My bugaboo is plotting....making the storyline fresh and original and dropping into cliches. I try to develop plots out of character but they often dissolve into soap operish dramatics. I'd like to see some insights about that. I also have a hard time writing descriptions of backgrounds and scenes. They pretty much bore me to read so I find it hard to write them because I'm very conscious of how wearisome I often find them. How do realize a background without having it stop your storyline?