What makes it a plot?

In E. M. Forster’s Aspects of the Nov­el  (absolute­ly oblig­a­tory read­ing for any­one want­i­ng to write a nov­el) he says, “The King died and then the queen died is a sto­ry. The king died and then the queen died of grief and that is a plot.”

A good plot, I believe, is one of the keys to writ­ing good fic­tion for young peo­ple. Why?  Con­sid­er how young peo­ple think. Of course chil­dren expe­ri­ence a full range of emo­tions, but they will most often relate to those emo­tions in terms of what hap­pens. “My friend is mad at me.” If you asso­ciate with kids you’ve heard those words. But very quick­ly it becomes, “My friend is mad at me. She won’t talk to me.” Look at that in light of Forster’s remark and you will see why young read­ers respond to plot. It is what hap­pens that is important.

I can give you an exam­ple from one of my own books, the pop­u­lar True Con­fes­sions of Char­lotte Doyle.

There are a num­ber of key moments in the book, one of which hap­pens when Char­lotte defends her muti­nous actions by telling the cap­tain what kind of girl she is. It’s an impor­tant part of the book. But if you ask (and I have asked many times) what is the moment in the book which best defines Char­lotte, most girls will respond, “When she cuts off her hair.” That is the trans­for­ma­tive moment. It is the action that is most mean­ing­ful, not when Char­lotte explains who she is.

In short, the task of the writer of fic­tion for young peo­ple is to trans­form ideas into actions. Cre­ate that action and your read­ers will turn the page. They will also will live (and love) your book.