What’s motion The 6 parts of the plot and their makes use of
Do you want readers to love your story? To pick up your book and so immerse yourself in the elements of the plot that you can't put it down?
In this guide, we're going to talk about the plot. I will give a full overview of the plot and you will learn about the six elements of the plot that make the structure of the story fun and memorable.
To do this, we'll look at some examples of how these elements work in bestselling stories, and we'll look at storylines, the different forms a plot of a story can take, and how you can use your new understanding of plot in your own stories .
This article contains an excerpt from our book The Write Structure. Read more here.
What is action Plot definition
Plot is a sequence of events in a story in which the main character is placed in a challenging situation that forces a character to make increasingly difficult decisions, which drives the story towards a climatic event and solution.
What are the 6 elements of the plot?
We'll define each one below, but here are the six elements of the plot:
- Exposure
- Inciting incident
- Increasing measures or progressive complications
- dilemma
- Climax
- resolution
These elements are the most important events in a story and are vital to any creative writing, whether you're writing a novel, screenplay, memoir, short story, or any other form. Even experienced writers who do not use these on purpose, subconsciously include them in their writing because they bring movement, conflict, action, and life into stories.
Story versus story
In Aspects of Novel, E. M. Forster distinguishes between "story" and "plot". A story, just an event, almost a recitation of facts.
The mouse who ate a cookie isn't a plot – it's just a story (albeit a cute story).
On the other hand, the mouse ate a biscuit and then asked for a glass of milk. This is a conspiracy because it is causal. I'll let Forster explain it better:
“Let's define the plot. We defined a story as a narration of events arranged in their chronological order. A plot is also a narration of events with an emphasis on causality. "The king died and then the queen died" is a story. "The king died and then the queen died of grief" is a conspiracy. The chronological sequence is preserved, but the feeling of causality overshadows it. Or again: "The queen died, no one knew why, until it was discovered that it was by mourning the death of the king." This is a conspiracy with a secret in it … "
– E. M. Forster
To reduce that:
- The king died and then the queen died is a story.
- The king died and then the queen died of mourning. This is a conspiracy because it is causal and interrelated.
Hemingway's famous six-word story is an amazing plot example: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." Why are they for sale? Because the baby never carried her (and oh, it's so sad). These are not disjointed facts. This is actually a miniature act. More on that in a moment.
How plot works
The plot has a certain structure. It follows a format that attracts readers; introduces characters, character development and world building; and forces readers to read on to settle conflicts and answer questions.
The plot is about cause and effect, but most of all the plot is about the choice, the choice of a character.
In other words, it is not just a recitation of facts. The facts that you include in your plot each have a purpose: they put a character in a situation where they must make a decision and then draw the story to a close.
The 6 elements of the plot
How do you build an action with this cause and effect thing? Fortunately, the answer is simple: you break the plot down into its components.
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Plot is a series of events in a story in which the main character is placed in a challenging situation that forces a character to make increasingly difficult decisions, which drives the story towards a climatic event and solution.
The components of the plot are like pieces of a puzzle. If you want your reader to see the final picture, you need to see the shape of each component and put them in the right place.
Does anyone feel like this piece of the puzzle closes a hole in the universe or something? Just me? Too much Dr. Who I think
In The Write Structure we talk about the six elements of the plot:
1st exhibition. At the beginning of the story, the exhibition defines characters and attitudes. Not everything that builds your world happens here, but this is where you show your readers what is "normal" for your characters. That way, the readers will know what's wrong when we take the next step. Find out more here in our complete exhibition manual.
2. Incitement to the incident. The stimulating incident is an event in a story that places the main character in a challenging situation, disrupts the status quo, and begins the movement of the story either positively or negatively. This movement culminates in climax and dissolution. For more information, please see our complete guide to inappropriate incidents here.
3. Increasing measures or progressive complications. This is most of the story and where most of the conflict takes place. You know the quote about lifting your characters up a tree and then throwing stones at them? This is stone throwing time. This is where you raise the stakes and begin preparing for the climax of the story. It is important that your readers know what this is about. It is also important that they clearly understand the conflict. Learn more about our complete guide to aspiring promotions here.
4. Dilemma (or crisis according to the story grid). This is the most important element that you have built on, the moment a character is placed in a situation where they have to make an impossible choice. Find out more in our complete Dilemma guide here.
5th climax. This is the big moment! The choice of character from the dilemma determines the outcome of the conflict. If you got it right, this is the worst (i.e. best) moment of tension in the entire story that makes your readers nervous. Find out more in our full highlights guide here.
6. Dissolution or Dissolution. Now, at the end of the story, you are reestablishing "normal" – but the new normal that incorporates your characters' changes and experiences. Your readers can sit in their new normal with your characters for a bit, wrapping everything up emotionally so your reader can put the book down without flipping through the pages to see what they missed. It's a scene ending with enough finality to deserve these two words: the ending. Find out more in our complete denouement guide here.
Historical note: One of the earliest writers to speak of this structure was Gustav Freytag, the German author who wrote in the mid-19th century. Its structure came to be known as Freytag's pyramid, and he was the first to speak of many of the five plot elements discussed above.
While we applaud Freytag for bringing the language to these points of action, we believe that the Freytag pyramid is an outdated and misunderstood framework for action. Read more about the Freytag pyramid and whether you should use it in our guide to the five-act structure here.
What about the falling action?
In The Write Structure, the plot framework we developed in The Write Practice, we don't use the plot point falling action that you may see in other frameworks.
Why are you ruling it out?
Falling action is usually described as the event that unfolds after the climax, but in most stories the climax occurs towards the end of a story, usually in the third from last scene. Thus, the falling action and resolution are practically indistinguishable.
To avoid confusion, we believe that the falling action should be phased out of use as an element of the action.
Here you can learn more about why we don't consider falling actions as an element of action.
Do short stories have these elements?
Yes! In fact, every scene and act in a story should contain each of these elements.
However, in a short story, these elements are necessarily abbreviated. For example, if ascending plots in a novel can have many complications, there can only be one complication in a short story.
Plot Diagrams: Plot arcs can take many forms
While all diagrams have a fixed structure, they can have many shapes or arcs.
The story arc describes the shape of a diagram. Here are some of the most common:
The main character starts in a good place. The stimulating incident pushes the character into a hole, a problem that worsens during the ascending action. The turning point of the story comes sometime in the middle of the ascending action (sometimes referred to as the midpoint) when the main character begins to break free from the hole. However, the main character faces an ultimate dilemma that threatens to push them back into the hole. However, at the climax, they finally climb all the way out of the hole and enjoy solving their situation in the dissolution.
Like the man in the arc of holes, the stimulating incident with a double man in an arc of holes pushes the main character into a hole, problem or situation. There is a lot of movement in the ascending action of this story arc as the problem worsens before a turning point (sometimes called a pinch point) is reached, when things start to improve before the center point. However, things soon fall into a different hole, possibly caused by the same or a new problem. The dilemma occurs sometime in this second hole, likely at or near the bottom, followed by the climax and happy ending resolution.
Another story arc with a happy ending that is especially popular in romantic comedies is the Cinderella Arc, in which the main character is in a very bad place at the beginning of the story. The stimulating incident for this story arc is actually a positive event, often a sweet meeting or potential opportunity. From there, the character slowly improves his position through the ascending action until a turning point brings him back to his original lows and possibly beyond. The dilemma often arises at this “dark night of the soul” location or immediately after, followed by a quick climax and the ascent to a happy ending.
The Icarus Arch is a quintessential tragedy about a character who starts low in exposure and whose fortunes begin to improve after an exciting incident. Things keep improving in the ascending action and culminating in a tipping point in the middle when things go terribly wrong. When the protagonist struggles to hold onto his or her luck, the resolution increases to the dilemma and the ultimate, inevitable tragic climax and solution.
This last diagram is perhaps the most recognizable, as it is the shape that is most often used for drawing and comes from Freytag himself.
However, it is based on a misconception about how plots move. All stories do not exactly follow this shape, and by forcing stories into this shape we only cause confusion.
The only requirement is that a story has to move, there has to be some kind of change, but the shape that story takes is very different.
For more information on how to do this, including the six main forms stories can take as well as the three best-selling storylines, check out our complete storyline guide here.
Can your story have more than one plot? Main charts, sub charts and internal charts
Most great stories, when you dissect them, consist of not one but two or three acts. You have:
- The main plot that contains most of the scenes in the story
- The subplot, while not the main plot, usually deepens the story and adds another dimension (love stories make up about ninety percent of the subplots).
- The internal plot that shows the development of the main character as they mature or become more selfless
If you want to learn more about using subplots, we recommend reading our complete guide to subplots here.
The components of the diagram: examples
In my experience, examples bring home a point. Let's look at a few stories and break down their actions.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
For those familiar with the British version, also known as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
- Exposure: We are introduced to the Dursleys and Harry, our protagonist and main character.
- Inciting incident: A letter is sent to Harry which, as we learn later, admitted him to Hogwarts, an academy of magic, had a fit on the Dursleys who deny the existence of magic, and caused Mr. Dursley to confiscate the letters.
- Rising action/ progressive complications: We meet Hagrid, who is putting an end to the Dursley reign of terror. we go shopping for school supplies; we learn about Voldemort; we arrive at Hogwarts; And there's a troll going on in the dungeons. Our heroes realize that all of the strange things that happen at Hogwarts have to do with Voldemort.
- dilemma: Do Harry and his friends go to dungeon to save the Wizard's Stone and risk possible death and almost certain eviction, or do they return and allow Voldemort to capture the Stone and return to full strength.
- Climax: Holy crap, (SPOILER if you somehow haven't read this book) it's Quirrel! All conflicts and questions have led to this point; We see Ron's skills at chess and Hermione's unusual intelligence combined with Harry's flying skills to lead to this amazing moment when Harry has to make a choice: to side with evil and possibly get his parents back, or continue to suffer that grief and fight against the evil evil.
- resolution: Harry wakes up in the hospital wing. The main topic of the story was brought up in the climax, but now Dumbledore sums up the few loose ends, tells Harry what happened afterwards, and shares some of the consequences of Harry's decisions. ("What happened down in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so of course the whole school knows" is one of my favorite lines in any book.) Oh, and the Gryffindors win everything. Then he returns home and looks forward to the next year. While questions and challenges still lie ahead, enough has been resolved that the reader can put the book down with a satisfied sigh. (Or in my case, turn right back on page one and start again. Um.) Harry's new normal has been established.
To kill a Harper Lee mockingbird
- Exhibition: We get to know the city of Maycomb, the Finch family (Atticus, Scout and Jem) and the building up of racism in the deep south of the American Great Depression of the 1930s.
- Incitement to Incident: Atticus, a lawyer, agrees to defend Tom, a black man, for rape of a white woman, which puts him in direct conflict with pretty much everyone in town, particularly Bob Ewell, the white man's father Woman accusing Tom.
- Increasing measures, increasing complications: the investigation and then the process follow. A mob tries to lynch Tom until Scout reports the situation. Then the court scene. Ouch. Racism prevails over justice and it looks like Tom will be executed.
- Dilemma: Scout has to decide whether to give up hope in humanity and the possibility of true justice (like Jem) and end up dulled and suspicious, or to continue to hope that people can be good (like Atticus) and take the risk, to be naive and disappointed
- Climax: Bob Ewell, humiliated by the trial, swears revenge and confronts Jem and Scout alone at night on their way home. Scout breaks his arm while trying to escape and fight. However, Boo Radley, her hermit neighbor, saves her and eventually gives Scout a chance to see him.
- Solution: At the end of the story, Scout comes to a complicated and painful, but honest conclusion: Everyone is a person with good and bad qualities, and injustice is unfortunately a deeply ingrained part of the system. Scout has matured, even at the expense of her innocence.
(By the way, K. M. Weiland has an incredible database of stories in which she breaks down the plot of films and books alike. Try it and enjoy.)
Plot questions to ask yourself
How do you achieve this amazing plot structure? There are a few simple questions about each scene that can help you troubleshoot and connect what needs to be connected.
- About the exhibition: What is “normal” at the beginning of this book? Remember, your character has to grow and change, and the loss of that normalcy is part of the price paid.
- For Inciting Incident: What kind of story do you tell? Each story type has a unique type of stimulating incident and they are good to be familiar with. You can find all types in our guide to incidents incidents.
- The solution: What is “normal” at the end of this book? What changed after the storm passed and the water calmed down? If you're writing a series, this is where you specify how "normal" will look at the beginning of book two. (Note: you can postpone this step until the end, but I find it very helpful if you know where to go, how to plan it.)
- For emerging action: what is it about? What does it cost if your protagonist blows it? If you can't answer this, neither can your reader. It has to be structured in a way that interests your reader. It can be helpful to keep a list of the problems and questions that you create here. There's nothing more satisfying than having all of the little loose ends wrapped up later.
- For the climax: How does everything come to a head at the climax? This has to be at the heart of everything you have built on emotionally and the stakes have to be in real danger. If there is no real threat, then there is no need for your reader to care. That climax has to play a role, even when it comes to something as simple as selling enough magazines to send a little girl to camp.
Are you having trouble with any of the elements of the plot? Let me know in the comments.
WORK OUT
It's time to apply this in person: take fifteen minutes to tackle your ongoing work. Take one of the components of the plot (exposure, incitement to incident, rising plot, climax, breakup) and show that point in your story. When you're done, post your practice in the comments. Don't forget to leave feedback for your colleagues! Read our full exhibition guide here.
Ruthanne Reid
Best selling author. Wife of the geek. Mother of the cat. Owner of many things that need to be plugged in.