Read Online Write Great Fiction--Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell - Free Book Online Page B

As these events converge and careen out of control, neither the living nor the dead are safe.”
    Finally, think hard about a sinker. This is the negative angle, what might possibly sink your idea as a venture. That doesn’t mean you get rid of the idea (though you may); you can also strengthen it considerably. Here are the questions you need to ask and answer to your satisfaction before moving on:
    [1] Has this type of story been done before? (Almost always, the answer will be yes.) If it has, what elements can you add that are unique? Brainstorm a list of possibilities. Keep on brainstorming until you have something no one has seen before.
    [2] Is the setting ordinary? If so, where else might you set the story? What sort of background has not been done to death?
    [3] Are the characters you’re thinking of made of old stock? If so, how can you make them more interesting? What fresh perspective can you provide? Again, do some free-range brainstorming and don’t throw out any ideas until you have generated a long list.
    [4] Is this story “big enough” to grab a substantial number of readers? If not, what can you do to make it bigger? How might you raise the stakes? Almost always, death (physical or psychological) must be a very real possibility.
    [5] Is there some other element you can add that is fascinating? Think of the idea from every angle, and how you might add a twist or two that enlivens the whole. Yes, it’s more list making. Just do it.
    Like cookies and love, story ideas need to be fresh to be truly satisfying. By applying these questions to your story idea, you’ll keep yourself from starting down a long path that may turn toward dullsville.
BELL’S PYRAMID
    What editors and agents will tell you is that they are looking for a “fresh, original voice” within the cosmos of what has worked before. In other words, they want it both ways: original, yet not so original that the people in the marketing department won’t know what to do with it.
    So give them both. Give one final pass on your best ideas by putting them into Bell’s Pyramid. (Forgive me, but never having had a pyramid bear my name, I went ahead and named this one.)

Passion
    The base of the pyramid is plot
passion
. You are going to be spending a lot of time with the plots you choose to write. A novel can take months, sometimes years. So you’d better have a passionate desire to take the plunge in order to sustain yourself in the long haul.
    Why are so many novels rejected? One reason is they seem “cookie cutter.” They follow the crowd because the writer often thinks, “Gee, if I write something like something else that is successful, I can get published.”
    This is a major mistake. Without a passionate commitment to the plot
as a story you’re burning to tell
, your voice will not be original or compelling. You will just end up sounding like the maddening crowd of other wannabes pounding on the doors of opportunity.
    Of all the strata of the pyramid, passion is the most important for your writer’s soul and, almost always, your ultimate success. While it is fine to do journeyman work for money (if you are learning the craft), I believe we writers must nourish and nurture our individuality. Only then do we rise above the commonplace.
    As Brenda Ueland says, “Work with all your intelligence and love. Work freely and rollickingly as though they were talking to a friend who loves you. Mentally (at least three or four times a day) thumb your nose at all the know-it-alls, jeerers, critics, doubters.”
    You may even, if you wish, thumb your nose at me. Just make sure you’re passionate about doing so.
Potential
    On the next level, you consider the possible reach of the idea to an audience. For a moment, take off your artist’s hat and assume the role of a potential investor. If you were going to put up many dollars to publish this book, do you have a chance to