Writing Blog Number 2

20240620 Plotting Techniques Part 1

Plotting Techniques pt.1

The final thing I asked my email people came from a few WdCers:
What different plotting methods are there?

Now, I’m a pantser, so when I teach plotting I use very basic methods, so these come from links I was sent, and different suggestions from those I emailed.

This is part one of two about some plotting methods and techniques.

Let’s get to it!


So, I found 25 various methods for plotting a book/ story / novel/ work of fiction.

25!

Some I don’t get, a few felt too similar to others, and at least one I felt was useless. So here is a list of those I found and was told about that I can see being useful.
         Sorry if that is me imposing my own personal viewpoint on things, but this is my blog so… yeah.

To start, some definitions (from Story-Writing For Teachers and Students, Scholastic, 1996):
         Story: Everything included in a narrative, like plot, setting, characters, theme, message and unwritten elements, such as backstory.
         Plot: The sequence of events within the over-arching story.
         Structure*: How we arrange all of this into the story, including order, what remains hidden, and even if it is non-linear.
(*also called ‘Narrative Structure’ or ‘Scaffold’)
Most guides will have 5 things that make up a plot.
         Beginning
         Inciting Incident
         Rising Action
         Climax
         Denouement
Further, most stories take a Three Act Structure:
Act I: Introduction, Inciting Incident, with an important Plot Point to end it.
Act II: Rising Action, with an Important Plot Point (some say a vital Plot Point) to end it.
Act III: Build to the climax, Climax, Denouement.

Even pantsers like me need to be aware of all of this. If it is not there in the first draft, then the second draft can rectify any issues.

So, with all of that in mind, here are 10 ways to plot your story!


1. 7-Point Story Structure
Attributed to Dan Wells
This is the most commonly used plotting method, as it works so well for short stories asnd even novellas. Maybe not novels so much, but this is the way those stories tend to go. It involves seven basics:
         Set up the world (start)
         The inciting incident
         Escalation
         The protagonist becomes proactive (as opposed to reactive)
         Set-back
         Discovery (what is needed to finish things)
         Resolution
Extra story beats can be included between and within these, but that is the basic of this method.


2. The Hero’s Journey/ Heroine’s Journey
Attributed to Joseph Campbell/ Maureen Murdock
The Hero’s Journey is the most popular plotting/structure device used in speculative fiction of all stripes, developed from mythological stories the world over. The Heroine’s Journey is a female-specific version.
Campbell had it in three phases: departure (hero leaves the known), initiation (hero faces the unknown and overcomes what faces him), return (hero returns to the known, changed).
Later authors, notably Christopher Vogler, extended this into something that will help the plotting of a story.
         The Ordinary World
         The Call to Adventure
         Refusing the Call
         Meeting the Mentor
         Crossing the First Threshold
         Tests, Allies, Enemies (also known as Initial Exploration or Initial Learning)
         Approach the Inmost Cave
         The Ordeal
         Reward/Goal Achieved
         The Road Back (also known as Final Complication)
         The Resurrection
         The Return (also known as The Return With the Elixir)
These are the elements of what is known as the monomyth, focused on a single protagonist.
Murdock, a student of Campbell, felt the original Hero's Journey method did not take into account the different lived experiences of females. She came up with:
         Separation From the Feminine/ Rejection of “Mother”
         Identify the Masculine and Gather Allies (the protagonist takes on more masculine attributes)
         Road of Trials
         Boon of Success (there is, however, doubt)
         Realisation of Spiritual Barrenness
         Initiation and Ascent to the Goddess
         Yearn to Connect to the Feminine
         Healing of Mother/Daughter Split
         Healing of Wounded Masculine
         Integration of Feminine and Masculine
This is more a journey of self-discovery.
         Modern authors have been known to combine the two.
Finally, there is a simplified version of The Hero’s Journey developed by TV writer Dan Harmon, which he calls The Story Circle. The idea is it is a more internalised version, with the emphasis on characters. From his Masterclass talk:
         Step 1: They are in a zone of comfort.
         Step 2: But they want something.
         Step 3: They enter an unfamiliar situation.
         Step 4: Adapt to it through facing trials.
         Step 5: They get what they wanted.
         Step 6: They pay a heavy price.
         Step 7: Return to the familiar situation.
         Step 8: Having changed.
This is more geared towards a TV product, and so the changes in a character are small, and there is often nothing earth-shattering about the stakes.


3. Save The Cat! Story Beats
Attributed to Blake Snyder
This one started as a way of writing a full-length screenplay, but was later adapted to novels as well. A couple of publishers mentioned it, but said it is way too common, especially because of movies that use it all the time.
The story beats are:
         Opening Image (world setting, protagonist introduction)
         Theme (made explicit)
         Set-Up (world build more)
         Catalyst/ Inciting Incident
         Confusion (should the protagonist respond or not?)
         Rise to the Challenge
         B-Story (important secondary character introduced or comes to the fore)
         Fun and Games/ Rising Action
         Midpoint (false victory or defeat)
         Bad Guys Close In
         All is Lost (often a tragic event)
         Dark Night of the Soul (this changes the protagonist)
         Finale/ Climax
         Final Image: Resolution.


4. The Onion
This is a pure plotting device.
         Start with the beginning, middle and end of the story, the characters and the setting.
         Add the next layer of where things go, putting this into the gaps.
         Add the next layer of things happening, putting into the gaps.
         Keep going until there are no more gaps, adding layers each time.
         Remove anything that does not work, and add more layers, filling in more gaps that are created.
This seems very simple, and the video I have seen of this one involved the woman having a huge sheet of butcher’s paper stuck to the wall with the beginning at the top, denouement at the bottom, a list of characters down one side, and then she just added story beats seemingly at random until she had the entire thing mapped out, with quite a few things crossed out, extra characters introduced, things like that. There was no look at structure or anything until she had all the story beats mapped out like an onion – in layers.


5. Snowflake Method
Attributed to Randy Ingermanson
This is the Onion Method done in a much more organised manner. However, it is still working from the middle out, adding layers, just there is method to the madness.
The way it is done is usually put thus:
         Story
                   * Start with a one sentence story idea.
                   * Expand this to a paragraph – an elevator pitch – including beginning, conflict, denouement.
                   * Take this to two or three paragraphs with a little more detail.
         Character
                   * With the story idea written, write a one-page summary of each main character (protagonist/s and antagonist/s).
                   * Write a half-page summary for each secondary character (protag/s and antag/s).
                   * Write a one-paragraph summary for any other recurring characters.
         Story Expansion
                   Take the story summary and expand it out to a four to eight page synopsis.
                   Take the characters and flesh them out even further (use of character charts is recommended).
         Scenes
                   The last stage is to take the synopsis and character studies and use them to create a detailed scene chart. This is used to map out the narrative structure as it will appear in the finished work.
So, start with what, add who, then expand to when.


That’s the end of part one!