Can You Unlock Your Novel With One Breakthrough Key?

Are you, like me, trying to plot a new novel, and feeling uninspired and stymied at each turn?  Where are the characters going?  What are they going to do?  How will they interact?  What even is the POINT?
9 times out of 10, this is the story of every plot we've ever tried to course.  I know, right?  UGH.  Nothing makes you feel so competent as staring blankly at the empty plot you know you're meant to write.  But there's actually a remarkably easy way to get that ball rolling.  It's a super important catalyst for the plot - and most of us forget about it!

plot from the antagonist's point of view!

You want to know WHY your protagonists are struggling, WHAT they are up against, HOW the novel is going to pan out?  FIGURE OUT WHAT THE ANTAGONIST WANTS.  If everything were hunky-dory, there would be no plot!  If the antagonist didn't have a goal and drive, which the protagonists have to thwart, then what's the point?

You're probably not going to write the actually story from the antagonist's point of view, but get the ball rolling with a preliminary outline (mental or physical) from the driver's seat of the antagonist's brain.  Ye Olde Antagonist is the one who is going to inject purpose into the story - otherwise we could just all go to Maresgate and splash about on the seashore like Margaret WANTED to do...

why didn't I think of that sooner

I know, right?  You hear it and you think, "DUH.  That totally makes sense.  Why didn't I think of that before?"  I don't even remember where I got this idea, but I forgot it and then it came back to me in the middle of the night.  I legit got up and wrote it down for you guys because otherwise I WOULD HAVE FORGOTTEN AGAIN.  PHEW.  Okay.  Hopefully that will make my upcoming work a little easier to plot.

is your work giving you fits?  hack at it with this dead herring and see if it budges the plot!

image via pinterest. bet you didn't see that coming.