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" To uncover the plot of your story, don’t ask what should happen, but what should go wrong. To uncover the meaning of your story, don’t ask what the theme is, but rather, what is discovered. Characters making choices to resolve tension—that’s your plot. If your protagonist has no goal, makes no choices, has no struggle to overcome, you have no plot. "

Steven James , Story Trumps Structure: How to Write Unforgettable Fiction by Breaking the Rules


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Steven James quote : To uncover the plot of your story, don’t ask what should happen, but what should go wrong. To uncover the meaning of your story, don’t ask what the theme is, but rather, what is discovered. Characters making choices to resolve tension—that’s your plot. If your protagonist has no goal, makes no choices, has no struggle to overcome, you have no plot.