Writing Manual: Plot Construction
Due to plot being such a large and essential topic in writing, the final modules of this writing manual will mostly cover a variety of smaller topics and how they all contribute to the plot in a story.
Plot structure
Plot structuring was covered briefly in the first module of the manual when we discussed the Eastern style of storytelling known as Kishotenketsu as well as showing how it contrasts with the Western style of storytelling known as Freytag's Triangle. In this section we will go further into depth about the Western style of storytelling and how its components are used univerally in most plot structures.
The most fundamental and basic way to structure a plot is to give it a beginning, a middle, and an end. In stage plays and movies this is more commonly known as the 3-Act structure. In the first act i.e. the "beginning", the story introduces the audience to the setting of the story, the characters and their personality traits, and introduces the main conflict of the story. Usually the beginning of the story is where the most core elements are introduced. Usually it's important to place these elements in the beginning because they are more essential to the framework of the story and thus introducing them earlier allows them to be expanded upon further down the line the more they are used.
Act One
Opening acts often follow one of two structures. The first is Ab ovo, which is Latin for "from egg." It's essentially what we've already discussed. The story starts from the beginning and introduces all of the relevant elements in a straightforward fashion using standard exposition. Exposition is context that is essential to understanding the story. Usually exposition pertains to either worldbuilding or past events. Exposition can also be conveyed either directly or indirectly and either through narration or through character dialogue. Most of the exposition in a story is placed in the first act to ground the audience in the world, especially in stories that utilize Ab ovo.
The second type of opening act is called In medias res and it is as equally common as Ab ovo if not more. In medias res means "in the middle of things." and it does just that by starting the story in the middle and providing the core context of the narrative later on as the story progresses. Because In medias res stories lack context in the beginning, the rest of the narrative is more or less devoted to figuring out that lack of context, unlike with Ab ovo, where the beginning sufficiently provides the audience with enough context via exposition in order to understand the story outright.
The technique of initiating a sequence without context is known as a "cold opening". It is important to note that not all stories that use cold openings are necessarily utilizing In medias res. For instance if a story was to start out with a man fleeing from the cops with a bag of money and then continues the story as normal from that moment, it wouldn't be in medias res. However if the story was to begin with a man fleeing from the cops and then cut to 6 months back before the heist even began, it would be in medias res because the story didn't start chronologically. Furthermore while you could use this type of opening to meet the bare requirements for In medias res, a story that truly utilizes the potential of this device will use it not only as a hook to draw in the audience in the beginning but also throughout the narrative by sprinkling answers to the mystery throughout. Most stories that utilize amnesia use this structure such as in the Hangover movies where the group of characters have to piece things together continually throughout the course of the narrative. In medias res that is used in this way can often be used to enhance a less interesting story by making the way that the story is conveyed more interesting.
Both Ab Ovo and In Medias Res have its advantages and drawbacks. Consider which one is more suited for the type of story you want to tell.
Ab Ovo
Pros
Story uses a more linear progression that is easier to follow and leading to more narrative stability.
The story is more grounded because the audience understands the context of it.
Scope of the story has more room to grow because the context isn't limited.
The device is a safer option because it's accepted as the standard way to begin a story.
Cons
Story isn't as engaging due to most of the context being immediately available.
Story has to to wait before it can gain momentum.
Unnecessary information is given at less opportune times.
Too much information can be given all at once.
In Medias Res
Pros
Story can build tension and momentum immediately and doesn't have to wait to give context.
Mystery is introduced by withholding information, thus making it more engaging.
Information is given in smaller, more digestable chunks.
Information is given at more opportune times during the story when they become more relevant.
Cons
The device is a bit overused and is harder to use effectively without being seen as a cliche.
Story can be harder to follow due to nonlinear conveyance.
Can be clunky and unnecessary if the story doesn't need to be conveyed in a nonlinear way.
The scope of the narrative has less potential for growth because the entire story revolves around limited context.
Act Two
Tying back into the 3-act structure, the end of the first act also serves as a trigger for the main conflict of the story in order to segue into the second act. In the second act or the "middle", the story starts developing in a specific direction in relation to what was established in the inciting incident. Typically this act is referred to as the Rising Action, (just as the first act is the Exposition.) and it's where most of the conflict and tension in the story is built. Conflict serves as a powerful vehicle in storytelling due to it's ability to trigger certain things to happen during events when they are put under pressure and reveal the true nature of them. Conflict in its simplest definition is a problem or crisis that continually triggers more and more consequences to occur in the story unless it's somehow resolved/overcame. If the purpose of a story is to provide an account of events then the purpose of conflict is to be the catalyst for those events to occur which in turn makes up the content of the story. The showcasing of different events happening due to a conflict.
It's not uncommon in most stories for the conflict and its resulting consequences to continually escalate as the story progresses. When this happens it creates what's called tension. Tension is essentially the yearning for the conflict in a story to be resolved. Generally the closer a story gets to the resolution of the conflict, the higher the tension is and thus the more intense the scenes are for the audience. This is because as the consequences get higher and higher due to the conflict escalating, the stakes in the story are also simultaneously getting higher as well. More often than not, these consequences are negative, but they don't have to be. They can also be positive or neutral as well. For instance, if the conflict of a story is two people trapped in an elevator, the consequences of this conflict could be both people growing closer and closer to one another due to the intimacy of being in a close proximity environment. Complications in a story are intrinsically linked with tension and are essential for a story to escalate. Complications build upon the conflict in a story by introducing new elements that ultimately change the trajectory of the story. These elements can be anything from new characters, to new worldbuilding rules, or they can simply be the outcomes from prior events.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Characterization
On the subject of conflict it is important to discuss how this device relates to characterization in a story. In the previous manual it was stated that subtext can be considered the most important cornerstone to master in the writing process. While subtext is most definitely one of the highest contenders, there is another component to the process that in actuality is more essential, and that is characterization. The reason for this is that while there are several facets that often have to be emplored when making a story, a narrative can usually rely on good characterization alone to remain sufficent. In other words, a story with good characters can compensate for a story that is lacking in other areas, but the same cannot be said as often for stories that are the opposite. This is why several stories can still fail despite having an engaging plot, immersive worldbuilding, or precise prose. Every aspect of a story ties into the characters in some way and as a result are the foundation of any narrative. If you take away anything from this manual, it should be this section.
Characterization vs Character Development
Characterization is the act of establishing the personality and attributes of a particular character. It can be anything from describing their physical appearence, to the way they speak, to their personality traits, how they relate to others, etc. It is important to note that characterization is different from character development however, despite the two terms often being used interchangeably. Character development differs from the former in that it shows how a character's personality transforms and changes over time rather than simply establishing the traits that are inherent to them. A simple way to think of it is that all development is characterization but not all characterization is necessarily development.
Characters who change significantly over the course of the story are known as dynamic characters whereas characters who do not change much over the course of the story are known as static characters. There is a common misconception in writing that for a story to be good, characters or at least the central characters should be dynamic. While this is mostly good advice and writers should be encouraged to encorporate heavy character development into their stories, it isn't a requirement for all stories. Characters can still remain static throughout the course of the narrative and still be compelling. Sometimes characters are good enough in their own right and do not need to change. Perhaps it can help to further develop a character by showing their refusal to change and them facing the consequences of it.
In a technical sense however, all characters are constantly changing throughout a story and are thus developing, just like how we are constantly changing in real life. If you were to take a person who did nothing but go to work, come home, eat potato chips and watch television all day for the rest of their life they would still be developing despite having virtually no change in their personality. Performing repeated actions like that adds further depth to the weight of the action and to the person doing them. This is because the person made the choice to perform that particular action a second time which informs us of who they are. So character development can also be divided further as either static or dynamic.
Conflict ties heavily into characterization because showing how a character acts when under the pressure of a certain conflict reveals who they truly are as a person. Furthermore while showing characters performing an action can certainly establish who they are as a person, showing how a character reacts to certain things in their environment develops them a lot more.
In more character driven narratives that feature a primary protagonist another plot structure commonly emplored is known as The Hero's Journey. The Hero's journey has several steps so instead I will provide a more simplified version of it with its more essential parts to serve as a brief overview of it.
Ordinary World- This is the stage in the story that establishes the setting and the hero's place in it. The hero is stuck in this world whether they are aware of this or not and cannot grow as a person until they leave it.
Call and Refusal- Something happens that threatens the hero's position in the Ordinary World or even threatens the world itself. This usually invites the hero to leave this world but they ultimately refuse and attempt to remain in it.
Crossing the Threshold- The inciting incident escalates further until the hero forced out of the Ordinary World and must accept the call to adventure.
Tools and Guidance- After the hero crosses over into the Supernatural World he is guided often times by a mentor or organization who equips them with the skills, tools, knowledge and experiences required for them to grow and excel in this new world.
Heaven and Hell- The hero goes through trials and small scale encounters. During this time he goes through turmoil and hardship which bring pain but also experiences that bring pleasure and triumphs as well.
Death- The hero must face his most difficult challenge yet and face his deepest fears. During this encounter he must die. This can be a literal death but more often than not its a metaphorical death where the hero is at his lowest of lows and dies, but does so along with his weakness.
Rebirth- The hero takes everything he has learned so far and uses it to rise from the depths and win in the altercation. He then returns to the Ordinary World, fundamentally a different person than before.
Act 3
Act 3 or " the end" concludes the story by encorporating the 3 final pieces of Freytag's triangle. The Climax, Falling Action and Resolution. During the Climax the tension is at its absolute highest in the story, meaning that the events that transpire here have the biggest impact on the entire story. It is often at this point where the tension can no longer grow any larger and is forced to be resolved in some way. It is often the final altercation in a story. In an action or fantasy story it may be the final battle against a dark lord, in a romance story it may be the moment where one of the lovers proposes to the other, in a crime drama it may be the moment of a bank heist that's been in the making for months. Anything where the final event that's been alluded to throughout the whole story has finally reached fruition. Sometimes there can also be smaller sub-climaxes that occur in the second act as well that help keep the story interesting.
After the Climax is the Falling Action. The Falling Action is probably the most underutilized segment of Freytag's triangle largely due to the fact that the most important event in the story has already transpired and anything after that simply pales in comparison. However, when used optimally the Falling Action can add alot of nuisanse to the story. One way that makes this part of the story interesting is that even though the highest point of tension has been reached, the moments afterwards are still at a high point of tension. For instance if it were a fantasy story where the hero defeats the dark lord in the climax, the falling action could proceed with the hero facing off against the dark lord's right hand lieutenant as the hero tries to escape from the castle. The Falling Action can also be interesting because at this point in the story anything that happens feels less contrived because the story isn't being driven by conflict anymore. Because of this the story can then feature interesting character moments that feel organic as the tension in the plot begins to ease. It can also be used to set up what the next central conflict will be in the next installment if you are writing a series.
The Resolution mostly acts in tandem with the Falling Action and in actuality it can be difficult to distinguish when the Falling Action ends and the Resolution begins because they serve similar narrative purposes. In the Resolution, the story reaches a new status quo and concludes the adventure by awknowledging the impact of every event leading up to this moment as well as what the journey meant to the characters and the setting as a whole. One of the way it accomplishes this is by fully establishing the theme of the story. This is where the famous "It wasn't about doing X, it was about the friends we made along the way." line originates from. While your story doesn't need to have something conveyed that straightforwardly, it is helpful for at least one of your characters to highlight the central theme of the story in some way, either directly or indirectly.
This concludes the first part of the Plot segment of the manual. The next module will delve further into the various parts of plot construction as well as conclude the writing manual as a whole. I hope you found something useful in the modules up until this point and I hope you'll give the final part a read once it comes out.