Master Plots and How to Make Them Count

by Martina Boone

Nicole Humphrey at It’s All About Writing posted on the age-old plot question. How many plots are there really? It’s worth the read.

http://nicolehumphrey.net/2010/04/there-are-only-so-many-plots/

I personally like both the answer that’s given in many writing classes, which tends toward the thousands, maybe millions of possibilities, or Aristotle’s answer, which is two, one that begins with good fortune and ends in bad fortune versus one that begins with bad fortune and ends with good fortune. Why? Because I believe that plot and character are intertwined in any good story. A good writer can take the same plot, use different characters, and end up with a completely different result according to what the characters would do and why they do it.

Does it really really matter whether the plot elements of two stories are the same? Look at King Lear and Jane Smiley’s A Thousand Acres. Or Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story. Or something even more basic: take the fable of the tortoise and the hare, and switch it up with a cheetah and an eland (the slowest antelope). The cheetah can run at speeds between 70 and 75 mph, but it can’t keep that up very long and has to rest after sprinting to lower its body temperature. The eland is slow, but it can trot almost indefinitely. The outcome of such a race would probably be the same as the race between the tortoise and the hare. But the key to plot–again back to Aristotle–is cause and effect. And now the two stories suddenly look a little different. Slow and steady may still win the race, but the cause of the cheetah losing is a physical limitation instead of hubris.

At this point, the writer in me takes over. What if the cheetah really wants to win? What can he do to make it possible to keep going instead of stopping to rest? What would the eland do if she knows the cheetah can’t keep up? (Cheetah’s only hunt successfully 50% of the time anyway.) What if the eland is hungry and far ahead? Would she stop to eat?

In 20 Master Plots and How to Build Them, Ronald Tobias presented a list of lowest common denominators for sound plotting.

Make tension fuel your plot.
Create tension through opposition.
Make tension grow as opposition increases.
Make change the point of your story.
When something happens, make sure it’s important.
Make the causal look casual.
Don’t rely on luck.
Make sure your central character performs the central action of the climax.

So, to change up my plot between the cheetah and the eland, I’d make the outcome uncertain. I’d ratchet up the tension. Maybe I’d make the eland hungry and the cheetah starved. Maybe I’d make the cheetah the protag and the eland the antag. Who knows?

So many possibilities, so little writing time….

Here’s a quick tool from Read, Write, Think. Teachers use it in the classroom to teach kids how to plot, but it’s a quick way to help organize a plot by looking at the basic elements against the classic plot pyramid.

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/plot-diagram-30040.html

Here’s another link to a list of picture books that illustrate four kinds of character-based conflict (character vs. character, character vs. nature, character vs. society, character vs. self).

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson803/803BookList.pdf

And here’s my old stand-by, the complications worksheet:

http://childrenspublishing.blogspot.com/2010/03/plotting-made-easy-complications.html

Happy plotting,

Martina

Further reading:
http://www.slideshare.net/msdukecairo/plot-structure
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2366/what-are-the-seven-basic-literary-plots
20 Master Plots and How to Build Them by Ronald Tobias
Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell
Blockbuster Plots: Pure & Simple by Martha Alderson

Martina Boone

Martina Boone is the award-winning author of the romantic southern gothic Heirs of Watson Island series, starting with COMPULSION from Simon & Schuster, Simon Pulse and the Celtic Legends Collection of novels set in Scotland, Cornwall, and Ireland beginning with LAKE OF DESTINY. She’s passionate about improving lives through literacy and the love of books, and she runs the Compulsion For Reading program to distribute books to underserved schools and libraries.

She lives with her husband, children, Shetland Sheepdog Phinney, and Zoey the lopsided cat, and she enjoys writing contemporary romantic fiction with a hint of magic set in small towns and beautiful places. When she isn’t writing, she’s addicted to travel, horses, skiing, chocolate flavored tea, and anything with Nutella on it.

Post © Martina Boone and/or Adventures in YA Publishing. All rights reserved.

Posted: Apr 18, 2010

Category: Imported from AYAP

Tags: Craft of Writing | Martina Boone | Plotting | Story Structure | Worksheets

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The first slide is an animation of a science/magic room in a castle. A cartoon character of a mad-scientist looking man in in the foreground says: “Hello! Dr. Frankenstein here to say, Well Done on kid lit zombie week! I’m an expert at reviving the dead, and let me assure you, with a little spark, you can bring dead projects to life. Especially if you dig up parts from other dead things. I’ll even let you have a sneak peek at my laboratory’s store room to consider potential parts for your dead project. If you see something with a yellow glow, that means you should click it. Have fun!”

He points to the right side of the screen and a new scene slides in of a castle science/magic storage room. There are various cartoon Frankenstein body parts scattered around. Some of them have a yellow glow. If you click on them, the images below appear (I’ve added alt text to them, so I hope it works).

The Heart of your story is the main character. The protagonist is the beating core that truly brings your story to life. If your MC doesn't make kids (and their grown-ups) care within the first few pages, your story will flatline. </p>
<p>Your main character needs to be:<br />
• Relatable enough for kids to see themselves<br />
• Unique enough to stand out in the slush pile<br />
• Active enough to drive the story<br />
• Memorable enough to survive multiple readings at bedtime</p>
<p>Where do you find this amazing donor heart? It might be the very thing you loved so much about the manuscript you want to revive. It might be the younger sister from your shelved YA novel. Or maybe it’s the hilarious kid you blogged about meeting at a school visit. Find a character beating with potential and place it in the center of your story.<br />

The Brain of your story is the theme or central message. The theme is the big idea that controls everything else. Picture books are more than stories - they're tiny life lessons disguised with humor and heart.</p>
<p>But your theme needs to be:<br />
• Subtle enough not to trigger the dreaded "didactic" rejection<br />
• Clear enough for a four-year-old to grasp<br />
• Universal enough to speak to both kids and adults<br />
• Fresh enough to prevent agents and editors from responding with "Not another sharing/bedtime/first-day story!"</p>
<p>Check your other dead manuscripts to see if there is a recurring theme, something that really seems to be speaking to you. Find the bit of poetry you scribbled on the back of a receipt to see what theme inspired it. Reread the pep talk you texted your critique partner at 1am. Pick the theme that will drive your story, giving it purpose, direction, and deeper meaning.<br />

The Legs of your story is the plot. Not to be confused with a grave plot.🤪 The plot is what keeps everything upright and moving, as well as providing support for all the other elements. You have very few words to use in a picture book, so you need to do a lot with each plot point.</p>
<p>In general, your plot should:<br />
• Hook readers fast<br />
• Build tension that a child can follow<br />
• Create page turns that feel natural<br />
• Wrap up in a way that satisfies</p>
<p>You can borrow a plot twist (a leg) from one manuscript and the opening (the other leg) from a different manuscript. Consider if the subplot of the middle grade novel you trunked would work better as a picture book. Or maybe your Facebook post about a disastrous camping trip could become a story for kids. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other until you have your storyline.

The Arms of your story are the side characters.

The Torso of your story is the setting. Setting helps a story breathe and connects all the elements of the story. It isn't just where your story lives, it's what makes your story ALIVE. It's the difference between "this happened in a park" and "this happened in that park, the one with the twisty slide that burns your legs and the creaky swing that sounds like a baby crying.”</p>
<p>Your setting should:<br />
• Make your character's world feel real<br />
• Contain your story in a way that makes sense to young readers<br />
• Connect different scenes and moments organically<br />
• Give your illustrator enough room to add visual subplots</p>
<p>Half-finished manuscripts are a great place to dig up settings, since you worked out the place details before the plot petered out. Or maybe you had to cut a second fantastic location from your chapter book. You can also revisit the detailed caption from your Instagram carousel documenting your tour of that delish candy shop. Disinter a robust setting that can house all of your story's vital organs.

After you press the Click When Done circle button, the lights flash with the sound of electricity buzzing. Then the screen goes black and lightning zaps across the screen with the sound of thunder.

The screen then lights up to show the storage room, and all the Frankenstein pieces have been assembled into the whole monster. An upbeat song plays in the background. Then a speech bubble pops up with the words, “I’m alive! I’M ALIVE!” Then the screen goes to black.

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