Common Attributes of Plot

Part III of IV

Common attributes of Plot

A plot needs tension to keep its readers interested. Lots of tension. Without tension, there is no plot.

Using your antagonist, create tension through opposition and make this tension grow as the opposition increases. As your protagonist faces more and more barriers, his crisis deepens. His hatred for his antagonist intensifies. Then something happens to change his whole character. This is the turning point of the plot and has to be a major change, but one that is credible.

The causes in your plot should not be obvious They should appear in a casual and natural way. Don't make 'luck' a cause or effect in your plot. No-one wants to read a story with an anti climax of luck solving the main problem.

Remember that the climax in the plot is the point of no return. Your main character must be the one to perform the solution in the final climax. He can't just fade into the background while someone else takes action to provide the solution.

The two major Plots

As far back as the days of Aristotle, there were two major recognised plots.

The first is the action plot. This is the adventure story, the thriller that relies on a fast and furious roller-coaster ride of action, dominating anything to do with Character. The main character's thoughts, feelings and morals are hardly discussed and are overridden by the action of the plot.

The other major plot is Character driven. Here we are concerned with the deep inner workings of the main character's mind. We examine his beliefs, motivations and attitudes and, whilst there is certainly some action in the plot, these internal mechanizations override the action and form a major part in the climax solution.

Serious literature is more likely to be character driven rather than plot driven.

Before you start writing your novel, you need to decide which of these two forces will dominate your work, and, whilst you can certainly mix them, there needs to be a clear dominance of one over the other.

Where to next?

In my next article I will look at Character.