Modern Fiction Story Structures

Office by Jenova Art

Modern Fiction Story Structures

PLOT ARC - The events that happen while the characters make other plans.
CHARACTER ARC - The emotional roller-coaster that the character suffers in dealing with the Plot. 

The PLOT ARC
If it does not forward the plot
it does not belong in the story.

When I set out to write a tale, I begin by blocking out the plot, listing what I want to happen:

Inciting Incident
Crisis
Reversal
Ordeal
Climax
Resolution

For a 100k novel that's 20 chapters at 5000 words each. I note what I want to happen in each chapter and that's the frame I work from. If I find a better way to twist the plot great! But a detailed outline or block keeps me from wandering all over the place and going over my word count.

Blocking or outlining is not the only way to build a story. It's just the easiest way.

Steven King does not Block. (Keep in mind - he is a master at his art.) He writes his opening chapter, then his closing chapter then writes almost pure stream of consciousness to get from one to the other.

What he does is write a bunch of character-based stories surrounding one event. What makes his books so huge is the size of his cast of characters. This is also why he ALWAYS goes way-way-way over his word count. *grin* But then, his publishers are not about to make him conform, there are too many other publishers dying for his work. 

Plot & Character Integration

To make a cohesive whole, every single event must happen for a reason. Every single character must have a reason to be there and EVERYTHING must tie in together. Every scene in a story should either illustrate Character (Character Arc) or be an Event (Plot Arc). 

The CHARACTER ARC
The Stages of Grief:
Denial - Anger- Bargaining - Despair -Acceptance

Why Grief?
Because STORY needs ANGST to BE Story.

Stories are all about CHANGE; about Adapting and Overcoming circumstancing that should take them down. The hero and the villain change and develop as the story progresses to allow the hero a toehold chance - and no more - to win. This is where dramatic tension is generated.

The difference between the Hero and the Villain is the Villain's failure to change. The Villain fails to face his fears, which allows the hero to take him down. The rest of the cast may or may not have personal growth, but the hero and the villain must.

Changing takes suffering. Both the hero and the villain should suffer emotionally and physically to allow for their personal changes.

Think about how hard it is for YOU to change your mind about liking or disliking anyone. What would it take to change your mind? That's the level of suffering - of Angst - you need.

Plot Arc is all about WHAT HAPPENS to the characters.
Character Arc is all about how the characters FEEL about what's happening.

The Stage of Grief that character happens to be going through dictates how that character will React the event. If you plan it just right, every event will work Against the character's Stage of Grief.

The whole Idea being:

"That which does not kill me, makes me stronger." - Nietzsche

The plot movements combine both the Plot Arc (Events/Actions) and the Character Arc (Emotions/Reactions). 

Flash Fiction / The Vignette Under 1000 words ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The climactic moment of a single event 1 Movement: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ordeal - Sacrifice ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   2 characters 2 main characters: Protagonist / Antagonist 1 POV character ~ 1st Person or 3rd Person Limited POV ~~~

The Short Story 5000 to 19,000 words ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One Small Event in the Hero's life. 3 major movements: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1- Crisis - Anger 2- Ordeal - Sacrifice 3- Climax - Acceptance ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1 chapter per movement. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2 main characters: Protagonist / Antagonist 1 POV character ~ 1st Person or 3rd Person Limited POV ~~~

The Novelette 20,000 to 59,000 words ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A single event that changes the Hero's life 5 major movements: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Act One 1-Inciting event - Denial ~~~ Act Two 2-Crisis - Anger 3-Reversal - Despair 4-Ordeal - Sacrifice ~~~ Act Three 5-Climax - Acceptance ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2 chapters per movement. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3 Main characters: Protagonist / Obstacle Character */ Antagonist 1 or 2 POV characters ~ 1st Person or 3rd Person Limited ~~~

*Note: The Obstacle Character is the Nay-sayer that possesses the opposing opinion. In a 3-character plot, the Emotionally-driven character tends to play opposition for both the Antagonist (Motive-driven character) and the Protagonist (Action-driven character).

The Novella ~ Category Novel 60,000 to 89,000 words (Many publishers consider anything over 60k a novel. However, most ePubs will not print a book under 80k.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A single that changes all the Main Character's lives 7 major movements: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Act One: Set up - Something Bad has Happened 2- Inciting Incident -Denial 3-Crisis - Anger ~~~ Act Two: 4-Reversal - Despair 5-Ordeal - Sacrifice ~~~ Act Three: 6-Climax - Acceptance 7-Resolution - Acknowledgment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2-4 chapters per movement. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3 Main characters: Protagonist / Main Viewpoint Character */ Antagonist 2 Support characters: Hero's Obstacle Character / Villain's Obstacle Character 1 to 3 POV characters - 1st Person or 3rd Person Limited ~~~

*Note: The Main Viewpoint Character is rarely the Protagonist or the Antagonist. In most stories, the Viewpoint Character is the one caught in the middle, if not completely lost, in the battle between the Protagonist and the Antagonist. (Neo, in The Matrix was the Viewpoint Character caught between Morpheus and the Agents of the Matrix.) 

 

The Novel 90,000 to 125, 000 words (Publishers rarely take manuscripts higher than 125k.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A collection of events that lead to a single Major Event that brings change in all the (main) character's lives. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 9 major movements: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Act One: 1-Set up - Something Bad has Happened 2- Introduction - Innocence 3- Inciting Incident -Denial ~~~ Act Two: 4-Challenge - Anger 5-Crisis - Betrayal 6-Reversal - Despair 7-Ordeal - Sacrifice ~~~ Act Three: 8-Climax - Acceptance 9-Resolution - Acknowledgment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2-5 chapters per movement. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3 Main characters*: Protagonist / Main Viewpoint Character / Antagonist 3 Major Support characters: Protagonist's Obstacle Character Antagonist's Obstacle Character Viewpoint Character's Obstacle Character 1 to 3 POV characters** 1st Person or 3rd Person Limited, or Omniscient ~~~

*Note: With casts of Characters - Less is more - ALL major character arcs must conclude to fulfill resolution. The larger the cast, the longer the story.

**Note: With Viewpoint Characters - LESS is definitely more. Hopping from Viewpoint to Viewpoint can get very frustrating to the reader who has to keep track of each of those different story threads. And then there's the Fatal Flaw of: Head Hopping.  

Keep in Mind: Each POV character chosen, automatically becomes a Main Character. Woe betide the author that does not conclude all the issues raised with EACH Viewpoint Character - in addition to the Main Characters. Any more than 4 POVs and you're looking at a Massive undertaking to conclude them all, or make plot-holes you can drive trucks through.

Tragedy vs. Happily Ever After

The difference between a Tragedy and a Happily Ever After seems to be that in a Tragedy, the Protagonist FAILS at their Crisis Point in Act Two. Act Three is merely the death scene that fullfils their failure to change.

To make a Happily Ever After, the Protagonist still Fails their Crisis Point in Act Two, but then replays their Crises Point in Act Three and finally Wins at the end of the Act. The story then goes on to a whole new FOURTH act. 

Additional Reading:

The Internal Journey - Premise Building

Developing the Dark Moment

Who Cares? Character Values and Conflict

Being, Doing, Becoming:
The Heroic Strength, the Heroic Flaw, the Heroic Journey

Starting Small and Building Plot

External Conflict Worksheet 

Enjoy!

Writing Erotic HORROR

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The CHARACTER Arc

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Writing Adventures ~ A Summary

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Plot Devices: Deus Ex Machina or Chekhov's Gun?

Plot Devices:
Deus Ex Machina
or
Chekhov's Gun?

----Original Message----
"What are your thoughts on Good Deus Ex Machinas? I find them hard to pull off realistically in a plot." -- Puzzled Writer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Deus Ex Machina is when the Hero doesn't find the solution to the story's problem. The solution is handed to them, or taken care of, by someone or something far more powerful.

From TV Tropes:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Deus Ex Machina is an outside force that solves a seemingly unsolvable problem in an extremely unlikely (and, usually, anticlimactic) way. If the secret documents are in Russian, one of the spies suddenly reveals that they learned the language. If the writers have just lost funding, a millionaire suddenly arrives, announces an interest in their movie, and offers all the finances they need to make it. If The Hero is dangling at the edge of a cliff with a villain stepping on his fingers, a flying robot suddenly appears to save him.

The term is Latin for god out of the machine, and has its origins in Greek theater. It refers to situations in which a crane (machine) was used to lower actors or statues playing a god or gods (deus) onto the stage to set things right. It has since come to be used as a general term for any event in which a seemingly fatal plot twist is resolved by an event never foreshadowed or set up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Good Deus Ex Machina only happen when they've been set up to happen all along and were simply overlooked--which means they're not really Deus Ex Machina...

--They're actually a Chekhov's Gun.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there."
— Playwright Anton Chekhov (From S. Shchukin, Memoirs. 1911.)

"Honestly, what kind of situation would require the use of a pair of fake arms and a remote-controlled wheelchair? Only, I imagine, a completely ludicrous one!"
— Father Ted
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Example:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The story opens with the sheriff saying that he's gonna cruise by the local huge creepy mansion later that night because the teenager that's watching over it is known for painting rude Graffiti. A house that big and that empty is clearly far too much of a temptation for a kid like that to resist.

meanwhile in the huge empty mansion, the radio and the TV blast out "Crazed Killer on the Loose in our area! Be on the look out...! News at Eleven."

Creeped out, the kid calls a few of his friends over to keep him company.

After a few forbidden cigarettes and a twelve-pack of beer, his friends start encouraging him to paint graffiti on one of the walls in the house.

Eventually, the kid gives in. "Why the hell not?" He goes to get his spray paint.

Right at that moment the monster strikes! It chases the troubled teen though the house and kills off his friends one by one. Blood! Guts! Mayhem! Screaming...!

Finally, the monster corners the kid on the roof with no place else to go.

Out of nowhere, a police helicopter shows up to rescue the kid 

-- Deus Ex Machina? 

The copter door swings open and it's the sheriff. He wasn't just keeping an eye on the kid, he was also watching out for the crazed killer that had been all over the news for days. 

-- NOT a Deus Ex Machina -- a Chekhov's Gun! The cop showing up was set to happen from the beginning. However, this works even better if... 

Before the kid can get up on the copter the monster finds a way to drag the helicopter down from the sky.

With the judicious use of a can of spray paint and a lighter, the monster's eyeballs are fried goo. The kid makes his escape straight into the REST of the cops heading up the road.

The cops shoot down the crazed killer and the kid goes on National Television saying how Graffiti saved his life.

The End~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An example of a Chekhov's Gun that LOOKS like a Deus Ex Machina can be found in the closing scene to the game Final Fantasy VII where the heroes tried everything to save the world, but failed. Suddenly, the world saved itself using the Life-stream--the power that had been the focus of the story's main problem since the story's opening. This Deus Ex Machina power had been there from the very beginning, yet had been overlooked making it in fact, a Chekhov's Gun.

However, an even better ending came in the sequel game Dirge of Cerberus, where one of the least understood characters in the Final Fantasy VII cast proved to have had a monumental power sleeping inside him all along--that was again, overlooked.

Getting it on Paper...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you really want to use a Chekhov's Gun, it helps to think of a story as a Circle. It should End where it Began with the main problem at the beginning of the story being the last problem solved. This means you need to have the Solution to that main problem present at the beginning of the story--preferably in the opening scene, but discounted, or not thought of as anything special.

By the way, most Fairy Tales and Fables tend to have a Circular plot pattern -- ending where they began.

Enjoy!

Plotting: The Murphy's Law Method

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BASIC Plotting

Art by Ayame Kojima
BASIC Plotting

A plot is the pattern a story follows, the most common being:

-- Beginning
-- Middle
-- End

All successful (read: popular) stories have patterns. Sometimes it’s simple, sometimes it’s complex, but all of the stories read or told often enough to remain in the popular mind of any culture have a pattern, a plot.

Here are some examples of simple plot patterns…

Traditional:
• He came.
• He saw.
• He conquered.

American Dream Version:
• He came.
• He conquered.
• He became very rich.

The Heroic version:
• He conquered.
• He became the leader of his people.
• He died in the middle of a glorious battle to defend his land, and became a legendary figure that would never be forgotten.

Erotic Version:
• He saw.
• He conquered.
• He came.
Aristotle’s Elements of a Greek Tragedy - simplified:
• Act One: He rose to glory.
• Act Two: His pride drove him to make a foolish but costly mistake.
• Act Three: He crashed and burned.

Aristotle’s Elements - American version:
• Act One: He rose to glory.
• Act Two: His pride drove him to make a foolish but costly mistake.
• Act Three: He crashed and burned.
• Act Four: He fixed his mistake and rose again.

Your basic Romance plot:
• The lovers are thrown together.
• The lovers are forced apart.
• The lovers go against the odds to get back together.

Your basic Yaoi Romance plot:
• One lover seduces the other.
• A misunderstanding drives one lover away.
• The lover that misunderstood chases the other lover down to beg for forgiveness.
Your basic Adventure plot:
• Hero meets Villain.
• They fight and the Villain wins.
• The hero rises from his defeat to battle the Villain again, and wins the war.

Your basic Manga Adventure plot:
• A group of friends meet a Villain.
• The villain corners them individually and defeats each one.
• The friends rise from their individual defeats to team up on the Villain and win the war.


I can already hear the whining…

“But that’s so…formulaic! Where’s the creativity?”
Creativity is Overrated.

Ever hear the phrase: “It’s not what you have, it’s what you do with it,”? This is especially true when writing stories. It’s not the plot, but what you do with the plot that makes it creative.

No matter what those Creative Writing classes teach, for a story to be enjoyed by the widest possible audience, it needs to have some sort of structure, a pattern -- a plot.

Why?

Because a story without some sort of plot pattern reads…wrong. Everyone, in every culture, has been trained from childhood to EXPECT a story to follow some sort of pattern to take it from Here to There, and make some sort of point too. In fact, some of the hottest blockbuster movies including ‘Star Wars’ follow one of the oldest plot patterns in human history -- the Heroic Cycle, as codified by William Campbell.

The Heroic Mythic Cycle:
(Paraphrased to avoid copyright issues.)

Act One - Chosen

Humble Beginnings
Destiny Comes Knocking
Shoved into Adventure
Sagely Advice ~ Paramours & Sidekicks

Act Two - Challenge

Leaving the Known World behind
Challenges, Friends & Foes
Battle at the Crossroads

Act Three – Crisis

Into the Labyrinth
Temptation & Betrayal
Anger ~ Despair ~ Sacrifice
Inheritance / Blessing / Curse
Treasure & Celebration

Act Four – Climax

Escape / Expelled from the Labyrinth
The Hunter becomes the Hunted
Rescue & Loss of Paramour / Side-kick
Battle at the Crossroads to Home
Death / Rebirth
Delivery of Treasure & Just Rewards

A great many people who write quite successfully ‘by the seat of their pants,’ may tell you that they don’t need to plot, they just…write it from beginning to end. That doesn’t mean their stories don’t follow a pattern. It’s merely that the plotting pattern they use is so ingrained into their subconscious they follow it instinctively -- without even knowing they’re doing it.

Unfortunately, that’s not a talent I possess. I have to work everything out on paper or I get lost in a hurry.

How to Use a Plot
“What is plotting good for anyway?”

Well, the best use of a plotting pattern is so you don’t get lost in the story. Think of the plot outline as a road map marking out the most direct route from Here to There. This doesn’t mean you can’t take side trips to sight-see or visit friends along the way. It’s merely a way of keeping track of where you are, and where you should go next, by knowing where you intend to end up. Knowing your basic route ahead of time also makes it much more difficult to get lost on a back road or trapped in a cul-de-sac.

In short, if you know where you’re going when you start out, sooner or later, you’ll actually get there.

A note on Japanese stories…

From:
‘Eight Ways to say You ~ The Challenges of Translation’
By Cathy Hirano

The most obvious differences between Japanese and English writing styles are organization and tone.

My English composition classes in high school taught me that English is supposed to flow in a linear fashion, from introduction to body to conclusion, and that a statement should be supported by a logical explanation. Even in literature, a book works toward a climax and then a conclusion. In contrast, Japanese composition appears almost circular, and although it has its own logic and organization, it is very different from how I learned to write in school.

In English, we stress clarity.

In Japanese subtlety is preferred. The Japanese writer dances around his theme, implying rather than directly stating what he wants to say, leaving it up to readers to discern that for themselves. He or she appeals to the reader’s emotions rather than to the intellect, and tries to create a rapport rather than to convince. The Japanese reader, in turn, is quite capable of taking great leaps of imagination to follow the story line.

Cathy Hirano is the translator of The Friends, winner, for Farrar, Straus & Giroux, of the 1997 Batchelder Award.
Go HERE to read the whole article.

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In Conclusion…
-- By using even the most basic of plot patterns, the writer can keep track of not only where they are in their story, but where they intend to end up. This makes it very easy to avoid the most common pitfall of fiction writing: “The story’s halfway done and I have no idea how to end it!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Morgan Hawke
www.DarkErotica.Net

DISCLAIMER: As with all advice, take what you can use and throw out the rest. As a multi-published author, I have been taught some fairly rigid rules on what is publishable and what is not. If my rather straight-laced (and occasionally snotty,) advice does not suit your creative style, by all means, IGNORE IT.