Copyright © 2023 Jerry Dunne
Before reading this post it is a good idea to read The story’s 3-act plot arc structure, if you do not understand this plot structure.
Writing fiction is a very personal and absorbing experience and therefore it is very difficult for a writer to stand back and look objectively at their work. So, it is very easy to make any number of mistakes and to keep on making them. Yet a plan gives us (and an editor) a bird’s eye view of our potential plot arc, storyline and character development which acts as a great aid in helping to pinpoint weaknesses early on, particularly structural ones. The more we get used to planning out our work, the sharper we become at discovering and correcting problems before we even begin the draft writing process.
How much to plan is up to the individual. We can, of course, elaborate on many storytelling elements such as character, point of view, setting, language, theme and tone. In this post, we are just going to discuss the plan with regards to plot arc outline.
Personally, I make a plan mainly to keep a sharp eye on the plot arc, in order to make sure that the stakes for the protagonist and therefore the tension of the story are constantly rising from the inciting incident through to the climax of the story. I sketch out my main characters’ plot-related attitude here, too, obviously; what they are desperately trying to accomplish throughout the story. I cover their physical and emotional journey throughout the acts of the 3-act plot arc structure. This way I have the skeleton of my story in place; and that’s enough at this stage. With the skeleton properly structured, I do not have to be restructuring parts of the plot at some later date, when the first or second draft of the story is written, for instance, because I only now spot its flaws. Because this can be quite aggravating, confusing, energy draining and time consuming.
*
Here is my advice of how to proceed. First, plan each act of the 3-act plot arc structure briefly, just showing what its aim is in relation to the overall plot arc. (Make sure you understand what I am saying here. If not, see The 3-act plot arc structure). So, for example, outline the main characters physical and emotional journey roughly for each act. You will obviously do much more for the second act than the first and third. Our story is also very much about deepening conflict and raising stakes for the protagonist so that the tension will always be rising. Make sure you have that in there, too. If you are struggling to put something down at this stage, ask yourself why? Don’t I already know the goal of my protagonist? My antagonist? Anyway, as far as overall plot outline is concerned, this is all we need to see before us for now. Our bird’s-eye view will show us clearly and concisely at this stage how much in charge we are of our own vision and what is going to be happening in the story.
When we have done that much, we can now go on to write a brief description of what we want each chapter (or bundle of chapters, particularly in a big book) to accomplish within the story. We will probably only have scenes in the short story. Again, sketch this out concisely but simply so that it is easy and quick to read, and we cannot help but see whether or not a chapter or a scene has the potential to perform its duty within the movement of the plot arc. Each chapter and scene ought to be fully plot related, ought to provide a necessary plot point (change), to help push the protagonist deeper into the issues of the story even as they seek to solve the ‘big problem’ with which the inciting incident firstly challenged them. This way the reader is fully engaged in a tightly plotted story where the stakes and the tension are constantly rising. If a chapter or scene doesn’t accomplish this, if a chapter or scene or even a whole part of the story has drifted away from the plot arc, then we can tweak it or even scrub it at this early stage, and try again.
*
Let’s think how this plot arc of rising tension would appear on a simple graph. The horizontal axis at the bottom measures from the inciting incident to the climax. Rising tension is measured by the vertical axis on the left side of the graph. The line working across the graph from the inciting incident to the climax on the horizontal axis while also working with the rising tension axis represents our plot arc, which must always be climbing at a steady angle overall, and obviously represents a steady rise in tension throughout the story. We won’t see this rising plot arc any clearer than in our graph. If there is no rising tension in the story, the plot arc line would be perfectly horizontal between the inciting incident and the climax. If tension rose in the first act and then fell off during the second, our plot arc line would rise from the inciting incident to that part of Act 2 where the tension fell off. From that point on, the line would continue horizontal for the rest of the second act or until the tension picked up again. Thereupon, the graph line would start to rise again. Draw the graph and see for yourself.
Every time we draw up a plan for our plot arc structure, we can also draw this graph to show ourselves very clearly whether or not we have planned our plot arc with rising tension. This is really such a simple thing to do, and works equally well for any piece of fiction writing.
*
The following plan of my children’s short story Paddy’s Beard shows how to make quick and simple notes of each scene (chapters with a novel) with an eye on its place within the overall plot arc structure. The stakes are always rising for Paddy (by scene 6 he has lost not only his beard but the hair on his head) and the tension with it throughout each scene. Once we’ve done our simple plan like this, we can check our plot arc by drawing a simple line graph. I haven’t done that here.
Act 1.
Scene 1. (Big action scene.) Set-up and inciting incident. Mr Scalppen starts at school, terrifies the class, tells them he hates hair, spots Paddy, pulls his beard, demands he gets rid of it.
Scene 2. (Small scene.) First plot point. At home. Paddy licking his wounds. Mum really annoyed; going to have it out with teacher.
Act 2.
Scene 3. (Biggish conflict scene.) Head’s study. Mum and Paddy have it out with Mr Scalppen. Mr Scalppen wins argument over the beard but lies to get his way. Mr Scalppen doesn’t admit to wanting the beard gone because he hates hair: he says, the beard makes Paddy stick out and not conforming this way will have the other children doing their own thing and then the dress code will be shot to pieces (important point here: Mr Scalppen’s lie comes back to haunt him in the last scene). Paddy must get rid of his beard before the new term.
Scene 4. (Small scene.) At home. We find out mum makes potions. Paddy had measles when young. Mum gave potion to help get rid of measles and beard started growing as she mixed potion too strong.
Scene 5. (Big action scene.) In classroom between Paddy and Mr Scalppen. Ends in a draw.
Scene 6. (Smallish scene.) At home with mum. Lowest point for Paddy. Mr Scalppen has slipped something into his drink and made him go bald. Mum decides to fight fire with fire.
Scene 7. (Tiny scene.) In school. Paddy brings in lemonade mixed with hair-growing potion. Still a low point for Paddy as things don’t go according to plan. Teacher won’t drink lemonade but lets the class drink it. End of term.
Act 3.
Scene 8. (Big action scene.) Start of new term. Last scene and final showdown between Paddy and Mr Scalppen. Mr Scalppen’s lies from Scene 3 come back to haunt him as he has to try and deal with an unexpected twist related to Paddy’s mum’s potion. Paddy’s classmates now have beards as the teacher gave them the hair-growing lemonade to drink. Now Paddy is the odd one out – he has no beard. So the head insists it’s only right and proper that Paddy should grow a beard so as not to stick out from the others. That was Mr Scalppen’s whole point and why the head gave in and told Paddy to get rid of the beard in the first place. The teacher has been caught out. Unable to take all this hairiness a moment longer, he flees the classroom never to return.
Summing up
The plan enables us to look at our plot arc outline from a bird’s eye view, which makes it easy to see whether or not we will have a well plotted story, with strong conflict (the fuel of any story) and with basic inner and outer character development and rising stakes and tension throughout the story. These are probably the most useful elements for a writer or editor to see in the plan. Once our notes are done, we can also draw a simple line graph to show even clearer our rising plot arc, or lack of it.
The plan is just that, a plan. The story is organic, and we may make big or small changes along the way. Even a short story like the one above can throw up unexpected twists and turns in the plot. Nevertheless, it would be useful to incorporate these changes back into our original plan, so we are better able to check our rising plot arc is still going up and up from the left to the right side of the graph.
Concerning the 3-act plot arc structure, you may also be interested in these posts:
Inspiration from inside an empty matchbox
Emotion and the plot arc
Links:
The story’s 3-act plot arc structure
Emotion and the story’s plot arc
Inspiration from inside an empty matchbox
The short story’s storytelling elements
CLCK HERE FOR THE SCRIPT & SHORT STORY READING SERVICES PAGE