Plotting Along

Like most crime writers, I tend to stick with Plot Driven stories.

Generally, fiction is divided into two broad types, Plot Driven and Character Driven. In plot driven stories, the unfolding events determine the flow, while in character driven stories, the nature and development of the principal characters carry the narrative along.

I think plot driven stories are easier to write.

Writers can imagine a series of events leading to an outcome; for example a crime, the unfolding clues, the hunt for the perpetrator, and finally justice. We want to see the world in those terms, with a developing narrative and some hoped-for inevitable conclusion.

Of course, life rarely plays out so neatly.

For most of us, everyday events are a jumble of confusion with nanoseconds of clarity mixed in, usually in the middle of the night. Sometimes in retrospect we can detect a pattern that drew us to some sorry or happy pass, but usually those key turnings slip by unnoticed.

Plot driven fiction offers the clarity our daily live lack. As authors, we simply ignore the confusion, being sure to casually slip in all the clarifying moments so readers don’t feel cheated when all is revealed in the last chapter.

The fundamental units of a plot driven narrative are events. The story progresses from one event to the next. Characters usually react to the events or participate in them in some way that makes the event come alive. The events are linked together in a meaningful way that progressively unveils the thread of the story. Important events form an essential sequence. They don’t necessarily need to be presented in sequence, but the total pattern should be evident by the end of the story. Flashbacks can be useful devices, especially when events from the distant past help explain what’s going on in the story timeframe.

For the most part, extraneous events should be left out. It is possible and usually desirable to maintain multiple threads, as long as they tie together to form a richer tapestry. Often, multiple threads converge at the end. It isn’t exactly the same as using alternate chapters from three unrelated novellas, although I’ve seen stories that seem that way.

This is not to say that character development is not important. To keep readers interested, you need characters that seem real and engaging, as well as engaged in the story. My stories are plot driven. The narratives follow events through a series of scenes that reveal the central problems to my character, the narrator, Frank Healy. Despite this, Frank and the other characters have personalities and issues. He is a naïve nineteen year old in Red Crush, and by the third book, Grand Designs, he is both assertive and diplomatic. He lives with a contradictory sense of justice. I’m hoping these elements will intrigue my readers, leading them on from one story to the next.

Cardboard cutout puppets don’t look very real, even on paper.