Jane Friedman's Blog: Jane Friedman, page 11

Plot, Character, or Situation: Your Story’s Entry Point Determines Next Steps

Today’s post is by editor and book coach Heather Garbo.

How do you start a story? I don’t mean your first sentence, but rather how does the story begin to take shape in your mind? What is your story entry point?

I find writers approach stories from one of three entry points: plot, character, or situation.

A writer may be very clear about what they want to happen in the premise (plot entry point) or they may clearly understand who their protagonist is (character entry point) or they may want to explore a particular event, place or circumstances (situation entry point).

Your entry point is usually where you have the most clarity on your story. But so many writers falter with next steps, and that makes for a more painful revision process later. However, if you identify your story entry point, you can avoid some of the most common manuscript missteps.

Entry point #1: Plot

If you approach your story with a plot focus you might know the full sweep of the story or at least the general shape. You probably know the inciting incident that kicks off the story and where you want the story to end and perhaps some of the plot highlights. You might even have ideas about the main character, but if asked about your story at this point, you probably talk about the plot.

It might look something like this:

Samantha unexpectedly becomes a widow in her 60s and, with no close family, decides to open her house to rent rooms to university students. She quickly becomes entangled in their lives. When one of the young women doesn’t return home as expected and the police aren’t interested in helping, she and the others band together to try to find her.

You can see how, although the writer has some idea about who the main character is, they haven’t delved much into character development. Their focus is on what happens in the story. And there’s nothing wrong with that as long as they don’t overlook character development before they begin writing. If they do, we might see manuscript problems such as:

No clarity on the main character’s arc of transformation, which can lead to an unsatisfying endingMissing the main character’s emotional context and interiority on the page, which can lead to the reader not fully understanding what’s unfolding or not connecting with the main character, thereby not feeling engaged in the story.

Next steps: Stories that are heavy on plot can overlook the emotional journey of their protagonist. We get to the end of those stories and, while they may have been entertaining, we struggle to be emotionally invested in the characters. But if you delve into who your character is before you begin writing, you can get the internal plot—the protagonist’s transformational arc—on the page as well.

Here’s how you do that:

Before you begin writing, get to know your protagonist to understand them and the choices they make. Explore these questions:What is your protagonist’s current world view? Do they have a misguided belief? Where in their backstory did this originate? How does it change by the end of the story?What is their external want, the thing that is driving them forward in their narrative?What is their internal need, that thing they need to learn to achieve their transformative arc?What are the external and internal conflicts?What does the protagonist stand to lose (i.e., stakes)?Let these answers guide you to discovering the emotional context of your key plot points:How is the protagonist making sense of the unfolding events?What do these events mean to them?

As you draft your scenes, be sure you use these answers to get your protagonist’s emotional interiority onto the page so the reader understands what the unfolding plot events mean to them.

Entry point #2: Character

Sometimes it’s not a plot, but a character who figuratively taps us on the shoulder. If a main character is clearly taking shape in your mind but you’re not yet sure what to do with them, then you’re approaching your story from a character entry point.

This might look like:

“I want to write about a woman who is truly exploring her sexuality for the first time at 55.”“I want to write about a 30-year-old father who doesn’t meet his own dad until the first year of his daughter’s life.”“I want to write about a woman who’s always been timid but who is pushed to find her own strength in her 40s when a loved one is in jeopardy.”

In each of these entry points the writer is beginning to consider who the main character is and where they come from (i.e., backstory). Maybe they have even explored a misguided belief or know what their transformational arc should be. But they aren’t yet sure what happens in the story to push that character through their transformation.

In story, the plot points are how we test our main character. If you have a character entry point, you probably have not yet determined how you will put your main character through the paces. Again, this is not a problem but rather a clue about what to work on next—plot development!

If you jump into writing without giving plot much consideration, we tend to see manuscript problems like these:

Starting the story too early or too lateWeak narrative drive where things just happen in the plot but the events don’t feel very connected

Next steps: With a character entry point, you need to have total clarity on who that character is so you can craft the exact set of events that will push them out of their status quo life.

In her book The Making of a Story, Stanford University creative writing professor and author Alice LaPlante advises writers to consider: “What can I do to my character to unsettle or move or stress or stretch him or her in some way?” If you know your character well, then you can create the circumstances that will most effectively push that character out of their comfort zone and into the new adventure that will force them to grow.

Questions to explore include:

What is your main character most afraid of? How can you force them to stand in that fear? What is their worldview and misguided belief?What would cause a character like this to change?Entry point #3: Situation

This often begins with a writer deciding they would like to write about a particular event, place, or even circumstances such as a subculture. At first glance this might seem like a plot entry point, but it’s not. You’re more likely to begin by thinking about a large-scale event or set of circumstances rather than the smaller story that will unfold within it. It’s a macro approach rather than the micro approach. We often see this with historical fiction or if a writer wants to explore a social issue.

It might look something like:

“I want to want to write about the Soviet ballet during the Cold War.”“I want to write about Oxford University the first year women were admitted.”“I want to write about the Kingdom of Happy Land, the communal kingdom set up by formerly enslaved people in North Carolina.”

(Though I have no idea the starting points for these authors, these examples are all inspired by recent books: Maya and Natasha by Elyse Durham, The Eights by Joanna Miller, and Happy Land by Dolen Perkins-Valdez.)

And, yes, I will once again say: this is not a problem. But if you don’t take the right next steps, you’ll likely run into tricky revision problems such as:

Not making the story human scale. An entry point with such a big picture view can be trickier to scale down to create a story that is intriguing and engaging. In other words, how can you make this bigger situation meaningful for this particular character?Any of the above problems listed under Plot Entry Point or Character Entry Point

Next steps: With a situation entry point, you need to find the micro in the macro. What is the smaller, personal story here? I recommend beginning with your main character.

First explore the questions:

Which types of characters might we find at the heart of this particular event or situation?Who would most need to change in this situation or setting?Who is a character I am most drawn to? (Because you must first be interested if you hope to intrigue a reader!)

As with Plot Entry Point, next consider these questions to further your character development:

What is your protagonist’s current world view?Do they have a misguided belief? Where in their backstory did this originate? How does it change by the end of the story?What is their external want, the thing that is driving them forward in their narrative?What is their internal need, that thing they need to learn to achieve their transformative arc?What are the external and internal conflicts?What does the protagonist stand to lose (i.e., stakes)?

As with Character Entry Point, explore the series of events that might shape that character:

What is your main character most afraid of?How can you force them to stand in that fear?What is their worldview and misguided belief?What would cause a character like this to change?

Finally let all of these answers guide you to discovering the emotional context of your key plot points:

How is the protagonist making sense of the unfolding events?What do these events mean to them?

As a book coach, I believe all writers benefit from foundational story planning. But it doesn’t have to be extensive and it doesn’t mean outlining every plot point. Even if you identify as a pantser and eschew story plotting, you can gain clarity by using your story entry point to consider what you might be overlooking before you get too far into your writing. And, if you’ve already begun writing, it can still be helpful to pause and consider where you’ve started, how that shows up in your story, and what you might be missing. A little extra consideration on the front end can save you from a nightmare revision process later.

Do you use one of these story entry points or a different starting point? My observations are based on my experiences working with writers, and I would certainly love to hear about other approaches to story and how that’s worked for you!

Top 10 bestselling books of 2025 so far

In the lead: The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins, with more than 1.7 million copies sold, one of only two nonfiction books on the list.

This premium article is available to paid subscribers of Jane's newsletter. Here's what subscribers get:

Access to more than 3,000 premium articles on this site, all searchableIndustry news that includes Jane’s reporting and analysis, sent via email once a wekAccess to Jane’s private resource guides, continually updated Subscribe today.

Or login below if you're already a subscriber.

Wondering why some content isn't free? Did something change? Here's an explanation.

Book sales update: down 1 percent for the year

Adult fiction sales were up by 1 percent, nonfiction sales fell about 3 percent, and religious books are up by 16 percent.

This premium article is available to paid subscribers of Jane's newsletter. Here's what subscribers get:

Access to more than 3,000 premium articles on this site, all searchableIndustry news that includes Jane’s reporting and analysis, sent via email once a wekAccess to Jane’s private resource guides, continually updated Subscribe today.

Or login below if you're already a subscriber.

Wondering why some content isn't free? Did something change? Here's an explanation.

New nonprofit UK publisher: Extraordinary Books

The publisher will share profits with authors 50-50, but only after costs are recouped.

This premium article is available to paid subscribers of Jane's newsletter. Here's what subscribers get:

Access to more than 3,000 premium articles on this site, all searchableIndustry news that includes Jane’s reporting and analysis, sent via email once a wekAccess to Jane’s private resource guides, continually updated Subscribe today.

Or login below if you're already a subscriber.

Wondering why some content isn't free? Did something change? Here's an explanation.

New AI fiction translation service: GlobeScribe

GlobeScribe is an AI-powered service that translates fiction from English into multiple languages for a flat rate of $100 per language.

This premium article is available to paid subscribers of Jane's newsletter. Here's what subscribers get:

Access to more than 3,000 premium articles on this site, all searchableIndustry news that includes Jane’s reporting and analysis, sent via email once a wekAccess to Jane’s private resource guides, continually updated Subscribe today.

Or login below if you're already a subscriber.

Wondering why some content isn't free? Did something change? Here's an explanation.

Links of Interest: July 9, 2025

The latest in trends, bookselling, audio, AI, and libraries.

This premium article is available to paid subscribers of Jane's newsletter. Here's what subscribers get:

Access to more than 3,000 premium articles on this site, all searchableIndustry news that includes Jane’s reporting and analysis, sent via email once a wekAccess to Jane’s private resource guides, continually updated Subscribe today.

Or login below if you're already a subscriber.

Wondering why some content isn't free? Did something change? Here's an explanation.

Username or E-mail Password * function mepr_base64_decode(encodedData) { var decodeUTF8string = function(str) { // Going backwards: from bytestream, to percent-encoding, to original string. return decodeURIComponent(str.split('').map(function(c) { return '%' + ('00' + c.charCodeAt(0).toString(16)).slice(-2) }).join('')) } if (typeof window !== 'undefined') { if (typeof window.atob !== 'undefined') { return decodeUTF8string(window.atob(encodedData)) } } else { return new Buffer(encodedData, 'base64').toString('utf-8') } var b64 = 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/=' var o1 var o2 var o3 var h1 var h2 var h3 var h4 var bits var i = 0 var ac = 0 var dec = '' var tmpArr = [] if (!encodedData) { return encodedData } encodedData += '' do { // unpack four hexets into three octets using index points in b64 h1 = b64.indexOf(encodedData.charAt(i++)) h2 = b64.indexOf(encodedData.charAt(i++)) h3 = b64.indexOf(encodedData.charAt(i++)) h4 = b64.indexOf(encodedData.charAt(i++)) bits = h1 << 18 | h2 << 12 | h3 << 6 | h4 o1 = bits >> 16 & 0xff o2 = bits >> 8 & 0xff o3 = bits & 0xff if (h3 === 64) { tmpArr[ac++] = String.fromCharCode(o1) } else if (h4 === 64) { tmpArr[ac++] = String.fromCharCode(o1, o2) } else { tmpArr[ac++] = String.fromCharCode(o1, o2, o3) } } while (i < encodedData.length) dec = tmpArr.join('') return decodeUTF8string(dec.replace(/\0+$/, '')) } jQuery(document).ready(function() { document.getElementById("meprmath_captcha-686f6910dae13").innerHTML=mepr_base64_decode("MTEgKyAzIGVxdWFscz8="); }); Remember Me     Forgot Password

After My Second Book Died on Submission, I Took These 4 Crucial Steps

Photo by Aaron Burden

Today’s post is by author Eva Langston.

Well, to be honest, the first thing I did, after my second manuscript didn’t sell, was spend a week wallowing in despair. But I’ll get to that.

First, let me set the scene. I have been trying to become a published novelist for nearly twenty years. First, I got my MFA and wrote several terrible drawer novels. Then, in 2014, I signed with an agent but, after working with him on revisions for nine months, we parted ways and I went back to the query trenches. When I couldn’t find another agent, I wrote more books. I queried for many years with multiple projects. Eventually, I found a new agent. We worked on revisions to my YA suspense novel and I thought: This is it. Finally, I would have a published book to my name.

But the book didn’t sell. It was rejected by every editor who read it. No worries, I told myself. While on submission, I’d been writing and revising another YA novel, so my agent sent that one out to editors. When, a year later, that second YA novel died on submission, it felt like a little piece of me died, too.

I had written another manuscript while the second book was on sub, and it needed major revisions, but I struggled to find the motivation to do them. Give another year of my life and another chunk of my soul working on yet another novel that wouldn’t sell? I felt more depressed than I’d ever felt in my life.

So here’s what I did.

1. I tended to my mental health.

I was really down. For a few days I felt like I’d been flattened by a steamroller. I barely ate, and I felt physically incapable of smiling. I let myself feel my feelings, but I knew I needed to do something to get out of this funk. So I talked to my therapist, and I scheduled phone calls with my friends. I scrounged up the energy to take brisk walks. I spent time with my family. I made a list titled “ways to feel better” and started checking off items on the list.

2. I filled my creative well.

Since trying to work on revisions to my newest manuscript was fueling my feelings of fear, anxiety, and failure, I read books instead. I forced myself out of the house on artist dates: a sculpture garden, a museum, a long hike. In fact, on the drive home from the sculpture garden, I had an idea for a new novel, but we’ll get to that in a minute.

3. I started a project that was 100% in my control.

You can’t control whether or not an agent signs you, or a publisher offers you a contract, or a reader buys your book, or your book wins an award. In this business, one of the only things you can control is the writing itself.

But I was feeling discouraged with writing. I was feeling depressed that all my manuscripts were likely going to sit in the depths of my computer, unread and unappreciated, for the rest of time.

So I decided to do something I’d been wanting to do for a long time: start my own podcast. It was something I could create and put out into the world totally on my own. I didn’t need anyone to tell me yes. I could just do it. And having that control felt really good.

I started working on my new podcast The Long Road to Publishing with Eva Langston. I interviewed guests who had traveled a long and bumpy road to publishing their books. I talked to authors who had spent years in the query trenches, weathered hundreds of rejections, had manuscripts die on submission. In fact, a lot of the authors I’ve talked to so far have had at least one book die on submission; it’s way more common than people realize. And, honestly, that makes me feel a lot better.

I’m so happy I’ve created this podcast. These interviews have not only been fascinating, they’ve been healing. I’m not the only one struggling. Pretty much everyone who finds success in this business has traveled a difficult road to get where they are. The people who make it are the ones who put in the work and don’t give up.

Of course, starting a podcast was my dream project. For others it might be making a quilt, taking dance classes, playing music, or creating an author website. The point is to do something that’s in your control, and maybe involves putting a piece of yourself out into the world.

4. I channeled my feelings into a new low-stakes novel.

Writing is such a big part of who I am, and I knew I’d feel better if I was working on something creative. But for the sake of my mental health, it needed to be low stakes. Instead of trying to revise the manuscript I’d written, I decided to write something new, just for fun. No word count goals, and I’d keep my expectations low. Just sit down five times a week and write for an hour, I told myself. Find joy in the creative process: the words, the experimentation, the discovery.

Remember that idea I’d had while driving back from the sculpture garden? It was for an adult thriller, and I decided to pursue it. I created a character who was struggling with her career and falling into a pit of despair. I poured all my feelings of anxiety and anger and dejection into this character. And because it’s fiction (and a thriller), I dialed everything up to eleven and made her behave in ways I never would.

It was very cathartic.

And this low-stakes novel that I told myself to simply have fun with I finished it in three months! My agent absolutely loved it, and she’ll be sending it out to editors soon. I think this is my best novel yet, and I never would have been able to write it if my first two books hadn’t died on submission.

Getting traditionally published is incredibly hard at pretty much every step of the process: writing the book, revising it, finding an agent, getting a book deal. You have to hit the right agent/editor at the right time with the right project. And, from what I hear, it doesn’t get much easier after that. The publishing road is full of potholes and detours, even after you get a book deal. That’s why it’s so important to find joy in the writing itself.

Note from Jane: You can listen to Eva’s conversations with guests such as New York Times bestseller Julia Bartz, YA and MG author Kern Carter, and novelist Courtney Maum on The Long Road to Publishing. It can be found on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

What Isn’t Said Still Screams: Writing Subtext in Horror Fiction

Photo by Aimee Vogelsang on Unsplash

Today’s post is by professor, author, and short-film director Lindy Ryan.

In horror, silence often speaks the loudest. Whether it’s a glance across a dinner table, a hesitation before a door is opened, or a line of dialogue that means the opposite of what it says, subtext is the quiet engine beneath your scene. It’s the difference between a story that moves and one that lingers.

Emerging writers often focus on plot and action—which are essential!—but the true pulse of horror comes from what festers just beneath the surface. Subtext transforms the mundane into the menacing. It’s what makes readers lean in closer, even when they want to look away.

Let’s dig into what subtext is and why it matters to make it work like a whispered warning in your fiction.

What is subtext, and why does it matter?

Subtext is the layer of meaning beneath a character’s words, actions, or silence. It’s what’s really going on in a scene—even (or especially) when no one’s saying it out loud.

In horror and thrillers, what isn’t said often carries more weight than what is. Think of the chilling tension in The Haunting of Hill House or the strained pleasantries of Get Out. On the surface, the scenes are polite, even mundane. Underneath, danger pulses like a second heartbeat.

Subtext creates:

Tension: what’s hidden might be harmfulCharacter depth: people rarely say exactly what they feelRe-read value: a line means one thing now … and something else laterPsychological unease: the essence of horror and thrillers

Shirley Jackson once said, “I delight in what I fear.” Subtext is how you deliver that delight in doses. It lets your reader feel what your character won’t admit—even to themselves.

5 ways to create horror-fying subtext in your scenes1. Let your dialogue lie.

It’s true in life and in fiction: People rarely say exactly what they mean. They dodge, they deflect, they downplay. So should your characters.

Instead of: I’m scared to go in there.

Consider: It’s just a basement—what’s the big deal?

By having a character pretend they’re not afraid, you reveal their fear more powerfully. The reader senses the gap between what’s said and what’s felt, and that’s subtext.

Tip: Write the conversation as if the characters are trying to hide what they’re really feeling. Then go back and tweak the lines so that the real emotion flickers inside what’s unsaid.

2. Use setting to reflect emotion.

Your environment can do heavy emotional lifting without saying a word.

Instead of saying: She felt trapped.

Let the setting imply it: The ceiling fan spun lazily overhead, blades slicing the stale air. The windows had been painted shut years ago.

Now, the room mirrors her internal state. The space becomes claustrophobic. The emotion rises not through direct narration, but through imagery and senses. Consider the Overlook Hotel in Stephen King’s The Shining: the building itself becomes an emotional mirror to reflect Jack’s breakdown in chilling echoes.

3. Action > explanation.

We all know the adage “show don’t tell.” This is applicable for subtext, too. When in doubt, let your characters do something that reveals what they’re trying to say.

Instead of: He was jealous.

Consider: He refilled his drink without asking if she wanted more. His laugh came a half-beat late when she said her coworker’s name.

Readers love to decode behavior, especially in genres like horror and thriller. Show them what matters through subtle action. A clenched fist on a table. A gaze that lingers a second too long. A locked door that was never locked before.

Tip: In a highly emotional scene, remove the interior monologue and let body language do the talking.

4. Contradict the mood.

One of the most effective tools in crafting horror and thrillers is to set the wrong emotional tone, intentionally.

Example: Your character just buried a body in the woods. Instead of giving us panic or guilt, they admire the trees or talk about dinner plans. This emotional dissonance unsettles your reader. Why aren’t they reacting the way they should? What aren’t they telling us?

Gillian Flynn masters this technique in Gone Girl, where calm, composed narration often stands in eerie contrast to deeply disturbing events. Ultimately, subtext thrives in that contradiction. It tells us something is very wrong here.

5. Leave gaps for the reader.

You don’t have to tie every ribbon into a neat little bow. Trust your reader to follow shadows.

This might mean:

Ending a chapter on a gesture, not a resolutionLetting a conversation trail off mid-thoughtShowing a reaction without the cause—until later

Cormac McCarthy once said, “There is no such thing as life without bloodshed. The notion that the species can be improved in some way … that is a really dangerous idea.” His writing is sparse, cold, and deeply disturbing—“recording angel” as per his Blood Meridian: brutal, inescapable, non-intervening, observation—precisely because of what it refuses to say.

At its core, subtext is a gesture of trust between writer and reader. You’re saying: You’re smart enough to notice the silence. You’re brave enough to step into the dark.

Don’t overexplain. 

Don’t force the emotion.

Subtext invites your reader to become part of the horror. To guess. To fill in the blank. Let it bloom and, perhaps, your reader’s imagination will go to even darker places than yours ever could.

Aspiring novelist competition in the UK

The competition is a partnership between Good Housekeeping and the Rachel Mills Literary Agency.

This premium article is available to paid subscribers of Jane's newsletter. Here's what subscribers get:

Access to more than 3,000 premium articles on this site, all searchableIndustry news that includes Jane’s reporting and analysis, sent via email once a wekAccess to Jane’s private resource guides, continually updated Subscribe today.

Or login below if you're already a subscriber.

Wondering why some content isn't free? Did something change? Here's an explanation.

A new imprint from Farrar, Straus and Giroux

North Point Press is returning to life under FSG, which acquired its assets in 1992 but later stopped releasing new books under the imprint.

This premium article is available to paid subscribers of Jane's newsletter. Here's what subscribers get:

Access to more than 3,000 premium articles on this site, all searchableIndustry news that includes Jane’s reporting and analysis, sent via email once a wekAccess to Jane’s private resource guides, continually updated Subscribe today.

Or login below if you're already a subscriber.

Wondering why some content isn't free? Did something change? Here's an explanation.