It ain't what you tell, it's the way that you tell it: in which Debbie Young tries not to lose the plot
English author Debbie Young Most authors at some point in their writing lives will come across the advice that there are ONLY SEVEN BASIC PLOTS - or maybe nine, or thirty-six, or various other numbers, depending on whom you consult. If you're the glass-half-empty type, it's easy to think: "Oh no, how can I ever hope to be original? Someone will have got there before me!" Whereas glass-half-full types like me may think: "Well, Shakespeare just took existing stories and upcycled them into his plays - if it's good enough for Shakespeare, who am I to complain?" Those who can't even see the glass are probably best advised to throw down their pen and take up golf instead. The BEST thing to do is, of course, to take your choice of basic plot and wrap around it your choice your characters, themes, setting, etc etc to produce a final story that only you could write . How Shall I Write It? Let Me Count the Ways (Photo by MJS on Unspla