vanessabrooks | Plot? What Plot?

Also called storyline. The plan, scheme, or main story of a literary or dramatic work, as a play, novel, or short story.

Plot. Every story needs one. Every story requires one. (Well, there are the PWP stories, but I'm not talking about those.) Without one, you don't really have a story. It doesn't have to long and all consuming, but there needs to be something that moves the characters from the start to the middle to the end.

I have problems with plot. I'm great with characterization and setting. I (think) I'm pretty good at making characters full and well-rounded, and creating a workable "world." The rest . . . not so much. Once I have these characters and this believable world, I ~~usually~~ more often than not hit a wall. Hard. Going at speeds in excess of 65 miles per hour. Not only does it hurt like a bitch, but it's also more than a little depressing and frustrating. I suddenly have this wonderful (in my extremely biased opinion) world and fantastic, interesting characters (again, that's my completely unobjective opinion) and absolutely, positively no idea what to do with them next.

For example, I have decided to revive a post-apocalyptic idea that I came up with a couple of years ago. It was the background/setting of an RPG, but that's neither here nor there, really. It is my own background, my own world and it's a place to start playing. Particularly considering my love of post-apocalyptic fic. Unfortunately, I have a background and characters. Outside of survival, I really don't have a big all encompassing plot and that's my stumbling point. In the past (read: 99.9% of the time), I write by the seat of my pants and let the plot come when it may and be what it may. But in this case I think the characters need to work for something, even if it's finding out what destroyed their world and why they're left. Which brings me to part two of my problem: I know the fall out of the end of the world, but not what caused it. Or even, if it should really matter.

My sad problem is that the more I think about it, the more frustrated I become and that's not a good place to start writing from.

I'd like to know if I'm the only one out there who ~~wrestles and beats into submission~~ struggles with even the most basic of plotting. Also, yeah, any words of wisdom to move beyond it would be a big help too.