How do I maintain flow and interest when handling numerous plot threads?
Asked by: Rob Lacy
How do you keep track of plot threads?
Following are some steps to help you look at your novel dispassionately:
- Identify your plot threads. This involves sitting down and listing all the major events your characters face in the novel. …
- Count the threads. …
- Increase the thread count, if needed. …
- Or, reduce the thread count if too much is going on. …
- Count again.
How do you organize a complex plot?
Organizing the Complex Story
- Organizing your material.
- Write a plan. As you embark on a story that promises to be complicated, write out a plan. …
- Discuss your plan. Talk your plan over with your editor. …
- Ask what the story is about. …
- Focus your reporting. …
- Count your steps. …
- Write as you report. …
- Use spreadsheets.
How do you continue a storyline?
17 Ideas to continue writing your novel when you get stuck
- Tip #3: Dust off your other characters. …
- Tip #4: Explore your world. …
- Tip #5: Ask questions. …
- Tip #6: Start at the end. …
- Tip #7: Set a deadline. …
- Tip #8: Introduce a new character. …
- Tip #9: Add subplots. …
- Tip #10: Add an unexpected twist.
How do you avoid a predictable plot?
Consider a different approach – in other words, throw in some unpredictable plot twists, the kind that your reader won’t be able to second guess. Writers love to wrong-foot their readers, so don’t be afraid to thrown them off course. 2. Try to be fresh and different with your themes – readers like the unexpected.
How do you manage multiple plot lines?
How To Manage Multiple Plot Lines Without Going Crazy
- Make the characters relevant to each other’s plots. …
- Introduce breaks when the character point of view changes. …
- Make the plots relevant to each other.
How do you keep track of multiple stories?
Notecards or post-its with chapter or scene summaries are a big help. You can lay them out on the floor or pin them up on the wall to get a visual of your various sub-plots. I know others who create more of a flowchart for their plots, and there is plenty of free flowchart software online that can help you with that.
What are three ways to organize ideas in writing?
The three common methods of organizing writing are chronological order, spatial order, and order of importance.
How do you organize events in a story?
Chronological Order : One of the simplest forms of story organization ideas, this approach looks at what’s happening to your character in order of time. To paraphrase Gandalf, start at the beginning, proceed through the middle, and when you reach the end, stop.
How do you write a mind bending story?
Tips for Crafting a Mind-Blowing Plot Twist
- Throw Out the Obvious. Brainstorm plot twists. …
- Use Misdirection. Like a magician, keep your audience’s attention focused on your right hand while the magic happens with the left. …
- Crank Up the Foreshadowing. Foreshadowing is a must to plant clues along the way. …
- Avoid Gimmicks.
What makes a book Predictable?
Predictable books make use of familiar words, word/sentence patterns, illustrative clues, and rhyme to make the text easier to read. Predictable books are important because they are easy to understand and remember.
What are crowd Questions?
CROWD is the second strategy provided in “The Power of Interactive Read Alouds.” CROWD is an acronym and each letter stands for different types of questions to ask children when reading aloud: Completion, Recall, Open-ended, Wh-, and Distancing questions.
What is an early emergent reader?
Early emergent readers are just beginning their reading journey. These students are typically 6 months to 6 years old and are learning the alphabet. As they advance, these readers begin to recognize the difference in uppercase and lowercase letters.
What are the types of predictable books?
These include chain/circular stories, cumulative sequences, familiar/known sequences, pattern stories, question and answer, phrase/sentence repetition, and rhyme/rhythm repetition.
What is a participation book?
Participation books are another type of storybook. Young children delight in being able to repeat the book’s suggestions, such as clapping their hands, touching their toes, or covering their eyes. Lift-the-flap books also promote interaction.
What are concept books?
Concept books are those meant to teach young children basic concepts such as ABCs, numbers, colors, opposites, time, size, etc. Take a look at the individual tabs in this section to see bibliographies of books at Staley Library covering these concepts.
What is predictable text?
Predictable texts are a specific type of book used in the earliest stages of reading instruction. Predictable texts are constructed to encourage beginning readers to memorise whole words and sentences and to use picture cues to ‘read’ unknown words.
What is a basal text?
Basal readers are textbooks used to teach reading and associated skills to schoolchildren. Commonly called “reading books” or “readers” they are usually published as anthologies that combine previously published short stories, excerpts of longer narratives, and original works.
What is prosody in reading?
Prosodic reading, or reading with expression, is widely considered to be one of the hallmarks of the achievement of reading fluency. When a child is reading prosodically, oral reading sounds much like speech with appropriate phrasing, pause structures, stress, rise and fall patterns, and general expressiveness.