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Who has sat down to plot and then ended up with all of their ideas going splat onto the page and not making any sense to how a book needs to be structured? Me too. A few years ago, (yikes, crazy to think that it was only just over three years) I would just come up with the intro, the complication, the plot twist, the climax, and the conclusion. Nothing else. And guess what? I would then write that out as a ‘novel’ (only reached 18K) and pat myself on the back.

 

Now, while that is a start, it certainly isn’t going to be worth reading, (even with all horrible writing to the side) and really does not pass what you need in a well paced novel. So, I’m going to teach you what I have learnt over the years regarding plotting for pacing.

 

First thing’s first, plotting.

 

You’ve all probably heard of the classical story arc, (orientation, complication, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution) or the Hero’s Journey and they are pretty good examples of pacing. However, you also want the readers to be on the edge of their seats throughout. This is often hard when only a quarter of the book has any stakes.

So how can this be altered?

 

This is the simple method of plotting that I personally use, (partial credit to Josiah DeGraff) that I find really helps make your book impossible to put down. I’m going to go through and give examples of each step so that you know what I mean.

 

1. Characteristic Moment

This is the starting point of your novel, and it should involve your main character doing something to show a minor version of their future conflict, and showing their stand on it.

My main character of Storm Wielder, Ty, starts off the book by blocking himself off from other people by essentially running away from his family, and breaking in to join with another group under a false name. This sets up his character. It reveals that he seems to be pushing away the idea of belonging and family, and it allows for something to actually happen.

This acts as a far more effective introduction than the typical one that you’re taught in school. (Not trying to undermine what teachers say, but what is good enough for school is not brilliant when it comes to actually writing something half decent.)

 

2. The Inciting Incident

This is the point when something starts off. When the herald character comes in and gives your main character a mission. When someone finds out the MC’s secret and they now have to make a decision on whether they are sitting back, or taking action.

Ty was discovered the be the villain’s brother by one of the other characters, just as the villain started causing even more trouble than usual. He decided to do what he was best at: dealing with it alone by ditching them to sabotage the evil plans, but failing.

This adds some depth because you can see that his original way of living didn’t work and he failed. This is where he shall start to realise that he needs to do more than just fight alone to protect himself in order to really beat the villain.

 

*Time passes with much thinking*

 

3. The Moment of Truth

Insert the character realising what it takes to win, and going for it. He’s fairly confident at this point, and has had a lot of planning and encouragement from other people. He’s determined that he will NOT lose this time around.

Ty was convinced by his team to work together to beat his brother, them being willing to help him get through it. He relies on them heavily, but still is having a battle against his natural instinct to flee.

This gives your readers a sense of hope, and minor confusion as this will carry them out through the midpoint of the book. Not to the climax itself. This helps with the pacing as things are happening, emotions are building, and so is anticipation for what will come next.

 

4. The Period of Despair

Nope. Not the climax. This is where, despite all of their prepping, something unforeseen happens and they can’t fully see how they will win at this point. Maybe this is where the villain reveals their hand and the hero is at loss. Maybe this is where someone important dies. Maybe they succeed in one thing only to realise that there was something much higher at stake. Maybe this is where a betrayal occurs. Anything that makes the character fall into doubt and despair.

In Ty’s case, it is betrayal. (Remember how he had separated himself from everyone at the start, then grew to trust them? That’s why he had to be betrayed to ultimately test his new belief.) The team is betrayed, and they retreat, trying to work out what they could possibly do now. One of their members betrayed them, and kidnapped another member to hold as hostage.

In this part, you can see how this suddenly ups the stakes, and makes the readers desperate to find out more. So, pages are turning.

 

5. The Surge of Strength

Yes. This is the climax. But don’t skip over reading about this just because you know it. Things are often a bit different to what they may seem.

Basically, the surge of strength is when the character obtains the strength they need to win the final battle. This comes from when they take on the battle fully for the right reasons, and fight it in the right way to what you are trying to convey with your story’s message.

For Storm Wielder, Ty gets his surge of strength when he realises that the kidnapped person was more of a brother to him than his actual brother. He fully reveals his identity and goes with the rest of his team, and they win the battle. He works together to help his new family.

A lot of people assume that the climax is just the big battle. But really, it should be the height of your characters’ development. That is when it is win all or lose all, and when they could reach the epitome of that trait. It isn’t just the crazy action scene that a lot of nothing happens. Make sure the climax is meaningful.

 

6. The Denouement

Yup. Resolve it now. Doesn’t have to be long. Just make sure that it becomes clear as to how justice is achieved, and how everyone is affected by what the MC has done by changing their way of living to something that is a whole heap better than they were at the start.

Ty’s story ends with him and the rest of the Storm Wielders pretty much fully adopting each other. They take him in after his actual brother–the villain–is removed from power, and he fully embraces the opportunity to trust and love a new family. They also have to work together again to recover from everything that had just happened.

It is really good, pacing wise, to ensure that part of your Denouement matches with your Characteristic Moment. This will help tie the story together, and really contrast between the start and the end or the character’s arc.

 

Now, you may be thinking that I just showed you how to write a character arc, not how to come up with a well paced plot. But really, the two are the same. A well paced plot will be well paced because it goes along with what realistically would happen according to what the character should be doing. This is really the secret to a well paced story: The use of the theme that the character lives by to direct the plot. 

 

Hopefully that was somewhat helpful and made sense.

Your task? Try to post up here a plot for you WIP according to those points. Or you can plot one out right now and post it. (That’s what I did for this lesson.) Give it a shot, and see if that will help you later on to get the pacing just right! 🙂

Enjoy!

 

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