Plot Structure
Imagine watching a movie that has your favourite characters, but the plot line sucks; will you enjoy it and give it 5 stars? Saying, “Yes, you’d still give 5 stars,” demands god-level adoration for actors. Our point here is that the plot of any story plays a crucial role in engaging the readers or audience and keeping them hooked till the end. However, structuring it isn’t as easy as it sounds.
If you are willing to write a book but know nothing about plot structure, then this blog is for you. Let’s get started.
Essence of a Plot Structure
Suppose you were working day and night to get admission to your dream college, but couldn’t get it. All your dreams were shattered, and grief engulfed you before you stepped into your new, boring college. As time passed, you met the boy of your dreams. Now, 8 years later, you both are living the life of your dreams, together. An ethereal feeling, isn’t it? Well, that’s how plot structure works. One thing leads to another, shaping the story, making it engaging for the readers, and giving the characters of the story a destination.
Plot structure is basically a framework that structures the events in a story. For instance, in A Thousand Splendid Suns, Mariam leaves Nana to visit her father, only to be disappointed. Upon returning, she finds Nana dead, and eventually ends up with her father, who marries her to an old man, which turns her world upside down. What happens next is still the most tragic ending. This is the essence of a well-structured plot.
Elements of a Plot Structure
Every plot structure is a mix of five foundational parts, each carrying its distinctive purpose.
Exposition
The opening part of any story or plot is called exposition; it typically introduces the setting, main characters, background, and the initial situation before the story takes off. For instance, White Night by Fyodor Dostoevsky opens with a nameless character who describes himself as a dreamer and wanders the streets of St. Petersburg during the summer. The opening sets a tone of profound sadness and a solitudinous life.
The purpose of exposition is to provide readers with context to understand the events before the central conflict commences.
Rising Action
Rising action in a book is the phase when the story starts to unfold, revealing the true nature of the characters, their fears, creating tension, and pushing the characters towards their intense moment. Rising action develops the central conflict of a book.
Climax
The climax is the pivotal point of the story, where the main character confronts the problem directly, which decides the further events of the story. The climax could either ruin the plot or provide its readers with the resolution they have been seeking from the start.
Falling Action
Falling action in a story is equivalent to that phase of life where you make a major decision that defines future events. It’s basically the consequences of your actions. The falling action in a story is the part where the conflict begins to resolve, and the repercussions are visible, settling the narrative.
Resolution
Resolution, at last, is the final ending of the story. It’s the part where the conflict resolves and the characters reach their outcome. Resolution provides a closure to both the characters and the readers.
Types of Plot Structure
There are four types of plot structure: Freytag’s Pyramid, Three-Act Structure, Hero’s Journey, and Circular Narrative. Let’s understand each, distinctively.
Freytag’s Pyramid
The very first is Freytag’s Pyramid, proposed by Gustav Freytag. It divides the story into five parts: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. The structure of Freytag’s pyramid works best for tragic stories; Gustav invented it to describe traditional storytelling.
Three-Act Structure
As the name suggests, the Three-Act Structure divides the story into three parts: Act 1 typically introduces the characters, the events that would shape the story, and it ends on an intriguing note that forms the base of the second act.
Act 2 is the major push towards the resolution; challenges rise, confrontation offers repercussions, and it plays a huge role in character development.
Lastly, Act 3 offers a final resolution, where the protagonist solves the integral problem, providing readers with the ending that they have been expecting; who knows, it might surprise them as well.
The three-act structure is a universally used structure that’s mainly used in novels and films.
Hero’s Journey
Have you watched any parts of Jumanji? Well, we are sure, you must have; do you remember the concept? The protagonist belongs to a normal world when they find a game which takes them into a whole different universe; it’s an adventurous movie. Well, the concept of the Hero’s journey is very similar to this; it was conceptualised by Joseph Campbell. This structure focuses on bringing a major change in the protagonist upon his or her return after an extraordinary journey.
Circular Narrative
A Circular Narrative is a structure that ends where it began. The author introduces a situation or a scenario at the beginning, and the following events include the journey that brings the protagonist back to the same old place. For instance, The Bell Jar begins with the main protagonist, Esther, being trapped and alienated. Her further journey brings her back to the threshold, and not a resolution. Therefore, the structure of Circular Narrative often explores fate, memory, trauma, or cyclical social patterns.
Also, Check – Top 10 Most Successful Female Poets
On a Parting Note
If you are aiming to become a successful author, but your plot isn’t structured, then no marketing can make your book a bestseller. A plot structure plays a crucial role in making your book impactful. All you have to do is ensure that your story contains central conflicts, possesses key turning points, and focuses on offering a resolution that your readers will fall for. Think like a reader before finalising your final plot and ask yourself whether you’d love the story or not. Happy Writing!
