The Basics of Plot
A Simple Guide to Story Structure
Perhaps the trickiest and most discussed aspect of writing a novel is the plot. There are so many books and courses about this process. And the analogies run rampant - wagon wheel, climbing a mountain, hero’s journey, the snowflake method. These are all useful for some people. However, I find a simpler description of story structure to be more useful. In this lesson, we take a classic overview of a story plot. Of course, this is nuanced and there are variations. We discuss those issues in class. However, this is a good way to get started thinking about story structure. This is just one of the six lessons in the story structure component of our Write YOUR Novel YOUR Way course. Including, addressing tips for Mapmakers, Trailblazers, and Pioneers. You don’t have to have a plot outline to master story structure. Click Here to learn more about the course.
The Basics of Plot
Writing teachers teach many different plotting strategies today. They promote the snowflake method, the wagon wheel, mind mapping, clustering, the heroes journey, the mountain road, and more. These all have merit as ways to help you develop your story. If one of them works for you fine, but for me, I always return to the classics. The Classical understanding of fiction divides a story into six parts. If you understand the function of each of these parts, then plotting your story (even if you are a pantser and not a plotter) becomes more natural.
The Classical Approach
At its core, a story is a person is doing something when a problem arises. In trying to solve that problem, the character runs into some obstacles we call complications. Eventually, all those complications lead to one final problem to be solved, after which the person can relax, changed by the adventure, but no longer engaged in it.
The classical elements of this type of plot are exposition, action, conflict, complications (or rising action), climax (or crisis) and resolution (or falling action.)
Exposition
The exposition is where we get to know the characters and who they are. We find out something about the setting and the motivations of the characters. Long expositions have fallen out of favor in our time, but if you read someone like Dickens, you will see several chapters at the beginning devoted to simply setting the stage for the story.
Today, however, the exposition must be short. Character introduction and the establishment of the setting are accomplished during the action and conflict portions of the story. However, the extent of exposition depends on the genre. For instance, cozy mysteries may take a slower approach and spend more time getting to know the characters in the first two to three chapters than, say, an action-adventure novel. Knowing the character had a passion for pistachio ice cream, lived thirty years in the same house, and made enemies of all his neighbors may be vital clues to unravel the mystery.
Action
This is where most modern novels begin. The main character engages in some activity. Let's take a simple paranormal romance story (as if romance were ever simple, even without the paranormal element). Jennifer, a 50-year-old college professor, teaches a class on horror fiction, derisively called "Ghosties and Ghoulies 101" by her colleagues. The action begins as she starts a new semester with a discussion of the horror classic, Dracula. One suave gentleman about her age engages in the conversation in an intelligent and provocative manner.
Jennifer's goal is simple. She just wants to teach another semester of her favorite night class. She is engaged in doing just that one more time.
Conflict
If Jennifer just teaches another class successfully, with nothing out of the ordinary happening, we don't have a story. Something must happen to change the course of the intended path the teacher set out for herself at the start of the story. Something needs to interrupt her plans.
In this case, that interruption is Jonathan Langston, a suave 50-something student with piercing eyes, graying beard, and salt-and-pepper hair. Jennifer feels her heart race whenever she glances in his direction. She finds it difficult to avoid directing her lectures to him alone as if they are the only two in the room. She hasn't felt these feelings in years, so when he asks her out for a snack after class, she breaks her own non-fraternization policy and begins a relationship with this exciting, but mysterious man.
Some people misunderstand conflict. They think it has to be dramatic, like a dead body falling out of the ceiling, or a shot ringing out in the night. Conflict is simply something that gets in the way of the main character's goal. In this case, her goal is just to teach another class without any change. Meeting and deciding to date Jonathan Langston changes those plans and sets off a series of complications.
Complications (or Rising Action)
The conflict spawns a series of secondary conflicts, called complications. Take the book Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. The conflict occurs when Huck decides to help the slave Jim run away to the north. Everything that happens afterward is a result of that decision.
Each complication in the story makes it harder for the character to resolve the initial conflict and bring the story to a satisfying conclusion. Let's go back to our paranormal romance. Jennifer finds that she lacks energy during the day following her night class or after a date with Jonathan. Jonathan's study group has had several students call in sick and drop out because of illness. Jonathan's fiction project spins an eerily realistic tale of two species co-existing on earth, with one living off the psychic energy of the other, providing the foundation for the vampire myths. She continues to get sicker. Jonathan becomes more distant and wants to break off the relationship, but both find themselves drawn back together.
Climax (or Crisis)
At some point, all the complications culminate in a final conflict, the outcome of which will determine the future of the characters. This is like reaching the peak of a mountain you have been climbing throughout the story. This is where the hero battles the villain one on one; the detective reveals the murderer; the asteroid threatening Earth is fitted with rockets to divert it, and the rockets fire; the final vote is taken at the board meeting to determine if your character retains control of the family business.
Let’s return to our paranormal romance. It is obvious by this time that Jonathan is more than he appears. Our heroine is about to confront him at dinner when she collapses entirely. She is rushed to the hospital. The doctor tells her she is dangerously anemic. Jonathan visits her in the hospital and concludes the telling of his "story" to her about the vampire in love with the mortal who must leave her to save her. He kisses her and says goodbye.
Resolution (or falling action)
After the climax, the world changes in some way. The detective solves the mystery. The hero defeats the villain. The lover wins or loses the beloved. The character changes, as well. Jennifer can no longer teach night classes. The night which once was so soothing in its quiet darkness now only holds sorrow for her and memories of a mysterious student with a remarkable story.
This is just a sample of what you will find in Write YOUR Novel YOUR Way. This bundle of sixteen courses takes you from premise to publication. More than one hundred individual lessons with dozens of exercises lead you through the process of writing your novel. And this is no autopilot course. I will be there with you all the way. I will give you feedback on assignments, encouragement and accountability. You will also have an opportunity to connect with other students. Write that novel this year. Just $47 for the equivalent of a graduate course on novel writing.