Write Great Fiction--Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell

this:
Find an issue that makes your cheeks red. It can be global, like military strategy, or local, like school board policy. It must, however, be something likely to make people mad.
Choose up sides. What is your moral viewpoint about the issue? Come up with a good argument defending your position.
Next,
and most important
, come up with a good argument for the other side! Few things are black and white in this world, and even those on the dark side feel justified in what they are doing. Your job as a writer is to see the whole picture, and that means treating your characters — all of them — fairly.
Now ask yourself, “What kind of person would care
most
about each side of this issue?” Come up with several possibilities for each. Later you can choose the best.
    Remember, however, that fiction is not a sermon. Your job is to deliver a gripping story, not a windy lecture.
5. See It
    Let your imagination play you a movie:
    Sit down first thing in the morning and ask yourself, “What do I
really
want to write about at this moment in time?” List the first three things that come to your mind. This may take the form of issues (crime in the streets, euthanasia, lawyers, religion) or characters (a character who shows guts in the face of danger) or situations (what if somebody got stuck in a blimp over Iraq?). Pick the one that gets your juices flowing the most.
    Close your eyes and start the movie. Just sit back and “watch.”What do you see? If something is interesting, don’t try to control it. Give it a nudge if you want to, but try as much as possible to let the pictures do their own thing. Do this for as long as you want.
    Then start writing, with no thought about plot construction, and keep writing for twenty minutes. Write about whatever you remember from the “movie.” You can make notes about character, plot ideas, themes, whatever. Just write. Do this every day for five days, adding to your written material each day.
    Take a day off, then print a hard copy of your movie journal. Look it over and highlight the parts that turn you on. Go through the nurturing process now and apply the freshness test.
6. Hear It
    Music is a shortcut to the heart. Listen to music that moves you. Choose from different styles — classical, movie scores, rock, jazz, whatever lights your fuse — and as you listen, close your eyes and see what pictures, scenes or characters develop.
    When you do find something worth writing about (and you will), you can use that piece of music to put you in the mood every time you sit down to write.
7. Character First
    Perhaps the best and fastest way to get a story idea is through a character. The process is simple: develop a dynamic character, and see where he leads.
    There are a variety of ways to come up with an original character. Here are a few:
Visualizing. Close your eyes and “see” the first person who pops into your mind. Describe this person. Plop him down in a setting, any setting, and see what develops. Later ask yourself, “Why is this character acting this way? What pattern of character is developing here?”
Re-Creating Who You Know. Take a fascinating character from your past. Don’t try to copy him. “Re-create” him. Give him a different occupation. Even better, change his sex.
He
becomes
her
.What would your crazy uncle be like if he were really a woman?
Obituaries. Every day the newspapers run obituaries. These are character biographies there for the taking! Adapt them. Take the interesting parts and apply them to a character of your own choosing. You can alter the age and the sex of the character and see how things play. Let loose.
The worst thing. Once you have your character, ask this question: What is the worst thing that could happen to this person? Your answer may very well be the start of a novel of suspense, a novel the reader just can’t put down.
8. Stealing From the Best
    If Shakespeare could do it,