this one time and band camp

1
this one time and band camp

• story form, plot, and structure

2
nothing new?

• With so much already written, is there anything
  new left to say?
• Are we just recycling?

3
only six plots (feeling caged?)

• 3 basic conflicts
• person against person
• person against world
• person against himself
• 2 possible outcomes
• protagonist wins
• protagonist loses

3 x 2 6
4
the complexity is immense
complex characters
characters in conflict with one another
characters also in conflict with themselves (with
any of a million inner demons)
maybe add a third level of conflictthe world
now throw in variations of arrangement, tone,
prose style, setting, and interactions of all
these elements
5
pitfall alert 1
Dont confuse different with good. Careful not to
fall back on cute gimmicks or quirky situations
or strange twists because you dont think you can
come up with anything new.
6
plot 101
Aristotle
7
plot 101
Gustav Freytag
8
plot 101
Janet Burroway
crisis
(falling action)
resolution
complications
conflict
9
e. m. forsters concept of causality
The king died, then the queen dies is a story.
The king died, then the queen died of grief is a
plot.

• plot begins with a character and a goal
• it is the relentless pursuit of the goal that
  drives the story forward
• the tension results in the characters pursuit
  with obstacles getting in the way

10
pitfall alert 2

• Beware of False Starts
• dream beginning
• stutter starts
• excessive exposition

11
pitfall alert 3

• Forbidden Endings
• killing the first person narrator
• and then I woke up
• the question conclusion
• deus ex machina

12
backward plotting
In groups, exercise 11, page 294.