Plot panel tip sheet
I What is a plot?
A. A plot is a sequence of related events, each event caused by the one before. It's the "why" for the things that happen in the story. "The boy and the girl went to the movies. Another girl killed the boy." is not a plot. "The girl murdered the boy because he went to the movies with her best friend" is a plot.
B. There are a billion different breakdowns of what elements go into a plot, but let's stick with the classics: Setup, conflict, climax, & resolution.
Setup = The initial situation. What the reader needs to understand what's going on.
Conflict = the main action of the story; the characters' struggle against nature, other characters, or themselves.
Climax = the turning point in the story that occurs when characters try to resolve the conflict.
Resolution = the events that bring the story to a close.
(These don't always come in this order - ex. Memento.)
II How do you put a plot together?
A. Plot mechanics
Where does the character start out?
What does your character want?
Who or what stands in the way of your character achieving his/her goals?
What does your antagonist want?
What event sets the plot into motion?
What do your character and/or your antagonist decide to do in order to get what they want?
What will be the consequence if your character fails?
How does the character solve the problem?
Where will the character end up as a result of solving the problem?
B. Character issues:
What emotional changes is the protagonist going to go through?
What does your character learn about himself/herself, others or life?
What does your character do because of what he/she has learned?
(Note that this is an interactive process-answering question 5 may change your answers to questions 1 and 3.)
III Types of plots
A. Event-driven: The house is burning down, and the characters must escape.
B. Character-driven: The character's guilt over her parents' divorce drives her to seek out unsatisfying love affairs.
C. Conflict: Interior or exterior conflict? Man vs. nature/fate/God; man vs. man/society; man vs. self. Exterior: Characters must ford a raging river. Characters must deal with rival. Characters must overcome their fears. All can work together-character must overcome fear of water to save rival from drowning as they ford a raging river. Plots should develop naturally from the existing circumstances and the characters. If you have to force something to happen 'because it needs to happen that way,' you have a problem.
VI Methods of plotting
A. Mix n match scenes
B. Storyboard method
V Matching Plot to Theme
A. What is a theme, anyway? What it's about vs. What it means
VI Solving problems
A. What would Buffy do? Let your characters suggest a course. Giles won't solve a problem in the same way Willow would, etc.
B. If you can't find the answer, change the question.
C. Get a second opinion. Talk it out.
D. Dealing with tangents: Outlines are your friend.
E. Flexibility, flexibility, flexibility! Look at your resolution as a destination-there are lots of different ways to get there.
F. Foreshadowing! A surprise ending should make a reader go "Why didn't I see that coming?" not "WTF?"