How to Map Your Plot with the 7-Point Plot

Structure - Lancy McCall

https://lancymccall.com/how-to-map-your-plot-with-the-7-point-plot-structure/

Post author:Lancy M
Post published:May 31, 2021
Post category:For Writers

Views: 1,956

Image by Lancy McCall

You’ve developed strong characters and the world you’ve created
is awe-inspiring. Now what? If you’re like me, the idea to your
story came to you in a flash. You may already have a scene or two
written in your head. But what about the rest of the book? What
happens between the beginning and the end? How do your
characters get from one place to another?

These are the questions that I struggle with that story that’s been
nagging at me in the back of my head. Since I started writing, I’ve
studied different story structures from The Hero’s Journey to Save
the Cat! I’ve learned about Inciting Events, Plot Points, and Pinch
Points. But knowing the definitions of these terms didn’t help me
figure out my process. And then I stumbled across a YouTube
video collection featuring Dan Wells in 2010.

Now to be honest, I’d come across these videos previously in my

exploration of writing and the message didn’t really sink in the
first time. I had to struggle through one book and the planning of
another before what Mr. Wells was saying really hit the mark for
me.

Writing Process
Before we get into the meat of things, let’s talk about your writing
process. Are you a discovery writer (pantser)? Or a plotter? Do
you let your book inform you of where it’s going? Or do you
outline the plot beforehand and write scenes based on your
outline?

Personally, I mix it up. I often know where I’m going to end up,
but no clue how I’m going to get there. I know some things that
are going to happen, but not all. And typically, I write myself into
a corner where I can’t see how I’m going to get where I need to be
from where I currently am. Once I’m stuck, I go back to the
drawing board to plot out what needs to happen. Eventually, I
work out the issue and get unstuck. Many of the articles I’ve read
and podcasts I’ve listened to suggest that, whether you’re a
pantser or a plotter, you always plot your novel. Either you do it
before you write or afterward when you’re editing and making
sure everything lines up.

As a former project manager, I’m all about planning so I’ve been

trying to find a process that lends itself to fully plotting out the
book before I sit down to write. And I think I’ve found it. It’s
helped tremendously in my current work-in-progress.

7-Point Plot Structure

If you do a quick Internet search, you can find tons of articles on
what the 7-Point Plot Structure is. And if you read some of these,
you’ll see they all differ slightly in what the points are and where
they fall. The one I’m focusing on comes from Dan Wells. He has a
series of YouTube videos that walk through his explanation of
what these plot points are and how to use them. You can watch
the videos for a more in-depth explanation, but I thought I would
summarize what I got out of them.

For your reference, the first video is here.

Plot Points

The plot points in Dan Wells’ version are:

1. Hook – Hero is in the opposite state to their end state. Lays the
foundation for your character arc.
2. Plot Turn 1 – Hero’s world changes from status quo to the new
world. Introduces the conflict.
3. Pinch 1 – Something goes wrong that forces the hero into
action.
4. Midpoint – Hero shifts from reaction to action. It is a
conscious decision.
5. Pinch 2 – Something fails that makes things seem hopeless.
(Dark night of the soul.)
6. Plot Turn 2 – Hero obtains the last thing needed to resolve the
conflict.
7. Resolution – Hero follows through on their decision from the
midpoint. Everything in the story leads to this moment.

Plotting Order

The order that you should approach figuring out these points will
help you derive the overall plot. Start with the ending, figure out
the opposite of that ending (where they would start from to get
there), then find the middle where the story turns. Repeat the
process for each section you are looking at.

The plotting order is:

1. Resolution (how the story ends)

2. Hook (how it begins)
3. Midpoint (middle of the entire story)
4. Plot Turn 1 (middle between the Hook and the Midpoint)
5. Plot Turn 2 (middle between the Midpoint and the Resolution)
6. Pinch 1 (middle between the first Plot Turn and the Midpoint)
7. Pinch 2 (middle between the Midpoint and the second Plot
Turn)

The Process
Now that you know what these seven points are, what’s the
process? This is where I had the aha moment.

Determine the Seven Plot Points for Each Subplot

Draw a table with each of your subplots at the top of each

column. Below the first row containing your subplot titles, create
seven rows (one for each plot point). We’ll use The Matrix as an
example like Mr. Wells did in his videos.

Plot Point Action Character Romance Betrayal

Ice Monster
prologue!
(Trinity fights
(Prologue)
and escapes
from the
Agents.)

Neo is an Neo is an Neo is Cypher is

Hook
underachiever underachiever alone their friend

Cypher
Morpheus Neo
Plot Turn Neo learns makes a deal
tells Neo he’s meets
1 about the Matrix with the
the One Trinity
agents

Crew
Trinity
Neo is the new discovers an
Agents kidnap isn’t
Pinch 1 guy; can’t do unauthorized
Neo interested
anything trip into the
in Neo
Matrix

Neo falls Cypher tells

Neo escapes the Neo meets the in love the Agents
Midpoint
Matrix Oracle with where they
Trinity are
 Plot Point Action Character Romance Betrayal
Neo
Oracle tells thinks she Neo spots the
Morpheus is
Pinch 2 Neo he’s not loves trap, they try
captured
the One someone to escape
else

Neo risks
his life to
Neo realizes Cypher
Plot Turn Neo becomes save
the power is attacks in the
2 the One Trinity
in him real world
and
Morpheus

Cypher
Trinity
betrays
Climax / Neo defeats the Neo becomes falls in
Morpheus
Resolution Agents the One love with
and kills the
Neo
crew

Focus on the plot for one subplot at a time and don’t pay attention
to the plot points of the other subplots while you’re doing this.
This step is simply to get down what the story behind each
subplot is without regard to how it fits with the other plots.

Tip: If you do this in a spreadsheet, you can hide the other

columns to help focus on one subplot at a time.

Another tool you can use to do your plotting in is Plottr. This

software helps you visualize your plot points. I’ve taken Mr.
Wells’ table above and plotted them in Plottr so you can see what
it looks like.
Arrange the Subplot Points in the Story

Once you’ve determined what your plot points are for each
subplot, you’re ready to make a second pass to spread out all the
plot points or events in the story. This is where you figure out the
order of events and which ones can align in the same scene to
create powerful moments in the story.

Here’s what it looks like in a table format:

Action Character Romance Betrayal

Ice Monster prologue!
(Trinity fights and
escapes from the
Agents.)

Neo is an Neo is an
Neo is alone
underachiever underachiever

Neo learns about the Neo meets

Matrix Trinity

Agents kidnap Neo

Morpheus
Neo escapes the Matrix tells Neo he’s
the One
 Action Character Romance Betrayal
Neo is the new
Cypher is their
guy; can’t do
friend
anything

Trinity isn’t
interested in
Neo

Neo falls in
love with
Trinity

Cypher makes
a deal with the
agents

Crew discovers
unauthorized
trip into the
Matrix

Cypher tells the

Neo meets the
Agents where
Oracle
they are

Oracle tells
Neo he’s not
the One

Neo thinks
Trinity loves
someone else

Neo spots the

trap, they try to
escape

Cypher attacks
in the real
world

Cypher betrays
Morpheus is captured Morpheus and
kills the crew
 Action Character Romance Betrayal
Neo risks his
life to save
Trinity and
Morpheus

Try/Fail Cycles (resuing

Morpheus)

Neo realizes
the power is
in him

Neo becomes Trinity falls in

Neo becomes the One
the One love with Neo

Neo defeats the Agents

And here’s what it looks like in Plottr (two images w/ overlap):

You can see how the plot points on one story line or subplot may
line up differently from another subplot. (Keep in mind that even
though the labels at the top say “scenes”, they are still just plot
points. They may very well end up being scenes, but currently, they
are just points on the map.)

One thing I like about Plottr is that you can easily drag and drop
your scenes to anywhere on the timeline. This makes it easy to
move things around and line them up where they make sense.

Additional Resources
Here are some additional articles and resources on the Seven-
Point Structure that go into more detail on each plot point:

The Seven-Point Story Structure: From Idea to Plot in 5 Steps

on Reedsy, which gives a deep-dive into each plot point.
Big Picture Story Structure: Part 3: Seven-Point Plot Structure
by John Wong discussing weaving plots together and breaking
down Star Wars for you.
Writing Method: 7-Point System by Dan Wells by E.P. Hasan
who shares a printable mind map and a condensed
PowerPoint summary of Dan Wells’ lecture on the topic.

Wrap-Up
By figuring out the key plot points for each subplot, you can start
laying the foundation for your entire book. Once you know how
each storyline evolves, the structure of what happens and when
unfolds and gives you an idea of what your finished book will
look like.

Now you just have to go write those scenes.

What kind of story structure do you use?

Follow me on Twitter at @LancyMcCall for more discoveries,
insights, and surprises from my writing journey.

Happy Writing!

Tags: plotting , plottr