1: Characters

Think about your characters. Who is/are your protagonist(s)? What do they want? What stands in their way? Your novel plot then follows their journey as you throw obstacles in their way and they battle to overcome them.

2: Worldbuilding

The classic crime novel plot structure starts with a disordered world – usually a murder or other high-stakes crime. The rest of the novel follows the detective character as they work to re-establish a sense of order. However, a psychological thriller or domestic noir plot may well work in reverse – a seemingly well-ordered world is dismantled and reconfigured into something that is not necessarily better.

3: Acts

Think about using three acts for your plot structure – the first act establishes the world of the novel and the central ‘problem’; the second act deepens the plot, entwines the characters with the issues of the story, and the third involves a battle or climax that leads to a resolution. Mark the end of each act with a crunch point, a point of no return, where the characters and story have no choice but to move forward. It can also be helpful to think about the midpoint. Midpoint is where matters come to a head. It’s where there is a major shift, revelation or twist that powers the protagonist(s) towards the conclusion. A muscular midpoint keeps the story alive.

4: Structure

Plot structure can be applied before or after a first draft. Every writer has a different way of working with it. Some people prefer ‘writing by the seat of their pants’ and then editing and applying order to the material they come up with, others like to work out every story beat before sitting down to do the actual writing. It’s at once liberating and terrifying to know that there is no wrong or right way to write a novel. Each approach is equally creative.

5: Episodes

When you are working out your crime novel plot, think of it as a story being told in episodes that move the story on. It can be helpful to limit yourself to, say, ten major episodes. In each episode something significant happens. Then you can break the episodes down into scenes. Take your characters out into the world, surprise them, surprise yourself, and most importantly surprise the reader.