How it works
These writing prompts for plot development start where most prompts stop. Somebody is already doing something odd, or already wants something. The line under each prompt names the step and gives the question that comes after it.
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What a step of plot is
A plot is a chain of connected events: every event but the last one affects at least one of the others. So a step of plot is an event that changes what can happen next. A woman who drags a garden bench to a new spot every week is a situation. What she wants to see from it is the first step.
From one step to an outline
Work one situation through all four kinds. A piano mover wants an upright on the fourth floor by noon, and the building is the obstacle. Turn the story on a landing, then decide what getting the piano in will cost. Four steps, each caused by the one before, make an outline.
- Write the step as a scene, not as a summary.
- If your step changes nothing that comes after it, pick another.
Questions and answers
What are plot development writing prompts?
Prompts that hand over a story already in motion and ask for one move. A retired judge signs up for a beginners' swimming class: decide what she wants by the end of summer. The premise is done. The plot is the part left to write.
How do I use writing prompts for plot development?
Answer one prompt in a paragraph, then answer the Then ask question under it in a second paragraph. If the second could not have happened without the first, that is plot. Keep asking what follows until something is settled.
What is a turn in a plot?
On this page, an event in plain sight that changes what a character wants or has to do. A class raises money all year for a trip, and a letter arrives the day before they leave. Nothing hidden is revealed, and nothing is the same.
Why give a plot a price?
So the ending costs something. A girl can keep the puppy if she gives up her mornings at the swimming pool. Either way she loses one of them, and which one she lets go is the story.