7 Basic Plots

"Everything worth writing has already been written." This is an old saying that will undoubtedly turn out to be only partially true. Many scholars agree that there are only so many plots that can be written. Although the number varies greatly, depending on who you ask, perhaps the most well-known list of plots are the seven types of conflicts.

• Man vs. Nature
• Man vs. Man
• Man vs. Environment
• Man vs. Machines/Technology
• Man vs. The Supernatural
• Man vs. Self
• Man vs. God/Religion

If this is it, then where do we fit in? Why do we write? Because the beauty lies in the details. The number of different characters that can be written is infinite. And each character will handle the same conflict in an entirely different way.

Each setting that a writer creates challenges these characters in different ways. Unless you go about to consciously copy a novel, it won't be the same as the one before it.

We have to remember that when we write, it's not an exact science. There is the thrill of deciding how to tell the story we want to tell. That's half the fun!

If you truly believe in your story, then it's worth writing. What do you think?

PLOT

Plot is the structure that holds up all fiction. It is the bones of the story that holds the rest of the elements together. The theme winds around the plot, just as the characters are developed within the plot. A plot is described as a series of events deliberately arranged so as to reveal their dramatic, thematic, and emotional significance. The plot's concern is "what, how, and why," with scenes ordered to highlight the workings of cause and effect. If it is a plot we read in a story, we ask why. Our desire to know what happened next will keep us turning the pages.

The plot structure by Aristotle defines an inverted check mark. We start with a dramatic question at the base, then it rises with bouts of conflicts, then just before the peak there is the epiphany and arrives at the peak which is the goal, and falls again to the resolution.

1. dramatic question: What does the protagonist want?
2. conflicts: obstacles to keep protagonist from arriving at his goal.
3. epiphany: a totally new understanding of reality.
4. goal: arrival at protagonist's desire.
5. resolution: ties up all the loose ends and finalizes story.

Plots are like puzzles with threads woven through the story. Be careful, however, that you don't let your threads go everywhere, leaving the reader scrambling to figure it out. Make sure your plot is focused and the conflicts are arranged in an increasing level of intensity.

Given this plot structure, make up a story with a plot following this outline. You can have as many conflicts as you need to create tension in the story. Let me know what you've created.


"A story has to be a good date, because the reader can stop at any time... Remember, readers are selfish and have no compulsion to be decent about anything." ~~ Kurt Vonnegut

Your Character and Conflict

With the changing of the weather to Spring, I have taken my notebook outside to join with all the butterflies, bees and birds in the celebration of renewed life. I am awed by all the new flowers coming up, the yellow daffodils, red tulips and the ever present yellow dandelions. That's right, with every new season and all the new life, there is still the weed that adds its presence to the mix.

As I sit outside and contemplate this phenomena, it reminds me of story and plot. What is the protagonist without his antagonist? Just a washed out gesture of happiness that has no flavor or spice. Sure, you can make a story about a protagonist who meets the girl, gets girl and lives happily ever after, but somehow, it leaves a dull taste in your mouth. Is life really like that? Where is the challenge? Where is the conflict? Where is the "stuff" that makes the story full of zest?

When developing the plot for your story, remember that man is his desire. What that means is that you have to know what the man wants. What he truly craves for. And while he is trying to get it, there will be roadblocks along the way. Conflict. That conflict will bring reality alive in your story. We are creatures that struggle and we relate to the struggles of others. And when we see those struggles come alive and overcome the conflict, then we shake our head and say: "Yes!"

So as you sit down among the flowers to write your next novel, remember that your plot needs conflict (even though it is Spring) and an antagonist will add a great deal of that conflict for you. What are you working on this Spring? Something old or something new? Let me hear about it...

T for Theme

Welcome to the A to Z Challenge! You can visit the Home Page HERE.

Todays discussion revolves around how to choose a theme for your story. A theme is the subject of your discourse; or what it's about. Sometimes I find, as I did today, it's difficult to decide what I want my theme to be about. But I was recently given an excellent suggestion for deciding on my theme. Today's theme is educational and informative.

Choose your character, the setting, and the point of view while you are deciding. Begin your outline of chapter one. In that first beginning outline, your theme will usually start to solidify in your mind. Is your genre fantasy or sci-fi? Or Romance? Perhaps you want to have a theme of a coming of age story or man against machine. Perhaps it's more or a Western and it's the good guys against the bad guys. Whatever you decide, that is what you need to focus on as you create your story, trying not to get side-tracked as you go.

Remember not to confuse theme with topic, or what your basic plot is. You have a topic: boy meets girl, boy gets girl and then the theme; love and remembrance, or coming of age story.

Your theme can be subtle or loud. But either way, it must be believable. Even if you write way out there fantasy, make sure the reader can shake his/her head in agreement and say, "Yep, that's right!" Make your theme acceptable to the reader and you will have hooked them into your story. Now, pick a theme and write! What are you writing about? What's your theme?

The theme with my picture could be varied. I could choose to write about warring dragons (as my topic) and life and death as my theme. What would you do?

S for Storyteller

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As writers, we are privileged to be a part of the grand group of historians known as storytellers. Since the advent of the pencil and before, this occupation has tickled the senses of the hearer and reader with all kinds of prose and proverb.

History of Storytelling
Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and to instill moral values. The crucial elements of stories and storytelling include plot, characters and the narrative point of view.

The earliest forms of storytelling were primarily oral and with the advent of writing, stories were transcribed and shared over wide regions. Stories have been carved, scratched, painted, printed or inked onto all manner of medium, from pottery to other textiles and also recorded on film or stored electromagnetically in digital form.

Modern storytelling has extended from the traditional forms (fairy tales, folk tales, mythology, legends, fables, etc.), to representing history, personal narrative, political commentary and evolving cultural norms and educational objectives.

All that said, how does that affect you as a writer?
Your story, in whatever genre it is written in, is a commentary to the reader on something. Whether it is fact or fiction, believable or fairy tale, your reader is expecting to find something of you in the story. Even if your story is non-fiction, your reader wants to find the truth in the lines that tell him what is real and acceptable.
As writers, we make a contract of expectation with our readers in the very first sentence. And by the end of the first paragraph, the reader has decided whether or not to accept that contract and read your story. By presenting the reader with a plot, characters and POV, you can tell your story and entertain your reader and fulfill that contract.
Be the writer and tell your story. It will continue on in the great tradition of all those that have come before you.

L for Labyrinth

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A labyrinth is a place constructed of or filled with confusing intricate passageways. It's sometimes confused with a maze.

I like this word because it reminds me of constructing a story. When I'm writing, I like to take the plot and make twists and turns to make the story interesting. In a true labyrinth of the early periods, there was one way in and the twists and turns would eventually lead you to the center. These were usually used for prayer or meditation.

The labyrinth differs from the maze because in a maze you have more than one entrance and the twists and turns can end up leading to a dead end. When I am writing my stories, I have to be careful that my twists and turns don't lead to a dead end, but they need to be on the continuous path that leads to the end of the story.

How is your story progressing? Are you in a labyrinth or a maze? Does your story get stuck at a dead end? Or do the corners lead to sharp twists and turns, but still find their way to the center, or the end of the story?