Plot
As promised in my previous post, I will now dive deeper into each of the three story elements; plot, setting, and character. In these next few posts, I will define the three elements of story in detail for you through my own perspective, and hopefully help you feel more at ease when encountering them in the future, wether in your own writing or in stories that you watch/read. Ready? Let’s begin!
The first of the three elements that we will be covering is plot. Plot is most clearly defined by Dictionary.com as ‘the main events of a play, novel, movie, or similar work, devised and presented by the writer as an interrelated sequence’. It is most commonly explained by professionals and creative writing instructers as a mountain with five points. These five points of plot are the basic skeleton of any story in any peice of fiction writing, and they are listed in chronological order; exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement.
Exposition. This is where the foundation for the plot is set: the beginning of the protagonist’s journey. Here, the protagonist and the story goal are introduced — or at least hinted at. The exposition would include the first chapter (or few chapters, in many cases) where the plot to follow is foreshadowed and set in motion.
Rising Action. Kicking off from the exposition, the protagonist is caught up in the events following to pursue the story goal. The rising action is where most of the story plays out; from the protagnist deciding which path they will follow to meeting other allies, and fighting minor villains; all the while drawing closer and closer to the confrontation with their biggest obstacle. Both the tension and the action would start out slowly, much like a sled starting down a hill, and quicken the more momentum gathers. This is how your plot should be.
Climax. The moment when the momentum reaches top speed is called the climax or the showdown. This is when the protagonist must face their biggest challenge yet, and this final conflict will result in the fulfillment or the failure of the story goal.
Falling Action. Once the outcome of the story goal has been decided, the action begins to decrease again as the story comes to a close. This is when the loose ends and side plots will be tied up and fulfilled, which should only span a few chapters; drawing it out for too long would result in the readers growing bored. these are the few final chapters where the plots are all tied up and ended.
Denouement. The denouement and the falling action can technically be counted as one and the same, as they both tend to be short and sweet (or painful, depending on the story) and they work hand in hand to close the plot. The denoument is best explained as the final picture given as the plot comes to a close; the happily ever after, or the barren waistland. That final scene which leaves the reader wanting more.
Despite being far too oversimplified for my liking, the five point diagram is the basic structure for any fictional story that you will be writing, be it romance, action/adventure, sci-fi, or fantasy (among others). For my part, I like to think of plot as a complicated web with many different strings that all come together to form the same whole. After all, a story has to have more than just one plot to be fully functional. Do not think of your plot as just one story; think of it as multiple different, seperate stories that merge because of a common goal. After all, each character has their own goal. They need a reason to believe in or be against the story goal just as much as the hero and the villain are.
Here are five signs that your plot may be weak, and five ways to fix the problem:
1. Your story does not have a defined beginning, middle, and end. The fix for this would be to start at the beginning and outline your story over again. Ask yourself these questions: what is the beginning (what starts the action)? What is the middle (how the hero goes about accomplishing the goal)? What is the end (the outcome)? Once you have those figured out, use them as a solid foundation to flesh out the rest of your plot around it.
2. Your plot does not hold your interest or the interest of your readers. The problem here is most likely pacing, though it could be a deeper problem with the plot itself. If it is the former, you will probably need to do extensive outlining or rewriting to repace your plot to a quicker, more interesting level. If it is the latter, get your beta readers to tell you exactly where they lost interest and what needs to be fixed. Once you locate the problem, you will be able to fix it accordingly (this could also potentially involve more outlining and rewriting).
3. Your plot is confusing. As writers, we sometimes forget that the reader doesn’t know as much about the story as we do, so we withold information when we shouldn’t, or we forget to explain the plot as fully as we should. If your reader tells you that they have a hard time following what is going on, listen to them. Pinpoint the area and smooth it over, and then bring it back to them to see if they find it clearer.
4. Your plot isn’t going anywhere. I encounter this a lot while beta reading. You finish a new writer’s novel and you wonder what exactly happened during the story? If you have recieved this feedback for your plot, or if you yourself have pinpointed the issue, turn back to the drawing board and see where things went wrong. Rewrite. A lot of the times things will come to you when you just sit down to rewrite something.
5. There are plot holes. Plot holes are nasty creatures that tend to slip into things and many times are only descovered later in the developmental process. The best thing you can do to fix a minor plot hole is to pinpoint itand then rewrite certain areas of your plot leading up to it. If the plot hole is too severe to fix, you will have to bring it back to the drawing board and rewrite, rewrite, rewrite.
Let’s discuss this! Why do you think that all stories follow the five point system? Is there an area in your plot you feel is weak? Let me know in the comments!
