There’s a process, even if we break it all of the time… Plot & Structure There’s a process, even if we break it all of the time…

We examine the elements of plot first because they apply to other genres. Even if you have a wonderful novel idea and cool characters, you cannot just sit down and write. You need to learn the craft of fiction. You need to examine the scaffolding that underlies the completed work and look for those things that contribute to the story’s overall affect. The various elements of fiction (plot, dialogue, setting, characterization, and point of view) mesh together to form the completed work.

Fiction Fundamentals Plot: What happens in the story? How do the events tie together? Can you briefly summarize the story to clarify its structure in your mind? Some writers downplay plot, but it’s important to understand the sequence of events in your writing. Imagine, the 5-year-old listening to her father’s story and asking “what happens next?”

Conflict: What is the story’s major conflict Conflict: What is the story’s major conflict? Is it external (within one’s self) or external (other, elements, etc…)? Are there secondary and tertiary conflicts? How do the conflicts direct the plot? Who, or what, comes out on top? How does that conflict express the theme of the story? Many times neophyte story writers have an idea of a really great character who’s really boring because they lack some sort of conflict.

Pacing: How does the writer make the events seem to occur naturally – that is to say the reader is not rushed through the plot or elements are left out. Or if there are too many events or extraneous action. How does the writer get the reader from one scene to the next? How does the writer make sure the entire first section of the plot isn’t all back-story and setting? To write the creation of individual scenes and movement between them takes practice. Look at how others do it well and adapt these methods into your own work.

Setting: Has the author given the reader a sense of place Setting: Has the author given the reader a sense of place? What does “place” do in this story? How can you hone your descriptive skills so that you can write passages that set the scene that they characterize your protagonist and advance the action? Your own personal setting may be a great place to begin –you already know the smells, sounds, and names of things. For example, write a story about your childhood neighborhood or vacation cabin.

Cultural Considerations: The settings you create include elements of who you are and where you can from. Who are your people? What physical details come to mind when you think of the words “my people”? Do you think in terms of family, ethnicity, social group, etc…? If you had to define yourself to someone vastly different from yourself and you wanted them to understand what it is like to be you, what would you write? For example, personal setting is not more evident than in the description of family holidays – from the food you share to the places you congregate.

Character: How does the writer characterize Character: How does the writer characterize? In good writing, you get a clear idea of what someone is like. How does the writer communicate clear distinguishable traits, like hair color and height to subtler traits, like stinginess or generosity? Often when reading, you will be able to ascertain how a character will react. How do you know this, and what keys are hidden in the narrative? Often good story ideas begin with a single character (perhaps even someone you know). Observe them. Create the plot around the simple question, “what would she do if…”?

Dialogue: What part does dialogue play in your story Dialogue: What part does dialogue play in your story? How does the author use dialogue to characterize or advance the plot? How does the author make the characters speak differently –if a professor is talking, what language would she use? How would she speak? How does the author show age, maturity, education through dialogue? How do you make characters sound like they are speaking normally? Should you attempt dialogue in your writing?

Theme and Meaning: What statement does the author’s story make about the way people live (or die)? What values underlie the story? How does the author make these values known? How can the author make a short story express values without preaching? What symbols are used with the those values, and how can the author use these symbols? How does the author make them feel natural in the narrative?

Style and Voice: What makes it sound like the same person is telling the entire story? Is there a unified intelligence behind the story? What methods does the author use to sustain the sense that there is “someone home” in the story? Sentence structure itself is a style element. How does Hemingway’s style compare to Proust’s, for example?

Point of View: Who is telling the story Point of View: Who is telling the story? Is it a personal, first person narrative or a third person narrative? Is your narrator omniscient or limited? Do we see the narrator’s thoughts? Do we see everyone’s thoughts? Post-modern writers tend to experiment with various points of view, and we will examine the benefits and disadvantages of this method.

Diction: This element is related to all the others because the words you choose have an important bearing on the voice, characterization, setting, symbolism, etc… How are words used, and which words are used, to create a very distinct storyline? Would a gluttonous business man be described as “frail”, “deteriorating”, and “decrepit”?

Allusions: Works of fiction often allude to others works of literature, history, art, or music. As a reader, heighten your awareness of the use of allusion in work you read. As a writer, learn to subtly use allusion in your writing to enhance the theme and enrich your own work. For example a modern directory may make a movie that is really a contemporary Oedipus story, and that allusion is the key to the structure of his or her film.

Be cognizant of the underlying structures mentioned above and how they’re used. Various combinations of these elements are key to the creation of creative writing. See if you can apply this scaffolding that you uncover to your own life experiences.

Ideas adapted from Estess & McCann. In a Field of Words, 2003. PPT ©2006-2007 D. C. Adams Ideas adapted from Estess & McCann. In a Field of Words, 2003.