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Plot Matters
Strong Characters and A Strong Plot Make for an Amazing Story
Storytelling is ultimately a creative act of pattern recognition. Through characters, plot and setting, a writer creates places where previously invisible truths become visible. Or the storyteller posits a series of dots that the reader can connect.
Douglas Coupland
I have emphasized character in previous articles. However, plot does matter, and a story without forward motion, without conflict resulting from the characters, is going to feel dull to your readers, and readers do not enjoy dull and lifeless stories.
In life, certain actions lead to consequences, so it should be the same in your novel or short story. If a person’s actions have no consequences, our readers feel frustrated.
Occasionally, books are dull, but those aren’t the ones that stand out. The books don’t leave us pondering for hours after reading them.
It is necessary for every story to have a level of conflict as well as character development, whether the conflict is internal, i.e. internal turmoil, or external, such as a conflict with another character.
