Storytelling is about two things; it s about character and plot. -George Lucas, Father of Star Wars movies

Transcription

1 Storytelling is about two things; it s about character and plot. -George Lucas, Father of Star Wars movies Plot is what happens in your story. Every story needs structure, just as every body needs a skeleton. It is how you flesh out and clothe your structure that makes each story unique. -Caroline Lawrence

2 Plotting with Tools - 1 As readers, we generally see only an author s finished product, so it is easy not to be mindful of the time, hard work, planning, making of multiple drafts, revision, and copyediting done before any successful idea finds fruition on the page as a rich, engaging work of fiction.

3 Plotting with Tools - 1 Envisioning the backbone, or key elements, of fictional narratives prewriting brainstorming planning tools generate multiple plans Prewriting planning tools may often guide revision, too, helping to re-envision how else a story might unfold.

4 Plotting with Tools - 1 Choose the plotting tool that best fits your needs: timelines, lists, webs or maps, and story arcs also sometimes called plot graphs Use the character s wants and struggles to develop possible plotlines. What is the character s motivation? Predictable pattern, character wants or needs something faces increasingly challenging obstacles in the process tensions rise and fall as characters move along this story line this is what builds suspense for readers

5 Plotting with Tools - 1 Rather than planning a series of flat action sequences, ask yourself these questions as you develop the plot: How will my character reach for what she wants? What obstacles will she face, and how will those obstacles increase in intensity and challenge as my story progresses (how will the conflict become more intense)? When and how might my character overcome those obstacles or experience a shift in perspective that yields new clarity (how and when will she reach that AHA moment)? How will my character grow and change over the course of the story? Is this event or scene central to my character s course of wants, needs, struggles, and/or successes? If the answer is no, the event or scene is cut. Purposeful scenes are what you are aiming to create; MORE IS NOT BETTER.

6 Rachel Vail s Thirteen and a Half Today, we will read Rachel Vail s fictional narrative, Thirteen and a Half. When Rachel Vail wrote this story, she probably knew what it would be about, but when she began writing the story, she may not have known exactly what would happen on every page, and she probably imagined multiple directions the piece might take, plotting and planning until the story s truth emerged.

7 Thirteen and a Half Story Arc Let s think about how the events of the story fit together, and what the story s shape is. If we were to record the main events of the story as an arc, it might look like this:

8 Plotting with Tools - 2 Basic structure of most fictional narratives. main character has wants or needs, something gets in the way of the character attaining these character encounters trouble a problem, a dilemma after encountering the problem, the character has to deal with that dilemma in some way, thus giving movement to the story the problem intensifies or comes to a climax before getting resolved, character experiences multiple challenges along the way, or the problem is resolved in a different way than was anticipated by the character. The story has an arc; it doesn t just plod from one equally-weighted event to another in a flat, stagnant way, but rather, each scene builds on the one before it.

9 Plotting with Tools - 2 In your writing today, you will work in partners to experiment with story arcs and other plotting tools. You may use any of the plotting tools/graphic organizers you ve been given, or better yet, create your own. Every partnership will work to create at least two different plotlines for the first scene of each of your scene boot camps Today, you will focus on one partner s scene boot camp Decide on which plotting tool you want to use to plot out this first scene Tomorrow, you will focus on the other partner s scene boot camp Decide on a different plotting tool than yesterday and plot out the second partner s first scene

10 Plotting with Tools - 2 Remember, the shape of a story, where it starts and where it ends, says a lot about what matters to the author. If the story is about the importance of fitting in or how much it really doesn t matter as long as you re true to yourself then it makes sense to have the beginning of the story with the character grappling with fitting in, and the last scene showing some sort of reference, perhaps even a scene explicitly illustrating how the character now feels about fitting in. If the story is in part about growing up, learning to fly, it might begin and end with scenes that include that.

11 Plotting with Tools - 2 While you are plotting your stories and revising your plots, stop and ask yourself: What is this piece really about? What is the truth in what I am trying to say in this fictional piece? How can the shape of my story where it stops, where it ends, maybe even the peak of the arc showcase the truth of what I am saying?