1. Situation (you may know this as plot!)
Course Target: I can integrate research to create realistic and authentic details to short fiction writing that emphasizes character and situation.
Write down whatever is in Blue!

2. Situation Definition:
Definition: Situation is the plan – the design of your story. It answers the what, how, and why in your story.
What?
Who?
When?
MAIN IDEAS
How?
Where?
Why?

3. Elements of Situation
Introduction/Exposition: We learn the setting, time, place, and characters.
Rising Action: The events that lead up to the climax.
Climax: The high point in your story-the moment with greatest conflict.
Falling Action: The events that lead down from the climax and head toward a conclusion.
Conclusion/Resolution: The conflict is resolved.

4. The Plot Outline Diagram

5. Types of Situation

6. Character-Conflict Situations
There are several situations that are based on character conflict. The conflict is most often between the protagonist and the antagonist:
Protagonist (The character we sympathize with and for)
Antagonist (the protagonist’s opponent)

7. Character-Conflict Situations
Man against Man
Man against Self
Man against Nature
Man against Society
Man Against Machine

8. Nonconfrontational Situations
Slice of life:
-Plot is governed by the details and chores of a day – or an hour – of a character’s life.
Example: Alexander Solzhenitsyn's novel One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Revelation or Epiphany
The story comes to a moment in which the protagonist has a personal insight. All the story’s events accumulate toward this moment.
Journey:
-Often combined with epiphany discovered after a series of journeys.
Example: The film Homeward Bound

9. Nonconfrontational Situations
Creation:
-Does not need to be confrontational. The situation is believing or not believing. Example: Greek Mythology Creation Story
Combination Plots:
Combining confrontational and non-confrontational.

10. Time Sequence and Situation
How your story is organized depends on the sequence of events.
Beginning to end is most often the best situation time sequence. Whenever you can, out of consideration for your reader, use clean time sequences; they are easiest to follow and they speak for themselves.

11. How to Create Situations
Character and setting work to create situation.
Using prompt cards
Parody existing situations.