Linear plots and circular plots

Linear is straightforward, circular has recurring stuff.

I have both in my novel.

it's a bit more than what naco said.

A linear plot starts at point A, things happen and it ends at Point Z. Point A was a point of departure and is not revisited.

A circular plot starts at point A goes through point Z and ends up back at point A2. The ending mirrors the beginning only this time the protagonist wins because of the skills and wisdom he has learned on his journey. Or, in a different way, the end echoes the beginning. There are circular elements in Star Wars, ie Anakin Skywalker and Luke Skywalker both have their hands cut off. This is not, technically, a completely circular plot but it has circular aspects in that events in a scene will echo earlier scenes.

A circular plot example would be: Son inherits company from father. At board meeting he is woefully inexperienced and can not keep the board from taking over and replacing him as CEO. He sets out on a quest to become a better man, he learns things, he attains wisdom, and at the end he attends a board meeting where he bests the board and gets his company back. The end mirrors the beginning.

In my opinion, (and thats just mine) I think circular plots are the most complete as they show that the protagonist has changed and that the thing that defeated him in the beginning is now defeated. It shows he has grown and undergone change in a concrete fashion. I find circular plots are more satisfying to me as a reader.

Exir said:

While reading an article, I stumbled across the terminologies "linear plot" and "circular plot". What exactly do they mean?

Click to expand...

Google is your friend.

Anyway, linear plot is A to B to C to D, and D doesn't have to connect the dot with A or B. The plot moves forward, like a river flowing toward the sea -- it doesn't go back. Much of modern Western literature is linear.

There are different types of circular plots. One is that D ties closely back to A. It goes back to the beginning. Lord of the Rings, for example, is a circular plot. It started at the Shire, and it ended at the Shire, but things had changed. "Hero's Journey" typically follows that kind of circular plotting, to show how the hero has changed through the course of the journey, which ultimately leads back to the beginning.

Another type of circular plot is kind of iterative. A to B to A to C to B to A to C to B to A to C to D... it goes around and around certain central themes and characters, or plot iterations. It may not have a resolution at the end. A lot of Asian literature were written that way.

A way a lone a last a loved a long the riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay...

"Anyway, linear plot is A to B to C to D, and D doesn't have to connect the dot with A or B. The plot movies forward, like a river flowing toward the sea -- it doesn't go back."

Water from the sea evaporates and forms clouds, which move back over land and then rain back into the soil, which flows into the river toward the sea, then the water from sea evaporates and forms clouds...