Article 1 - Plotting and Genre This article series will provide an overview 7 of the key components of writing good fiction: Plotting and Genre, Characterization, Scene and Setting, Writing Dialogue, Point of View, and Narrative Voice.
When writing fiction, the author must rely upon his/her instincts and experiences to create a story.
This article series will help new authors write books in good form, i.
e.
, the form editors expect.
Plotting Plotting and characterization carry the other elements of the book.
The plotting must be believable, plausible, and interesting.
It is a sequence of events connected in a cause-and-effect manner.
Generally the plot consists of a series of increasingly more intense conflicts, a climax (the most intense part of the book), and a final resolution.
The plot must advance as the book unfolds.
Usually the closer to the end of the book the climax is placed the better.
Long works like novels can have many subplots and secondary climaxes and resolutions.
Avoid using subplots in order to have cliché characters.
Avoid too many coincidences.
Flashbacks have been overused.
A book is stronger when it runs chronologically.
Genre Genre is the main category into which a book fits.
Most stories meet the criteria for multiple genres, but you should have some focus, identifying a market before you begin writing fiction.
Beginning authors often miss one critical fact about writing fiction.
It is up to the author to please the reader, not the other way around.