- Joined
- Apr 17, 2005
- Messages
- 4,827
- Reaction score
- 336
- Location
- Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Website
- home.comcast.net
Plot is my weak point in writing, the stumbling block that trips me again and again. I've read most of the available theory at the topic but still have a lot of questions. So I thought I'd toss them out here, maybe we'll all learn something from the discussion. 
What is plot? Yes we've probably all heard plot described as a series of events. Most of us have heard that that series of events begins with an initial incident, goes through rising action, climaxes, then ends with a resolution. Or this sequence can be chopped up a bit - you can start in medias res with the rising action and stick the initial incident in the backstory or a flashback. Some stories end right at the climax or have only a paragraph or two of resolution, while others have 50 pages of falling action and resolution. Some novels are more episodic or meandering and don't really have a dramatic climax, they just end wherever the author didn't feel like continuing the story or didn't think anything else they could say would be interesting.
Some plots are circular, ending where they began, some novels have 2 plots happening in parallel, some have subplots which only last part of the length of the novel. Some plots are focused on the struggle between a hero and a villain, some follow several characters none of whom is a hero or villain.
A plot (arguably) must accomplish several things: at least one character achieves personal growth (character arc), the climax and resolution express the final opinion in a thematic argument (aka the moral of the story) by handing out rewards and punishments among the characters, and the reader who is vicariously adventuring with the characters is provided with escapism, catharsis and/or other psychological satisfactions, and possibly has been taught something.
I can say all that, but I still don't have a gut-level grasp on what plot is made out of or how I should go about building one. I can use theory or one of these methods like the snowflake method or the hero's journey to construct a generic plot, but how so I know whether that structure is right for a particular book idea, how do I figure out the details of what should actually happening where I have [rising action] and [climax] penciled in? How do you think of plot, and how do you go about creating it in your prewriting? (Or I imagine lots of you make it up as you go along, but if I make a story up as I go along it come out pretty much plot-free.
)
Coming at this issue of plot from a different angle - when you read, do you actually enjoy the plot? Is it just there in the background to keep the characters feeling different interesting emotions? Have you ever felt a book had too much plot which got in the way of more important stuff, or felt that a book had almost no plot but succeeded anyway?
And feel free to say anything else you want to say about plot, this is an open discussion thread.
What is plot? Yes we've probably all heard plot described as a series of events. Most of us have heard that that series of events begins with an initial incident, goes through rising action, climaxes, then ends with a resolution. Or this sequence can be chopped up a bit - you can start in medias res with the rising action and stick the initial incident in the backstory or a flashback. Some stories end right at the climax or have only a paragraph or two of resolution, while others have 50 pages of falling action and resolution. Some novels are more episodic or meandering and don't really have a dramatic climax, they just end wherever the author didn't feel like continuing the story or didn't think anything else they could say would be interesting.
Some plots are circular, ending where they began, some novels have 2 plots happening in parallel, some have subplots which only last part of the length of the novel. Some plots are focused on the struggle between a hero and a villain, some follow several characters none of whom is a hero or villain.
A plot (arguably) must accomplish several things: at least one character achieves personal growth (character arc), the climax and resolution express the final opinion in a thematic argument (aka the moral of the story) by handing out rewards and punishments among the characters, and the reader who is vicariously adventuring with the characters is provided with escapism, catharsis and/or other psychological satisfactions, and possibly has been taught something.
I can say all that, but I still don't have a gut-level grasp on what plot is made out of or how I should go about building one. I can use theory or one of these methods like the snowflake method or the hero's journey to construct a generic plot, but how so I know whether that structure is right for a particular book idea, how do I figure out the details of what should actually happening where I have [rising action] and [climax] penciled in? How do you think of plot, and how do you go about creating it in your prewriting? (Or I imagine lots of you make it up as you go along, but if I make a story up as I go along it come out pretty much plot-free.
)Coming at this issue of plot from a different angle - when you read, do you actually enjoy the plot? Is it just there in the background to keep the characters feeling different interesting emotions? Have you ever felt a book had too much plot which got in the way of more important stuff, or felt that a book had almost no plot but succeeded anyway?
And feel free to say anything else you want to say about plot, this is an open discussion thread.
