by C J Jackman Zigante

Created on: February 11, 2009

While scene and plot development are very similar the first deals more with the actual staging process of it or the mechanics if you will where as the plot is the main course the piece that makes it all make sense the fuel that gives it power.

The who, what, where, when, how and why, of your story really needs addressing even if you don't intend to impart all of that knowledge to the audience. Some things just happen and we don't know who did it, or sometimes we don't know why, or even when. We may not even know the what, that was done. That then becomes the plot, trying to understand the randomness or the senselessness of an event or action.

How did it happen, who did it happen too, where and when did it occur? All of those lovely suppositions give you options, places to lead your characters, trials to put them through, moments of joy, sadness or pain, to let them experience. Then through your plot the hero can save the girl, the villain can get his comeuppance and everyone can live happily ever after or not. It is all totally up to you and at the mercy of your keystroke on the keyboard.

Having said all that it is easy to have all those resources at your fingertips and do absolutely nothing with them or well nothing good. You see it in books and more often in movies that seem to have the potential, [if you judge by the trailer], to take you on an amazing journey, only to let you down sometimes in a very big way.

For me that was Inkheart. The premise was full of promise a man who can read out loud and pull characters from books. Oh and built into that of course was a delicious consequences. If someone comes out, someone must go in.

Oh the adventure that could have been had, instead it amounted to a road trip up the Italian mountainside and an ending that went poof not BOOM. We didn't go on a journey to different worlds; oh we were given glimpses but nothing more. Instead we drove back and forth talked about the different worlds drove back n forth some more walked a bit did some battle and yawn. Now with a movie you can get up and walk out and the actors will never know. But I'm sure the actors in a play would soon catch on when people kept failing to come back from the washroom.

While I can't tell you what to write about, I will say write about something that moves you, whether that's by making you laugh or cry or sing out loud or feel in some way changed by having experienced it. Write a story that makes you want to know the answers or tell someone else the answers to the question who, what, where, when, how and why. The more it matters to you, the more it resonates with you, the more you will be able to express it and give it life within your characters and their words.

Tips: avoid trying to write something similar to someone else's work, copping their style. so to speak. If you sit down with the goal of simply borrowing from, rather than being an originator chances are it will read like that.

Now should you see an idea and think wow, I kinda like how that story went but if I had of written it, it would have gone a little something like this then that's a little different.

But, let that be your jumping off point to create new characters and take them on a journey of their own. Try writing a plotline summary just sort of brainstorm and let the ideas come. When you think you have something, do the summary and then read it back if it feels right take it further, if not you can write more than one. Store them away and work on the one that seems to be sticking with you

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