On establishing a plot

[Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba]

I figured this was the best forum for my query.

Now, I enjoy writing as much as anyone, but I have a problem whenever I do: I have trouble keeping a goal in mind, both for characters and the story as a whole. I might have a murky idea of a setting, maybe a couple characters, and a particular couple scenes I really want to write, but I can never establish what feels like a good baseline for the story, even in the most basic form.

And when I have no idea where I don't write since I have no purpose in mind for any of it. So at best I write killer exposition and then I'm left hanging since I'm not sure where to go.

Even once I've established the most basic outline - a beginning and a general idea of the ending - I have trouble doing what comes easily in Drama, and I can't just let my characters act like I imagine they would until it gets to the satisfactory conclusion, since I'm too cautious that it might end up train-wrecked.

Does any of this happen to anyone else? Any tips on how to solve this?

[Noble Ire]

I often have to deal with the same problem. I have a lot of ideas I really want to expand upon, but after thinking about them for a bit, I usually realize that I really can't go anywhere with them and put them aside. If you really want to carry through with your concept, though, I would suggest you go for it; sometimes, if one's characters and setting are good enough, the plot can write itself (although you may find yourself wishing later on that you had planned out the story more throughly in the beginning; foreshadowing is a satisfying and effective tool, if you can work it in). Still, that method is rather hit or miss; one project I employed it with is several hundred pages long and nearing completion, while another has gone through four iterations, each only one or two chapters long before their inevitable derailment.

All that aside, though, preparing a core plot summary is always a good idea. Put down your starting point, your ending point, and then brainstorm a few key elements that might go between them; you can always alter those foundations to meet the needs of the story later on, but having them can at least give you something to shoot for, rather than allowing your characters to write themselves into the figurative corner.

[Singular Quartet]

Quick and dirty plot method:

Step 1: Have some main characters. I will call them the McGoody-Good Family.

Step 2: Have some evil dude that the main characters do not like, such as the McDoody-Good's nextdoor neighbor, Shitfuck Arsemonkey. Perhaps he has an evil goatee.

Step 3: Have a McGuffin. Perhaps Shitfuck Arsemonkey too his sickness out on the McGoody-Good's cat, or took a shit on their lawn, or blew up their garage. Maybe even all three. Doesn't really matter. I mean, we don't need the event to be a McGuffin, perhaps Mr. Arsemonkey had other purposes in mind when he crucified little Sally McGoody-Good's pet bunny.

Step 4: The Rising Actions. Mr. McGoody-Good heading next door to have a "word" with Mr. Arsemonkey, and returning home to put his hand in some ice, would be an example. Perhaps he sees a leather-bound copy of the Necronomicon while over there. Or maybe just a print-out of it. This is the age of computers, after all.

Step 5: The Climax. This would be the point after the garage exploding, that Mr McGoody-Good grabs his twelve gauge and heads next door to exchange some final words. And Mr. Arsemonkey now happens to be Demon Lord Arsemonkey, King of Baboons. Standard rules dicatate that Twelve-Guages trump Demon Lords, so it's assumed Mr McGoody-Good walks back home and has hot missionary sex with his wife.

Step 6: Falling Action. The Police and Firefighters arrive, as Hell is happens to be a fire hazard. If you wish to leave room for a sequel, state that no corpse was ever found. Or maybe just that little Billy McGoody-Good happened to be picking through the rubble after Mrs. McGoody-Good told him not to, and found a leather bound book with nifty pictures in it.

[Hawkwings]

Write down your ideas, then sorta shuffle them around and see what happens if you do *this* first, then *this* happens, and what about *this* in the middle?

But first, write it down.

[Covenant]

I figured this was the best forum for my query.

Now, I enjoy writing as much as anyone, but I have a problem whenever I do: I have trouble keeping a goal in mind, both for characters and the story as a whole. I might have a murky idea of a setting, maybe a couple characters, and a particular couple scenes I really want to write, but I can never establish what feels like a good baseline for the story, even in the most basic form.

And when I have no idea where I don't write since I have no purpose in mind for any of it. So at best I write killer exposition and then I'm left hanging since I'm not sure where to go.

Even once I've established the most basic outline - a beginning and a general idea of the ending - I have trouble doing what comes easily in Drama, and I can't just let my characters act like I imagine they would until it gets to the satisfactory conclusion, since I'm too cautious that it might end up train-wrecked.

Does any of this happen to anyone else? Any tips on how to solve this?

I'd say, strengthen the outline. First, get a general idea of the over-arching plot. Basically... what's the main thing? What solves the story? Once you've got that in mind, flesh out a beginning, middle and end. Or if you're going for a more epic flow (heroes journey and such) or well-made play style of organization (nothing wrong with that!) set down that template.

Then subdivide, and then do it again, and then again. If you can play out the story in your head the way it might in a movie, you're ready to write. If you can't quite picture sections then that's what you've gotta fix.

So what you're doing is strengthening the safety net. You should NOT let your characters get dramatic, in the sense of doing whatever they want, until you understand how that's going to work itself to your advantage. Shoehorning someone into an action may be cheesy, but you need the actions to lead up to the end. The idea that a character has it's own motivations is just an illusion of good writing, characters are inevitably parts of the story, and a character that's not helping the story might as well just get cut. Understanding the motivations of the people you've created is important to making them believable, but you need to flesh out their positions within the story. They're essentially archetypes and messages and plotlines, not actual people.

Anyway, I'm guessing what you need to do is play connect-the-dots with the entire story. ESPECIALLY the middle. You can't just have a vague beginning, no middle, and a vague end and expect to get anywhere with it. Save yourself the agony and rough out a skeleton story. Sum up each 'chapter' in a paragraph, then split that, and turn those into paragraphs, then split those... until you're ready to write the actual thing.