Book Writing Tips for Beginners - A GRIPPING Plot

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The guide applies to all genres across fiction and narrative non-fiction. It's very helpful for beginner authors.

When creating a plot, conflict is key. Early on in the story, you should give your protagonist a clear goal. This goal is known as "the want."

Do not make this goal easily achievable. Your story's central conflict is heightened based on how difficult this goal is.

At the beginning of your story, you want to hook your readers with a chaotic event, which is called the "inciting incident." You then want to tie your main character's goal to the aftermath of this event.

At the end of your story, your protagonist should either definitively achieve - or fail to achieve - the goal.

Through the middle of the story, keep your readers captivated by escalating the conflict. A writing tip for this is known as "raising the stakes."

Essentially, at the beginning of your story, if your protagonist fails to accomplish the goal, the character will stand to lose something important (a career, a relationship, etc). However, as the story progresses, your hero will have more and more to lose upon failure (ex, life).