There are sometimes when we just get slammed unexpectedly with something in life. Out of the blue an old flame returns to town, our car breaks down, our mother-in-law comes to stay for a month, we are offered a new job, etc.

We shake our heads and say, “I never saw that one coming.” That would be the peripheral plot in a novel. Something on the edges of the story that is believable that comes in to impact what is going to happen.

Brainstorming peripheral plot possibilities is a great strategy to lift the sag in the middle of your novel. It helps you to break through predictability and keep tension on the page where your reader wants to know what is going to happen next.

So how do we brainstorm peripheral plot possibilities?

*Start by writing down your genre. This is a reminder to you that your peripheral plot should fall within the parameters of your genre. More often than not, you peripheral plot shouldn’t involve a kidnapping in the middle of a romance novel.

*Write down the names of your hero/heroine and all of their connections.

For example:

My heroine is a Fire Medic named Liz. Possible connections: another Fire Medic, Her Mom, Her little Brother, The volunteer organization she helps on the weekends, and her ex-boyfriend.

*For each connection write something that could come in from the outside to affect her world.

Possibilities:

Fire Medic(Job) – arsonist, cutbacks, new boss who is an old flame, etc.

Mom- cancer, needs help moving, has new boyfriend, selling childhood home, etc.

Little Brother- trouble with the law, financial help, car accident, getting married, etc.

Volunteer Organization – Major event to plan, under investigation, out of money, etc.

Ex-Boyfriend- threatens her, brings around his new girlfriend, wants to get back together, etc.

*Add some possibilities that are natural disasters or larger scale. But keep in mind, this must be believable.

Possibilities:

*Tornado, flooding, hurricane, flu pandemic, bridge collapse, death of a major figure, etc.

*Add in some possible obstacles to their noble quest or what they want to achieve by the end of the story.

My fire medic’s noble quest is to prove to the other men on her team that she can carry her own weight, even though she is a woman.

Possible obstacles to that:

*New boss is chauvinistic

*She is sabotaged during some of the training exercises by a new fire medic

*She injures her back.

*Old boyfriend comes by and makes her look bad to the crew.

*Determine which character needs the most increase in conflict. You want to keep the conflict level relatively balanced between your hero and heroine. Make sure they both have lots of challenges to overcome.

*Select your top three peripheral plot ideas and write them down.

Assuming that I am doing a romance novel I would pick the following: Mom is selling her childhood home, bridge collapse, and She is sabotaged during some of the training exercises by a new fire medic.

*Analyze the three you have chosen and determine what has the greatest potential to knock your character down. If it is believable then that is the one you want to choose.

Summary

Brainstorming peripheral plot is a powerful way to increase the conflict in your novel and avoid the sagging middle that makes your reader close the book. Try following the steps above to create peripheral plot in your novel.

***

Our Huddle Coach, Michelle Lim semi-finaled in the 2011 Genesis with Death’s Apprentice and received Bronze Medal Recognition in the 2010 Frasier contest with Singed. She is the vice president of MN N.I.C.E., a local chapter of ACFW. At My Book Therapy she coordinates the e-zine’s Genre Java Column and is the Brainstorm and Huddle Coach,our program for local craft groups. Michelle taught elementary school for eleven years. She lives in Minnesota with her husband Hui Hong and four rambunctious kids that