Tighten Your Plot: First Two Tips
You have a great story in mind. Really great. You sit down to write, all fired up … and then you wobble and go off the rails. With some effort you find the storyline only to get sidetracked again. Eventually you’re holding a bunch of loose threads. Here are some writing tips to tighten your plot and get your great story back on track.
I’ll suggest two in this blog and three more on Friday.
Title Image: Getty Images. Creator: M-A-U
Tighten Your Plot: Tip #1
Avoid internal monologue dither
Internal monologue is the privileged province of the novelist. As storytellers we are uniquely positioned to get inside our characters to know exactly what they’re thinking, feeling and remembering at any given moment.
Theater has the soliloquy. The bosom friend character exists on stage and on screen to receive information about the main character’s inner life, but for the reveal to happen the scene has to be set. In contrast, we novelists get to dart in and out of our characters’ interiors at will.
The trick is to use our privilege well.
One. Internal monologue doesn’t count as plot and can’t replace plot.
Two. The succession of internal monologues in any given story must continuously reveal new information about the character’s thoughts/feelings/memories. No repeating the point that the character feels bad about X or is mad about Y.
Three. Beware the interior monologue dump.
You may write a lot of interior monologue especially at the beginning of your story when you’re getting to know your characters. But be ruthless in editing it. You may need to know everything all at once about your characters’ interior lives. The reader doesn’t.
Interior monologue is important, but focus on your plot. Keep the story moving.
Tighten Your Plot: Tip #2
Determine your dimensions
If you’re a beginning novelist, try playing a numbers game in order to improve your chances of having a tight plot.
One. How big do you imagine your story to be? Ten thousand words? Forty thousand? Eighty? One hundred and twenty?
All painters have to size their canvas before they can begin to paint. Likewise, you, the novelist, need to have a sense of the narrative space you need to fill. In painting terms, ten thousand words or less is a still life or a portrait. One hundred and twenty thousand is a mural.
Two. How many main and secondary characters are you planning to create? A portrait may have one or two main characters or perhaps a family of four. A mural might have half-a-dozen main characters and a slew of secondary ones.
Depending on the size of your story, you may have to create more characters as you go. It just might be that your main character needs a best friend – or an enemy. And, again, depending on the size of your story, you may have to condense characters as you go. The co-worker and the best friend from college might work better if they were one and the same person.
Don’t be afraid to amend your cast of characters.
Three. How many plot lines do you have up and running?
Think of it this way: a half-hour sit com has one issue to resolve; an hour drama likely has two.
Tighten Your Plot: My Shapeshifter Trilogy
In December I finally started writing Money For Nothing, Book II in my shapeshifter trilogy. It had been on my back burner for easily three years. I always knew it would be a Florida crime caper story wrapped around a werepanther romance. After only three chapters, I saw that the one caper storyline was not going to sustain the scope I’m going for here, even with the romance. So I complicated the heroine’s family life. At the point I am now in writing the story I can report that her brother has really screwed things up.
My point is: The right-sized story with the right amount of characters and a sufficiently simple or complex plot will, ideally, run like a well-built train laying its own rails.
The first story in my shapeshifter trilogy is Buy Me Love
кашпо пластиковое напольное http://www.kashpo-napolnoe-krasnodar.ru/ .
натяжной потолок 1 кв метр натяжной потолок 1 кв метр .
интересные цветочные горшки http://dizaynerskie-kashpo-nsk.ru/ .
оригинальные кашпо горшки для цветов http://www.dizaynerskie-kashpo-rnd.ru .
горшок с автополивом купить горшок с автополивом купить .
горшок с самополивом http://kashpo-s-avtopolivom-spb.ru/ .
кашпо для цветов напольное уличное пластиковое купить http://ulichnye-kashpo-kazan.ru .
Clarte Nexive se distingue comme une plateforme de placement crypto revolutionnaire, qui exploite la puissance de l’intelligence artificielle pour offrir a ses utilisateurs des avantages decisifs sur le marche.
Son IA scrute les marches en temps reel, detecte les occasions interessantes et met en ?uvre des strategies complexes avec une exactitude et une rapidite hors de portee des traders humains, maximisant ainsi les potentiels de rendement.
TurkPaydexHub se differencie comme une plateforme d’investissement crypto innovante, qui utilise la puissance de l’intelligence artificielle pour proposer a ses membres des avantages concurrentiels decisifs.
Son IA analyse les marches en temps reel, repere les opportunites et met en ?uvre des strategies complexes avec une exactitude et une rapidite inatteignables pour les traders humains, augmentant de ce fait les potentiels de profit.
TurkPaydexHub AI
TurkPaydexHub se differencie comme une plateforme d’investissement crypto de pointe, qui exploite la puissance de l’intelligence artificielle pour proposer a ses membres des avantages concurrentiels decisifs.
Son IA scrute les marches en temps reel, repere les opportunites et applique des tactiques complexes avec une exactitude et une rapidite inatteignables pour les traders humains, maximisant ainsi les perspectives de gain.
Excellent article!! I am an avid reader of your website:D keep on posting that good content. and I’ll be a regular visitor for a very long time!!
This information is critically needed, thanks.
You appear to know so much about this, and I see you’re a published author. Thanks
I just added this to my favorites. I truly love reading your posts. Tyvm!
I feel that is among the so much significant info for me. And i am satisfied studying your article. However should commentary on some basic issues, The site style is ideal, the articles is in reality excellent : D. Excellent activity, cheers
Howdy! I simply wish to give a huge thumbs up for the great information you have here on this post. I will be coming again to your weblog for extra soon.
I Am Going To have to come back again when my course load lets up – however I am taking your Rss feed so i can go through your site offline. Thanks.
Certainly. And I have faced it. Let’s discuss this question. Here or in PM.
Hi my family member! I want to say that this article is amazing, great written and include approximately all important infos. I’d like to see more posts like this .
white cloud casino
References:
https://gitea.ontoast.uk/alejandrinazzf
of course like your web-site however you have to check the spelling on several of your posts. Many of them are rife with spelling problems and I find it very troublesome to tell the reality then again I will surely come back again.
Greetings, have tried to subscribe to this websites rss feed but I am having a bit of a problem. Can anyone kindly tell me what to do?’
I was suggested this website by my cousin. I am not sure whether this post is written by him as no one else know such detailed about my difficulty. You are wonderful! Thanks!
Our family had similar issues, thanks.
Good job for bringing something important to the internet!
shoshone rose casino
References:
https://www.arcbyte.dev/adrienedelong3
When are you going to post again? You really entertain me!
I want to see your book when it comes out.
I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good. I do not know who you are but certainly you are going to a famous blogger if you are not already 😉 Cheers!
slot canyons utah
References:
http://git.biscicloud.com/raymundo29613/aktueller-smokace-bonus-code-20242006/-/issues/1
Déterminer quel casino en ligne est réellement adapté pour miser de l’argent véritable s’avère bien plus délicat qu’on pourrait le penser. En 2025, le secteur français des jeux virtuels connaît une croissance rapide, mettant à disposition plus de 200 plateformes certifiées accessibles aux joueurs nationaux. Cette multitude d’options rend la sélection d’un site fiable et agréable encore plus exigeante.C’est pour cette raison que notre classement s’appuie sur une analyse rigoureuse. L’ensemble des casinos en argent réel mentionnés ici ont été examinés en détail avant d’être ajoutés. La sécurité des utilisateurs demeure au cœur de nos priorités, et notre objectif est de vous éviter les dangers associés aux sites non fiables, de plus en plus nombreux sur le web.
Quel est le meilleur casino en ligne France pour jouer en toute sécurité en 2025 ? Il faut dire qu’aujourd’hui, trouver un site de casino en ligne fiable n’est pas une mince affaire. Il est très facile de se perdre parmi l’offre grandissante des casinos français en ligne. Mais pas de panique, nous sommes là ! Dans ce guide, nos experts vous présentent un classement complet pour vous aider à choisir le casino en ligne gratuit ou en argent réel qui correspond à vos attentes à 100 %. Chez nous, pas d’embrouille ni de coup fourré. Notre credo ? Vous faire découvrir les meilleurs casinos en ligne France du moment pour vous faire profiter pleinement de vos jeux de casino favoris. Suivez le guide !
slotland no deposit bonus codes
References:
http://gitea.shundaonetwork.com/robintri714749
cassino italy
References:
https://git.zimerguz.net/elliehollinwor
hollywood casino bangor
References:
https://afromonsta.com/jeniferchave95
of course like your web-site however you have to check the spelling on several of your posts. Many of them are rife with spelling problems and I find it very troublesome to tell the reality then again I will surely come back again.
casino oklahoma
References:
https://adremcareers.com/employer/3-south-point-hotel-and-casino-las-vegas-nv-united-states-lowest-booking-rates-for-south-point-hotel-and-casino-in-las-vegas/
wheeling island casino
References:
https://jobsineuropa.ro/companies/captain-cooks-casino-erfahrungen-2025-achtung-vor-diesem-casino/
wild vegas casino
References:
https://wisewayrecruitment.com/employer/kings-resort-kontaktiere-uns-de-kings/
casino mobile
References:
https://urlb.link/francinegiron
belterra casino
References:
https://ethiofarmers.com/willkommensbonus-bis-zu-2000-225fs/
casino barriere lille
References:
https://nowjobstoday.com/employer/davincis-gold-casino-bewertung-%e1%90%88-30-cashback-angebot/
roulette board
References:
https://cybernetshell.com/employer/beste-online-casinos-in-deutschland-casino-vergleich-2025/
indiana live casino
References:
https://k1t.kr/saundrabelair
winstar casino oklahoma
References:
https://noarjobs.info/companies/davincis-gold-casino-generelle-diskussion/
roulette systems
References:
https://built.molvp.net/milagroang
crown casino perth
References:
https://raovatonline.org/author/vernitaschw/
sky vegas promo code
References:
https://allsolution.xyz/employer/was-zeichnet-das-four-kings-casino-und-die-spielautomaten-aus/
albuquerque casinos
References:
https://toto.bawok.me/teshak4691747
Enjoyed studying this, very good stuff, thanks.
fiat 500 blackjack
References:
http://ww.yeosunet.com/bbs/board.php?bo_table=free&wr_id=166025
casino luxembourg
References:
https://renbrook.co.uk/employer/karriere/
with blackjack and hookers
References:
https://next-work.org/companies/restaurant-biergarten-cafe/
diceland casino
References:
https://onlinejobsukraine.com/employer/die-10-besten-casino-hotels-und-resorts-in-las-vegas,-usa/
play online poker
References:
https://getd.link/aldahinds2
casino roulette
References:
https://corerecruitingroup.com/employer/10-freispiele-ohne-einzahlung-aktuelle-liste-2025/
vee quiva casino
References:
https://flowlink.me/8tay6
best online casino bonuses in the uk
References:
https://bio.rocketapps.pro/colettebur
roulette game download
References:
https://wisewayrecruitment.com/employer/casino-mottoparty-kleidung-dekoration-und-spielideen/
game twist casino
References:
http://excelrenforcement.com/companies/spiele-boni-und-mehr/
play roulette for fun
References:
https://www.starlinkz.id/ruby6027270591
We are a group of volunteers and starting a new initiative in our community. Your blog provided us with valuable information to work on|.You have done a marvellous job!