Five elements of a story’s plot (introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution) provide the structure for this graphic organizer.

In a literary work, film, story or other narrative, the plot is the sequence of events where each affects the next one through the principle of cause-and-effect. The causal events of a plot can be thought of as a series of events linked by the connector “and so”. Plot is similar in meaning to the term storyline.

Plot refers to the storyline of the text. The plot is the sequence of events in the story or drama. There are several elements that are common to all plots: The introduction, or exposition, is the beginning of the story where the characters and the conflict are introduced.

All conflict falls into two categories: internal and external. Internal conflict is when a character struggles with their own opposing desires or beliefs. It happens within them, and it drives their development as a character. External conflict sets a character against something or someone beyond their control….

As nouns the difference between plot and script is that plot is the course of a story, comprising a series of incidents which are gradually unfolded, sometimes by unexpected means while script is (countable|obsolete) a writing; a written document.

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• Overcoming the Monster.
• Rags to Riches.
• The Quest.
• Voyage and Return.
• Comedy.
• Tragedy.
• Rebirth.

Here’s how the seven-point system guides an author through the writing process:

• Hook. The hook is the first scene of act one.
• Plot Point 1. After you’ve introduced readers to the people and places of your story, next comes the inciting incident.
• Pinch Point 1.
• Midpoint.
• Pinch Point 2.
• Plot Point 2.
• Resolution.

six different plot types

A Parallel Plot: The writer weaves two or more dramatic plots that are usually linked by a common character and a similar theme. A Flashback: This structure conveys information about events that occurred earlier. Flashbacks can occur more than once and in different parts of a story.

A plot is not a story, nor does every story have a strong plot. Plots are events, stories reveal how characters react to those events….

The author Ronald Tobias, the researchers point out, came up with 20 “master plots”, including “underdog”, “metamorphosis”, “ascension” and “descension”. Georges Polti topped Tobias with 36: ranging from “rivalry of kinsmen” to “falling prey to cruelty of misfortune”….

The 36 situations

• Supplication. a persecutor; a suppliant; a power in authority, whose decision is doubtful.
• Deliverance. an unfortunate; a threatener; a rescuer.
• Crime pursued by vengeance. a criminal; an avenger.
• Vengeance taken for kin upon kin.
• Pursuit.
• Disaster.
• Falling prey to cruelty/misfortune.
• Revolt.

The Vermont researchers describe the six story shapes behind more than 1700 English novels as:

• Rags to riches – a steady rise from bad to good fortune.
• Riches to rags – a fall from good to bad, a tragedy.
• Icarus – a rise then a fall in fortune.
• Oedipus – a fall, a rise then a fall again.
• Cinderella – rise, fall, rise.

Here they explain why.

1. The Odyssey (Homer, 8th Century BC)
2. Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1852)
3. Frankenstein (Mary Shelley, 1818)
4. Nineteen Eighty-Four (George Orwell, 1949)
5. Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe, 1958)
6. One Thousand and One Nights (various authors, 8th-18th Centuries)

A story has five basic but important elements. These five components are: the characters, the setting, the plot, the conflict, and the resolution. These essential elements keep the story running smoothly and allow the action to develop in a logical way that the reader can follow.

How to Write Fiction Based on a True Story

1. Be clear about your premise.
2. Remove yourself from the story.
3. Do your research.
4. Be flexible with facts.
5. Decide if you need permission.
6. Combine stories.
7. Shift the setting.
8. Edit extensively.

How to Tell a Story Effectively

1. Choose a clear central message. A great story usually progresses towards a central moral or message.
2. Embrace conflict. As a storyteller, you can’t shy away from conflict.
3. Have a clear structure.
4. Mine your personal experiences.
5. Engage your audience.
6. Observe good storytellers.
7. Narrow the scope of your story.

First, a simple rule. If what you write about a person is positive or even neutral, then you don’t have defamation or privacy issues. For instance, you may thank someone by name in your acknowledgements without their permission. If you are writing a non-fiction book, you may mention real people and real events.

An autobiography (from the Greek, αὐτός-autos self + βίος-bios life + γράφειν-graphein to write; also informally called an autobio) is a self-written account of one’s life.

Marion’s Punch List for Writing About Someone Else

1. Discuss your topic.
2. Decide on a narrator.
3. Establish what you need to know.
4. Do your interviews.
5. Expect to learn things you never expected to learn.
6. Check the facts.
7. Feed and care for your notes.
8. Experiment with voice.

A tome or codex is a large book, especially one volume of a multi-volume scholarly work.

Common Examples of Memoir Here are some of the most famous memoir examples that have become part of cultural consciousness: Henry David Thoreau’s Walden. Elie Wiesel’s Night. Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love.

A good memoir has universality while being truthfully original. A good memoir is novelistic, with an unfolding story line, or plot, and scenes intermixed with narrative….

Some common memoir themes surround the following topics:

• Accepting change.
• Adjusting to a new life.
• Coming of age.
• Compassion.
• Dealing with loss.
• Determination.
• Discrimination.
• Friendship.