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The Thought In our Plot
A Webquest
for Grade 7 Students (English)
Authored by: Hanan Zarinah S. Hadji Nasser
Do you want readers to love your story? To pick up your book and be so immersed they won’t be able to put it down?
In this guide, we’re going to talk about plot in literature. I’ll share a broad definition of plot and you’ll learn the elements of plot that make stories entertaining and memorable.
What is a plot?
Plot is a sequence of events in a story in which the main character is put into a challenging situation that forces a character to make increasingly difficult choices, driving the story toward a climactic event and resolution.
Story vs. Plot
There’s a difference between story and plot, something author E.M. Forster makes a distinction between in his book, Aspects of the Novel. A story is just an event, almost a recitation of facts. The mouse ate a cookie isn’t a plot—it’s just a story. A plot, requires cause and effect. The mouse ate a cookie and then asked for a glass of milk is a plot because it’s causal.
“Let us define plot. We have defined a story as a narrative of events arranged in their time-sequence. A plot is also a narrative of events, the emphasis falling 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 plot. The time-sequence is preserved, but the sense of causality overshadows it. Or again: ‘The queen died, no one knew why, until it was discovered that it was through grief at the death of the king.’ This is a plot with a mystery in it…” – E. M. Forster
How Plot Works
Plot has a specific structure. It follows a format. It introduces characters, character development, and world building; and compels readers to keep reading in order to satisfy conflict and answer questions. Plot is about cause and effect, but, most importantly, plot is about choice, a character’s choice.
In other words, it’s not just a recitation of facts; the facts you include in your plot each have a purpose, putting a character into a situation where they must make a decision and pulling the story toward its conclusion.
Elements of Plot
The 5 Elements of Plot
1. Exposition
This is your book’s introduction, where you introduce your characters, establish the setting, and begin to introduce the primary conflict of your story.
Often, the exposition of a story only lasts for a few chapters because readers are eager to dive into the conflict of the story. Don’t wait too long to introduce your inciting incident and get the ball rolling! Many authors make the mistake of having their exposition be full of interesting but ultimately unnecessary information about the world in their book. Don’t do this!
As much as you’ll want to make sure your reader knows all the background information, it’s not enjoyable to read pages and pages of non-action. You should immediately place the reader within the action of your story, and try to weave background information in as organically as you can here.
2. Rising Action
The rising action normally begins with an inciting incident, or a moment that sets your story into action. As it progresses, you’ll have multiple moments of conflict that escalate and create tension as the story moves toward the climax.
Think of it as the portion of a roller coaster where you’re climbing up to the peak. You want to continue to build your story until the reader is ready to reach the point where everything comes crashing down.
This section will take up the largest chunk of your book and can make or break your story—so be sure to make every moment of conflict more interesting than the last. Don’t be afraid to raise some questions that won’t get answered until the end of your book.
3. Climax
The climax is the peak of tension, plot, and character in your story. It’s the moment that your reader has been waiting for—so make it exciting!
Often, this is the point in the story that everything changes, or where your main character is forced to make a life-altering decision. It should be the point where the reader is unsure where your story is going to go next. To use our roller coaster analogy, imagine you’re at the top of the peak and everything stops: what’s going to happen? A great climax will leave the readers with this feeling, forcing them to keep reading until the end.
4. Falling Action
Now that you’ve reached the peak of your story, it’s time to start moving toward a more satisfying conclusion. This is the time to start resolving conflicts and subplots so your story doesn’t feel rushed in the last few chapters. This is also where any conflicts that arose as a result of the climax can start being resolved.
5. Resolution/Denouement
Finally, the resolution is the end of your story where you can tie up the final loose ends and bring your story to its happy or tragic ending. Or, if you’re writing a series, now would be the time to write a cliffhanger and leave them eager for the next installment!
