#plot ideas
Do you ever have scenes with 6+ people and you can’t seem to juggle them all? Or do you ever want to get 2-3 characters in a scene together for some quality relationship development, but that means sending the other characters elsewhere?
I’ve compiled a list of “off-screen” things your character can be doing, for any time you need them to be temporarily somewhere else. With this list comes with a few caveats:
- If you find yourself always sending the same character somewhere else to a point where that character never actually gets much page time, are you sure you actually need that character in your novel? Don’t use this an excuse to keep deadweight characters that are 100% unnecessary to your plot, but your heart can’t bear to cut. Either draw them back into the plot as a necessary element, or get rid of them.
- This is only for temporarily getting rid of someone—meaning for a short amount of time, and infrequently. It starts to feel weird if your character always happens to be taking their nap when something happens, and if you’re not careful, it’ll come off as lazy writing. Use this kind of thing sparingly.
- Sometimes, you’ll need to have a result to their temporary absence. For example, if you say they’re off spying on the bad guy, occasionally they need to come back with a tidbit of info. Not all of their missions will be a success, but again, it’ll start to feel fake if there’s no point to the spying.
And now to the list! There are two sections to it, depending on if your character to be doing something actively plot-related and useful while they’re away, or if you want them to stay uninvolved. Both have their uses depending on the situation.
Active:
- Captured by the enemy
- Fighting in a different area
- Guarding a captured enemy
- Protecting someone in potential danger
- Researching the problem
- Spying/recon
- Training to fight
- Watching someone suspicious
- With another character (off-screen relationship building)
Passive:
- At school/work
- Doing a hobby
- Hunting for food
- Injured/sick/in the hospital
- On vacation
- Out of the loop (no one told them about the meeting, etc)
- Sleeping
The passive list could be incredibly longer, but I tried to list enough for you to get the idea. Whatever you pick, make sure it makes sense in your plot and setting, and like I warned before, don’t use this as an excuse to hold onto deadweight characters.
Working this kind of downtime into your novel isn’t bad, since it can take up the necessary but boring actions that your story needs. Someone learning how to fight, for example, won’t learn everything in a week. By occasionally putting them “off-screen” to train, you’re further convincing us that he or she has trained enough to pull off a future scene where they hold their own in battle. It’ll also give a sense that other characters are working in the background and getting things done, even if your protagonist or narrator isn’t always there to see it, which is realistic, of course. It’s not like everyone else freezes in place the moment your protag isn’t around.
–E
admittedly,person a has extremely dry chapped lips. it’s awful to even think about. person a claims it to be a defence mechanism to whoever wants to even try to kiss them. person b doesn’t give a single fuck.
you know the moment that happens in most clichés: the accidental spill of coffee on someone’s shirt and providing a shirt to them. well, what if the coffee spilled on both of person aandperson b’s shirts? and that they have to buy a new shirts for each other because they don’t have extra clothing on them? oh, look there’s a 2 for 1 sale! HEY, LET’S MATCH OUTFITS-
person a has bad eye sight; like really bad and they can’t see most things without their trusty glasses. person b decides to give person a an eye test. person b writes something down on a piece of paper and tests person a. of course, person a can’t read shit and has to squint or complain that person b was too far away. then suddenly, person b moves closer to person a, fully aware that person a can see properly now, and asks them to read the paper aloud. person a smiles and whispers an ‘i love you too’ as person b shoves the piece of paper in person a’s stupid looking face.
person aknowsperson b steals their clothes often. so, taking that as an advantage: they slip small notes into the pockets of the clothing article. now, whenever person b stealsperson a’s clothes, they find a small note and falls in love with person a more.
person a can’t smile. well, they can but it’s more like a straight line whenever they smile. that’s why no one gets to see a ‘proper’ smile from person a because it isn’t really present. so, smiling at strangers who did something nice or catched their eye is an experience person a doesn’t want to relive. however, person ahelpedperson b carry their groceries and person b flashed them a smile: thanking them for helping them. this is when person a tries to smile awkwardly for 20 seconds while person b thinks their smile is charming.
person aandperson b are in the bed, and are suppose to be sleeping but person a had a different idea. when person b is fast asleep, person a slept too, however, after sliding an engagement ring onto person b’s finger. now, person a wonders about how person b would react, either:
→ the moment person b wakes up, they noticed the ring straight away and aggressively slaps person a awake, demanding an explanation.
or
→person b never noticed it, for a long time: even after person a tried to slip in some hints; until person a had enough and straight up told person b about it.
summer comes in with bright smiles, person a had just moved into a small town and they have been enjoying it so far. today, however, they were minding their business on a bench when they notice person b by the balcony: singing while hanging up wet clothes. entranced by person b’s beauty and voice, person a sets a mission to capture the attention of person b.
from now on everyday, person a would play songs on their guitar to try to get person b’s attention. they have been gathering many tips, too, but person a really just wants person b to notice them. so, person a continues this new routine until they catch person b staring at them.
y'all know the famous ‘confident gay and panic gay.’ but have you ever heard of 'panic gay and panic gay’, it’s basically panic gay². person a andperson b are the literate definition of it.
a day when person a felt a small wave of confidence flow through their body and decided to do a bold move towards person b.person b was shamelessly staring at person a and as they got out of their trance; person a sneaked in a wink at them. awkward stares ensues. now, person b is a puddle of bashfulness and person a is internally screaming out of embarrassment.
college professors make the lectures so boring that sometimes their voices just fade into the back of person a’s thoughts. sometimes theyre tired and wanna do something else but cant because they dont wanna fail. however, this rainy morning, person a notices that a classmate: person b, who is seated right in front of them; is watching a movie. person a watches, too, though, not knowing what the characters are saying and after a few minutes, person b looks back and notices person a is staring at their screen: this amazing person – who is person b – puts the subtitles on and makes person a fall for them.
mental illness sucks and the only way for person a to calm it down is to listen to music: on the highest volume; to drown deep inside the soft hums and well-thought lyrics. whats weird is that person a is also clumsy and theyre very surprised that they never bump into anything whenever theyre lost in the music. well, until they bumped into a street lamp. a visible, throbbing bump on their head and then, they meet their soulmate: person b, who rushes over to person a asking if they want to come over so they can treat it. of course, stunned by person b’s beauty and kindness: person a delightfully nods until they remember how much pain it did to move it because of the bump; and yet, it doesnt really hurt due to the soft giggles from person b.
person a does a lot of weird shit: some find it kinda funny and some find it quite endearing. for example: person a confessed to person b by airdropping them a meme.
the whole being gay and liking the same gender thing is a lot to take in, person a has been straight most of their life but now it’s changing: because of person b’s welcoming smile. it really surprised them that: they actually like person b, who’s their friend since forever ago. it does make sense because the only thing person a was thinking about is how to make person b happy, all the time; or how they always smile at the thought of person b’s mere presence.
of course, with the new changes in their preference: person a tries to avoid person b, saying that they hate them; when really, they really like them. they thought if they push person b away, the guilt anchor would be raised but really it just sunk deeper into the deep, black ocean of emotions. not only did they hurt themself, they hurt person b, too: and person a wanted to change that, for the better.
the older person a gets, the more boring the holidays become. on new years eve, they plan on curling up in their warm blanket, trying not to cry because they just fucking hated the year and it’ll be the same for the upcoming year as well. but little did they know, person b is already knocking on their door: constantly banging on the door, screaming ‘happy almost new year, neighbour!’
that’s when person a is stuck with person b to celebrate new years together. however, person a keeps being a pessimistic asshole and keeps complaining how they should just sleep, or even heck, they’ll rather do work than celebrate. even though, they’re complaining, person b keeps on trying to celebrate new years with their neighbour and eventually, roping person a into a slow dance just before the new year begins.
person awas always single when they celebrated christmas; always curled up with in a warm fluffy blanket, sipping a warm hot chocolate while reading their favourite book. however, they’re not single no more:now,person aandperson bcurl up against each other with light kisses on their necks from time to time and it feels so comfortable and safe inside; and they both love it.
it’s raining heavily outside, the darkness paints the night sky as everything and everyone is blessed with the rain. person aandperson b is stuck inside their car with the low jazz music and the dim atmosphere. the cramp space in the car feels suffocating, how awful, really. it’s not like person a could potentially confess their undying love for person b right now!
person a keeps questioning to themselves: is it gay to admire a friend? like seriously, it’s just admiring a certain someone (person b) about how they smile, that’s all. it’s not like it’s a crush because person a is 100% straight, heterosexual, no ounce of gay in them. but why does it hurt when person b is laughing with someone else? it could be jealousy: for a friend of course! yeah, just jealous that someone else took person b’s attention away from them and that person b seems to be always in a good mood after they spoke to this ‘someone else.’ though, person a isn’t jealous in 'that’ way, right?
the only thing person aandperson b wants to do after their exams is to watch frozen two: now, they’re randomly singing ‘into the unknown’ everywhere they go, and everyone who witnesses this just wants to shove a slipper up their asses.
you know, person a just doesn’t get love. every love story they’ve read was all about: how the protagonist couldn’t get his love interest out of his head and how much he loves her; the way any little thing would make his heart skip a beat or beat rapidly; and the way her smile would lighten his mood any time of the day.
they never experienced this and thought maybe they’ll never get anyone because eh, who knows? being single is way more fun than being tied down to a relationship. yet everything changed when person b waltzed in person a’s life with their stunning smile. then suddenly, they’re searching up ‘why is my heart beating when i’m around this really cute person who i can’t get off my head it’s annoying but at the same time whY DO I WANT TO SPEND MY EVERY SINGLE MOMENT WITH THEM?!?!’
sometimes, there’s a time when person a feels so depressed they start thinking about things they shouldn’t do. glad thing before person a does anything, person b comes in and collapses to the floor realising that person a is trying to do something permanent to their life: and they never knew about it. with all that happening they argue until they both realised that they both just needed a hug.
