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Writing about plotting

I have been trying to plot out a story, and here’s a page I found was quite funny yet helpful:

Let’s put your character in a sticky situation!

I feel particularly evil following some of the instructions that come up on this page, and roasting my protagonist one way or the other, but that, I have learned, is the best way to create conflict.

And conflict is the best way to hook readers, and keep them reading!

Word count:

Feb 2: 320

Feb 3: 510 (oh, well…)

Feb 4 : 350 (grrrrrrrrrrr!)

Feb 5: 832 (much better!)

Damyanti Biswas

Damyanti Biswas

Damyanti Biswas is the author of You Beneath Your Skin and numerous short stories that have been published in magazines and anthologies in the US, the UK, and Asia. She has been shortlisted for Best Small Fictions and Bath Novel Awards and is co-editor of the Forge Literary Magazine. Her next literary crime thriller, The Blue Bar, is represented by Lucienne Diver from The Knight Agency, and was published by Thomas & Mercer on January 1, 2023.

I appreciate comments, and I always visit back. If you're having trouble commenting, let me know via the contact form, or tweet me up @damyantig !

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  • Bob D'Costa says:
    28/07/2014 at 12:18

    Yes, agreed. No conflict, no way of hooking the reader. They say if you face a situation where nothing is happening in the story, that’s the signal to create different, like making your character slip over a banana skin and reach towards a sleeping dog on the pavement, or spill the coffee of the middleaged man. The story takes a fresh start from there.

    Reply
  • DarcKnyt says:
    06/02/2009 at 11:46

    Keep going! You can do it, Damyanti. I know you can get the 1000 words. You’re so close!

    Reply
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