Plot and Structure

Every story needs a plot- that's obvious. Some people apply the basic diagram on plots- a mountain/triangle thing-a-ma-jiggy with the introduction, rising action, climax, and resolution- on every story ever introduced to mankind. Yes, it basically fits, but in full honesty, how boring is that?

I've been reading the book Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell, and you should too. He divides plot into three Acts- the Beginning, Middle, and End. Simple enough, right? To understand, sure. To apply, HECK NO.  But that comes later.

The Beginning serves several purposes besides just 'intoducing' everything. It's main job is to hook the reader into the story, to keep them reading. A very minor detail, of course. ;) There should be three hooks- the very first sentence, the last sentence on the first page, and the last sentence of the chapter. The first hook keeps the reader for the rest of the page, the second for the rest of the chapter, the last one, for the rest of the book. Hopefully. Maybe I'll go into how to write good hooks sometime, but not now.

Intoducing everything else is the easy part. The main character, the setting, and definitely the oppisition, all come into play. Set the stakes right away- start the action ASAP- because who wants to read about the normal life of Joe the Plumber? You will also want to set the tone for the story- the voice, the pace, etc. Using first person POV (point of view) does this relatively easily, but otherwise, put the main character into a position that shows their values and typical life vs. their problems. Think of it this way: if you're writing a mystery about some quiet detective who is involved in a murder, don't start out by having him speeding down some road with his arm around a supermodel, listening to some obnoxious music. That doesn't work. Put them in their place- like Tolkien did with the Hobbit. He showed Bilbo in his natural surroundings- the Shire.

However,  disaster must strike for the plot to begin. 'Disaster' is simply the term- the change, the shift, does not necessarily have to be bad. Take Harry Potter for example. The 'Disaster' is Hagrid coming to take Harry to Hogwarts. Not a bad thing at all. However, in the Hunger Games (an excellent book, btw), the disaster is the Reaping, where the main characters's sister is chosen for the Games. The Disaster must keep the protagonist in the action- he or she cannot go back to their old life.

"What you do in Act II, the middle, is write scenes- scenes that stretch the tension, raise the stakes, keep readers worried, and build towards Act III in a way that seems inevitable." You must have action. You must have action. You must have action. This is the tetter-totter of the story- will the protagonist make his/her goal? By keeping the reader hooked, you rope them into wanting the answer, wanting to know what happens next. There must be a risk- whether death or any other kind of loss. Add conflict or tension to spice up the book. Stretch the tension by describing each beat of a scene- I suppose I'll go into that in another post.

The End is where the protagonist either does or doesn't reach her goal. There's just no other way to say it. The reader should get either an 'ahh' or a depressed flood of emotion after reading the end, and that tells them whether or not the book was good. I'll go into more ends later, because "A weak ending can ruin an otherwise wonderful book, while a strong ending can redeem and otherwise mediocre book."

So plot is about the problems disturbing the main character's life, and the steps he/she takes to solve them.

Luke Skywalker starts out as a whiny farmboy, but when his aunt and uncle are killed, he has to make the choice whether or not to join Ben Kenobi and avenge their deaths.

Bella Swan moves to Forks and meets a strange boy named Edward, and falls in love with him. Will they end up getting together? (One of the cheesiest books I've ever read, I'll admit. Not a fan of romance.)

Harry Potter starts getting strange letters and goes to a Wizarding school called Hogwarts. But the Dark Lord Voldemort, who killed his parents, is looking for the Sorcerer's Stone to resurrect himself. Will Harry find it in time to thwart Voldemort?

Any disagreements? Any favorite books with strong plots? Comment away! :)