TECH: 20 Master Plots (Book Notes)

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Original Posting: Sat, 18 Feb 1995 11:47:21 EST

Not exactly a Christmas present (I bought it myself), but I've recently unpacked and started reading

20 Master Plots (And How to Build Them)
Ronald B. Tobias
ISBN 0-89879-595-8
Writer's Digest Books
$16.95

Tobias starts with Aristotle's three parts:

1. Setup. Provides problem to be solved, defines characters and their desires and goals (intent, motivation).

2. Rising action. As the protagonist pursues their intent, reversals (blocks, conflicts, events) raise tension. Recognition (emotional change) occurs where relationships change as the result of a reversal.

3. The End. The climax, falling action, denouement. Logical outcome of the buildup, with all resolved, sensible, and clear.

He also provides a list of "the lowest common plot denominators."

1. Tension--created by denying intention
2. Create tension through opposition
   external--enemy, rival, competitor
   internal--doubt, fear, flaw
3. Make tension grow--increase the opposition (build the stakes)
4. Make change the point of the story
5. When something happens, make sure it's important
6. Make the causal look casual
7. Consistency--no chance, no coincidence, no accidents
8. the central character must take the central action of the climax

(hint--I'd turn these into questions, and use them for self-critique:

1. Have I denied the intent or motivation of my characters?
2. What opposition do my characters face?
3. Have I increased the level of opposition in the story?
4. Does my character change in a significant way?
5. Are the things that happen in the story important?
6. Does the story seem casual, or have I made my intervention too obvious?
7. Did I use coincidence or chance to make the plot work?
8. Does my central character ACT to make the climax occur, or just react?)

A crucial point, for me, was Tobias' chapter on the two basic plots. He identifies these as the action plot (plot driven fiction!) and the plot of the mind (character driven fiction!). He suggests that the crucial question in writing is where you want to place the emphasis--on the action or the people? Decide what proportion of each you want to use, then maintain the consistency as you work through your piece.

Deep structure--the core morality of the work--...let me quote:

"The author's task is to move into the world of grays, where there are no obvious or even right answers. Into a world where decisions are always risky because you aren't sure if they're the right decisions. The author who takes a simplistic point of view isn't interested in understanding the complex human dynamics of life or the difficulty of decisions we must make."

He recommends putting your characters squarely between a rock and a hard place--at the intersection of good vs. good. Make the opposing arguments face irreconcilable, hard issues; make sure both have strong logical arguments that are valid and compelling; and don't claim to solve it, just show us what happens to the character torn by the conflict.

Tobias also talks about the power of three (three characters make six interactions--complex without being overpowering; three tries makes two failures and a successful hero; etc.) and the interaction between character and plot.

And, of course, he lays out the 20 patterns for general plotting that form the bulk of the book. Each "master plot" is described in terms of structure and plenty of examples, plus a checklist of questions the writer may want to consider in developing that type of plot.

oops, almost forgot. The 20 plots are:

1. Quest
2. Adventure
3. Pursuit
4. Rescue
5. Escape
6. Revenge
7. The Riddle
8. Rivalry
9. Underdog
10. Temptation
11. Metamorphosis
12. Transformation
13. Maturation
14. Love
15. Forbidden Love
16. Sacrifice
17. Discovery
18. Wretched Excess
19. Ascension
20. Descension

I haven't finished reading it, but so far I like it. It adds yet another good summary and handbook about plotting to my bookshelf.

And a parting quote from page one of the book:

"The shelves of libraries are stacked with the stories of centuries, but out in the street, the air swarms with newly made fiction. These living stories are so much a part of us that we hardly think about their role in our lives: They are rumor, gossip, jokes, excuses, anecdotes, huge outrageous lies and little white lies--all daily inventions of fiction that create the fabric of life.

"...Years of schooling have conditioned us to think about fiction as something either on the page or on the screen, so we overlook the fact that our everyday lives are steeped in stories: full of energy, inventiveness and conviction."

So grab a heaping handful of life and squeeze out the deep dark flavorful brew steeping there onto your pages!

Write!

TECH: The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler (Book Review)

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Initial Posting: Fri, 23 May 1997 12:46:18 EDT

The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Storytellers and
Screenwriters by Christopher Vogler
ISBN 0-941188-13-2

Who would benefit from reading this? Anyone who wants to draw on the strength and models of the oldest storytelling traditions of humanity may find this a useful summary of one abstraction from that rich field.

Vogler provides a vocabulary for writers based on observations drawn from The Hero with A Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. Specifically, he lays out archtypes of:

• the hero
• the mentor
• threshold guardian
• herald
• shapeshifter
• shadow
• trickster

describing their psychological function(s), dramatic function(s), and various types. He also describes the Journey in terms of:

1. ordinary world
2. call to adventure
3. refusal of the call
4. meeting the mentor
5. crossing the first threshold
6. tests, allies, and enemies
7. approach to the innermost cave
8. supreme ordeal
9. reward (seizing the sword)
10. the road back
11. resurrection
12. return with the elixir

What use are these archtypes and the pattern of the Hero's Journey? Let me quote from Vogler:

(p. 265) "First, Caveat Scriptor! (Let the writer beware!) The Hero's Journey model is a guideline. It's not a cookbook recipe or a methematical formula to be applied rigidly to every story. To be effective, a story doesn't have to concur with this or any other school, paradigm, or method of analysis. The ultimate measure of a story's success or excellence is not its compliance with any established patterns, but its lasting popularity and effect on the audience. To force a story to conform to a structural model is putting the cart before the horse."

and

(p. 266) "The pattern of the Hero's Journey is but one metaphor for what goes on in a story or a human life. ... Work out a different metaphor or several of them, if it helps you understand storytelling better."

"It's probably best to acquaint yourself with the Hero's Journey ideas and then forget about them as you sit down to write."

[he doesn't say whether you have to be wearing clothes or not...just sit down and write...:]