The Art of the Plot

Maybe, and I'm just thinking out loud here, maybe plotting (for me) is much like any other "problem" that I have in my life. Here are the steps I seem to take in confronting problems.

1. Identify it as a problem
2. Go after if full-bore, using everything at my disposal to solve it
3. If the problem proves to be tougher than anticipated, I have an emotional reaction. During this phase I'm angry. I start to "think out of the box." I repeat myself. I try to find angles.
4. It begins to dawn on me that the problem may be insoluble. Despair sets in. I can't imagine living with this problem forever. I try to shoehorn in one of the solutions from step 2.
5. Nothing works. Full of self-pity. End of the line. Life is meaningless.
6. I give up. Admit I can't solve the problem and that moreover it may not ever be solved.
7. The solution comes, usually something I missed between steps 1 and 2.

The above is just a rough outline of how problem-solving works for me. Some problems take years or even decades to bring me to 6 or 7. Some problems I'll probably be dead before I hit 7.

But, as it relates to my plot...It may be part of my personal process to exhaust myself mucking about with the particulars of the plot before I finally see how my original idea (or something close to it) was the best. That's the case with my current story. Glad to be there. Now just need some time to write it.