5 Ways to Fix Your Plot
“The first draft of anything is sh**,” American novelist Ernest Hemingway famously said,
adding, “The only kind of writing is rewriting.”
That’s all very well, but even if we sense that our scripts need development, how do we go about it?
Taken from my experience as a script consultant, here are five ways to fix your plot and make sure your story leaps off the page.
1. Make Your Protagonist Active
A great place to start a rewrite is to focus on your protagonist. This should be the character who's making the decisions that shape the plot.
Hollywood icon Dustin Hoffman used to say that he would only make a film if his character had at least 40 choice points. This would ensure he was playing an active protagonist whose decisions were driving the story.
The protagonist’s goal is like the engine that generates energy and propels the story all the way through to the climax. I have found that the protagonist being too passive is one of the most common problems in lackluster screenplays.
Ask yourself, does your main character have a clear, identifiable goal? Are they pursuing this in every scene in which they appear? What steps do they take to overcome all the obstacles to achieve what they want?
Give your protagonist an obsessive drive so that they will do whatever it takes to
succeed.
2. Strengthen Your Antagonist
Another great way to force your protagonist to become more dynamic is to strengthen your
antagonist. The more powerful the antagonist, the harder the protagonist has to work to
overcome them.
Think of your story as a heavyweight fight between two champions. The push and pull between them creates the momentum that drives the action.
Make sure your antagonist also has a clear, identifiable goal, ideally in direct conflict with the protagonist's, so that only one of them can win. Check that your plot has escalating conflict so that the main character has to become smarter, stronger, and braver throughout the story, until at the final climax, the protagonist and antagonist come face to face.
It 's through overcoming obstacles and fighting the antagonist that the protagonist is forced to step up and make that transformation from zero to hero.
3. Ensure Every Scene Advances the Plot
Even if you have already written a full draft, go back and create a step outline for your story, writing a sentence or two to describe the action in each scene. This is a no-frills document for the development team only, but one of the best tools for diagnosing any story problems.
Go through and check that there are no scenes that are repetitive or don't advance the story and characters in some way. It may be that you need to compress some of the plot points and move them all forward so that you get to the big turning points sooner, then develop your story beyond that.
Identify where the conflict is coming from in every scene. Find ways to keep the audience on the edge of their seats to the very end.
4. Create a Ticking Clock
Depending on the genre, see if you can add a ticking clock to your story. A reason the protagonist has to achieve their goal by a certain time. For example, they have to get to a competition before it ends or pay the gangsters before they get killed.
Look at the time frame over which your story is set. It's effective to keep the action contained in as short a time frame as possible, whilst still making sense of the story. This helps to maintain tension and keep the pressure on your characters.
It's only under pressure that people reveal who they really are, after all.
5. Identify Your Theme
Identify the theme of your story or what it's really about.
Once you know your theme, look back through your story and check that all of the elements reflect it in some way. Make sure your protagonist learns the theme through the plot and changes because of it.
Make the antagonist an embodiment of your theme in its shadow aspect. For example, if the theme is about living from the heart, have the antagonist be someone who lives from the head alone.
Scrutinize every little detail and make the antagonist express the theme in some way. This will help pull all the elements in your story together and make it feel like a unified whole.
One Final Tip
With a rewrite, it’s effective to only focus on one element at a time, rather than trying to change everything at once. Go through the whole draft, focusing on the protagonist's drive.
Then, when you are happy with that, do a pass for the antagonist and so on.
All writers know that rewriting can be a slog at times, but don’t be disheartened.
Ernest Hemingway rewrote the ending of A Farewell to Arms 39 times before he was satisfied. Writing is a marathon, not a sprint, but move slowly and consistently, and you’ll cross the finish.
A Final Word From Brit: If you're looking for more ways to fix your plot, I can help. Grab tips from our free Resource Library or explore my editing and coaching services to learn more about how I help make your story shine.
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Guest Blogger Bio
Jacqueline Haigh is a story consultant who heads up the Scriptwriting Division at The London Ghostwriting Company. With over 17 years as a professional writer and script doctor, Jacqueline occupies a leading role in advising and consulting on narrative structure across film, television, stage, radio, and all major literary projects.
Interested in writing a GUEST POST? Learn more about submitting to us: https://bewrit.com/write-for-us/.
