How Solid Is Your Plot?

Every story should have a main plot; most stories have several sub-plots within the main plot.

What is a plot?

Plot refers to the pattern of events within a narrative or drama; these events culminate into the story’s resolution.  The development of the events and how the main character(s) react to these events often give a story its meaning.

Most books that you read about plot will tell you that to have a solid plot, your story should have five components:

• Conflict
• Complications
• Rising Action
• Climax
• Falling Action

Conflict refers to the basic tension, predicament, or challenge that propels your story’s plot.  The conflict is experienced by your main character(s).  The character can be at battle with him or herself, or the character can be at battle with outside forces – like a pain-in-the-butt boss, an overprotective mother, or a cheating spouse.  The conflict will propel the character forward in order to resolve the conflict.  Question to ask yourself:  what is the initial conflict that propels your main character(s) forward in your story?

With any good story, the main character can’t solve the problem simply and ride off into the sunset.  Not if you want a novel, anyway.

There have to be Complications, those obstacles that prevent the main character from resolving the problem; these complications are what causes the tension to heighten in a work.  Question to ask yourself:  you know what your main conflict is.  What are the things that keep your character from resolving his/her issue quickly?

Rising Action occurs when the complications have created enough tension that the character realizes that something must be done and it must be done quickly.  Question to ask yourself:  now that you have your character on a tight rope of stress, anxiety, and conflict-driven insanity, what is the last thing that drives your character to resolve his/her issues and to do so NOW?

Once the character has done whatever is necessary to “kill” the conflict(s), we reach the story’s Climax, and Falling Action quickly follows, ending the story.  By the end of the story, something has changed – usually in the character or in the situation the character had to go through.  Question to ask yourself:  What is the result of your character taking on his/her conflict and resolving it?

Here’s a brief summary of the movie Fatal Attraction using this five-part model:

    Conflict:  Man has affair with woman who wants more than an affair.

    Complications:  Man learns woman is pregnant.  Man also realizes woman is crazy.  Woman wants him to be a part of her and the baby’s life.  Woman calls repeatedly.  Woman shows up at his house in the attempt to buy his place.  Woman destroys his car and leaves a tape for him to listen to.  Once man actually moves away, woman still finds his home and kills his daughter’s bunny; he’s forced to tell his wife about the affair and baby.

    Rising Action:  Woman kidnaps the man’s daughter, which causes his wife to drive off, frantically looking for the girl; she’s injured in a car accident.  Man realizes he needs to fully face his actions and gets the police involved; he vows to protect his family.

    Climax:  The woman breaks into the man’s home and tries to kill his wife.  He and the woman get into a huge fight, but ultimately, the wife shoots and kills the woman.

    Falling Action:  Police and paramedics arrive and take care of things.  Movie ends with man shaking the hand of a police official, going inside his house, hugging his wife, and walking off camera into another part of the house.  Very last image, a photo of their happy family on the mantel; we can assume they try to patch things up, but besides that, we can safely say things have CHANGED – for the characters and for the situation.

The “Questions to ask yourself” above?  Think about those as you develop your work.  If you’re a pantser (someone who gets an idea and writes without organizing most of the work), then think about this once you’ve gotten to a “quiet” part of the book.  If you’re a plotter (pretty self-explanatory, but it’s someone who likes to outline work before jumping in), then definitely think about these components before you delve into PAGE ONE.