Table of Contents

Contents

Introduction

1: To plot or not to plot

2: When’s the right time to write

3: The basic components of a good story

4: How theory works in practice

5: The magic of three

6: Finding ideas

7: A note about themes

8: Starting to develop your story

9: It’s never too soon to think of the ending

10: Step outlines – the powerful way to plot

The practicalities of step outlining

11: Step outlining in action

12: Research

13: Developing characters

14: Making characters believable

15: Character arcs

16: Character development in action

17: Sorting out the setting

18: Setting in action

19: Making your story original

20: Adding humour

21: Special issues with series

22: Viewpoint

23: Choosing where to start

24: Making every step count

25: Subplots and story strands

26: Creating story strands

27: Conflict, dilemmas and problems

28: Pacing your book

29: What’s at stake?

30: Handling time

31: When the plot goes wrong

32: Troubleshooting the beginning

33: Troubleshooting the middle

34: Troubleshooting the end

35: Troubleshooting the length

36: Choosing the title

37: A final update on Future Proof

Conclusion

Other books about plotting

About the author