008"},"modified":"2023-07-25T09:59:58","modified_gmt":"2023-07-25T13:59:58","slug":"how-to-develop-a-plot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-develop-a-plot\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Develop a Plot That Satisfies the Readers’ Expectations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How’s a story’s plot different from what your story is about? How can understanding how the brain works<\/a> help you create a compelling plot?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lisa Cron explains the formula that the human brain expects to encounter in a story. Then, she shows how you as a writer can employ that formula. She provides tips on how to develop a plot\u2014exploring elements such as conflict, cause and effect, hooking the reader<\/a>, suspense and reveals, and pacing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continue reading to learn how to develop a plot<\/a> that satisfies the expectations of your readers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

How to Develop a Plot<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before diving into her advice on how to develop a plot, Cron clarifies what the plot actually is. She explains that the plot refers to the actual events that occur in the story. This is often mistaken for what the story\u2019s about, but what the story\u2019s truly<\/em> about is how the protagonist changes as a result of the story\u2019s events. Plot is the external events of the narrative, while the story is about<\/em> the protagonist\u2019s internal reactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conflict<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Plot consists of the many conflicts that create obstacles to your protagonist achieving their goal. To subject your protagonist to these seemingly impossible obstacles, you have to establish and escalate conflict<\/em> in your story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stories are about change, and conflict is what drives change. According to Cron, our brains are programmed to resist conflict. We evolved to cooperate for survival, so conflict with others poses a risk to our survival\u2014and in fact, according to an MRI study, conflict causes the brain areas<\/a> associated with physical pain to light up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our brains also resist change<\/a>, whether it\u2019s a good or bad change. We evolved to seek to maintain a state of secure equilibrium to ensure our well-being\u2014if we\u2019ve found a routine that keeps us safe, making a change to that routine creates a potential risk to our safety, which makes us fearful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, because things constantly change in life despite our wish for them not to, stories must also be about conflict and change<\/strong>. Cron writes that there are many potential sources of conflict in a story<\/a>: Any way you can find to pit two forces against each other in a way that impacts the protagonist emotionally and interferes with their goal is a potential conflict and impetus for change. Some of these include the conflict between the protagonist\u2019s belief and reality, the conflict between what the protagonist wants and what others expect of them, the conflict between the protagonist\u2019s internal and external goals, and the classic conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cause and Effect<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Showing how conflict leads to change also requires us as writers to convey a clear pattern of cause and effect. According to Cron, we have a neurological need to understand the reasons behind everything, which means our stories need to have a clear cause-and-effect structure<\/a> on both the external plot level and the internal level of the protagonist\u2019s choices. Things can\u2019t just happen at random\u2014rather, every action must have a reaction which then affects the next decisions the characters make. This establishes the logic of your story, which the brain needs to maintain interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cron points out that the maxim \u201cShow, don\u2019t tell\u201d is commonly misunderstood to mean that we should avoid explicitly stating something\u2014like the emotion a character\u2019s feeling\u2014and instead show<\/em> them feeling it, by expressing it physically (through crying, yelling, smiling, and so on). However, she argues that what it really means is we need to show the cause-and-effect process that leads to that feeling<\/strong>. It\u2019s not enough to say your character is angry. Rather, we need to see the event that made them angry, and we need to understand the internal thought process that caused them to react the way they did to the story\u2019s events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Cron, this cause-and-effect structure must be consistent throughout your story, which means that each scene will logically lead into the next one. The previous scene will catalyze the next scene, and the effects of the characters\u2019 choices in the previous scene will determine the choices they make in the next scene. This also means your protagonist needs to change from scene to scene. They should feel differently at the end of the scene than they did at the beginning. By connecting all the scenes in your story in this way, you\u2019ll create a cohesive, logical narrative that helps the reader understand the reason behind everything and satisfies their neurological need to simulate an experience they\u2019ve never had.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hooking the Reader<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As soon as the reader begins your story, they start looking for the answers to three major questions: 1) Who\u2019s the story about? 2) What\u2019s the story about? 3) What\u2019s at stake here? <\/strong>If the answer to any of these three questions is missing, it doesn\u2019t matter how beautiful your prose is; the reader will not be interested in your story. However, says Cron, if you answer them quickly\u2014on the first page, or even in the very first sentence\u2014you can take your time presenting the rest of the details because your reader knows what to anticipate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answers to these questions give the reader context for how to understand<\/a> everything they\u2019re about to read, which, according to neuroscientific research, is how they determine meaning, or the \u201cwhy\u201d behind every piece of information. Answering these \u201cwhy\u201d questions is critical to do because humans have a natural curiosity about why any given piece of information is significant or useful to us, and having that curiosity sated is what keeps us engaged with what we\u2019re reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, we don\u2019t just want to know that the protagonist is getting a divorce; we want to know the specific reasons why<\/em> they\u2019re getting a divorce so we can understand how the divorce will impact the protagonist and how it might affect what they\u2019re going to do next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suspense and Reveals<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

According to Cron, the push and pull between two conflicting forces allows the writer to build suspense by withholding information that the reader wants to know. Suspense is what keeps the reader turning the page because of our cognitive need to know what happens next. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the big \u201creveal\u201d of withheld information can be extremely powerful, it only works if everything up until that reveal is clear and logical enough for the reader to understand. The writer must give hints about the reveal in advance, so the reader has a sense that something is missing<\/strong>, but the absence of that missing piece can\u2019t obscure the story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These hints must also be specific enough that the reader can guess what the reveal might be, even if their guesses prove to be completely wrong. It\u2019s not interesting enough to know that the writer is keeping something<\/em> secret. We have to have some sense of what<\/em> they\u2019re keeping secret. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, a mystery writer might plant hints throughout the plot that point to the identity of the murderer. The reader will know the writer is keeping the murderer\u2019s identity a secret to be revealed later. Even if they incorrectly guess who it is, they’ll still be able to understand the logical sequence of events that led the person to kill because the writer\u2019s withholding of the murderer\u2019s identity won\u2019t obscure the rest of the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A reveal can\u2019t be the piece that gives the plot meaning, but it can\u2014and should\u2014change the meaning in retrospect as readers look back through the story and understand what new light the reveal sheds on what\u2019s happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foreshadowing<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This leads into another important idea from neuroscience: Part of the way we make sense of what\u2019s happening to us is to call on memories from the past that help us interpret what\u2019s going on in the present. According to Cron, you need to provide your reader with such memories so major reveals in the story will make sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To do this, you can use foreshadowing, which is when you give the reader hints about a change that\u2019s going to happen<\/strong> later in the story. When you foreshadow, you essentially create a memory for the reader to recall later, and that memory helps them make sense of eventual character or plot changes. Foreshadowing importantly also lets you justify a choice by your protagonist that seems out of character. In fact, any out-of-character choice your protagonist makes must be warned of in advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, if you establish in chapter one that your protagonist has a deathly fear of flying, but later they need to get on a plane to save the world, you have to include information in those intervening chapters that justifies this choice, such as describing how the protagonist is taking steps to overcome their phobia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pacing and Timing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Cognitively, explains Cron, readers can only handle so much conflict at once. It\u2019s important to present your story in a way that gives the reader a break after moments of extreme conflict so they can process what\u2019s happened and try to understand how it fits into the larger story. Narrative devices such as subplots and flashbacks can help you provide readers with this break so they don\u2019t become overwhelmed by constant conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Subplots<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Subplots are secondary stories that add to the overall story, explains Cron. They can give the reader some distance from the major conflict and allow them to process what\u2019s happened. But to be effective, they must have an impact on the main story and the protagonist, either internally or externally. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

They can also help flesh out other characters whose plots can provide insight into the main storyline. Writers can use subplots to mirror the main plot, showing an alternate way that the main storyline could play out, usually taking an opposite path from the one the main story takes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In any case, as with everything else in your story, all the information in a subplot must be something the reader needs to know to understand the main plot and its impact on the protagonist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flashbacks<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

According to Cron, flashbacks also provide an opportunity to give the reader a break from the main conflict<\/strong> while supplying important information. They pull the reader out of the immediate story and into a different setting (often a subplot)\u2014because of this, they should only be used when they\u2019re absolutely essential because otherwise, the reader will feel like they\u2019ve been yanked out of the story they were enjoying for one they don\u2019t have any investment in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flashbacks should be placed only in spots where they provide context that\u2019s necessary for understanding what happens next in the main story, and the reader should be able to tell right away what the purpose of the flashback is\u2014they should be able to understand why they need this<\/em> particular information right now<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How’s a story’s plot different from what your story is about? How can understanding how the brain works help you create a compelling plot? Lisa Cron explains the formula that the human brain expects to encounter in a story. Then, she shows how you as a writer can employ that formula. She provides tips on how to develop a plot\u2014exploring elements such as conflict, cause and effect, hooking the reader, suspense and reveals, and pacing. Continue reading to learn how to develop a plot that satisfies the expectations of your readers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":88079,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,9],"tags":[1109],"class_list":["post-109008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communication","category-psychology","tag-wired-for-story","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Develop a Plot That Satisfies the Readers' Expectations - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Effective writers understand what the human brain expects to encounter in a story. 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