Treatise on Plot
Moderators: saskia, Maeve, Meridiuz, Syra
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Guest
Treatise on Plot
Articles in this treatise are designed to provide information regarding the storytelling part of writing. Some of this treatise directly deals with writing in Tazlure, but some of it is also for general use. The overall events of the stories, the conflicts the characters go through, and how the characters overcome that conflict make up a story's plot. In this treatise you will find information on how to effectively create a plot.
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Guest
Creating a Basic Structure
article written by Maeve
Everybody has to start somewhere. Start with making some notes that should answer questions like:
• What is the basic conflict or idea? This can be a global theme you are trying to latch on to, or one specifically for this side plot with only related notes about the global themes involved.
• From which different angles could you approach this problem? Each angle could be a plotline working towards the same main goal, each angle catching a separate group of players (see Weaving the Web). Each angle has its own problem that needs solving.
• What are the characters that you want to involve in your plotline seeking?
• What could the character's gain from this plotline? Answers are more than simple booty. Think information, valuable contacts, titles and positions etc.
• What do the character's stand to loose during this plotline? Answers go beyond possessions or life and limb. Think of a position threatened, love lost, a nation going to war etc.
Now you have a start. So start working on some details.
• What are the minor events you want to put in your plotline. What is the highpoint you are working towards? Think of this as a chart with high and low points. A storyline usually has a slowly building up tension (with highs and lows), a climax (the accumulation of what the story was working towards) and then a resolution.
• What must happen for these minor and major events to be successful. If they are not successful, what will happen next? Think ahead a bit and allow your characters to go left and right instead of just straight forward. By allowing your players freedom, you will enhance their experience.
• How do you want to run it timewise, both in the game reality and in real life.
article written by Maeve
Everybody has to start somewhere. Start with making some notes that should answer questions like:
• What is the basic conflict or idea? This can be a global theme you are trying to latch on to, or one specifically for this side plot with only related notes about the global themes involved.
• From which different angles could you approach this problem? Each angle could be a plotline working towards the same main goal, each angle catching a separate group of players (see Weaving the Web). Each angle has its own problem that needs solving.
• What are the characters that you want to involve in your plotline seeking?
• What could the character's gain from this plotline? Answers are more than simple booty. Think information, valuable contacts, titles and positions etc.
• What do the character's stand to loose during this plotline? Answers go beyond possessions or life and limb. Think of a position threatened, love lost, a nation going to war etc.
Now you have a start. So start working on some details.
• What are the minor events you want to put in your plotline. What is the highpoint you are working towards? Think of this as a chart with high and low points. A storyline usually has a slowly building up tension (with highs and lows), a climax (the accumulation of what the story was working towards) and then a resolution.
• What must happen for these minor and major events to be successful. If they are not successful, what will happen next? Think ahead a bit and allow your characters to go left and right instead of just straight forward. By allowing your players freedom, you will enhance their experience.
• How do you want to run it timewise, both in the game reality and in real life.
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Guest
Structuring a Plot
As with any creative process, there is a structure to writing a story. Knowing the structure is integral for storytelling, even if the writer chooses to vary, adapt or ignore the structure. Readers expect certain things out of a story, not because they are demanding, but because good storytelling has been refined, developed and standardized all throughout human history.
Oral tradition is as old as civilization. Even in those times, storytellers knew how to involve and captivate an audience. When oral traditions came into written words in the form of mythology, epics, poetry and history texts many of the structural traditions were formalized. This formal structure to stories is the basis of how modern storytellers structure plots.
Traditionally the plot of a story has the following components:
Protagonists
These are characters that the reader will identify with. Often the story is written from his or her point of view. Protagonists must be dynamic characters, meaning they must in some way change (either for better or for worst). This change is usually called a "character arc" and is integral to having depth in a story. If a protagonist is not at all affected by the events of the story, then why tell it?
Only in melodramas are protagonists expected to be "good" and "perfect". For a realistic story, even the good guys can be bad and should have flaws. What is a "good guy" anyway, but the person a reader can most identify with? The concept of anti-hero is an illustration of this point. An anti-hero is a protagonist that is decidedly not good, but still has the reader's sympathy.
Antagonists
The word "plot" is really a way of saying "series of conflicts." Conflict is the core movement of a story and there cannot be conflict with a bunch of protagonists walking around gaining the reader's sympathy. Antagonists are those characters that conflict with protagonists and so often do not have the reader's sympathy. In the same way protagonists are not always good, antagonists are not always evil. In fact, the best antagonists are the ones that also gain the reader's sympathy, even if on a very small level.
A well constructed antagonist is one that has realistic motivations and intentions and/or actions contrary to the protagonist. An irrationally evil villain who gets in the way of the protagonist with no motivation is the stuff of melodrama. A reader should know why the antagonist is doing what he or she is doing, and further just because you need an antagonist doesn't necessarily mean you need a villain. For example, in Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, the protagonist is a fugitive and the antagonist is the commodore trying to track him down. The antagonist is creating conflict because he is upholding the law honorably and, in fact, there is nothing villainous about him. The only reason he is an antagonist is because his intentions are contrary to the protagonist. Realistic stories are usually never simply black and white.
Conflict
As was implied before, conflict is integral to a story. Characters are the anatomy of a plot, but the plot remains inanimate without conflict. Conflict is the motion of a plot. The basic forms of conflict are: man versus man, man versus nature, and man versus himself. These are the skeletons of good conflict and can be used in any combination to drive a story.
Conflict does not necessarily mean violence, it simply means obstacles that stand in the way of a character's goals. It can come in almost any form and it is the character's ability to resolve conflict or surmount obstacles that defines the characters and ultimately the plot.
Good stories employ as many forms of conflict as possible and in a variety of combinations. The more that a character has to surmount, the larger the character arc, and the more potent the plot. Imagine if there was no conflict in Macbeth. He'd simply would have heard the three sisters's prophecy and then would go on with his life. While that certainly can happen, it isn't very interesting to read. Macbeth without murder and guilt is no different then regular life ... so why would someone read it? And why are you telling such a boring story?
A good way to execute conflict is to "raise the stakes." This means that once you've introduced a conflict, make it harder to resolve.
For example, follow this conflict's development and how the stakes are raised:
Joe has to get to his mother's house because she is sick (conflict is that mother is sick, man vs nature).
Joe is confined to a wheelchair and has to get to his mother's house because she is sick (raised the stakes).
Joe is confined to a wheelchair and has to get to his mother's house because she is sick and will die in one hour (raised the stakes again).
During a hurricane, Joe is confined to a wheelchair and has to get to his mother's house because she is sick and will die in one hour(and again).
Now that you've raised the stakes of the situation, introduce an antagonist:
During a hurricane, Joe is confined to a wheelchair and has to get to his mother's house because she is sick and will die in one hour at the hands of an incompetent doctor.
Voila! Now that is an interesting plot.
One of my favorite modern examples of "raising the stakes" is the movie The Abyss. The characters are in a deep sea oil rig (setting) separated from the surface by a tropical storm (man vs nature) causing serious damage and loss of life on the rig (man vs nature) and one crew member goes crazy (man vs himself) and upon discover alien life on the ocean floor (man vs man-ish), he decides to nuke the creatures (man vs man) and so the crew has to stop him (man vs man) and then stop the nuke at extreme ocean depth (man vs nature). This story goes on and on like this. Every time a conflict is introduced the stakes are raised by putting the conflict in extreme settings with nail-biting time limits.
Plot Structure
A literature professor once told me that all plots are either The Iliad or The Odyssey. I was skeptical at first, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. "Iliad" plots are those that take a slice of life, a moment, or a single situation whereas "Odyssey" plots are those that follow an epic journey, long time period, or complete story. The two books tell a story about the same thing: the Trojan War, but one focuses on a single battle (Iliad) while the other describes the whole war from beginning to end (Odyssey).
The approach to plotting is very different in both of these styles, but thinking if your story in those terms will help you construct a plot from scratch. You have a story, now you can decide how you want to approach the story either by taking a reader through the whole experience, or by epitomizing the experience in one extreme moment.
No matter what angle or style you choose for your plot, the basic structure should be the same: Introduction, Rise to Conflict, Climax, and Resolution.
Introduction: You introduce the protagonist, antagonist and conflict here. The reader should have a good idea what is in store based on the introduction.
Rise to conflict: These are the events, conflicts, and obstacles that build up to the story's climax. This is where you raise the stakes, and construct the general plot or path toward resolution.
Climax: This is the point in the story where all conflict is at its worst. Usually, it appears the protagonist will never be able to surmount the conflict and often when all the characters are fully confronting all of the problems brought up in the rise to conflict. In any case, it should never get worst than it is at the climax and the reader should not necessarily know how the conflict will be resolved. A good climax presents enough options for resolution so that the reader is left wondering and engaged.
Resolution: The close to the story wraps up the climax and resolves the conflicts. Generally, a character's arc should be most apparent here and no conflicts should be left unresolved. Also, don't introduce new conflicts in the resolution (although Tolkein did this in Return of the King, it is considered unsavory to the reader).
As with any creative process, there is a structure to writing a story. Knowing the structure is integral for storytelling, even if the writer chooses to vary, adapt or ignore the structure. Readers expect certain things out of a story, not because they are demanding, but because good storytelling has been refined, developed and standardized all throughout human history.
Oral tradition is as old as civilization. Even in those times, storytellers knew how to involve and captivate an audience. When oral traditions came into written words in the form of mythology, epics, poetry and history texts many of the structural traditions were formalized. This formal structure to stories is the basis of how modern storytellers structure plots.
Traditionally the plot of a story has the following components:
Protagonists
These are characters that the reader will identify with. Often the story is written from his or her point of view. Protagonists must be dynamic characters, meaning they must in some way change (either for better or for worst). This change is usually called a "character arc" and is integral to having depth in a story. If a protagonist is not at all affected by the events of the story, then why tell it?
Only in melodramas are protagonists expected to be "good" and "perfect". For a realistic story, even the good guys can be bad and should have flaws. What is a "good guy" anyway, but the person a reader can most identify with? The concept of anti-hero is an illustration of this point. An anti-hero is a protagonist that is decidedly not good, but still has the reader's sympathy.
Antagonists
The word "plot" is really a way of saying "series of conflicts." Conflict is the core movement of a story and there cannot be conflict with a bunch of protagonists walking around gaining the reader's sympathy. Antagonists are those characters that conflict with protagonists and so often do not have the reader's sympathy. In the same way protagonists are not always good, antagonists are not always evil. In fact, the best antagonists are the ones that also gain the reader's sympathy, even if on a very small level.
A well constructed antagonist is one that has realistic motivations and intentions and/or actions contrary to the protagonist. An irrationally evil villain who gets in the way of the protagonist with no motivation is the stuff of melodrama. A reader should know why the antagonist is doing what he or she is doing, and further just because you need an antagonist doesn't necessarily mean you need a villain. For example, in Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, the protagonist is a fugitive and the antagonist is the commodore trying to track him down. The antagonist is creating conflict because he is upholding the law honorably and, in fact, there is nothing villainous about him. The only reason he is an antagonist is because his intentions are contrary to the protagonist. Realistic stories are usually never simply black and white.
Conflict
As was implied before, conflict is integral to a story. Characters are the anatomy of a plot, but the plot remains inanimate without conflict. Conflict is the motion of a plot. The basic forms of conflict are: man versus man, man versus nature, and man versus himself. These are the skeletons of good conflict and can be used in any combination to drive a story.
Conflict does not necessarily mean violence, it simply means obstacles that stand in the way of a character's goals. It can come in almost any form and it is the character's ability to resolve conflict or surmount obstacles that defines the characters and ultimately the plot.
Good stories employ as many forms of conflict as possible and in a variety of combinations. The more that a character has to surmount, the larger the character arc, and the more potent the plot. Imagine if there was no conflict in Macbeth. He'd simply would have heard the three sisters's prophecy and then would go on with his life. While that certainly can happen, it isn't very interesting to read. Macbeth without murder and guilt is no different then regular life ... so why would someone read it? And why are you telling such a boring story?
A good way to execute conflict is to "raise the stakes." This means that once you've introduced a conflict, make it harder to resolve.
For example, follow this conflict's development and how the stakes are raised:
Joe has to get to his mother's house because she is sick (conflict is that mother is sick, man vs nature).
Joe is confined to a wheelchair and has to get to his mother's house because she is sick (raised the stakes).
Joe is confined to a wheelchair and has to get to his mother's house because she is sick and will die in one hour (raised the stakes again).
During a hurricane, Joe is confined to a wheelchair and has to get to his mother's house because she is sick and will die in one hour(and again).
Now that you've raised the stakes of the situation, introduce an antagonist:
During a hurricane, Joe is confined to a wheelchair and has to get to his mother's house because she is sick and will die in one hour at the hands of an incompetent doctor.
Voila! Now that is an interesting plot.
One of my favorite modern examples of "raising the stakes" is the movie The Abyss. The characters are in a deep sea oil rig (setting) separated from the surface by a tropical storm (man vs nature) causing serious damage and loss of life on the rig (man vs nature) and one crew member goes crazy (man vs himself) and upon discover alien life on the ocean floor (man vs man-ish), he decides to nuke the creatures (man vs man) and so the crew has to stop him (man vs man) and then stop the nuke at extreme ocean depth (man vs nature). This story goes on and on like this. Every time a conflict is introduced the stakes are raised by putting the conflict in extreme settings with nail-biting time limits.
Plot Structure
A literature professor once told me that all plots are either The Iliad or The Odyssey. I was skeptical at first, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. "Iliad" plots are those that take a slice of life, a moment, or a single situation whereas "Odyssey" plots are those that follow an epic journey, long time period, or complete story. The two books tell a story about the same thing: the Trojan War, but one focuses on a single battle (Iliad) while the other describes the whole war from beginning to end (Odyssey).
The approach to plotting is very different in both of these styles, but thinking if your story in those terms will help you construct a plot from scratch. You have a story, now you can decide how you want to approach the story either by taking a reader through the whole experience, or by epitomizing the experience in one extreme moment.
No matter what angle or style you choose for your plot, the basic structure should be the same: Introduction, Rise to Conflict, Climax, and Resolution.
Introduction: You introduce the protagonist, antagonist and conflict here. The reader should have a good idea what is in store based on the introduction.
Rise to conflict: These are the events, conflicts, and obstacles that build up to the story's climax. This is where you raise the stakes, and construct the general plot or path toward resolution.
Climax: This is the point in the story where all conflict is at its worst. Usually, it appears the protagonist will never be able to surmount the conflict and often when all the characters are fully confronting all of the problems brought up in the rise to conflict. In any case, it should never get worst than it is at the climax and the reader should not necessarily know how the conflict will be resolved. A good climax presents enough options for resolution so that the reader is left wondering and engaged.
Resolution: The close to the story wraps up the climax and resolves the conflicts. Generally, a character's arc should be most apparent here and no conflicts should be left unresolved. Also, don't introduce new conflicts in the resolution (although Tolkein did this in Return of the King, it is considered unsavory to the reader).