1. Fiction Writing Plot and Structure

2. Basic Plot Structure Rising Action Climax Falling Action Resolution

3. Writing Plot Structure A story is told in 3 parts: – Beginning (set up the foundation of the story) – Middle (confrontation, climatic moments) – End (resolution) crisis opening climax Resolution denouement

4. Story Development Conflict and Resolution – All stories center on a conflict But, what makes a story work is not the conflict itself, but the need to resolve the conflict.

5. Conflict: Responsibility and Choice Main character must have some commitment to the conflict. Don’t assume that any dramatic event is a conflict. – Ex: A character getting struck by lightning isn’t a viable conflict as they didn’t cause the lightning.

6. Conflict Cont. Events are NOT conflict. Conflict implies responsibility and moral choice.

7. Resolution Not much information about resolution because most texts are written for readers, not writers. Writers need to focus on the difficult task of making the plot come together into a coherent and plausible (and interesting resolution)

8. Ways to Resolve Conflict Revenge Reconciliation and forgiveness Absolution Atonement and insight Retribution Reconciliation of opposites *Sometimes combination

9. Scenes and Modes Four essential modes: 1.Narration 2.Description 3.Exposition 4.dialogue

10. Mode Try to establish a rhythm between modes. Too much time on one mode often bores a reader. Part of making a story readable may be the orchestrated motion from one mode to another.

11. Leads and Transitions Leads: first sentence of a short story. Be aware of point of view, visualize word being created

12. Information present in Leads: Name of main character Geographical setting Temporal setting (if it matters)

13. Familiar story lead: Many, many years ago in a distant Kingdom, there lived a young princess whose name was Philomenia. Her father was the King, and he insisted that she marry an accountant because she was spending all of his money on clothes and downloaded movies) (provided information, set up conflict, added details of interest)

14. Lead Activity Choose two of the following situations, and write a brief, effective lead for each. Limit yourself to one or two sentences if possible.

15. Lead Activity 1.) A young woman encounters an older woman in a store or other public place. Although neither is aware of it (yet), the older woman is the younger woman's biological mother. 2.) A musician whose band has been offered a recording contract discovers that his/her band has left him/her behind in the small town in which they have been performing. 3.) An athlete who has been preparing for the Olympics begins to suspect that he/she may have a serious medical problem that will prevent him/her from participating. 4.) A couple who have just rented a seaside cottage begin to suspect that the cottage is haunted. 5.) A man or woman decides to leave his or her job.

16. Compress time. Don’t feel like you have to tell everything that happens, throughout the entire story. Ex: After four days of driving in the rain… Ex: It was March before Shelly returned… Ex: She had gone away in August, and the best part of the year had past before she realized… Transitions

17. Avoid Clichés! In the twinkling of an eye… Without warning, it began to rain cats and dogs…

18. Cliché Writing Exercise