Plot Simplified

Life is a flow of different experiences.  In fiction we frame it: beginning, middle and end.  A character exists in a maze facing a series of obstacles; not too many, not too few.  

To simplify plot, think about a character wanting something and someone or something getting in the way of that. The story involves the "and then whats." 

Three basic plots exist in the conflict situation:  man against man; man against nature; man against himself.

Consider the underpinnings of story as character, emotion, situation and setting.  The challenge becomes what to put in the middle as a tent pole.

           Character

Emotion         Situation

                       

             Setting

Creative Write:  Practice a few simple plots today and turn them around.  How would you rewrite Goldilocks and the Three Bears?  

Epiphany

"This is the moment I call epiphany . . . when the relation of the parts is exquisite . . . its soul, its whatness leaps to use from the vestment of its appearance.  The soul of the commonest object . . . the structure of which is so adjusted, seems to us radiant.  The object achieves its epiphany." -  James Joyce

The typical story carries the seeds of conflict.  Two men are rivals in conflict for a girl, a treasure or a corporation.  They are evenly matched and only the author's deceptive clues will tell you who is the good guy and who is the bad. The action can seesaw until eventually someone wins.

James Joyce dispensed with this formula and created short stories to reach a moment of revelation or epiphany.  In place of winnings and losings his stories dealt in nuances, illuminations, and sudden spiritual manifestations.

Joyce used epiphanies as both a way of seeing or hearing and a way of showing and writing.  Some are fragments of overhead conversations of strangers.  Some are accounts of dreams and others are brief dialogues betweeen Joyce and individuals he knew.  Some are uncategorizable.  They are poetic-prose statements or transcriptions of actual life.  He defines epiphany as the quididtas the whatness of a thing.

Life fades into the sunset or a silence prevails.  Often no one wins or loses and many characters do not reach self-knowlege in the moment.  They do not even realize how hopeless they are.  The stories reach their conclusions only in the minds of the reader,  Or, the whatness of a character is revealed like a light bulb over his head.

After Joyce introduced the concept, the meaning has become elastic.  Writers have attempted to use subtle effects of this technique to reveal character, attitude and emotion.

Epiphanies are used for short mood pieces because there's not enough action to sustain them.  The realization story may include urgency and a sense of something or the pain of discovery and self-realization.

Example:

Late in the afternoon, a married woman hurries to meet her lover.  The breeze shakes flowers from the cherry trees that bloom in the garden.  He is waiting for her and they make love with frightened haste.  With a gesture reserved for women who know that they are beautiful, she tugs her dress over her head and tosses it behind her like unwanted memory   -  Shulamith Wechter Caine

Creative Write:

1. Create an epiphany based on a quiet encounter with something that has always been out of reach.  Something always seems to have just turned its corner as you have turned your own.  This could be a moment in memory or pieces of a scene which needs dream and imagination to make whole.

2.  Build an epiphany for a character leading to an emotional realization.  Begin with fragments of overhead conversations, a ringing bell, or an emotional incident.

3.  Create an epiphany within a prose poem like the example above.

The Premise

Fiction's premise involves what happens to the characters as a result of the major conflicts plus twists and turns in the story.

If a writer wishes to prove love leads to disaster, he shows Dan and Sheila falling in love and bad things happening.  Dan loses his job and becomes depressed. Sheila leaves him because he has lost his drive.  He falls into deeper despair and becomes homeless. He may end his life.

In the next premise, love leads to bliss.  Bill and Bonnie meet on the subway.  Love transforms their dull lives as an accountant and teacher into an ongoing series of delicious moments.  After they get rid of respective spouses, they buy a farm and grow old together.

Discover your story's premise and take it through all the twists and turns of  possibilities.

Suggestions:

l.  Trusting someone leads to disillusionment.

2. Greed leads to alienation.

3. Courage leads to redemption.

4. Nothing can crush the human spirit.

Creative Write:

l.  Outline a premise based on the above suggestions or your own.

2.  Start with a character and give him or her a dilemma.  Set your imagination free and let writing take you on an adventure.

Tone in Writing

Tone is a changeable aspect of a writer's voice. It indicates the writer's attitude. While the writer's voice always shows through, the tone may show as angry, comical or ironic, depending upon the piece.

Creative Write:  Use word choices to create tone.

Begin with the words - It would be much too dangerous to talk about.  Write with a frightened tone and then with humor.

Write a humorous approach to:  Can you tell the truth in a small town?

Seeds of Traditional Story

A traditional story structure revolves around a series of events (plot = action) where the main character (protagonist) faces a problem (conflict). Dealing with the problem causes a change in the hero and a conclusion of the action (resolution).

The protagonist, the story's main character, wants something that brings satisfaction or resuls in misery.  The more this character wants, the more intense the struggle to get it becomes.

Plot creates a harmonious fit for a series of events.  It unites and controls various scenes and characters in a cause-and-effect pattern.  Each event promotes another to happen until a resolution occurs.  During the unraveling of the story, the reader learns that the conflict either can or cannot become resolved.

Is this a story?

Joe gets up for his big meeting of the year, drives to work, presents his advertising campaign which meets with success.  He meets his girl friend for a drink and goes home to sleep.

No story results because Joe only follows a sequence of events. No conflict or action arises.

How about this?

Today is Joe's big meeting of the year.  The alarm never goes off so Joe gets up late.  His car doesn't start.  He pushes it to a gas station  just as a Brink's truck filled with bank robbers turns the corner and hits him broadside.  They kidnap him but he breaks free.  He eventually gets to his office late for the meeting.

Lots of conflict created!

In order for the resolution to tie up the story, we need to see a change in Joe.  How does Joe change?  Does he walk right in after his adventure and win the account?  Has all the chaos made him realize how his life is a whirl and he needs to slow down.?  Does he go along with the bank robbers and discover a new career path?

Joe needs a personality to prepare him for his struggle. He needs more dimensions.

Fictional characters are constantly making choices and solving problems; some good, some not so good.  Opposite dimensions of a character always tug at him.

Joe needs strengths that give him the ability to strive (courage, love, altruism, ambition) and flaws that lead to a breakdown if not checked (fear, lust, power-hunger) to become well-rounded.

Creative Write:   Develop a story idea in five to six sentences.  Introduce your character to a problem he most solve.  His efforts will only worsen the problem yet is he is relentless.  Move the story in wild ways.  Stay open to nuances.

Outline a problem that will help your character learn about his flaws.  Have him make a final, enormous effort, overcome the flaw but never triumpth over the story problem

Create an event that grows from a character's successes in the past or one strength of character.

Common Things

“The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things.” -  Henry Ward Beecher


Write about contentment that extends beyond a feeling of happiness.  What makes you feel Alive?


Develop a list of "common" things you enjoy.  Include five or ten.  


What does the sun feel like after a steady rain?  Cherish a taste of boysenberries just picked from the garden.  Recall a scent that brings a memory. Notice a robin, bluejay or sparrow and write about its movement and behavior. Sing a few notes of a song with words of delight. Revel in a dark night of stars and moonlight.


Deepen the experiences. Reveal how they add enrichment to your life.  Respond to the details of their nature. Explore contentment in a story or poem. 

A Writer's Voice

Finding one's voice is a challenge.  It takes time to develop and becomes the individual writer's mark.  Even though a fiction writer may speak through different characters, voice reveals the writer's  fingerprint.  A writer promotes his or her own linguistic quirks, sentence rhythms, tone, and recurring imagery.


Developing one's voice takes time. It results from practice with the flow of many words. A writer learns to love the successes and disasters of the writing process. Reading other writers with a focus on their style helps determine one's own.


Do you know what distinguishes your writing?  List characteristics you feel define your voice.  Do you vary your sentences?  Does your style include poetic devices and sensory imagery? Do you include details in the narrative and spark it with humor?


Creative Write:  Write about a great surprise in first person.  Change it to a third person perspective.  What have you gained or lost from the switch?  Does this help you define your voice?

Situation to Story

Every work of literature has both a situation and a story. The situation is the context or circumstance, sometimes the plot; the story is the emotional experience that preoccupies the writer: the insight, the wisdom, the thing one has to say.” ~ Vivian Gornick

When writing about a situation, bring in all the senses.  What does it smell, sound and feel like? Add taste and temperature. Define it by adding these details interwoven with your emotions.

When you return to relive the situation in writing, what insights arrive from your current state of mind?  What wisdom did you gain? Include the texture of your experience to create a story or poem.

Creative Write: Choose situations you've found uncomfortable or uplifting.  First, define what happened, where it happened, and how it happened.  Who else became involved?  Add details to share this experience with the reader.   

  

A Gratitude Write-a-thon

You're the running back in your game called life. It's a team sport with many individuals creating lanes for your success. You cannot exist in this world without the assistance and support of others.

Make today a Thank You write-a-thon.

Write a Gratitude note to someone who has helped you in the past.  Acknowledge a family member of friend who has always run by your side in times of need.  Thank someone for memories and fun.

Pen a supportive letter to a supervisor for someone who aided you recently.

Send written applause to the checker at the market, a store clerk, or someone who fixed your car.  Share your gratefulness for all the performances.  Give someone an uplift in writing today.

Post a line or two here to show how you spell gratitude.

A Taste of Wonder

As knowledge increases, wonder deepens - Charles Morgan

Today, open the dictionary and learn five new words you've never seen before.  Then spend time wondering and writing about it.

Look deep into flower faces and smell the breeze.  Write three gratitudes and keep the weather sunny inside.  Eat meals with gusto and delight in the textures of foods.  Hug several people today.  Surprise someone you don't know.

Celebrate your knowledge and deepen your wonder.  Love the world with words!