Hello everyone!
As I’ve begun querying the first book in my chapter book mystery series, my mind has wandered back to the novel that I put on hold. While thinking through the plot, I realized I was too nice to my characters. They’re an intelligent lot, and I allowed many of their well-thought-out plans to succeed. But then, while reading The Lost Kingdom by Matthew J. Kirby, I realized that all the characters, despite being geniuses, had the worst luck in the world. If it could go wrong, it did. 
I then read Scouts by Shannon Greenland. The story was another fine example of Murphy’s law.
I decided to outline my novel so I could see where I needed to throw in some unfortunate events, misunderstandings, and disasters. That led to my thinking about the characters themselves and questioning whether or not their motivation was strong enough. And that made me wonder if the stakes were high enough. (This was a real-life example of If You Give A Mouse A Cookie.) It all culminated in my pondering the purpose of subplots within a novel.
My dear friend Olivia Berrier, who is a fantastic storyteller, recently talked to me about how she edits through each subplot to make her story stronger. I decided that the issues with my novel might be due to an insufficient amount of subplots. So, I began researching what they are and how to create good ones. Here are some articles that I found very interesting and helpful. If you think your novel could use a little extra spice or more tension, maybe what you need is to add one or more subplots.
“Writing Subplots in a Novel and Other Subplot Ideas” by Mary Kole
“How to Skillfully Use Subplots in Your Novel” by Jane Friedman
“Subplot ideas: 5 tips for writing better subplots” by Now Novel
Happy writing!
Katie
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The reason I like why so much is because the answer to that question provides the motivation or foundation for all of a character’s actions. For example, think about your story’s antagonist. It’s easy for the protagonist to observe or hear about the antagonist’s actions (what he/she does). A smaller group of characters, which may or may not include the protagonist, knows the process or methods the antagonist uses to execute those actions (how the antagonist does it). But why the antagonist does something can only be speculated about unless the antagonist himself/herself reveals the reason to another character. The reader might never find out the antagonist’s motivation. In some cases, even the antagonist might not even be able to explain why he/she does something, but you as the author should know.
Why is the protagonist having recurring nightmares?
Whenever I run into an underdeveloped point in the plot or a behavior in a character that I can’t justify, I try to summarize the problem as a question. Then, I write down the question and brainstorm answers for about ten minutes. (Think of this process as a structured free write. No idea is too crazy during those ten minutes.)
*Which? (Which route is safest?) (*I personally don’t use “which” as often as I do the other question words.)
My second mistake, which I technically made years ago when I started writing The Four Crystals, was not reading a variety of fantasy books before I started writing one. Up until this year, I didn’t understand that there is a difference between fantasy and fairy tales. After all, they both have magic, fairies, elves, dwarves, and quests. Some of my writer friends kindly alerted me to the fact that The Four Crystals, which I wrote to be a fantasy novel, read more like a fairy tale – probably because I have read so many fairy tales and fairy tale spinoffs. Once I learned that there was a difference, I started reading fantasy novels to get a feel for what beats I would need in my novel. I also needed to figure out which fantasy clichés I had accidentally put in my novel. (The wise old mage working with the know-nothing teenage boy might have been one of them.)
Things I have learned from this year’s mistakes:
Needless to say, feeling stuck is very frustrating. It’s made me question why I torture myself with writing when there are other things I enjoy that require less effort. When I get depressed with my own writing journey, I find inspiration from reading about what established writers do.
Break the Task into Smaller Tasks: Henry Ford said, “Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.” Generally, when I feel overwhelmed by the size of a project, I try to avoid it. To prevent myself from procrastinating my way through 2018, I decided to take Henry Ford’s advice. I broke my overarching goal of editing The Four Crystals in 2018 into pieces that I could accomplish on a weekly basis. My smaller, less daunting goal is to edit one chapter a week.
Track Your Progress: This gives you a visual of your progress. It can be very encouraging. It can also help you to get back on track if you lose sight of your goal. For just that purpose, I created a template for the entire year. Every week, I either write “yes” or “no” in the box that says “Accomplished Goal.” If I edited an entire chapter, I write the chapter number below the “yes.” If I fail to meet my weekly goal one week, that is okay. Maybe I was sick or I was working on a short story and did not have enough time to edit an entire chapter. There is nothing wrong with failing to meet my goal for one week. If, however, I notice that I have not accomplished my weekly writing goal for two weeks in a row or that I am only meeting it every other week, I know I have to give myself a kick in the pants and apply more self-discipline.
Have an Accountability Partner: I have never been good at holding myself accountable. If I make a plan that only affects me, there is a strong chance that I will change the plan if I don’t feel like doing it. To make sure that I actually accomplish my 2018 writing goal, I shared my writing goal with one of my writing groups and asked them to check on me every time we meet. Peer pressure is a wonderful thing when used appropriately.
Here’s to a productive year of writing! I hope that these strategies help you to meet your own writing goals for the new year!
In writing, it is always better to show than tell. 
I tend to be sparse in my descriptions of cities and scenery during travel sequences. For example, I might write “While walking through the forest, a tree branch whacked him in the face.” What type of forest was he in: coniferous, deciduous, or rainforest? Is it dark or is there lots of sunlight? Was the tree branch leafy, flimsy, spiky, thick, dry, etc.? (Remember Noble’s advice concerning adjectives.) Since I am more drawn to witty dialogue and dynamic characters than descriptions, it can be difficult for me to recognize this lack of specificity.
katiemerkelwriter 