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structural avoidance, diagnosed
You think your plot is broken because nothing's happening.
Nothing's happening because you're avoiding the bad thing that has to happen for the story to be worth telling. Plot is the bad thing you don't want to put your character through, and the resistance you feel as a writer is the same resistance the character feels in the world. Different problem than craft. Same fix. We walk through how to identify the avoided event, why it scares you, and the exact technique for writing toward it instead of around it. Most plot problems are not plot problems. They're courage problems. The structural fix is to be braver on behalf of the character.
The avoided event diagnostic
| Story symptom | Avoided event |
|---|---|
| Character won't commit | The decision they have to make |
| Stakes feel low | The loss you're protecting them from |
| Pace dragging | The confrontation you keep postponing |
| Antagonist absent | The encounter you keep delaying |
| Ending unclear | The cost you don't want them to pay |
Write the bad thing this week
- Identify the worst thing that could happen to your character.
- Notice you've been avoiding it.
- Write a draft of that scene. Badly is fine.
- Place it at the 60-percent mark.
- Rebuild the plot around it.
- Watch the story finally move.
A plot problem is almost always a courage problem in a costume. Write the bad thing. The book starts working immediately.
— L.A. Walton, The Book Maven
From the Maven Catalog
- Master Course — Plot Architecture
- eBook — The Bad Thing Must Happen
- Toolkit — Plot Diagnosis Toolkit
- Planner — Plot Builder Planner
Stop trying to outline around it. Write the bad thing. The plot rearranges itself the second you do.