Plotting Quotes

“As the taxi entered the intersection, the two drivers in the attorney general’s entourage slammed on the brakes. Both Suburbans fishtailed out of control. Ducking in the back seat, Blake could smell the burning rubber from tires skidding on the asphalt and hear the pedestrians screaming and car horns sounding off in rebuke.”
― Chad Boudreaux, Scavenger Hunt

“The last time she was up here, she had been... staring up at the sky and dreaming of stars. Now, she looked down and plotted flames.”
― Kiersten White, And I Darken

“Plans are of little importance, but planning is essential.”
― Winston Churchill

“If through no fault of his own the hero is crushed by a bulldozer in Act II, we are not impressed. Even though life is often like this—the absconding cashier on his way to Nicaragua is killed in a collision at the airport, the prominent statesman dies of a stroke in the midst of the negotiations he has spent years to bring about, the young lovers are drowned in a boating accident the day before their marriage—such events, the warp and woof of everyday life, seem irrelevant, meaningless. They are crude, undigested, unpurged bits of reality—to draw a metaphor from the late J. Edgar Hoover, they are “raw files.” But it is the function of great art to purge and give meaning to human suffering, and so we expect that if the hero is indeed crushed by a bulldozer in Act II there will be some reason for it, and not just some reason but a good one, one which makes sense in terms of the hero’s personality and action. In fact, we expect to be shown that he is in some way responsible for what happens to him.”
― Bernard Knox, The Oedipus Cycle: Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone

“I love the juice but I loathe sticky fingers. Clean hands, Sansa. Whatever you do, make certain your hands are clean.”
― George R.R. Martin, A Storm of Swords

“I’ll know my lord when I see him,” Theodora smiled broadly. “And I’ll tell him, ‘You haven’t seen anything yet’.”
― Carol Strickland, The Eagle and the Swan

“Remember: 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. So, stand aside, forget targets, let the characters, your fingers, body, blood, and heart do.”
― Ray Bradbury

“I learned everything I know about plot from Dame Agatha (Christie).”
― Connie Willis, The Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories

“Malinois work never really stopped; you could only redirect it.”
― D.L. Maddox, The Dog Walker: Killer

“All plots tend to move deathward. This is the nature of plots. Political plots, terrorist plots, lovers’ plots, narrative plots, plots that are part of children’s games. We edge nearer death every time we plot. It is like a contract that all must sign, the plotters as well as those who are the targets of the plot.”
― Don DeLillo, White Noise

“The only comfort I found was in planning to disappear.”
― Aspen Matis, Your Blue Is Not My Blue: A Missing Person Memoir

“Father, too, is a contradiction. The least heralded physician in Noshahr, a father too busy healing others to notice his daughters' broken hearts. Not exactly true. I'm sure he notices. He just doesn't know what to do, and I don't know how to ask. So, here we are: him locking me in and me plotting my escape.”
― Michael Benzehabe, Persianality

“There is nothing more dangerous than an insidious enemy, but there is nothing more poisonous than a feigned friend.”
― Gregory Skovoroda

“About developing plot: “A deft man may toss his hat across the office and hang it on a hook if he just naturally does it, but he will always miss if he does it consciously. That is a ridiculous and extreme analogy, but there is something in it.”
― Maxwell Perkins

“The surface of the water may be still, but the fish never stop swimming.”
― Robert Jordan, Crossroads of Twilight

“The trite answer is that everything is true but none of it happened. It is emotionally true, but the events, the plotting, the narrative, isn’t true of my life, though I’ve experienced most of the emotions experienced by the characters in the play.”
― Patrick Marber

“To live, fiction must be read, and to be read it must be enjoyed. Why do so many people talk about the number of times they’ve lost interest in a book after a couple of chapters, or only “toughed it out” to the end out of a sense of obligation? I’d say it’s because too many writers have forgotten that the writer’s job isn’t merely to express himself, it’s to reach a reader. That doesn’t mean pandering to the lowest common denominator. But it does mean that even a work of smart, thoughtful fiction should strive to engage and entertain. If you’re a writer of literary fiction and all you’re bringing to the party is a poetic turn of phrase or a deep thought, that’s not enough. What about pace? Humour? Characters you care about and a smattering of suspense that makes you want to “find out what happens next?” All of these, plus rich language, bracing honesty and emotional resonance, should be components of the best, most thoughtful fiction. Because that’s the sort of reading experience that readers should be able to expect from a novel that demands hours of their time.”
― Trevor Cole

“Revenge, I've come to learn, is not impulsive, or reactionary, or blind. It's calculating, patient, and observant. And if it's going to work- the timing must be perfect.”
― Dawn Klehr, If You Wrong Us

“Demonic spirits never sleep or take a vacation, always plotting and waiting for the next offensive.”
― E.A. Bucchianeri, Vocation of a Gadfly

“Other people dream while they are asleep. I plot new book ideas.”
― Michelle C. Hillstrom

“Plot and plan like all good generals.”
― E.A. Bucchianeri, Vocation of a Gadfly

“Some of us, Daniel, are prone to a sort of melancholy, wherein we are tormented by phant'sies that other men are secretly plotting to do us injury. It is a pernicious state for a man to fall into.”
― Neal Stephenson, Quicksilver

“The Trifecta Plot by Stewart Stafford

Break moneyed bread,
and a morsel of food,
is now a parcel of land.

Entreat in obsequious sell,
and the jewel of their loins,
is wed of beauteous hand.

Purloin the coffers golden,
and a cutpurse rules as king,
with no forswearing planned.

© Stewart Stafford, 2023. All rights reserved.”
― Stewart Stafford

“Whatever it is you're doing, whatever it is you're looking into, I want in.'

'Why? And no.”
― Sarah J. Maas, A ​Court of Silver Flames

“We plan so much in our heads, and do very little with our hands.”
― Michael Bassey Johnson, These Words Pour Like Rain

“Success is more about training the hand to hit the bull's eye, rather than going hard, fast, and furious.”
― Michael Bassey Johnson, These Words Pour Like Rain

“Tropes determine who will read your book; themes determine who will love it—or hate it. Themes hold incredible power. They are timeless, having existed since the dawn of civilization, and won’t lose their grip on our minds anytime soon. Use them with mastery and care.”
― Will Raywood, Trust Your Story: Master Storytelling and Build a Successful Creative Writing Career

“To create an immersive experience, trigger curiosity by introducing a mystery, evoke empathy by drawing readers into the inner world of a protagonist facing a challenge, and ignite imagination by painting a vivid scenario that hints at a broader conflict.”
― Will Raywood, Trust Your Story: Master Storytelling and Build a Successful Creative Writing Career

“What truly matters isn’t your feelings or even those of your characters—it’s the emotional experience of your audience.”
― Will Raywood, Trust Your Story: Master Storytelling and Build a Successful Creative Writing Career

“What determines the success of a story is not its ability to mirror real life or its escapist value; it’s its power to illuminate specific aspects of the human experience in an engaging way. Ultimately, the main goal of storytelling is to create shared emotional experiences.”
― Will Raywood, The Natural Laws of Story: Master the Art and Science of Engaging Narratives