Playing with your Plot

Thrilled to see my book on the shelf

Janet  here. I’ve prattled on and on about the importance of giving characters book-length goals. Without them the story will feel pointless. Without scene goals that fit those book-length goals, the story will feel episodic. 

Goals are important. 

But sometimes my characters’ goals have me staring at the monitor screen, wondering if I’ve painted myself into a corner with problematic goals that appear unworkable. 

First example: In The Bounty Hunter’s Redemption, my January Love Inspired Historical, bounty hunter Nate Sergeant’s book- length goal is to find the outlaw who killed his parents and his fiancée. He has strong motivation for hunting down Shifty Stogsdill. Still his book-length goal created some problems for him, and, also, for me, the writer.

# 1 external problem for me: Romance can’t spark and flourish unless the

Playing with plot is fun!

hero and heroine stay in close proximity. And editors and readers want them together, too. Yet bounty hunters don't stay put.

The remedy: I gave Nate an important short-term goal. He wants his widowed sister Anna get the seamstress shop she deserves. To see that his genial sister isn’t railroaded by heroine Carly Richards, who's determined to keep the shop she sees as hers, Nate must stay in Gnaw Bone until the circuit judge arrives to settle the dispute. Having to delay his book-length goal is a conflict for him, but fixes the proximity problem for me.

You may question if it’s good for a secondary goal to trump the main goal. The answer is wrapped up in Nate's motivations. Finding their killer won’t bring his parents and fiancée back to life. His recently widowed sister Anna has no means of support and she’d saved Nate’s life as a child, leaving her with a handicap that complicates her life. Only a jerk could ride off without knowing his grieving sister would have a livelihood.

#2 external problem for me: Bounty hunters hunt down outlaws. I had to play with the plot to find a way to make Nate look like the real deal, yet keep him in town.

The remedy: I added a rumor that Stogsdill has a girlfriend in the area, which meant the killer could arrive in Gnaw Bone at any moment. That uncertainty ups the stakes and keeps Nate actively pursuing his book-length goal while staying in one place.

#3 external problem for me: If Nate continues tracking outlaws, even when Stogsdill is captured, he and Carly can’t fall in love. I needed to ensure he has the motivation and the means to settle down. So I gave him a job repairing the town’s dilapidated livery in exchange for a place to live while they await the judge’s decision. This job, along with his interaction with Carly and Henry and people in town, reveal his growing dissatisfaction with his drifter lifestyle and gradually this loner changes as he’s drawn into their lives, which is a big internal conflict for him.

This little writer's seen the remedy for a plot problem!

I’m digressing here but I wanted to make the point that the romance isn’t the plot. The romance merely complicates the plot. Falling for Carly impedes Nate’s goal to bring Stogsdill to justice. His external goal is impacted not only by Carly and the townspeople, but, also, by the wounds in his past that still plague him today. His internal conflicts (issues of guilt, fear of commitment and struggles with faith) must be overcome before he can love. Carly’s past has given her a sense of inadequacy and lack of trust. I bring up the internal conflicts to emphasize that everything in the story works together. At first these conflicts make things worse, but as the plot forces the characters to grow and change, they’re finally freed from their pasts and can see love is not only possible, its deserved.

Most of these plot tweaks felt natural to the story and came fairly easily. But sometimes playing with the plot feels like a skirmish more than recess fun, which was the case with the next example.

Second example: An external goal that gave me fits was in my debut, Courting Miss Adelaide. Adelaide’s initial goal was to ask for an orphan arriving on the train. Newspaper editor Charles was on the committee that rejected her application. 

#1 problem for me: The conflict between Adelaide and Charles was short lived. Though she never gave up the goal of taking in a motherless child, she couldn’t pursue it further without appearing deranged. If you create a goal that isn’t pursue-able for the entire book, it’s more of a set up than a goal. By set up I mean something the writer uses to open the story and set the characters in motion.

#2 problem for me: Adelaide and Charles were getting too close too soon. If the hero and heroine fall in love, the story is over so we writers can’t let that happen. I went over and over possible external conflicts to keep them apart, but to no avail. In desperation, I asked for a brainstorming session with a group of writers. The idea that emerged was to give Adelaide half ownership of the newspaper Charles saw as his baby.

#3 problem for me: This sudden ownership of the newspaper was a great idea packed with conflict, but to make it believable, I had to play with the plot, adding elements that foreshadowed this shocking revelation in Charles’s deceased father’s will.

#4 problem for me: Only pigheaded people can’t work out a solution for handling dual ownership of the newspaper, no matter how irksome it might be. I had to add another goal to up the stakes and keep them apart. I made Adelaide insist on writing editorials championing women suffrage. Charles wasn’t against women getting the vote but argued the issue would spark trouble. The trouble resulted in hostility in town and a loss of revenue for Adelaide’s millinery business and for the newspaper. The conflict between Adelaide’s ideals and Charles’s pragmatism keep Adelaide and Charles at odds and created all kinds of conflict that caused more and more trouble.

When plot elements work together, interwoven with the faith and romance threads, we’ll create a story that'll keep readers turning pages. If you hit a snag, play with your plot. 

I brought playground food. Apples, bananas, pop tarts, and graham crackers iced with powdered sugar frosting. Fill your glass at the drinking fountain or grab a cup of coffee or tea in the lounge. Let’s chat plot. 

Writers, do you find creating plot fun or hard work? Do you brainstorm with a critique partner or a group of writers? Any tips?

Readers, do you like plots with strong conflict or prefer gentler conflict?

Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of either The Bounty Hunter’s Redemption or Courting Miss Adelaide. Tell me which book you’d like in the comments. If you’ve read both and win, share the book with a friend.