Instititute of Children's Literature

Rx for Writers

Writing Tips - Conflict and Plotting

Mary Beth Voelker is a home-schooling mother of three who uses her odd moments to plot her stories in bits and pieces.

"Plot Questions"

by Mary Beth Voelker

After my first course assignment had been mailed I went to work on the "take 5" to write about a different picture. I had already written about the farm kids and had no interest in mischievous bears, so I tackled the bus. It left me completely cold. What on earth can possibly happen on a bus? It bugged me for a week. How could anything worth reading about happen on a humdrum, prosaic bus? A shooting? A wreck? Not what you'd call promising ideas for children's fiction even at the young adult level.

Back to the Drawing Board

Try again -- what on earth can happen on a bus that a kid can actually affect? What's the worst thing that could happen to a kid on a bus? A hostile, abusive seat mate? Strike 3: the driver or other passengers would probably intervene. A boring seat mate? Sounds like a pretty boring story. An interesting seat mate?

Better, but what is actually happening? All I had there was a situation. A situation can be interesting to write about, even interesting to read about for a little while, but if there is nothing substantial happening, it isn't a story. What 's happening doesn't have to be action per say, but there should be some kind of change, some kind of growth. And it can't be too straightforward or superficial. What will make my girl on a bus with an interesting seat mate into a story instead of a pleasant little inconsequential interlude? Where is the conflict?

Look Inside Yourself

I drew on my experience to come up with some ideas. I remember my teen years vividly -- the dreams I had that others ridiculed and how I doubted myself. So I had a teen who doubted her dreams. One who was never taken seriously. Why not? Because she was little and cute and had a trendy name.

Now for that seat mate. My mother-in-law is a fascinating conversationalist with a wide range of interests -- you'd expect her to bore you with pictures of her grandchildren, but you'd get a surprise. I made the seat mate an elderly woman with a like talent for conversation. The seat mate had to somehow resonate with the main character's problem so I gave her similar physical characteristics and a dream too big for her petite size. The situation is shaping up, but it still isn't a story.

From Situation to Story

To make a story I needed conflict. What if the seat mate is interesting, but ill? What if he/she doesn't know she is ill? The illness flares up. But why don't the other adults intervene? What if it's an illness few people know much about, but the kid does? Why does the kid know? More personal experience here -- I'm married to an EMT and have been around medics one way or another for much of my life. I hunted through the EMS texts and journals to find a suitable medical condition. How can it get any worse? What if an adult interferes and wants to do the wrong thing? What if and what if and what if?

By the time I finished asking questions I had a petite, 17-year-old girl who was in training to be an EMT but doubted that she was able to "take it" -- uncertain if she had the mental and physical toughness to deal with the nasty parts. I had an elderly seat mate presenting the atypical and easily overlooked symptoms of a female heart attack victim who eventually fell between the seats where only a very petite person could fit. I had conflict, I had action, I had a good reason for the grownups to let the kid do the job. I had a 1700-word girls' adventure story.

I've done the same thing with other situations. For example, a teen in a fantasy setting is cut off from the group he's traveling with by a landslide. What could be worse? His best friend is on the other side, and he has to spend a week alone with his worst enemy. What could be worse? His enemy does something stupid on impulse and puts them both in danger.

Helpful Plot Questions

It can be easy to come up with an interesting situation, but it can be hard to turn a situation into a plot. However, if you start asking the right questions you can find a plot in any situation. **What's the worst thing that could possibly happen? **What could happen that a kid could affect? ** Why don't the grown-ups take over and do the job? **Why doesn't the obvious answer work? ** Who is this kid I'm writing about anyway? **What's special about the kid that makes it possible for him to do the job? **What about this kid could prevent him from succeeding? **Can the situation get worse? **What if something were different? **What do you know about this situation that other people don't? **What else can happen to complicate things? **Why would the reader care what happens?

Look around you. What interesting situation do you have sitting around waiting for a plot?

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