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!

Periodic Table of Storytelling

Created by ComputeSherpa at DeviantArt.com

If you are any kind of fan of fiction writing, whether it books, TV scripting, movie scripting, or even fan-fiction, THIS is the ultimate cheat sheet for story crafting -- especially if you are a fan of TV Tropes!

Enjoy!

Interview with RomanceNovelTips.com

Interview with Morgan Hawke

RomanceNovelTips.com

1. What made you decide to write Erotica?

Well, I like sex, I had several years experience in the Adult Industry so I had plenty of experience to write from, and I love writing. 

S+Exp+W = Author

However, the main push toward writing Erotica, and Erotic Romance in particular, was that there was so little respect or care for any book labeled 'Erotic.' Back when I first started posting stories; years before Erotic Romance had been invented, Erotica was known for having the absolute worst writing out there. Poor plots, poor characterization, poor description, poor everything – and this stuff was Published!

I wanted to fix that. I wanted to prove that Erotica could be written with as much care, research, and respect as a sci-fi or a mystery novel. Truthfully, this very motive is what propelled me into writing Erotic Romance.

2. Would you ever write for Harlequin/Mills & Boon?

Hell No! They have the absolute worse reputation for screwing their authors in the publishing industry.

Would I write that type of novel?

 If the publishing house was NOT Harlequin/Mills & Boon, or Dorchester, and they offered me the right kind of money to do it?

Absolutely. I'm a mercenary author; I write what pays the bills. At the moment, Erotic Romance is the most lucrative and fastest paying genre out there.

3. What is the one piece of advice you would give aspiring Erotica / Romantica Erotic Romance writers?

Before you consider plot, character, or setting, learn to write in Chronological Order, the order in which things actually happen --> Action THEN Reaction.

The fastest way to do this is by dropping the word "as" from your vocabulary. If you see the word "As" in your sentence, nine times out of ten, you've written the line Backwards. The events are written in the Reverse of what actually happened.

Example:

The vampire drank his fill AS he crouched over his victim. < -- WRONG!

Which really happened first?

The vampire drank his fill.

OR?

The vampire crouched over his victim.

Obviously, the vampire had to crouch before he could drink his fill, therefore...

The vampire crouched over his victim AND drank his fill. < -- RIGHT!

If you want a full explanation, go here:

http://darkerotica.blogspot.com/2007/02/writing-dialogue.html

Read that.

4. Do you think that Sci-Fi elements in erotica enhances sales or would the books sell just as well if set in a present day earth?

I follow Azimov's rule of Science-Fiction:

"If you can remove the Science from the Fiction and still have a viable story in another genre, you did it WRONG."

However, doing it Wrong doesn’t mean it won’t get published. It just means you missed the point of the genre. Just for the record, I’m firmly of the opinion that if you’re going to do something, do it RIGHT. Why? Because if you do it Wrong, and someone else does it Right, guess who’s gonna grab all the readers?

5. What is your favorite book you have written and why?

Truthfully, I don't have a favorite, not yet anyway. Sooner or later, I'll write a world I want to keep coming back to, but that hasn't happened just yet.

6. Who is your favorite character you have created?

I don't have a favorite, not yet anyway. Each character; hero, heroine, villain, ally... was created to make that particular story happen. Unlike many writers, I come up with the plot first then craft my characters to make that story happen. 

7. What are the top three characteristics every Heroine should have?

First of all, when you're writing a Romance or an Erotic Romance, you should never forget that the Main Character is an Avatar for the Reader. Because of this, one should always make the Main Character someone the reader would like to be. With this in mind, I craft my characters to have these three characteristics:

• An Emotional Flaw
• A Physical Limitation
• A professional-level skill

The first two are the literal, "two strikes against them," and the last is the hidden key to their success in the story.

8. Do you believe in avoiding Mary-Sue's in writing romantica Erotic Romance?

Yes and No. I believe that the author should avoid creating OBVIOUS Mary-Sues; they look, act, and talk like the author only Better! Or worse, a character that is Too Good To Be True.

Give the character some major personality flaws and it won't matter if it is a Sue or not. American readers in particular adore underdog characters, the one who keeps trying in spite of the fact that they can't seem to win. Perfect people, on the other hand, are their favorite targets to bash out of sheer Envy.

9. Where do you find inspiration for your stories ?

EVERYWHERE. Everything I see, everything I do, everything I experience becomes food for thought in my stories.

10. If you could write one book in the mainstream fiction sector, what would it be about?

LOL! It depends on the publisher, literally. I never write a book without knowing exactly who I plan to send it to. I believe in reading a publisher's Submission Guidelines FIRST then crafting the story to be exactly what that publisher is looking for. It's the fastest -- and easiest -- way to guarantee that a publisher will take a manuscript.

Morgan Hawke

March 22, 2011

Online Erotic Plot Generators

Just for fun!

 Erotic Plot Generators
Temporarily down while my website is being updated! 

Looking for a quick and painless way to get ideas for Erotic stories or Yaoi stories? Have I got the toys for you! One click and there you go!

Click: Generate me an Erotic plot! 

Example of results:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As an apology, a socially inept yet sincere actress put on a strap-on and ass-fucked a submissive police detective in a narrow stall of a public toilet. This resulted in a business proposition.

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

After catching the peeper red-handed--literally and figuratively, a naive and unsuspecting actress made tender love to a vivacious, red-haired erotica author in a high class hotel overlooking the bay. This resulted in the discovery of a hidden fetish.

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

Wearing only a towel, a dominant delivery girl called in some friends and had an orgy with a submissive college student in a seedy hotel in the bowels of the city. This resulted in a very sincere apology.

And for those interested in Boy on Boy erotic stories...?

 Click: Generate me a YAOI plot! 

Example of results:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Having fallen hopelessly in Love, a petite, fair and delicate teacher had anal sex with an eccentric martial artist in the VIP room of a night club. This resulted in the loss of his underwear.

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

Wearing only a towel, a vivacious, red-haired private detective was fucked by an attractive mail man in a seedy hotel in the bowels of the city. This resulted in the annulment of a debt.

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

Caught masturbating, a submissive graffiti artist ass-fucked a friendly college professor in front of the fireplace of a Victorian mansion. This resulted in an invitation to live together.

The Java code is from Seventh Sanctum, but rest is all mine. Feel free to use any of the ideas generated for your own stories.

Enjoy!

Writing Erotic HORROR

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The CHARACTER Arc

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Memory Training

How I trained myself to have a
Photographic Memory.

Shortly after I published my very first story, I was introduced to the phrase: "Write What You Know."

I was horrified.

I was horrified because I was still in high school and living with my Mother in a very small New England town. Other than a few encounters with a couple of ghosts, and what I had looked up in my local library, (keep in mind this was 1980, the internet hadn't been invented yet,) I knew Nothing. Seriously, I had no personal experience doing Anything.

What the heck was I supposed to write if I only wrote what I knew?

I had yet to learn how to drive a car, but that was okay. I was damned good at riding the bus. However, I still hadn't had my first kiss yet so relationship stories of Any kind were right out. Forget stories that had guns or weapons, though I could use a sling-shot and swung a mean baseball bat. (Don't make me break out my pocketbook!) Forget stories with horses in it, though I did know how to feed and train a dog.

I had three younger brothers so I had some experience with childcare, but having learned my techniques from a sociopathic parent (Not a Joke,) writing from those experiences would have landed that character in the villain slot, pronto. (The scary part was that I was aware of this back then!) I sucked at sports and had no friends, so those kinds of stories were out too.

In short, the sum total of my knowledge was strictly from books. Which was to say, Not Useful toward making a story realistic in even the vaguest sense.

Even worse, I discovered that my memory Leaked. I could remember things long enough to pass a test, but that was as far as it got.

Since moving out of my mom's house wasn't looking too close to happening, experiencing new things had to be put on hold. Instead I started working on my memory.

I tried a number of techniques but what worked for me was a type of Image Association.

In short, staring hard at something and then later, Drawing it. Or rather, trying to. I was an okay artist, nothing terrific, believe me, but I noticed right away that if I drew a picture whatever I was trying to remember stayed in my head better. Even doodling in the bottom corner of my notebook worked. The really interesting thing was that the picture didn't have to be related at all to what I was trying to remember! Though it worked better if it was.

Strangely enough, cutting pictures out of magazines worked too, though not nearly as well. I had to really stare at the picture and recite out loud what it was I was trying to remember.

This led to the next step: Recitation.

This meant quite literally, staring hard at a scene I wanted to write about later, such as the park during the height of autumn, or a thunderstorm, and describing it out loud -- without writing it down. Just spitting out adjectives that described what I was looking at, or what I was Feeling, such as what the brass handrail in school felt like sliding under my hand while walking down the stairs. After only a couple of tries, it didn't even have to be out loud. Saying it in my head or under my breath worked too.

I never did recall exactly what I said, but I recalled the experience Perfectly. In other words, Sensory Association.

By the way, the Schoolhouse Rock multiplication jingles saved my math grade, seriously. If I sang along with the cartoon, I remembered it. ALL of it. In fact, I still remember them. Recitation + Images.

About a month or two after I started doing all that, the flip-side of those exercises suddenly kicked in. I started Picturing what I was reading while I read it. In other words, I was playing a movie in my head of whatever I was reading. Though it was a bit more than that. My memory added the experiences I'd worked to remember. If the writer mentioned 'forest', my memory automatically added the sound of the wind, bird-calls, the smell of moldering earth, the specific colors of the leaves in sunlight, and the chilly brush of a breeze.

That doesn't seem like such a big deal, but it had one hell of a side effect.

I could remember anything I'd read. That included Text Books. If the text books had pictures it was even easier. I was actually able to remember the names and stories of any historical figure simply by picturing that person's portrait.

However, I was not remembering the Words, only the images I'd seen and the Stories that went with it. This actually worked well when I needed to answer essay questions.

However, my ability to remember things in a list; dates, names, phone numbers, groceries I needed to buy...dropped off the face of the earth. If I didn't have a picture to connect with what I was trying to remember, it left my head almost the moment it went in.

My last two years of high school saw a major lift in my grades in every subject except One: Math. I still suck at math. Numbers simply don't bring up images. I could remember my times tables, (thank you Schoolhouse Rock,) but that was IT. Geometry was fine because the formulas were all associated with shapes, but Algebra was right out.

One would think that Grammar would have been difficult to remember, but it wasn't. I was using it almost daily in my story notebooks. (When one is writing a story, one NEEDS punctuation to have it make sense to the reader.) Repetition saved me there.

Later on, I finally left home and gathered a great number of wildly varying experiences. I still can't recall all the names of the people I met, but their faces are all engraved on my mind along with everything I experienced down to the weather conditions on the day it happened.

Picture Association and Sensory Association


Those were the keys to how I trained my memory to recall anything I'd seen or done clearly enough to write it on paper. I'm still amazed by how much I haven't forgotten.

Enjoy!