The hard part about being an ancient sentient like myself is that I've got to write a lot down so I can refresh my mind about what's gone before. I've got reams of notes.Today, looking ahead, in order to clarify the future, I wrote down several coming moments, discovering that plot elements require causes and create effects. I tried listing, separately, actions which Manning must take and the conditions that necessitate those actions and what conditions must follow after those actions. Actions are precipitated by the knowledge a character must have in order to do that deed and actions also precipitate further actions. Actions have consequences.
This problem is all about dividing the plotting process into categories of some kind. The categories are hard to describe and list. For example, I write down "Manning meets with McDaniel's representatives". Simple enough. Then, I've got to provide a clear reason for the meeting. Who called the meeting and why? McDaniel's or Manning? What does "who calls the meeting" reveal about the sorts of knowledge each party has in order to meet?
More than once, I've written an action into the plot that can't happen unless other things have happened before it. The actors must possess certain information that will precipitate the situation or the action can't occur. Sometimes a character will do something he can't be doing if he really knows what I've written that he already knows...and vice versa. If one is not careful, some ridiculous things can happen. Maybe even this last paragraph is hard to follow, eh?
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