Zen in the Art of Writing

by Ray Bradbury

Without such vigor, he might as well be out picking peaches or digging ditches; God knows it’d be better for his health.

Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations. Plot is observed after the fact rather than before. It cannot precede action. It is the chart that remains when an action is through. That is all Plot ever should be. It is human desire let run, running, and reaching a goal. It cannot be mechanical. It can only be dynamic.