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Elements of Plot: How To Ensure Your Plot Is Intriguing

By on August 6, 2021

If you want to ensure that your book is a success, you need to understand what it is that keeps readers turning those pages. By taking into account all the different elements of the plot you will be able to construct a story that is gripping, intriguing, and keeps readers turning those pages until the very end. If you can get into the mindset of your reader and understand what will make your plot exciting to them, you could be on to a winner.

An exceptional plot has a number of different elements, and let's be clear, you should be aiming for your plot to be EXCEPTIONAL.

A good plot - what every story needs

At its core, what will grip your readers is your story unfolds, its twists and turns, its significant events and dramatic scenes, its hints at what's to come, its reflection on what has been. 

In short, compiling all these different elements of plot is essential. They should be dropped in one by one into the huge mixing pot of your story, as your eyes grow wide with delight and you stir and stir more vigorously, thrilled at the brilliance of what you are creating.

So what are the things you need to ensure your plot is truly captivating from start to finish? Read on to discover some useful tips.

Elaborate on your central ideas

Your central ideas are the core of your story, but they aren't enough. The core of the apple holds it together, but it's not the part we love to eat!

Understanding the difference between story and plot can be challenging. The story is like the bones of a person, and the plot is the flesh, blood, nerves, and veins. It what gives it life.

The story has lots of interconnecting parts that influence others; some play a more minor, and some a more major role. To help ensure your plot is intriguing, make sure that you make it as complicated and detailed and smart as the human body. Don't just write out the bare bones of your story, elaborate, make it come to life. 

Focus on suspense

A plot without any suspense or dramatic tension will be predictable and boring. Your readers need to feel suspenseful when reading your book; this will make them want to know what happens, enable them to react emotionally, and ensure that they aren't able to anticipate how the plot unfolds. If a reader second-guesses everything that happens, they won't enjoy your book as much as if you can surprise and delight them. Consider the different ways you can inject suspense into your novel - through secrets, unexpected arrivals, forbidden romances as so on. Your book doesn't have to be a suspense novel to use this device, and every good story will ensure that readers are full of anticipation and build up the suspense as they go. 

Double back to go forwards

While you don't want to drown your readers in backstory, if you want to engage your readers, they must be clear on what's happening. It is, therefore, a good idea to ensure that they understand the earlier events that have caused the protagonist and other characters to be where they are now. Backstory can help add depth to the story and characters. You can use backstory to reveal the origins of a character's earlier life or depict past events that invite the reader to suspect that things are not all that they seem.

Drop hints to build suspense

Readers love to try and second guess what's going to happen next, and while plot twists can be dramatic, don't make them too out of left field. To make your plot more intriguing, you need to include various hints that forecast what will happen later. These little teasers will build anticipation, which is so important. Implement this plot element by raising the stakes and hinting at what will happen if the protagonist fails, leaving a trail of clues that lead to a shock twist, or playing with the reader's emotions, by giving characters subtle traits that leave your readers feeling that they are not quite as they seem.

These are just some of the ways you can add interest to your story by including plot elements that will make it come alive. There are so many ways to connect your plot lines, to shake it up, and to add more energy and excitement to your story, and by following the above, you can ensure that your plot remains intriguing and carries the reader right to the very last page. 

Now you understand the different plot elements that will make your story shine, why not learn about how to create the perfect plot twist?

You can also Get A Free Writer's Toolkit By Visiting https://writerslife.org/gid

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Bethany Cadman - bethanycadman.co.uk

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