I'm reading The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing and wanted to share a few pointers from my favorite chapter, "The Plot Thickens," written by Monica Wood.
A story needs a point of departure, a place from which the character can discover something, transform himself, realize a truth, reject a truth, right a wrong, make a mistake, come to terms. Departure is the story's complication because something has to happen. For example, Grandma Frances gets sick; Buddy the dog gets hit by a car; the boss's 15-year marriage is tested. You see where I'm going.
Don't mistake a "situation" for a "complication." A complication must illuminate, thwart, or alter what the character wants. A good complication puts emotional pressure on a character, prompting that character not only to act, but to act with a purpose.
Good complications are connected to the character, usually conjuring some kind of desire or regret, conscious or unconscious, in the character. A well chosen complication should give you choices. Having multiple choices for your characters makes fiction writing interesting.
If you're struggling more than you feel you should, you may have run out of interesting choices, or had too few to begin with. Go back to the complication, tweak it, and start all over.
It's okay, this is your baby. Take all the time you need to see that it grows into exactly what you want your readers to see.
You can learn more about developing your plot, breaking your writer's block, revising your manuscript, creating suspenseful page turners, marketing your work, and other helpful guidance, but I'll let you go pick up a copy of the book and read for yourself. The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing is now in its 2nd edition; however, I prefer the first (pictured above). So, have I whetted your literary appetite?
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