2. Rising Action
3. Complications
4. Crisis
5. Resolution
As you create each part ensure that you
note down the timelines for the novel itself so that you can keep track of the
events unfolding.
Exposition
This is the part of the story that
introduces the character and the setting
to the reader. Fiction writers rarely have the luxury of waxing lyrical,
instead often the story will begin with some sort of story. However your main
characters should have been introduced within the first chapter of your book. When
introducing your character it is important to show at what point in life they
are just before the story begins.
Rising Action
This part of the story can often be interwoven
seamlessly with the exposition. The rising action introduce the main goal of
the story. With the rising action your
character is suddenly thrust into a situation where their goal is threatened
and your story objective is introduced. For instance your character just wants
to safely deliver their new designs to a client. You want them to solve a
murder. They can either come in by offering themselves as amateur investigators
or you can drag them into the story kicking and screaming i.e. the body is
stored in the boot of their car next to the designs and they are the main
suspect.
Complications
At this point the protagonist begins to
deal with the issues that have arisen because of the large log you just threw
across their path. It may include the log getting bigger than they originally
though it was, the log multiplying itself and giving birth to little babies
that the protagonist has to jump over to get to their personal goal. You are basically
throwing stones at your character at this point. He may miss a few or get hit
by a few (but not enough to knock him off the tree). In this phase the
protagonist and the villain are getting equal winning and losing time. The characters
reaction and solution to the complications you throw their way should match the
personality you gave them.
Crisis
This is the final obstacle except this
final one. But this one is much bigger than we anticipated. There’s a high
likelihood that we may not make it (gasp!) but if we don’t climb this mountain
the monsters chasing behind us will eat us up. It can’t be anything that we can
easily resolve in fact even the reader is just as stumped as the protagonists.
This is where you should pile on the danger. If you were planning to unleash assassins,
it’s a good time to do it. There is where the protagonist gets to
give the knockout punch after successfully extricating himself/herself from the
crisis.
Resolution
A good
writer knows the resolution of the plot even before they start on the complications
and crisis. The damsel in distress has been saved, the dictator has acceded the throne and we are saying good-bye to out characters. Show them enjoying the fruits of their labor. Will they be coming back?
OTHER
STORY WEAVING METHODS
No comments:
Post a Comment