Easy plotting: start with a character

Many writers find plotting difficult. This applies equally to "into the mist" writers who write without outlines, and writers who do create outlines. They find it difficult because they complicate the process too much.

There's nothing much to plotting. You can use several methods. The easiest way, and often the way that's most satisfying to readers, starts with a character. Your character has ONE major trait. At the end of the book, that trait becomes its opposite.

How?

OK, here we go:

A timid character becomes courageous.
An angry character becomes forgiving.
A character who's a know-it-all realizes he doesn't.
A character who's beautiful and trades on her looks realizes that her looks are a danger to herself.

If you choose a "timid character becomes courageous", you start off by showing, in several scenes, your character being timid.

Your plot consists of all those events which turn your timid soul into a courageous one.

That's essentially it for plotting using this method. Of course you need to create your character's world, but the main bones of your plot consist of the transformation.

Try it. It's a great way to plot because it's FUN. Be outrageous in the events you create for your character. :-)

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