Celestial Navigation



Writing is a strange business, a dealing in constant abstraction, invention by sheer force of will. It's not always easy to see where you're going, or how to get there. So when you manage to discover a trick that makes the process simpler, it's like the stars broke free of the clouds.

This is a running list of techniques I use to navigate. I hope one of them might help if you're lost.


Spend less time worrying about the plot and more about the characters. Get to know them. Figure out their conflict with one another. The plot will evolve from that.
Know your villain as well as you know your hero. And remember that everyone is a hero in their own story. Believe it and make them act accordingly, and they'll be a lot scarier.
Your main character must always want something desperately. Never write about someone who isn't at the end of their rope.
A rule of good storytelling is that the protagonist will confront the thing he fears the most and overcome it in order to win the thing he desires the most.
The audience should always be uncomfortable.
Write about who gets hurt most. But make sure that everybody has skin in the game.
Dynamic tension comes almost entirely out of character motivation. Put a pacifist in a position where if he doesn't fight he loses everything he cares about. Take someone who has worked for years to build a new life and force them to deal with their old. Without this motivation, all you've got is a scenario.
Every viewpoint character should have a plot and conflict of their own.
Leave out everything you can.
Have as many people as possible in a state of change — or at least desiring one.
Keep things tightly plotted by making sure that every action taken by any character creates a problem for at least one of the other characters. This way the plot is constantly plaited into itself and you don't get any straggly ends.
Explore your themes in the form of arguments between people. Each character can represent a different viewpoint. But keep them real people, too, and don't hit the themes too hard at the expense of the story.
Stories are made of events, and you shouldn't have a chapter that doesn't have something actively happening. Illustrate whatever you want, but do it through action, conflict, and stakes.
Write from the inside — medieval characters aren't disgusted by open sewers, modern travelers are more interested in their seat assignment and free drink than the wonders of aviation, and no one on Star Trek thought communicators or tricorders were particularly neat.
Complicate things. Take your basic plot and add hiccups. See what happens if you make connections. See what happens if you kill a wife or give them a child. If you send them to law school or give them a coke addiction.

Never stop taking the advice of your agent, editor, and friends. You can mark the decline of an author's career to the moment they got big enough they thought they knew better than everyone around them.
Don't get it right. Get it written.