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These are my personal tips for NaNoWriMo. You know the drill. Take only what works.<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n
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If you looked at your short story\/synopsis or beat sheet and realized that it was too thin, that there wasn\u2019t enough action to connect the beginning to the end, you might need more plot. There are several ways to thicken plot. I\u2019ll discuss a couple different methods. <\/span><\/div>\n
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This is a quick and dirty method that relies on the oldest storytelling trick in the book: the Rule of Three. You can\u2019t go wrong with this technique. It\u2019s amazing how well this works, despite being so obvious. It must click with something deep in the human psyche. Jokes and fairytales and three-act plays all tap into the Rule of Three. The Rule of Three is, literally, storytelling magic.<\/span><\/div>\n
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You\u2019ll notice that the Rule of Three is already embedded in my suggested short story\/synopsis prompt. But if your plot is still thin, it\u2019s worth giving deeper thought. Is the Rule of Three just another name for the Three Act structure? Yes and no. Yes, it melds well into a three act structure, but it\u2019s a bit more specific way of thinking about your plot. You could have three acts of sitting around doing nothing. That\u2019s not the Rule of Three.<\/span><\/div>\n
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There are three ways of employing the Rule of Three.<\/span><\/div>\n
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1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Three Increasingly Worse Problems<\/span><\/div>\n
First the hero confronts a henchman. Maybe he defeats that guy, but now he\u2019s pissed off the Big Bad, so he sends his right-hand man after the hero. The hero defeats that guy too, and now the hero\u2019s pissed, so he goes after the Big Bad and there\u2019s a final confrontation.<\/span><\/div>\n
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2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Three Increasingly Powerful (or Desperate) Attempts to Solve the Problem.<\/span><\/div>\n
Think of the Billy Goats Gruff. There\u2019s three goats, from tiniest to biggest. The first two barely escape the troll until finally the third goat is big enough to do the trick.<\/span><\/div>\n
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3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Three Kinds of Problems <\/span><\/div>\n