How to keep a simple plot interesting?

[JLiana]

So for my current story, I'm writing about a woman who runs away from her abusive husband. After she's escaped, she meets people, she's asked about her wedding ring. She decides she's going to throw it into the sea. It's a very simple plot.

I want the book to be an exploration of this characters trauma, rediscovery of the self, womanhood, identity, sexuality, etc. I'm just slightly worried because I haven't thought about what would actually stop this character getting to her goal; what friction or tension I could realistically write to help her grow.

Because I don't want to really have her husband chase her across the land - I want this to be a survivor story, and giving him space on the page would take away from that, I think.

I suppose I'm asking how to write this without it being terribly boring to read, or how to make a story that isn't "save the world" feel like one of those stories, but on an individual scale. Because I know how to write this character, I'm just not sure what to throw at her so that her journey has actual friction and stakes. All I have is the act of healing itself, because it's a bumpy and difficult path to walk.

Any tips appreciated!

 

[hunterjwizzard]

There are only six plots. All plots are simple. Its what you do with it that makes it interesting. Your basic overview of:

a woman who runs away from her abusive husband. After she's escaped, she meets people, she's asked about her wedding ring. She decides she's going to throw it into the sea.

Isn't a lot less complex than "Bilbo finds a magic ring, gives it to his nephew, he throws it in a volcano" and well know how that turned out.

Your friction and tension can be steeped in the journey itself. She's trying to get away from him, even if he isn't following, she's trying to reach a point where she feels safe. You can make that as far as it needs to be. Assuming you aren't writing in a modern setting where "getting to the ocean" is as simple as buying a plain ticket, you can do it all with the difficulty of travel set against the personal drama of healing.

It could be quite exciting just in that way.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

The classic way is to add a 'monkey wrench' into the mix. Though said wrench varies depending on the story.
In one of my stories I have a frienemies to lovers situation with the male and female lead.

Both of them instantly got along (To my dismay) so I had them get off on the wrong foot. On their second meeting, female lead makes a move, but male lead's care takers are a big issue.

It's a good tactic, but I wouldn't rely on it overmuch. As it can seem like padding at times.

 

[Gurkhal]

Good obstacles can be how to get away from her husband?

The MC might not be economically independent and that makes leaving more difficult than just walking out. She'll need to either get hold of money to finance her travel away from the place of her husband's residence, either before she sets out or as she goes, or she'll need to develop the skills to "live off the land" so to speak.

If this happens in a northern climate during winter it will be more difficult and fraught with risks than during the summer.

Then when meeting people the MC, or the people she meets, might for various reasons not be entirely ready to open up to strangers and thus you can write how she develops a relationship with them and how they gradually open up to each other to the point that they ask her about the ring.

 

[pmmg]

There are only six plots.

By this, did you mean to say there are only six types of conflicts? Man vs man, man vs machine, man vs god, man vs themselves...

I think there are a lot more than six plots.

I dont know, without a conflict, there is no story. So, you are gonna have to pick one.

I would take this story full circle. That the thing she believes in the opening, that the dude is bad and she must escape, is actually a false belief, and direction of the story would be personal growth that brings her back. But...that's probably not what you want.

 

[JLiana]

There are only six plots. All plots are simple. Its what you do with it that makes it interesting. Your basic overview of:



Isn't a lot less complex than "Bilbo finds a magic ring, gives it to his nephew, he throws it in a volcano" and well know how that turned out.

Your friction and tension can be steeped in the journey itself. She's trying to get away from him, even if he isn't following, she's trying to reach a point where she feels safe. You can make that as far as it needs to be. Assuming you aren't writing in a modern setting where "getting to the ocean" is as simple as buying a plain ticket, you can do it all with the difficulty of travel set against the personal drama of healing.

It could be quite exciting just in that way.

Honestly when I decided my most basic plot line I was like "ah crap, it's LOTR" lmao.

But I get what you're saying! I think I need to trust my intuition a little because you've described basically what I want the story to be. It is more medieval fantasy so there's going to be walking. So much walking.

 

[JLiana]

Good obstacles can be how to get away from her husband?

The MC might not be economically independent and that makes leaving more difficult than just walking out. She'll need to either get hold of money to finance her travel away from the place of her husband's residence, either before she sets out or as she goes, or she'll need to develop the skills to "live off the land" so to speak.

If this happens in a northern climate during winter it will be more difficult and fraught with risks than during the summer.

Then when meeting people the MC, or the people she meets, might for various reasons not be entirely ready to open up to strangers and thus you can write how she develops a relationship with them and how they gradually open up to each other to the point that they ask her about the ring.

I have literally written that winter is rolling in during the first chapter. How did I forget that weather can be an obstacle. The last part you wrote made me rethink how I wanted to introduce a couple of characters, so thank you!

 

[JLiana]

The classic way is to add a 'monkey wrench' into the mix. Though said wrench varies depending on the story.
In one of my stories I have a frienemies to lovers situation with the male and female lead.

Both of them instantly got along (To my dismay) so I had them get off on the wrong foot. On their second meeting, female lead makes a move, but male lead's care takers are a big issue.

It's a good tactic, but I wouldn't rely on it overmuch. As it can seem like padding at times.

Yeah, I think my instinct at the moment is to sort of see where she ends up lmao. I have ideas for the people she'll meet, and some of the locations along the way, so I'm sure I can think of a way to make her journey a little bumpy. Mostly her obstacle is healing from trauma but I'll work on the physical too!

 

[JLiana]

By this, did you mean to say there are only six types of conflicts? Man vs man, man vs machine, man vs god, man vs themselves...

I think there are a lot more than six plots.

I dont know, without a conflict, there is no story. So, you are gonna have to pick one.

I would take this story full circle. That the thing she believes in the opening, that the dude is bad and she must escape, is actually a false belief, and direction of the story would be personal growth that brings her back. But...that's probably not what you want.

Yeah, unfortunately, her husband is the bad guy. :')

My bullet points, so to speak, are: she's escaped, isn't ready to trust people (man or woman or in between), she's a bit sheltered, has never had to deal with the reality of poverty, surviving on her own...there's a lot to work with. A false belief thrown in would definitely elevate everything though. I'll workshop it.

 

[Karlin]

There are only six plots. All plots are simple. Its what you do with it that makes it interesting. Your basic overview of:

This is an oversimplification of a study that was done. The popular press reported it this way:

Every story in the world has one of these six basic plots

Researchers analysed over 1700 novels to reveal six story types – but can they be applied to our most-loved tales? Miriam Quick takes a look.

www.bbc.com

dig a little, and you will find something a tad different:

Data Mining Reveals the Six Basic Emotional Arcs of Storytelling

Scientists at the Computational Story Laboratory have analyzed novels to identify the building blocks of all stories.

www.technologyreview.com

Karlin

 

[Penpilot]

This kind of sounds like it could be something like a road movie, where the character travels from place to place meeting interesting people on their way to a destination.

My bullet points, so to speak, are: she's escaped, isn't ready to trust people (man or woman or in between), she's a bit sheltered, has never had to deal with the reality of poverty, surviving on her own...there's a lot to work with. A false belief thrown in would definitely elevate everything though. I'll workshop it

Maybe along the way, each stop she faces one of these emotional issues in some form. It challenges/tests her, and she learns something, about herself, and maybe, about the world. It can be as saccharine or cynical as you like depending on the type of story you're telling.

 

[JLiana]

This kind of sounds like it could be something like a road movie, where the character travels from place to place meeting interesting people on their way to a destination.



Maybe along the way, each stop she faces one of these emotional issues in some form. It challenges/tests her, and she learns something, about herself, and maybe, about the world. It can be as saccharine or cynical as you like depending on the type of story you're telling.

Yeah, the character building is what I'm really looking forward to! It's definitely the part I have the most solid grip of (in terms of being able to pull from my own experience with trauma, anyway). I think the way you described it is how I want to structure it, basically. I'm just a little insecure about my ability to make it engaging.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

Yeah, I think my instinct at the moment is to sort of see where she ends up lmao. I have ideas for the people she'll meet, and some of the locations along the way, so I'm sure I can think of a way to make her journey a little bumpy. Mostly her obstacle is healing from trauma but I'll work on the physical too!

Looks like you found your wrench already lol which is good cause I don't know enough about your story/characters to help on that front. ._.

 

[pmmg]

This is an oversimplification of a study that was done. The popular press reported it this way:

Every story in the world has one of these six basic plots

Researchers analysed over 1700 novels to reveal six story types – but can they be applied to our most-loved tales? Miriam Quick takes a look.

www.bbc.com

dig a little, and you will find something a tad different:

Data Mining Reveals the Six Basic Emotional Arcs of Storytelling

Scientists at the Computational Story Laboratory have analyzed novels to identify the building blocks of all stories.

www.technologyreview.com

Karlin

I see.... I am going file this next to the usefulness of the discussion of tropes.

I'd focus on story instead and ignore all of that.

But, the problem at hand?

Husband dude is bad
Wife escapes
Flees into the wilderness...and struggles.
Husband dudes badness enrages a band of rebels
Wife is captured by rebels
They dont trust her
New dude starts to become more accepting of her.
A type enemies to lovers story begins
Bad husband seeks to get power over rebels, Looks to wake up a dragon.
Rebels must beat prince to the dragon
Story stuff unfolds
Wife captured by dragon, and turns its heart..
And with new allies the rebels win, hubby dies in fiery hell.


^Plot.

Someone can graph it.

 

[hunterjwizzard]

I need to trust my intuition

This.

It is more medieval fantasy so there's going to be walking. So much walking.

See that's room for infinite excitement, drama, and tension. Go for it.

 

[JLiana]

Looks like you found your wrench already lol which is good cause I don't know enough about your story/characters to help on that front. ._.

Honestly, I didn't even think about it being a wrench even though it will actively hinder her. :')

I might've been tired and not thinking much when I asked this question lol.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

Honestly, I didn't even think about it being a wrench even though it will actively hinder her. :')

I might've been tired and not thinking much when I asked this question lol.

Depending on the physical issue in question, it can 100% be a wrench. Say a character recently lost a hand/arm, the wrench can be them adapting to the new prosthetic limb. The struggle could take multiple forms too, physical, emotional you name it.

Speaking from experience, I have a Genetic/Personality disorder that causes me various physical issues but I'm otherwise normal, my wrench is that I can't do certain things quite as fast as the average person. I am very high functioning, but that doesn't stop my brain/body from not working quite right. Especially in things that require fast reaction times or precision. I can adapt to precision (Depending on the game) but reaction time is beyond me. I can actually do the thing in question, usually, but I can't often react fast as a game requires me to. It's a cause of many many tilted moments in games haha.

 

[Penpilot]

Yeah, the character building is what I'm really looking forward to! It's definitely the part I have the most solid grip of (in terms of being able to pull from my own experience with trauma, anyway). I think the way you described it is how I want to structure it, basically. I'm just a little insecure about my ability to make it engaging.

I think if you make us root for your character and empathize with their struggles, you've got most of the work done there. Because any obstacle, even if it seems small on the surface, can be huge if it feels huge for her. If you bring the reader into that moment and make them feel the weight of what she's feeling that's where you get the reader invested. For example, going to a party and talking to strangers might not seem like too big a deal for the average person, but for someone with severe social anxiety, they'd probably rather drink a glass of thumb tacks. If the reader feels the weight of that struggle as they navigate through that party, it can be every bit as emotional and engaging as a knight fighting a dragon. It's still a battle, just a different type of battle.

You said, you don't want to have the husband chasing her, but even though he isn't, what if she always feels like he's chasing her? Anyone who looks remotely like her husband can cause all sorts of trouble for her if she reacts negatively and in ways that make sense if you know her history, but to a stranger, can make her look irrational or unhinged. For example, she's walking down the street with a new friend. She sees what looks like her husband coming from the opposite direction. This causes here to bolt across three lanes of traffic to get to the other side. The new friend is going to be thinking WTF. You can play this seriously in terms of consequences, or you can play it for a bit of awkward humor, too, depending on what your story needs.

Serious consequences could be losing the friend or having to reveal her story before she's ready, so the friend doesn't think she's gone completely off the rails. Humor could be she runs across the street and unknowingly hides in an adult toy store. Friend follows and there are questions and some very awkward answers.

Also lastly, do you have an idea of where specifically she's going to throw the ring into the ocean? IMHO, if the location is emotionally significant in some way, it could give the journey more meaning. For example, she cold be taking it back to the pier where he proposed to her, so the journey could be a metaphorical unwinding of their marriage, where she imagines saying no instead of yes. OR maybe it's someplace significant to her earlier in her life, before her husband came into the picture. It can be attempt to return herself emotionally to a time before the dark cloud came into her life.

At this location, you could also play with the idea of her feeling the husband chasing after her one final time. She sees someone who looks like her husband there, but instead of running from him, she shows how much she's grown by walking right up to face him. As she approaches, she see's its not him. It never was and it never will be. OR, you have a twist where it actually is him this time, and she deals with him using what she learned along the way.

 

[Romy]

So much walking.

There and back again...

 

[JLiana]

Also lastly, do you have an idea of where specifically she's going to throw the ring into the ocean? IMHO, if the location is emotionally significant in some way, it could give the journey more meaning. For example, she cold be taking it back to the pier where he proposed to her, so the journey could be a metaphorical unwinding of their marriage, where she imagines saying no instead of yes. OR maybe it's someplace significant to her earlier in her life, before her husband came into the picture. It can be attempt to return herself emotionally to a time before the dark cloud came into her life.

At this location, you could also play with the idea of her feeling the husband chasing after her one final time. She sees someone who looks like her husband there, but instead of running from him, she shows how much she's grown by walking right up to face him. As she approaches, she see's its not him. It never was and it never will be. OR, you have a twist where it actually is him this time, and she deals with him using what she learned along the way.

So my thinking was that the ocean is somewhere she's never been - I kind of wanted her to have something that was just *hers* to escape to, as her husband casts less and less of a shadow over her life as she heals. Obviously it never goes completely away, but I don't want the story that is supposed to be centered on a survivor to be totally centered on the man.

I do like the idea of her seeing someone who looks like him though, so I might steal that...