Chapter 10

Know the Flow of Your Plot

I've mentioned the word "flow" a few times throughout my story. But what do I mean when I say the word "flow"? Well my dear reader, as the name implies, "flow" means to move or run smoothly with unbroken continuity. So how does that actually apply to your writing?

You see, the problem I found with the concept of "flow" for most writers wasn't the fact that they didn't know what it was (everyone knows that a good story flows together smoothly), but it was the fact that they either weren't aware that their story sounded or felt choppy, or that they had a hard time connecting the pieces of their story to give a deeper meaning to it.

Now, I've mentioned this before, but I know some writers write with the intent of being smutty or just plain romantic. However, I can tell you right now that if you don't give your story some layers to it, then it's not much of a story.

I want you to think back to a story you've read that just didn't seem to have a plot other than character A loves character B and they want to be together, but someone wants to break them up. That scenario is tired and predictable. There is no thought to it and almost no hidden meaning to the story, which is what makes a story really entertaining.

I know I said that I would be using One Piece examples, but I feel that a Pokémon example would be more fitting for this subject.

So, I know a lot of people who have been diehard fans of the Pokémon cartoon since they were able to crawl. And let's face it, with each new season, it's the same thing regurgitated back to us. Yet, we still find ourselves watching it occasionally, and dare I say, liking it despite the fact at how similar it may be to previous episodes. Have you ever wondered why?

Well, if you really think about it, Pokémon may reuse its main themes and concepts, but it still comes up with different, or slightly different at the very least, scenarios that give the episode a different feel to it other than it being the same thing but with different characters.

If you look back at what I originally started to talk about, then you may have noticed that I kind of got off topic from talking about "flow". I digressed from talking about that, to talking about hidden meanings to stories, which I never really did cover what they actually were when I mentioned them.

Granted, your flow of a story leads to a plot, but that's not the point I'm trying to make at this particular segment in this chapter.

Anyway, did you notice that I kind of got off topic? If I'm doing this right, and if I'm not than just go along with it for the sake of an example, then you shouldn't have really noticed too much.

You see my dear reader, I (attempted) to demonstrate a good flow to a story. My thoughts transitioned into the next smoothly and it didn't seem be choppy at all.

I found the website called theedditorsblog, and on that website, I found How Goes the Flow in Your Story? By Beth Hill.

Hill states that, "Stories should flow, move along without impediment, and lead ever forward. Stories should draw the reader deeper into the tale and ultimately dump him out at the end, satisfied at having taken the adventure with your characters."

Hill also gives a detailed list that points out some flaws writers sometimes have when creating a good story. So, for the sake of giving you some pointers I've learned from her, I'm going to summarize some of her statements. Please note that I'm using her words and thoughts, not mine.

Impediments:

Stilted writing- Maintain your character's personality with their ownwords. If your character is Luffy, than don't have him using "big words".

Redundancy- Although repetition is a useful thing, do we really need to hear the same thing repeated to us ten times within the last 200 words?

Bad writing- When the reader can't follow the meaning or the sequence of events, when he has to go back several lines or paragraphs or pages to figure out what's going on, that reader isn't following a smooth story flow. Challenging a reader can be good. Frustrating a reader with sentences that make no sense or story lines that lack logic is never good. Let your plot and characters rile your readers; let the mechanics of writing remain invisible.

Write with freedom- Compose your plots and dialogue freely. You can always rein in phrasing that's too loose. But if you don't write loose at least some of the time, you'll never achieve the particular flow that comes through letting go, letting yourself fling words on the page with no thought to meaning or logic or consequence.

Finding and putting together a plot can be easy, if you know what direction you want your story to go in.

But what if you kind of have an idea, but you don't know what to do with it?

Well, as Luffy stated, "That's something you'll have to decide on your own!"

The objective of any good story is to take your readers on an adventure. But, all stories should have at least one underlining meaning. It gives your story depth and originality.

You're supposed to sneak in your own thoughts and feelings into your story. Not cover them up with shallow plots of tired material.

If Zoro is going to fall in love with someone, the reason behind it can't simply be because she/he is beautiful. Think about why you want Zoro to love that character. Maybe she/he is the spitting image of Kuina and you want to give your insight as to what that relationship means to Zoro. Or maybe you want that person to discover the dynamics of the Straw Hat Crew and learn from them how to be apart of family.

Think about some old fairy tales you have read, they always had some valuable life lesson in them, right? Your story shouldn't be any different, regardless if you're writing a one-shot, or a romance piece with as much smut as possible. That's right my dear reader, even stories that have a lot of sexual content in them can have some hidden moral in them.

It's up to you to guide us to it.

~Done

I think that this chapter is like a summary of some of my previous tips, but anyway...

Thanks again for reading, I hope it helps you out!

I have an example story for what I meant when I said to sneak your own thoughts and feelings into your story. If you want to check it out, then look for the story titled "Lucky" under my profile. It's not the best example, but I think I made my thoughts clear in it, and maybe it will even help you get what I meant better, assuming I didn't explain myself well enough.

If you want me to address something, than please let me know!

Again, Thank you for reading. I hope you have a wonderful day/night. Bye~