EDITORIAL: Plot.

#writing #writers #podcast

Cory Doctorow is a writer, journalist, speaker and editor of BoingBoing. He's a smart chap and has lots to say on the subject of media, creative commons and open source amongst other topics, but in a recent article he turned his attention to the subject of plot. The reading of it is above in the podcast player and is a great listen. I found myself rewinding back to hear the truths he spouts again and again. This, from the written piece:

...my favorite, foolproof way to start a story is with a person in a place with a problem, preferably in the first sentence. A named person in a defined setting is a signal to the reader’s human-being-simulator to get started assembling a skeletal frame upon which to hang future details about this ‘‘person.’’

When you add a ‘‘problem’’ – even something as trivial as a hangnail – you snag the reader’s rubbernecking impulse. Any problem out there in the world is a chance for hungry, canny minds to benefit from someone else’s hard-earned experience. It’s a siren song for our base nosiness.

From Locus

Which is a great tip for how to start your story, if in doubt. Announce who the person is and what their complication is. Usually they attempt to fix it, and things get worse, kickstarting the story proper. Read the rest of the article to get a great explanation of why plots are funny things.

Check out Cory's books too: intelligent, compelling reads -










Image: Joi Ito https://www.flickr.com/photos/joi/ Under Creative commons.