Too Much of a Good Thing: Over Plotting Your Novel

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

This week's Refresher Friday takes another look at a common problem--over plotting your novel. 
Often it’s hard to come up with a single plot, but there are writers out there who can spin a tale like they have an unlimited supply. Trouble is, too many plots can spoil a story, and knowing where the line is between complex and complicated can be hard to spot. How do you know when you have a layered story and when you have too much plot?


What’s Going On in the Story? 
When I first started writing, I subscribed to “the more the merrier” philosophy. Lots of characters, lots of point of views, lots of plots and subplots. Naturally, I ended up with a mess. It was impossible to tell what the story was about or who my protagonist was. So much was going on you couldn’t tell what was going on.

Eventually, I made it through this all-too-common phase and figured out that less really can be more.
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com