this one time and band camp…story form, plot, and structure

nothing new?

• With so much already written, is there anything new left to say?

• Are we just recycling?

only six plots (feeling caged?)

• 3 basic conflicts−person against person−person against world−person against himself

• 2 possible outcomes−protagonist wins−protagonist loses

3 x 2 = 6

the complexity is immense

complex characters

characters in conflict with one another

characters also in conflict with themselves (with any of a million inner demons)

maybe add a third level of conflict—the world

now throw in variations of arrangement, tone, prose style, setting, and interactions of all these elements

pitfall alert #1

Don’t confuse different with good.Careful not to fall back on cute gimmicks or quirky situations or strange twists because you don’t think you can come up with anything new.

plot 101

a beginning a middle an end

Aristotle

plot 101

exposition

rising action

climax

falling action

denouement

Gustav Freytag

plot 101

Janet Burroway

conflict

complications

crisis

(falling action)

resolution

e. m. forster’s concept of causality

• plot begins with a character and a goal

• it is the relentless pursuit of the goal that drives the story forward

• the tension results in the character’s pursuit with obstacles getting in the way

The king died, then the queen dies is a story. The king died, then the queen died of grief is a plot.

pitfall alert #2

Beware of False Starts• dream beginning• stutter starts• excessive exposition

pitfall alert #3

Forbidden Endings• killing the first person

narrator• “and then I woke up”• the question

conclusion• deus ex machina

backward plotting

In groups, exercise 11, page 294.