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Whats the difference between plot and story?
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I want to have a clear understanding about these two.
Top Comment: Plot are the events that happen in the story = Tony Stark is captured by terrorists and is told to build weapons for them. There he comes face to face with the truth behind his weapons. He builds a suit and escapes. Story is the character's journey; character growth, and the heart of it all = Tony Stark starts off as a carefree person who has no problem making and selling weapons and has no clue about, nor does he care to know, the extent of the damage his business is causing. After escaping captivity, he decides that he won't sell weapons anymore and uses his technology to help others. The Story (Tony grows as a person and takes his first step in becoming a Hero.) happens because of the Plot (kidnapped, learns the truth, and escapes). Or at least that's what I've been taught.
I can't seem to understand the "definition" of plot.
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I can't seem to pinpoint what plot means exactly. I feel there's something missing, like I do kind of understand but it's like I'm not seeing the point.
Maybe, because I haven't found my "definition" of it, what I mean is, there's milion ways to explain/define something while still staying true to its "original definition".
The most helpful, I've heard that its like points that happen in story ( gamer brain lol ). Or another example its what happens ( someone dies ) while story is why it happens. ( Someone died because assassins were assigned to kill them ) though now I feel confused lol, that sounds like both.
I've read multiple comments about what plot is, but none clicked.
I always only thought about story, characters, I only learned plot because of fanfiction or maybe before but didn't think much of it since it confused me.
Edit: Thank y'all, it was helpful, a bit confusing and interesting, hopefully it'll help others who are also confused about it. I think I'll be able to see the pattern.
Top Comment: Plot is basically just things happening to your characters: either inflicted by other characters, the world or chosen by themselves.
Why has /r/Watchitfortheplot been set to private?
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Was set to private, then opened up again, was set to private again. Me and u/remlap have been messaging the mods of r/WatchItForThePlot and it appears a mod may have been shadowbanned and is setting it to private out of spite, we got some subreddit drama going on.
EDIT: It's back now (16:23 UK Time) but this could rumble on
Turns out a mod got shadowbanned, derped around the settings, all sorted now though
Top Comment:
Messaged the mods, this was reply:
"We're looking into it right now, thanks for the message."
What makes a plot “good”?
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I know, this is a super open-ended question, and might even be impossible to answer, but I want to hear your thoughts:
What makes a plot “good”? Are there any things you look for in a plot, or any sort of traits that good plots tend to share?
Top Comment: The simple answer is "something made me want to read the next line, the next page, the next chapter". But I think some common elements of compulsive plots are often: Compelling mysteries Characters making flawed choices for understandable reasons Multiple interweaving story threads, with the story working in terms of a physical plot, a psychological plot, and a philosophical plot A sense of authentic causality, with story beats connecting together and interacting (see Trey Parker and Matt Stone's 'but' and 'therefore' lecture) A mixture of short term problem solving (a difficulty is generated in one chapter and then is resolved in the next chapter or so) and larger scale story arcs (a problem happens in chapter 1 that isn't fully resolved until chapter 30)
How do you plot? I need ideas/advice
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Please tell me which things and what methods you use for plotting so I may find something I can use as well.
I'm stuck at plotting my third work since I haven't done any plotting before, just went with the flow.
I already have an overview of the story which is just it written down in roughly 5k words and since I'm writing high fantasy I've also done quite a bit of world building.
Usually I prefer visual representation of things and I need the option to constantly move things around and change them - so putting stuff down on paper is not ideal, tried that.
I started to write on Wattpad and would like to finally up the quality of my writing. The project is quite big but I'm not afraid of the challenge since the two previous ones weren't small ones either.
So, please tell me how you plot.
Top Comment: My method for plotting depends on what I will be focusing on in the story: characters or not characters. Characters method: Make simple character sheets of the important characters. Usually it is about their development, so write where do they start and where do they end in their character growth journey. Character sheets should include only relevant stuff, like personality, relevant background that defines their behavior, previous relationships with other characters, etc. Then write a small summary of their character growth. Figure out what do you need that characters to live through to grow that way you want. Those will be main plot points. Do that for every main character that has a character arc. Use those characters sheets and plot points to form the rest of the plot. Usually you will just have to order and connect all those points, adding some middle ones. Use the motivations of the characters to conect each plot point (the characters make the plot by their actions). Tidy up the plot into a neat narrative structure. I usually write a small summary of each scene that will appear in the text. Not character method: Figure out what is the point of the story. Is it about the fight between ideals and truth? (theme). Is it about an event happening? Is it just a simple already tried and true structure like the hero's journey? Is it an excuse to showcase the cool worldbuilding? Figure all that shit out. Brainstorm how you can showcase the things you want to talk about. This will become kind of your main plot points. Brainstorm the characters that will embody or live through stuff so you can showcase the point of your story. Maybe they are warring characters fighting for ideals vs truth. Maybe it's how the war affects them. Maybe it is just a small farm girl on a journey of self discovery. Maybe is just a wandering anthropologist making notes on unusual cultures. Figure out how you need the character to be to help your main objective (point 1). Order up all this stuff into aneat narrative structure. Still write a small summary of each scene that will appear.
How do you plot your stories?
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Throughout my life I have always just sat down and started writing. I never made any outlines or planned anything in advance, I just started writing simply to see where it would take me.
This of course ended up with dozens of half-baked ideas, nothing more than a couple of paragraphs on a page and some scrambled notes at the bottom.
But I've had a story idea that's been brewing in my head for a couple of years now, and I've always struggled to begin working on it. However recently, I've been trying to finally start writing my novel but have been coming to realize that it takes much more preparation than I thought it would.
I've heard of people planning out every single scene they plan to write, but that seems like a monumentous task and i honestly can't quite believe that that's really how it's supposed to be done (though it does sound much more efficient than what I do currently)? Is this how most people usually plot? I feel like I'm missing something.
So besides basic outlining, how do you guys plot your stories?
Top Comment: I've pantsed entire novels before. Sometimes, around the end of the first draft, I'll sit down with my preferred story structures and back-outline what I've done. It generally lines up quite well, but it can help me add layers. It's important to understand that outlining is neither necessary nor sufficient to avoid half-baked ideas. Stephen King famously abhors plotting and pantsed his way to a 1000+ page (uncut) Novel of the Year. That said, if you feel that you're a plotter stuck in a pantser's habits, I'd start gently myself. Go through the popular story structures and try to lay out their beats. See what you like.
How am I supposed to come up with a good/original plot?
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So recently I went through a dark period both mentally and emotionally, and a friend of mine suggested I try using writing as a coping mechanism, because I could express my feelings without having to speak out loud.
So I sat down to try and plan out a story, but I have no idea where to start. It feels like all the good ideas have been taken already.
So is there any 'formula' to coming up with a good storyline?
Top Comment: If you are just starting out, your writing is going to be derivative. Speaking from experience. That's all right, we've all got to start somewhere. You'll improve over time. For now, lower your expectations and just write whatever you think is cool. Don't try to impress anyone, just have fun with it.
How do you overcome difficulties with creating a plot?
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Hi,
I don't know if anybody else has this problem, but I think my weakest area as a writer is plot. I love worldbuilding and character creation, and I truly believe I have interesting, fully-realized characters, but the thing is: I like the characters so much, it almost doesn't matter what happens in the story (to me, I know it matters to possible readers).
I have been studying plot structure to try and overcome this and I really liked Dan Well's explanation of the 7 point plot structure. But even when I come up with all seven points for my story, it just doesn't seem like there's enough there for a whole book. I have experimented with pantsing and outlining, and I think I work better when I have an outline/know where I am going, but it's hard to finish an outline when you're weak at plot... Does anybody have any suggestions?
Top Comment: Craig Mazin is a screenwriter who wrote the Chernobyl series on HBO as well as a number of movies. He does a podcast called Scriptnotes with Jon August, who has also written a number of screenplays. I'm not a screenwriter -- I am an aspiring novelist, like you. But these guys have a lot of nuggets. Maybe you've listened to this already, but Craig spends one entire podcast by himself (Jon is visiting family) and he talks about how to write a screenplay. Or, to put it more simply, how to tell a story. It's honestly one of the best explanations about how to tell a story I've ever heard. His complaint is that 7 point plot structures and the hero's journey and everything else that people use to talk about stories are only useful as criticism: they are what people "discover" when they look at a movie (or a book) and then say: hey, this should happen, then this should happen, and then this should happen. They don't actually help people write stories. Craig wants to know WHY they should happen. And this speech is basically an encapsulation of his theory of writing. He walks through Finding Nemo, beginning with a Central Dramatic Argument, and then shows how everything that happens in the movie comes out of that Central Dramatic Argument. Here's the video (it's around 45 minutes long): https://youtu.be/vSX-DROZuzY Whether you embrace it or not, I think it can help push plot along by making you lean into your characters. Here's a summary that one of the commenters left of his theory of storytelling, but I encourage you to listen to the whole thing. I periodically re-listen to it every few weeks when I start having issues in my novel. ---> Notes for self: • Structure happens because you wrote well. What is my motivation - a story is about a state of change. •Types of Change - 1. Internal change - 2. Interpersonal - 3. external • Theme - Central dramatic argument (your theme should evoke question) • Characters journey from Anti theme to embodiment of the theme • Thematic structure - The purpose of the story to take a character from a place of ignorance from the true side of the argument and take them all the way to the point where they become the very embodiment of the argument and they do it thru action. • Inciting incident should specifically disrupt a characters stasis. It destroys the imperfect continuity and forces a choice on character • Your character must have some weakness or fear which he tries to avoid the entire story but they are forced to face it. Take away the safety blanket from your character and let them expose to their fear • Be hard on your character • Character loses their old belief and has no choice to go backwards and struggles to move forward (Character is lost) • Your character must face a defining moment (Their worst fear). It will bring the new stasis to the balance - Design a moment that is gonna test your protagonist faith in the theme. prove that they believe in the new theme. • Now in the end give them the choice to go back to their original belief and they have to reject the temptation • Hero acts in accordance with the theme. <-- Good luck. tl;dr -- Sorry, I'm old. There is no summary. That was as concise as I could make it.
How does everyone come up with a plot
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Hey all Im just curious how everyone here gets inspired to come up with a proper plot. Coming up with an overarching plot is the one area of writing I really struggle at. Oftentimes I will have an idea of what I want the story to be about, or a character concept, but really struggle when it comes to the plot.
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