Some so-called experts insist that a story doesn’t require a plot. However, whether found in a short story or a novel, a story requires a plot, otherwise the “story” is like bread without yeast - flat. A writing without a plot may be a narrative, a scene, or perhaps a descriptive essay, but anything without a plot doesn’t “make” a story.

According to Literature: What Makes a Good Short Story?, “A plot is a causal sequence of events, the ‘why’ for the things that happen in the story.” The elements of plot include

1. Exposition, the information needed to understand a story;

2. Complication, the catalyst that begins the major conflict;

3. Climax, the turning point in the story when the complication is resolved, or attempted to be solved;

4. Resolution, the events that bring the story to a close.

The plot structure may vary depending on what is needed for the story to evolve, but the plot involves the reader into the lives of the characters and helps the reader understand the choices made.

In a news release for her Athens, New York workshop, author and artist Jeanne Heilberg stated, “Everyone loves a good story and strong plot helps move it along and maintain reader interest.” She noted that plot is important and that writers who know how to articulate plot have an advantage over those who don’t.

We see the need for a plot and what plot is. Let’s look at how to develop a good plot and add the leavening required for a light and tasty loaf, rather story.

Literary classics from ages past used long paragraphs with detailed expository and character descriptions. These writings told readers what happened and are not accepted by today’s readers. The pages of “telling” bore readers. Betty Wilson Beamguard, The Writer, says that activity advances and enhances plot.

“Remember the adage, ‘Actions speak louder than words’? It is true in writing as well as in life,” she writes in the September 2005 issue. Ms. Beamguard’s article mainly discusses the development of character, but everything applies to plot because plot involves the reader into the lives of the characters and their choices. Therefore, character development is directly connected to plot. Character movement and dialogue advance the plot without the writer boring the reader.

Allowing our characters to tell the story creates an enhanced plot. Having a character tell the story doesn’t mean that it is written in first person, but that the reader watches the story unfold from the character’s point of view. Jessie Gunn Stephens writes in “Brainstorming Plot from Character” that all we have to do is choose the character and let her tell her story. Perhaps the better wording would be to let the character show us her story.

By writing and including a well-developed plot, we have a story that isn’t flat.

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:

1. Literature: What Makes a Good Short Story? http://www.learner.org

2. Jessie Gunn Stephens,ByLine, October 1998

3. Betty Wilson Beamguard, The Writer, September 2005

Vivian Gilbert Zabel taught English, composition, and creative writing for twenty-five years, honing her skills as she studied and taught. She is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/, a site for Writers, and her portfolio is http://www.Writing.Com/authors/vzabel Her books, Hidden Lies and Other Stories and Walking the Earth, can be found through Barnes and Noble or Amazon.com. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Vivian_Gilbert_Zabel