Kait asked Roshani Chokshi:

Hi Roshani! I have seen you mention on Twitter etc. that your first drafts can be lacking characterization, plot, etc. I’ve been working on a draft and have come to understand who my characters are and the world fairly well, but I don’t really know how to go about building out the plot! Not a whole lot happens and my plot feels very “bare bones” to me right now. Do you have any tips for working on that?

Roshani Chokshi Hi Kait! I think that's amazing that you already understand the world and characters! That will be really helpful when you start drafting/revising because character-driven plots always read as the most sincere :) Plots don't have to be ridiculously complicated. Think of most heist stories for example. The plot is fairly simple: go in, get the thing, get out. It's the character relationships that complicate the story, that make it unputdownable. Or consider Pride & Prejudice. If Darcy & Elizabeth didn't have any conflict, then that's a one-sentence story. What's the central conflict of your book? How does that affect your characters and who they are as well as their relationship to each other? What are the things that get in the way of your characters' wants and needs? How does all of tis lead up to the climax or turning point of your story? Those are just some super basic things to think about that I've found helpful, but they don't necessarily fit every story. I've got a trunked story that I love to pieeeeeeces and I'm pretty sure it doesn't have a plot. It's a meandering tale where the focus is on the language and interaction with a world. Nothing needs to be done. It just depends on the kind of tale you want to tell. Best of luck!

flag