Plot Perfect: How to Build Unforgettable Stories Scene by Scene

372 Pages·2014·1.95 MB·English

by  Paula Munier

PLOT
PERFECT
HOW TO BUILD UNFORGETTABLE STORIES
SCENE BY SCENE
PAULA MUNIER
WritersDigest.com
Cincinnati, Ohio
DEDICATION
For my dear Scribe Tribe,
and plotters everywhere.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
PART I: WHAT IS PLOT?
Chapter One: The Power of Theme
Chapter Two: Subplots and Variations on Themes
Chapter Three: Action Is Character: Heroes, Villains, and Supporting
Characters
Chapter Four: Scene: The Basic Unit of Plot
PART II: THE THEME-BASED THREE-ACT STRUCTURE
Chapter Five: Your Plot in Three Acts
Chapter Six: Case Study: The Maltese Falcon
Chapter Seven: Plus and Minus Scenes
Chapter Eight: Act-by-Act Tips and Tricks
PART III: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Chapter Nine: The Tapestry of Story
Chapter Ten: Pacing: The Secret to Creating a Page-Turner
Chapter Eleven: Plot vs. Organizing Principle
Chapter Twelve: Your Plot Perfect Checklist
INTRODUCTION
This is narrative: The king died, and then the queen died.
This is plot: The king died—and then the queen died of grief.
This definition of plot comes from the great E.M. Forster, author of A Passage
to India, Room with a View, Howards End, and many other wonderful novels
whose plots were as rich in theme as they were in twists and turns. The way he
wove theme through his stories gave his work a dimension and depth that earned
him a place on bestseller lists, in the ranks of English literature, and—most
important—in readers’ hearts.
Just like Forster, you want your stories to be page-turners with dimension and
depth that earn a place in the world of literature and in readers’ hearts. As a
writer, I know how hard it can be to create great thematic storylines. But as an
editor and a writing teacher, I also know that you can learn to create compelling
plots with themes that resonate with readers. And as an agent, I know that what
makes the difference between a sale and no sale is often theme.
In a time when more and more stories read like video games, theme is often
given short shrift—if it’s given any thought at all. Now, as in Forster’s time, the
most successful stories are the ones with multilayered plots rich in theme,
character, and nuance. These are the stories that stand out—and find a devoted
readership. In this book, you’ll learn how to devise such a compelling plot.
I’ve based my system on the one I developed for my online course for
Writer’s Digest, the Plot Perfect Boot Camp. It’s a plotting system that anyone
can use to create a story structure that works—no matter what your genre.
Whether you’re writing a novel, short story, memoir, stage play, or screenplay,
you’ll learn the strategies you need to build your own scene-by-scene blueprint
in record time, including how to:
in record time, including how to:
identify the central theme that drives your plot
devise powerful master plots and subplots based on theme and variations on
theme
build strong character arcs for your main characters
develop engaging secondary characters to drive your subplots
brainstorm scenes to bring your theme-driven plot to life
supercharge your scenes with thematic reversals
create a scene list for maximum impact
use dialogue, setting, tone, and voice to enhance your plot
learn tips and tricks to speed up your pacing
I designed Plot Perfect as an interactive plotting primer, with templates you can
use to help you identify your themes and variations on themes, structure your
plot and subplots, and build out your plot scene by scene. Please take the time to
complete the templates and do the exercises. They are the tools you need to
create the kind of story guaranteed to keep readers turning the pages. And don’t
forget to reward yourself with the fun activities sprinkled throughout the book.
These “edutainment breaks” are designed to be fun, sure, but they will also give
your writer’s brain a creativity boost. Finally, you’ll find suggested reading lists
in every chapter; these are books that have proven invaluable to me and remain
on my bookshelf today, ready to inspire me again, as I hope they might inspire
you.
Let’s get started.
PART I
WHAT IS PLOT?
“Throughout the ages, stories with certain basic themes have recurred over
and over, in widely disparate cultures; emerging like the goddess Venus
from the sea of our unconscious.”
—Joan D. Vinge
CHAPTER ONE
THE POWER OF THEME
“Get your character in trouble in the first sentence and out of trouble in the
last sentence.”
—Barthe DeClements
THE THEME’S THE THING!
Whether we’re talking about A Passage to India or Gone Girl, The Perks of
Being a Wallflower or Unbroken, a great story embodies a great theme. Every
work has a theme; in other words, what the story is really about, and what the
writer is trying to say in writing it. (That’s why scholars can spend hundreds of
years debating a writer’s themes!)
Theme-driven plots are the ones that resonate most with readers—because
they strike close to home. Themes run the gamut of human emotion and
experience, and are as numerous as the stories they appear in. Here are just a
few.
love
power
sex
loyalty
truth
revenge
family
courage
resiliency
sacrifice
greed
friendship
self-actualization
coming of age
man’s relationship to God
man’s relationship to nature