How to make your plot engaging in 2 easy steps
All of us have read a book at some point in our lives that we do not engage with; one we put down and never picked back up again or had a storyline that did not pique our interest. No author can please every reader, but there are two major things that all popular stories have that can make your story and plot instantly more engaging.
Creating a compelling storyline comes down to two simple rules: premise and event succession. Keep reading to see when these mean and how you can apply them to your own story.
Premise
This is what we would call the “elevator pitch” of your story, or how you would explain it in a few simple sentences – the time it takes to take an elevator ride. It is something that a lot of authors struggle with formulating, but at the same time it is vitally important. If your premise is strong and intriguing you will attract readers to pick up your novel.
The premise of the story is what takes place in the first few chapters while you are worldbuilding, and usually includes the inciting incident. Think of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins:
Katniss, a young girl in a dystopian future, struggles to take care of her sister and mother while breaking the rules that the totalitarian government imposes. When her little sister is chosen to participate in the Hunger Games – a mandatory competition where children murder each other for the amusement of the rich – Katniss steps up and takes her place. She fights to survive in an arena that is designed to try and kill her at every turn.
Millions of people picked up the book based on the premise alone. It is not original -dystopian YA novels with atrocities performed by the government- is hardly a new concept- the way it is framed, with a young girl stepping up to protect her family, is fresh, and is what drew the attention of so many people.
You can do the same with your story.
Think of your premise. Is it interesting? Can you clearly convey it in a way that will make someone want to read your book? If the answer to both of those is Yes, then congratulations, you have completed the first step to writing an interesting book.
Event Succession
Event succession refers to the way events in a story connect with each other. Ideally, this should be a cause-and-effect chain rather than individual occurrences that push the story forward. Here are two examples of what this would look like.
A woman gains a magical power, and then someone tries to kill her. And then she goes on vacation to Greece to meet her uncle. And then her uncle tells her about the local magical community. And then she receives a letter with another death threat…
A young woman gains a magical power therefore she starts looking for the origin of her powers -an uncle who lives in Greece. Therefore, she sets out to meet him, and then someone tries to kill her. Therefore, she and her uncle discuss what happened, and she learns about the local magical community. Therefore, she goes to meet them to see if they have answers. And then she receives a letter threatening her…
Look at the two passages above. Which contains a more coherent story? Though these are written in very simplistic language to clearly highlight the concept of Event Succession we are trying to convey, notice how in the first story, most of the events are connected with “and then”, while in the second they connect with “therefore”. The plot of the two is basically the same but connecting the stories with cause and effect makes for a much more compelling plotline. Think of your favorite books. How many connect their plot with “and then” scenes, rather than with “therefore”?
While separate events can and do happen to push a story forward, if your plot includes more “and” and less “therefore” you might want to revisit it.
Applying these two simple tips to your story, is an easy way to judge the effectiveness of your plot and whether it will appeal to readers, so don’t hesitate to take a hard look at your writing and, if need be, make the hard choice about what needs to change in your story.
