Write Better Fiction: Strengthening a Weak Plot
/What should you do when your work-in-progress has a weak plot or lacks a clear story arc? See how one fantasy author can focus and strengthen her novel's plot.
April’s author is Carrie. She’s written a 4-book fantasy series and is now working on revising book 1. Here’s what Carrie says she’d like help with:
I really love my story, but it lacks a strong plot with clear stakes. Book 1 is a great episodic narrative. I’d love guidance on building that story arc in one book, so that it can contribute to the larger arc of the story.
The first step in strengthening Carrie’s plot is figuring out what type of story she’s telling. Before you can craft a strong plot with concrete stakes (a.k.a. consequences) and a clear story arc you have to know what parts of the story will be the most important to the readers. Before we look at the specifics of what should be the priority in Carrie’s plot, let’s look at the three most common categories of plot in fantasy novels.
Plot types in fantasy
Most fantasy novels (and most novels in other speculative fiction genres such as scifi or alternate history) have plots that fall into one of three categories: action, investigation, or romance. These three categories describe the content of the plot. Unlike genres such as mystery or thriller, fantasy is a category used for marketing and sales. Saying you’re writing a fantasy novel says nothing about what should happen in your plot. That’s why it can be so hard to create a strong plot in a fantasy. Authors have so many options!! Let’s look closer at the three most popular plot types in fantasy novels.
In a fantasy novels with an action plot, the protagonist is trying to save the victims of the villain. The stakes are life and death. In other words, if the protagonist fails to defeat the villain, the protagonist will die, and so will the victims they’re trying to save. The protagonist may be trying to save a single victim, such as in The Princess Bride, or everyone in the character’s world such as in quest-based novels like The Lord of the Rings. Action plots are the most common type of plot in a fantasy story.
In a fantasy story with an investigation plot, the protagonist follows a series of clues that help them discover who a criminal is, and attempt to bring this criminal to justice, just like they would in a mystery or thriller in a realistic setting. Brandon Sanderson’s fourth Mistborn novel The Alloy of Law is an example of this type of plot. Paranormal mysteries like Charlaine Harris’s novel Dead Until Dark also have this type of plot.
In a fantasy story with a romance plot, two characters meet, fall in love, and form a lasting commitment to each other by the end of the novel. They form this commitment despite antagonistic forces that keep them apart and make that commitment unlikely. One of those antagonistic forces may be a villain, but the primary focus of the story is on the relationship between the two romantic heroes. Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses has this type of plot. Paranormal romances such as J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood novels also have this type of plot.
Are there other plot types beyond action, investigation, and romance? Definitely. But if you’re writing something that doesn’t fall into one of these three categories, this blog post is probably not the best place for you to get advice about your story. There’s a good chance you’re writing a literary story—the novel equivalent of an art-house film. This blog is about writing genre fiction—the novel equivalent of a big-budget blockbuster.
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What about stories with all 3 types of plot?
A lot of fantasy stories, including most of the ones I named above, blend the three categories of plots together. However, one of these plots should be the priority. For example, if you’re primarily telling a fantasy action story, then your mystery and romantic arcs will be subplots that make it more difficult for the protagonist to survive and save the victims.
Similarly, if you’re primarily telling a romance, then any investigation will turn up information that can both deepen and threaten the romantic relationship. If there are any victims who need saving in a romance story, the process of saving them should also both deepen and threaten the romantic relationship.
Having one main plot that takes priority makes it easier for readers to know what to expect from your story. Most readers don’t enjoy books that promise one type of plot as the book opens and then switch and deliver another type of plot in the second half of the book.
Knowing which of the three plot types is the priority in your novel also makes the process of writing (and revising) the book easier. If you know what your readers expect you to do, it’s much easier to identify ways to surprise and delight them with your plot twists. Knowing which plot type is the priority also helps if you’re trying to trim word count. For example, if you know that you’ve got an action story, you can confidently cut out any scenes or subplots that don’t threaten the protagonist’s survival or that don’t make it more difficult to save the victims.
Plot types in Carrie’s story
Carrie has elements of all three types of plots in her story. Below, I blended together Carrie’s answers from a few questions to give blog readers the overview of what Carrie shared.
A young woman escapes a magical prison and lives in a city of superior beings who evolved from humans. While trying to make a new life, she searches for the reason for her imprisonment and learns that humans are on the brink of extinction. In trying to catch her jailer, she falls into his trap and uncovers the shameful truth that keeps the ruling class in power.
She needs to figure out who the villain is, before he captures her again. Though she wants to know why she was targeted and why humans are disappearing, she is distracted by her comfortable new life of freedom and a budding romance.
Avery was freed by the half-brother of the rulers, Roedin. He works as a spymaster for the government, but faces speciesism for being a mixed-breed. He is frustrated that the secret of Avery’s imprisonment escaped him, and that he is failing his family. He inadvertently falls in love with Avery but forces himself to stay away because they are different species.
Here are three things we know so far about what’s in Carrie’s plot:
There’s a mystery/investigation component. Avery, the protagonist, needs to figure out who captured and imprisoned her. She will follow a series of clues in order to figure out who the villain is. This investigation could take the entire book to complete, or it could be a smaller component.
If Avery completes the investigation earlier in the story, then she’ll need to have a new thing she wants. Often, this is to save other victims from the same villain. In that case, the second part of the plot will be about her efforts to outwit whoever she discovers the true villain is.
There’s a hunt. Avery was imprisoned and the villain wants her recaptured.
This suggests Avery will need to hide and stay on the move which will make her investigation a lot harder. It’s also likely to put other characters in danger. The hunt could take the entire book to complete, or Avery could be recaptured earlier in the story. If she’s recaptured, then the remaining plot would probably be about her discovering a way to help not only herself escape but other victims escape and find a more lasting freedom.
There’s at least a partial romantic arc. Avery was freed by a member of the ruling family who also works as a spymaster for the government.
This suggests Avery and Roedin will spend some time in close proximity to each other, and that they have very large barriers to trusting each other and forming a lasting relationship.
This romantic arc could end in a Happily Ever After (HEA) by the end of this book, it could end unhappily by end of the book, or the romantic arc could be something that ends partway through the story or be something that will take two or more books in the series to come to completion.
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Next Step Questions for Carrie
Right now, it’s not clear whether the investigation, the hunt, or the romance are the priority in this story. Carrie’s in good company! Many authors have drafts with a mix of all three plot types without a clear idea of which plot type is the main plot.
Figuring out which of the plot types is the main plot (and which are subplots) can be challenging. There are lot of tradeoffs to make in choosing which type of plot is the main plot and which are the subplots. So it can be a good topic to talk through with an editor or a critique partner.
Here are some questions Carrie can ask herself or talk through with a friend to help identify her main plot.
Questions to rule out options
Do Avery and Roedin form a committed relationship by the end of the novel? (If no, then I strongly advise AGAINST using a romance plot as the main plot. Romance readers get very upset when there isn’t a happy ending.)
Does Avery pursue clues and gather evidence throughout the entire novel? (If no, then it’s probably not an investigation plot.)
Are there victims who will suffer if Avery is recaptured, but who can be helped if Avery is free? (If no, then you probably don’t have an action plot. Or, since action plots are the most common, you may need to revise your story so there are clear victims.)
If Carrie has one yes, and two no’s to these three questions, then she’s identified her main plot. If she’s got 3 no’s or or 2-3 yes’s then she’ll need to identify her main plot a different way.
The next thing to try is to look at the novels Carrie would like her book to be compared to. Do those novels have action, investigation, or romance plots? When this novel is at the bookstore, what books is it next to? How does the back cover of those books describe the action? Does it emphasize the relationships, the victims, or the mystery and investigation? Whatever plot type is emphasized on the back cover is the main plot.
When you’ve identified the category of plot — action, investigation, or romance — then you can break your story down further and describe your plot further. If you’ve got a romance, is it an enemies to lovers story, a marriage of convenience, or a mistaken identity story? If it’s an action story is it a quest, a woman-on-the-run, or a rebellion story? If it’s an investigation, is it a wrongfully accused must prove her innocence, a political thriller, or a spy story?
Identifying what type of story your telling, can help you write a novel readers can’t put down. Because if you are clear on what parts of the plot are the priority, then it’s easier to stay focused on the scenes and actions that will be the most interesting and important to your readers.
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