The Basics of Plot: A Classical Approach

There are a lot of plotting strategies taught today - The Snowflake Method, The wagon wheel, The heroes journey. 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. 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.

At it's core a story is simply this a person is doing something, but a problem arises, in trying to solve that problem several complications arise, eventually all those complications resolve themselves to one final problem to be resolved, after which the person can relax changed by the adventure be 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, this needs to be kept short and character introduction and establishment of setting is typically accomplished during the action and conflict portions of the story. However, some background, particularly in novels, may still be established in early chapters. For instance, cozy mysteries may take a "slower" approach and spend more time getting to know the characters in the first 2-3 chapters than say an action-adventure novel. Knowing the character had a passion for pistachio ice cream, lived 30 years in the same house, and generally made enemies of all his neighbors may be vital clues to unravel the mystery.

Action


This is where more modern novels begin. The main character engages in some sort of 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 begins a new semester of the class with a discussion of the horror classic Dracula. One suave gentleman about her age engages in the conversation in an intelligent and provocative way.

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 really don't have a story. Something has to happen to change the course of the intended path the main character has set out for herself at the start of the story. Something has 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 something 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 to just 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 after that in the book 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 is lacks energy during the day following her night class or 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 the rockets to divert it and the rockets fire, the final vote is taken at the board meeting to determine if you retain control of the family business.

Returning to our paranormal romance. It is obvious by this time that Jonathan is more than he appears to be. She is about to confront him at dinner when she collapses entirely. She is rushed to the hospital. She is found to be 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 good bye.

Resolution (or falling action)


After the climax, the world changes in some way. The mystery is solved. The bad guy defeated. The lover won (or lost). The world saved. And the character changes as well. Jennifer can no longer teach night classes. The night which once was so soothing in it's quiet darkness now only holds sorrow for her and her memories of a mysterious student with a remarkable story.

Creating Your Own Writing Prompts

At the risk of being like the magician who reveals her tricks, I'm going to pull back the curtain and teach you how to create your own writing prompts. It's not as hard as you might think. All you need is an observant eye and a bit of imagination.

Writing prompts provide the writer with a way to jump start a writing session. Sort of like stretching before an aerobics session. Also, when you get stuck for ideas, writing prompts can help prime the pump so to speak. When you hit an impasse writing something different can give your mind the break it needs to work its way around that block. Besides all that, THEY ARE FUN!!!!!!!!!

I wish I could give you a step-by-step method for writing the perfect writing prompt. I can't, but I can give you some principles that will help you develop your own file of exercises so you never have to say, “I don't know what to write about” ever again.

Warning: Don't overthink your writing prompt. There is no right or wrong way to do this. A good writing prompt is anything that gets you to writing. You aren't in high school English class. No one will grade you on your writing prompt. If it isn't fun, do something else.

Randomness

You can build writing prompts around random events. A simple one is to keep a bag of objects next o your desk. Pull one out and start writing a story about it. My bag is full of weird and unusual objects I've picked up over the years in second hand stores. I pretend that I'm an archaeologist, and I found this in a dig. I begin to daydream thinking about what someone in that time and place might have done with it.

Another fun exercise is to make up a bunch of cards with characters on them like “Vampire, school teacher, little girl, soldier, starship captain, etc.”  Pull out two characters at random and begin writing a story about them. It doesn't have to be good or even make much sense. To make this more interesting create another set of cards with settings on them. So you might have a psychiatrist and a space vampire  on a talk show.

What are some ways you can use random events to create writing prompts?  Why not share a few in the comments.

Real Life Observation

Story ideas are all around you. You just have to look for them. One day, I was on my way to an appointment in San Francisco's Civic Center District. As I approached Grove and Van Ness on the corner I saw a pair of sensible, but new, ladies shoes. They sat just like they had been set on a shoe store shelf. A couple of hours later, I returned. Only one shoe remained. There is a story behind that. I don't know what it is, but someday, I'm going to write it.

Keep your eyes open and you will see writing prompts all around you. That elderly couple sitting in the booth next to you at the restaurant holding hands. What is their story? The child escorted onto the plane alone with a name tag like a piece of luggage. Where is she going? An abandoned house once sheltered a family. What happened?

News stories are another source of writing prompts.  A ten-year-old piano prodigy is playing at the local concert hall. What is life like for someone like that? What will it be like 20 years from now?

Sometimes just an interesting character appears. I recently met an old guy in a pet and feed store when I was getting some pet food. He had a shock of white hair and a scraggly white beard. His face was like leather. While finding the pet food, he talked about being in Viet Nam and about his farm and the time when he was raising peacocks. He grumbled good-naturedly about his arthritis, but hefted a 25 pound sack of Friskies into my trunk with ease. Now, let's say I take that guy and put him into a scene in my work in progress. What would he say, do, contribute to the story?

Is there something you have seen or some interesting character you've met recently, that in retrospect might make a good story starter? If so, post a note in the comments and share it with us.

What if...

If you don't already speculate about alternative realities, now is a good time to start. What ifs are wonderful things. For instance, if someone hadn't said, “What if we combine a computer with a video screen we would be spitting out reams of paper online.

For the writer, what ifs create stories. For a good writing prompt, you can go crazy with your what ifs. For instance, What if cats ruled the world?  What if writing had never been invented? What if all the computers stopped working? What if...

If you find yourself stuck on your work-in-progress, what ifs can help break the log jam. What if the doorbell rang? What if the main character won the lottery? What if one of the characters died? What if a tornado ripped through town? You might never use it in your story, but the what ifs can get you writing and maybe reveal more about your characters and your story.

Well, I'm pretty sure you can come up with a lot of what ifs.  Why not post a few in the comments?

Mix and Match

Sometimes to stimulate your creativity you need to mix things up. Bring together unlikely combinations. For instance, vampires are scary creatures of the night who are evil through and through and live dark, mysterious lives. What if you have a teenage vampire, going to high school? Okay, that one is taken, but the idea is that you take two things that don't seem to match and put them together.

Sometimes genre blending is a good way to start. Instead of chick lit, why not chick lit/science fiction. Young innocent girl from an agricultural planet flies off to a commerce planet where she gets a high powered job hanging out with the movers and shakers of the galaxy. Or how about a horror western. Dracula in Tombstone maybe.

What are some ideas you might mix and match to make a writing prompt?  If you have any ideas post them in the comments.

Point of View

Try playing around with point of view. Take a “typical” story and change the POV. For instance, monster stories are usually told from the point of view of the monster hunter. Why not tell it from the point of view of the monster? Other variations could include telling a love story from the point of view of the waiter in the restaurant where the couple meets for dinner, writing an action adventure tale from the point of view of the taxi driver of the cab commandeered by the hero, telling a sword and sorcery story from the point of view of the horse ridden by the hero.

Just a note, sometimes, if you find yourself stuck with a piece of writing, switching point of view can help. For instance, what is the villain's take on what happened in that last scene?

Can you think of a writing prompt in which a shift in point of view can get you thinking differently? Why not post one in the comments?

Role Playing

As children we pretended to be other people. As writers, we do the same in a different way.  Even when writing certain types of nonfiction, you have to imagine your way into someone you are profiling. The only difference is that you have to stick to what is known.

Here are some great ways to role play:
Write a blog  or diary in the persona of your character.

Write a series of letters or emails from your character to a friend

Interview your character.

What other ways can you “get into the head” of your character?

Are there other ways you can think of to create your own writing prompts? Post your ideas below.

This is adapted from Creative Calisthenics: The Ultimate Workout for the Writers Imagination. Email me to receive a free e-copy of the book (A Five Dollar Value) as well as an anthology of Carolyn Masters Mysteries calledLunar Calendar including one story never before published introducing a pintsized genius and a robotic cat, an exclusive excerpt from Dark Side of the Moon, and a $20 pre-launch discount on premium upgrades to courses offered on the new EducationWantsToBeFree.com website. For complete details of this special offer good through November 30, email me atwebservant2003@gmail.com and put “Free Book” in the subject line.