Craft 8: On Plot and Structure

[harmony_bites]

I’ve read/been told two very succinct definitions of plot that have stayed with me, though I can’t remember the source:

1) Get your character up a tree-then throw rocks.
2) …And then it got worse.

I think I'm going to need more than that. I had my arm twisted was encouraged by elidyce and bambu345 to participate in this year's NaNoWrMo. That commits you to

Comments

[bambu345]

I'm perfectly willing to acknowledge my part in your participation in NaNoWriMo. I'm thrilled you'll be doing it, and I just know a plot bunny's going to grow big enough to fill the space... It's gestating at the moment, so don't fret.

You already know how much I've enjoyed your 'on writing' series of posts, and this one is no different.

As for plot and structure, I'm a Georges Polti (36 Dramatic Solutions) and a Lajos Egri (The Art of Dramatic Writing) sort of girl. Patty's a big Clive Cussler fan, but now that she's written for awhile, she's a little less than enamored of his Gary!Stu-ing himself into every book.

I think we tend to change our reactions to advice the longer we write and find workable, do-able solutions for ourselves. In general I subscribe to the transitional arc in a three-act structure. I don't always have a written outline, but I always have one in my head (depending on the length of the piece.) My title and chapter titles serve as the rudimentary outline which I often elaborate upon.

[harmony_bites]

It's gestating at the moment, so don't fret.

Hmmm. Dunno. No sign of morning sickness yet...

, I'm a Georges Polti (36 Dramatic Solutions) and a Lajos Egri (The Art of Dramatic Writing) sort of girl.

argosy has mentioned Egri before I think--so I'll take that as a double endorsement. I tend to feel plot is my achille's heel, and what makes me most anxious. I haven't particularly felt the need for structure before, but now...

Patty's a big Clive Cussler fan, but now that she's written for awhile, she's a little less than enamored of his Gary!Stu-ing himself into every book.

Smith is a huge fan, and when my friend and I were trying to get her stories into his anthology we really tried to get into his head--I even tried Cussler because of that, but yeah, the GaryStu part among others was a turn-off. Though I'm sure Cussler must have his stengths to be such a huge bestseller. I just found it interesting that Smith cites him as the best of plotters, yet from this quote of his I found he doesn't seem to be structured or an outliner.

In

[argosy]

All 3 act structure really means -- in its essentials, and this goes back to Aristotle- is beginning, middle, end. That's it. No mystery.But I'm sure you realize how many bad stories lack an end, or even a middle. So just make sure you have all 3 and you have 3 act structure. :)

So don't sweat it worrying about curtains and such, especially in a novel. Act 1 sets up the problem. Act 2 complicates it. Act 3 resolves it. Easy. Just remember that your act 3 is by far the shortest.

Even shakespeare and 5 acts really can be seen in a much more understandable form in 3 acts.

Also, one thing they say, and I think McKee says this, though none of his ideas ore original to him. All stories should have a beginning, a middle, and an end -- though not necessarily in that order.

[harmony_bites]

God, I love that icon. Weee!

But I'm sure you realize how many bad stories lack an end, or even a middle.

I think the middle is where many get bogged down--at least that's true of many of the WIPs I've tried reading. Very few can sustain the intensity and fun of their beginings. Many seem to be able to recapture some of the old spark in the ending but...

But that does seem to be a good, and simple way really to think of it: beginning, middle, and end.

All stories should have a beginning, a middle, and an end -- though not necessarily in that order.

::nods:: Yup--that's the thing about fiction--cuz we're unstuck in time--so we can do things like frames.